PRS introduces Horsemeat transparent overdrive pedal

July 28, 2023 · 2 sources

The PRS Horsemeat Transparent Overdrive is part of a new PRS stompbox range announced on September 30, 2022, alongside the Mary Cries optical compressor and the Wind Through The Trees dual flanger¹. Delicious Audio published first videos of the Horsemeat on July 28, 2023².

Delicious Audio describes the Horsemeat as an overdrive with an original circuit that adds harmonic midrange richness without affecting the tone's high-end, and notes that the name might suggest Klon references². Gearnews describes it as an all-new design based around a germanium diode, and says that will put it up against the Klon circuit, which has a similar reputation for being transparent and its use of the germanium diode¹. The two accounts differ on the circuit: Delicious Audio calls it original, while Gearnews frames it as a competitor to the Klon.

Controls are Gain, Level, Voice, Treble and Bass¹. According to Delicious Audio, the Voice knob affects both the frequency response and the clipping stage, giving fuller tones turned anti-clockwise and progressively glassier ones turned clockwise, and the Bass and Treble knobs can add or cut low and high frequencies². The pedal can serve as a clean boost, a straight overdrive, or push the front end of an amplifier's preamp section². Gearnews lists an MSRP of USD 249¹.

PRS says its pedals are designed by PRS Guitars in Stevensville, Maryland and made in the USA, and that they are true bypass so the instrument's tone is heard without coloration when the pedal is off². Gearnews reports all three pedals in the range are made in the USA, true bypass, through-hole construction, and powered by a 9V battery or 9V DC power supply¹.