Verellen Meatsmoke, advice before ordering one?

Haans

Haans

Altruistic nihilist
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Oct 31, 2005
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#1
Finally I have the money to get the amp of my dreams, so I'm mustering up the courage to pull the trigger on the Verellen Meatsmoke. Before I do, I would love some input on useful extra features I need to ask Ben to install. Oh, and should I get a new cab as well? I currently use an Aguilar DB410 (driven by my AG500) - would this be a good match? Music style is fairly hard rock'n'roll, bass in medium to serious overdrive. I usually play my 2007 MIJ Fender Jaguar w/flats, a Gibson EB-2013 and probably my new SBMM Ray34.

So, what extra features/mods are useful on the Meatsmoke? What cabs do you recommend? Any input greatly appreciated.
 
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#2
I would get a Jensen Di with a volume control

Maybe a tuner out or effects loop. I have added all those to my verellens. I have 3.

I have switched out the tube for the OD with telefunken 12au7 or 5751 for less gain. Still plenty but I prefer them over the 12ax7

Also Barefaced cabs are a great match.

Are u getting the 300watt all tube or the Hybrid?

And congrats!!!! The amps are killer and Ben is a great guy to work with
 
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#4
Thanks! I've been pining for the all tube version. I already have the Meatsmoke pre (although dead at the moment - will have to ship that to Ben for service) so I'm basically running hybrid now

Thought about tuner out, possibly a tuner/mute switch on the footswitch (I use that a lot on my Aguilar). Send/return... I've never had any luck with those, plus they tend to corrode when not in use. I've come across a few amps that needed a thorough cleaning of the send/return. I barely use pedals (right now I have an Empress EQ and a Myco Three in front of the amp). DI might be a good idea, though. What is the Jensen DI?

I've seen some with a 100W switch which could be useful, especially for guitar.
 
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#6
Haans said:
DI might be a good idea, though. What is the Jensen DI?
Click to expand...

Jensen is a brand/manufacturer which makes transformers for DIs. They make a quality product but they certainly aren't the only one out there. If you have a DI output added you'll have to decide where to tap the signal. If you go with a pre-EQ DI you'd only be getting the early gain stage(s), if you tap off the power amp/speaker out signal it captures more of the amp but misses the contributions of the speaker cab(s) and may sound different in the FOH than you'd expect. Different variables to balance.
 
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#7
Ditch the 410 in favour of anything tweeterless with decent dispersion that is easily mic'd. Barefaced come to mind with their .5 aligned multiple tens.

If you can get out of the box a little then a couple of any vertical 210 stacked on top of the amp will rock. You might have to get creative with allowing space for air circulation. JimmyM does the inverted T tube amp stack thing when he can be arsed toting it. Nobody kicks his knobs.
 
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#8
Yes, the 1/3 power switch is a great option. I did add that as well to the meatsmoke but to be honest I do not use it as often as I should :). Love it loud!!!!
 
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#12
Excellent thread!

I've been interested in the Meatsmoke Head for quite some too. I don't know if I'd really be interested in it's distortion channel, though. I'd rather have Ben build me a head that has the sound of a vintage SVT.

Does he use the Fender tone stack eq, or the Baxandall?
 
#14
Haans said:
What do you mean "as loud as"? ;)

Are there disadvantages to a 6x10 as opposed to a stack? I don't mind the size. The price is about the same.
Click to expand...

Either a sealed 6-10" or a pair of sealed 4-10"s would be my first choices, personally. If I had help on load ins and load outs, I'd even consider an 8-10". In my mind, more speaker surface area equals more volume.

I once owned an SVT-CL, then an SVT-2Pro, and I played through an Ampeg 810E cabinet. I did try playing through an SWR Goliath Sr. 6-10" that I owned at that time, and even though it was a ported cabinet, it sounded great. I did turn the tweeter completely off.

I have limited knowledge on the subject, but it's my understanding that sealed speaker cabinets work "better" with tube heads versus ported speaker cabinets.
 
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#17
Arthur U. Poon said:
I've been interested in the Meatsmoke Head for quite some too. I don't know if I'd really be interested in it's distortion channel, though. I'd rather have Ben build me a head that has the sound of a vintage SVT.

Does he use the Fender tone stack eq, or the Baxandall?
Click to expand...

As far as I know the MS pre is a fender-style tone stack with some frequency shift options. I played a saturn IV which was basically a meatsmoke with reverb and one less frequency switch. The clean channel was huge round bass, at the low volumes I was playing in the store it seemed to be a bit more bottom heavy than the SVT but a little more scooped. I didn't like the overdriven tones. Both come with the caveat that I was playing into a big folded horn ampeg 2x15 with a rick 4001. That's going to influence things a bit. Really cool sound, but if vintage SVT is what you want I don't think the MS will get you there.
 
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#18
coreyfyfe said:
As far as I know the MS pre is a fender-style tone stack with some frequency shift options. I played a saturn IV which was basically a meatsmoke with reverb and one less frequency switch. The clean channel was huge round bass, at the low volumes I was playing in the store it seemed to be a bit more bottom heavy than the SVT but a little more scooped. I didn't like the overdriven tones. Both come with the caveat that I was playing into a big folded horn ampeg 2x15 with a rick 4001. That's going to influence things a bit. Really cool sound, but if vintage SVT is what you want I don't think the MS will get you there.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the info, Coreyfyfe!

I definitely don't want a mid scooped amp. And I very much want control of my midrange frequencies and to have the ability to boost them, when necessary.

My search continues!

Thanks again for the info. :thumbsup:
 
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