First Impressions: PRS Horsemeat Overdrive Pedal

Back at the start of October 2022, PRS released their first guitar effects pedals. There were three pedals in the line-up: an overdrive, a compressor and a flanger. Only one – the overdrive pedal – actually turned up in the shops here in the UK 🙁

What’s the Horsemeat like? It’s an expensive pedal. Is it worth it? Read on for my quick (if delayed!) First Impressions.

What Did You Buy?

I bought a PRS Horsemeat overdrive pedal. Yes, I paid full whack for it. It’s got to be one of the most expensive pedals I’ve ever bought.

Why Did You Buy It?

Listening to the launch demos, I liked how thick the mid-range sounded. Other overdrive pedals can sound a bit thin at times, and turning up the gain often just destroys the articulation. I was hoping that it would get me closer to a lead tone that I’d enjoy.

What Is It?

Here’s the man himself, Mr Paul Reed Smith, describing what PRS thinks it is:

According to that video, it’s called ‘Horsemeat’ because it’s a Klon-killer. Is it really, though? That answer deserves a blog post of its own.

What Kind Of Pedal Is It?

Right out of the box, I was a bit stumped. I didn’t think it sounded like anything else I had.

A couple of days later, I dug out the original version of Mad Professor’s Sweet Honey Overdrive (SHOD for short) … and there it was. Well, almost.

While the Horsemeat is closer to the original SHOD than the other versions of the SHOD (the Sweet Honey Overdrive Deluxe and Sweet Honey Overdrive Custom), it’s still its own thing too.

To my ears, the two main differences are:

• the mid-range in the Horsemeat is a little flatter than on the SHOD
• the overdrive character is (for lack of a better description) more hairy. I agree that it sounds more amp-like than other pedals I’ve tried

Final Thoughts

First off, sorry for the short (and very delayed) blog post. October and November were both very busy at work, and I just haven’t had time to spend on the blog.

I may have just found my new #1 overdrive pedal.

Listening to the demos, I never once thought that this was a tweed-tone pedal. Through my rig, though, and I think it’s a better SHOD. That’s a happy surprise indeed.

I’ll do a side-by-side comparison of the Horsemeat against both the Klon and the SHOD in my next #CoffeeAndKlon post.