PRS Horsemeat Overdrive

PRS Horsemeat Overdrive – analogue transparent overdrive pedal with germanium diodes and versatile tone shaping

The PRS Horsemeat Overdrive is an analogue overdrive pedal for electric guitar, designed to enhance drive, fullness and harmonic richness without masking the instrument's natural tonal character. Its purpose-built circuit uses germanium diodes to create warm, dynamic overdrive with a pronounced but balanced midrange, clear high frequencies and generous headroom. The result is a versatile pedal that can serve as a clean boost, traditional overdrive or a way to push an already overdriven guitar amplifier further into saturation.

With independent Gain, Level, Voice, Treble and Bass controls, the Horsemeat can be tailored to different guitars, pickups and amplifiers. Its flexible tone-shaping section helps preserve clarity in both chords and individual notes as the gain increases. True bypass, rugged construction and the option of using a 9 V battery or external DC power supply make the pedal a practical addition to a wide range of pedalboard setups.

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Features and benefits

Transparent overdrive that preserves your guitar's character

The Horsemeat is designed to bring out the natural sound of your guitar rather than replace it with a completely different character. It can add body, sustain and harmonic content while allowing the differences between guitars, pickups and playing techniques to remain audible. This makes it particularly useful for players who want to enhance their existing tone while retaining a responsive feel and clear picking dynamics.

Germanium diodes for harmonically rich overdrive

The analogue circuit uses germanium diodes to shape the character of the overdrive. Its design delivers a full, expressive sound with a prominent yet balanced midrange, avoiding an excessively nasal or harsh response. By also enhancing parts of the low- and high-frequency ranges, the Horsemeat produces a broad, powerful tone with good note separation.

From clean boost to full-bodied overdrive

The Horsemeat offers a wide gain range, making it suitable for several different applications. With lower gain and a higher output level, it can function as a clean boost to give your guitar additional presence. Increasing the Gain control introduces more saturation and harmonics, allowing everything from light blues-inspired crunch to full rhythm tones and expressive lead sounds.

Push your amplifier's preamp harder

The Horsemeat can also enhance the existing overdrive of a guitar amplifier. Increasing the Level control sends a stronger signal into the amplifier's input, allowing the preamp stage to be driven harder. This provides additional control over the amplifier's gain structure, attack and sustain without necessarily changing its fundamental tonal character.

Voice control for personalised overdrive character

The Voice control provides an additional way to shape the pedal's tonal response and overdrive character. Combined with Gain and the dedicated EQ controls, it allows the body and character of the sound to be fine-tuned to suit the instrument and amplifier. This contributes to the Horsemeat's flexibility when moving between open crunch tones and denser, more prominent overdrive sounds.

Independent Bass and Treble controls

Unlike many simpler overdrive pedals with a single tone knob, the Horsemeat features separate Bass and Treble controls. Bass adjusts low-frequency fullness, while Treble determines brightness and definition. This makes it easier to adapt the pedal to different instruments and amplifiers, whether you are using a guitar with humbuckers, brighter single-coil pickups or an amplifier with a distinctive tonal balance.

True bypass and analogue signal path

The Horsemeat features an analogue effect circuit and true bypass switching. When the pedal is disengaged, the guitar signal bypasses the effect circuitry, preventing the pedal from applying its overdrive or tone shaping. A dedicated footswitch activates and deactivates the effect, while an LED indicator shows when the pedal is engaged.

Battery operation or 9 V DC power

The pedal can operate from a standard 9 V battery or a compatible regulated or isolated 9 V DC power supply. Current consumption is 16 mA. Neither the battery nor the external power adapter is included according to PRS, so a suitable power source must be provided separately.

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Technical specifications

• Product type: Analogue overdrive pedal for electric guitar
• Brand: PRS Guitars
• Model: Horsemeat Overdrive
• Effect type: Transparent overdrive and boost
• Signal processing: Analogue
• Clipping components: Germanium diodes
• Controls: Gain, Level, Voice, Treble, Bass
• Gain: Adjusts the amount of overdrive
• Level: Adjusts output level
• Voice: Shapes the tonal character of the overdrive
• Treble: Adjusts high-frequency response
• Bass: Adjusts low-frequency response
• Applications: Clean boost, overdrive and amplifier boost
• Bypass: True bypass
• Footswitch: Effect on/off
• Input: 1 × 6.3 mm mono jack
• Output: 1 × 6.3 mm mono jack
• Power supply: 9 V battery or 9 V DC power adapter
• Current draw: 16 mA
• Power adapter: Regulated or isolated, not included
• Battery: 1 × 9 V, not included
• Dimensions (W × D × H): Approximately 94 × 119 × 35 mm
• Weight: Approximately 0.5 kg
• Manufacturing: USA

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Frequently asked questions about PRS Horsemeat Overdrive