Menatone King Of The Britains

This is a hard pedal to use.... it has 5 internal trim pots and the eq is set up very amp like... if you know what you're after, spend some time with it and you'll get it. I don't have a manual, and i have the 4 knob and the 5 knob ptp versions, not the 2 footswitch one. It can also get REALLY loud really fast, hard to control sometimes....

Amazing. Doesn't stack well with other OD's, but what do you want more than a Marshall in a box? The thing screams and cleans up like a charm. It is so uncompressed that you think you're playing an amp, not a pedal. it reacts to the guitar so well, i love this pedal! play two LP's through it and a strat. like the humbuckers more than the single coils, but that is my preference anyways...

always. these versions in the gray boxes are indestructable. i have two, one for each board, not for backups.

never had to deal with them.

I play rock fusion stuff, this thing kicks butt. I've been looking for that marshall in a box sound cause i like the cleans of my fender deluxe, this thing turns my fender into anything but clean. it literally rips! I buy and sell pedals regularly, and i've compared it to pedals that cost mroe than 2 times as much (Toneczar Openhaus) and it beats them every time. The KOTB is on my board to stay.

Fairly simple to use. Especially if you know you're looking for this particular type of sound. Hand wired version #KB-459 dated 3-24-04. 5 knob version vol/bass/treble/gain/mid

This pedal has a definite niche. If you want that classic british glassy sound, this pedal will guarantee it. It's a natural combo with a strat. There's not much variation in the tone. Except that if you use a little imagination and crank the gain, it's almost got that scratchy mesa style high gain sound. I love the pedal, versatility isn't one of its strengths. The Blue Collar Menatone pedal can pretty much pull off anything but high gain. This pedal is a bit more select. But, it's the only pedal I've played that nails this classic glassy / marshall style sound. I've recorded some of my live shows and when I play it back, the tone is always better than I originally felt like it was. It does a lot of stuff very well. But it can't really shed the glassy tone.

Oh yeah, the best feature about this pedal is how it cleans up when you back off the guitar volume. This is where the pedal, in my opinion, is absolutely brilliant. I have come across NOTHING else that cleans up the way this thing does. It's actually the reason I bought the pedal. I rarely modulate my guitar volume control, but with this pedal, you can add massive amount of dynamic to your playing because it doesn't become unusable and dull when you back off the guitar volume.

Fabulous pedal. I'm giving it an 8 because its not as versatile as the Blue Collar, but this is on my pedal board full-time, the blue collar is not.

No problems, but the LED will shine long after the battery doesn't have enough juice to power the pedal. Could lead to a diagnostic wild goose chase.

Excellent pedal. It kinda makes you wish there were more pedals out there that went for one particular sound rather than trying to do everything.

Controls like that of an old marshall amp! Extremely basic stuff for a serious guiar player. (I have the Five knob version)

Gibson LP Deluxe > ZVEX Super Hard On>KOTB> MXR 10 Band EQ>AC30TB (There's a bunch of other stuff in there but that's the relevant stuff to this review.)

I found this pedal really completed the sound of my guitar. It's not your standard one-tone-knob deal, but we should embrace that we have so much more at our fingertips with this stompbox! The knobs allowed me to enhance my sound so much more than I could with other pedals. The tone knobs aren't too sensitive, but I see that as a very good thing. Turning them enhances frequencies rather than manipulating your tone. This is marketed as a Marshall-like feel, but it's so much more than your basic amp-modelling pedal.

I like to keep the gain at abut 9:00 so there's just a hint of drive. I find it to be very noiseless compared to other competitors. A little something like the OCD but far more versatile and transparent. It destroys the TS9 and has so much more gain to spare! Just a far more natural feel to it... I've been though 10 overdrives/distortions in the last year (Digitech Bad Monkey, Jekyll & Hyde, BD-2, Keeley BD-2, TS-9 RI, TS-808 RI, Fulltone Full Drive 2 (1st edition), NoahSARK Distortion M, Fulltone OCD, KOTB) and this one is by far the nicest to suit my style. I Understand that tone is a journeyand not a destination, but I can see this find staying on my board as my primary basic OD for a very long time.

Sounds sweet at 3, terrifying at 10 ...Or wait. I think this one goes to 11.

Seems very dependable. Open one of these old ones up! It's an old school peg-board with hand-done soldering, Awesome! I got this one used off of eBay ( serial #134 or something, made in 2000) and it's been to hell and back. Still works very well!

Haven't had to.

I play a lot of British influenced music in my band with a bit of a Pixies feel to it. This pedal is perfect for me because it dirties my sound up just as much as I want to. and allows me to adjust. I would definitely buy another one if I lost it. Hell, I'm thinking of buying another one just to use as a high gain pedal as well!

I love the Internal components and how boutique the pedal is. I love the weird graphics and handwritten serial numer. (It's signed too, of course) I've become such a stickler for tone and I feel this is the most diverse yet natural OD/distortion that I've come across to date. It just has the most natural feel that I've come across.

I've heard mixed things about the 6/7 knob versions but I really love this one. Every guitar player should try this pedal at some point.

6 knobs. one button. pretty simple set-up. the problem is trying to set it up to get the sound you're looking for.

this is the latest version of the pedal, and i'm told by a good friend of mine (the guy that convinced me i needed this pedal) that the sound is not as good as the old version. i play through a 57 fender tweed reissue and i get great crunch on my own just overdriving the amp. this pedal turns my crunch into a flat wall of sound. and makes it very hard to distinguish indivudual notes. i can see why some of these reviewers are saying this pedal can get lost in the middle of a band. doesn't seem to have the presence or cut through like some other pedals. i'm still fussing with it though and hope to find a better sound out of it.

very reliable. sturdy.

i might switch up and try some other things, and also try this in my band before i make any firm decisions...

a fair number of knobs, didn't have a manual with it.

well, in the store thru a half-stack it sounded great, at home thru a gibson DC and a mesa .50 caliber + combo amp with a 1 X 12" recto extension cab it just didn't cut it and i had to bring it back. it was way too thin for my taste, had the bass on the unit cranked and the bass on the amp up pretty high and it was still on the thin side. i guess what you will wind up playing this thing thru is something to keep in mind (and something i should've thought of beforehand). provided a great marshall-like tone thru a 4 X 12, however. seems kind of limiting though.

seemed solidly built.

i play all kinds of music (20+ years), but i was looking for a pedal to give me marshall-esque tone thru my mesa. i already had a marshall jackhammer and lets just say for the money this pedal costs, it sure wasn't that much better than the jackhammer, if at all. seemed abit far on the thin, trebly side to me.

This review is for the new 6-knob version of the KOB. Quite easy use, twist the knobs. But the interactions between gain & power gain are a bit tricky to get used to. No manual, doesn't need one.

This is the best drive pedal I have heard. It replaced the Tonebone Hot British on my board, which I owned for 2 years and I thought I would never get rid of it (it's an excellent pedal). The KOB sounds a little more vintage in its character, but it is still able to bring out big, grinding distortion that comes into early Metal territory. some have said that the previous incarnations of the KOB are too bright, this oe is not. I am using a custom "strat" with Hot Gold Lace Sensors and a Hamer Newport Pro (like a 335) into a BF Twin Reverb clone (Allen Tonesavor) though 2 different cabs. The KOB has really impressed me because of the range of sounds yo get by fiddling with the gain & power gain knobs, which are like an amp emulator (mentioned on Menatone's new website which I thought was dumb at first for an OD pedal, but it's true). You get pretty well all the Marshall amp tones you could want as long as we're talking older classics. Dialed all the way down, it does a Bluesbreaker sound, and full blast, it's like a JCM 800. All of the tones are from a pedal, so NO, you don't get as good a sound as if you had the actual amps with you, but it's a darn good imitation as far as pedals go! Only in the Hot British have I heard such a forward, 3-D high hain sound, and it's understandable for a unit with active tone controls, but the KOB doesn't have that feature, and Brian Mena somehow got this huge tone out of a very simple-looking hand-wired circuit. There is *some* fizz in the "hair" but I can live with it because it's less compressed and more rude than the Tonebone. I understand that running a higher voltage through the KOB can help so I'm going to try a 18-V adapter.

Hand wired, hammertone box.

For rip-roaring high gain on the old-school side (not nu-metal), this is one toneful and versatile pedal. I've tried a bunch: Klon Centaur, Barber DDSS, Banzai Cold Fusion, Fulltone Distortion Pro, MI Audio Tube Zone, Tonebone Hot British, Real Tube 901, and others. The quality of the new KOB is such that it succeeds better than other pedals at sounding like classic Marshall amps cranked. I find the KOB to be just what I wanted for my rig to sound Marshally without the compression of the Tonebone. what else can I say? It gets along very well with other pedals (adding the RC Booster kind of restores some of that active-EQ/processed Tonebone metal sound). There's nothing I wish it had, a total keeper. Like I said, the best pedal I have tried yet.

This pedal sounds sweet by itself, very "Marshallesque" quality. It's similar to my old ProCo Rat although does not quite cut through the mix as well.

On the other hand, it is much more versatile, has a "singing" like quality and sounds more "plexi" like overall. There is no typical distortion fizziness, and it is quiet w/o any tone coloring.

Where this pedal really excells, is when it is front loaded w/ another OD [Keeley modded TS-9' in my case]. It is breathtaking. This exactly nails the sound which has been so elusive.

It can do great Gary Moore to EVH [add delay + compression].

too new

noy needed yet

I've been playing 30 yrs and, have repeatedly been dissappointed by most distortion units. This is one of 2 keepers [ProCo Rat,is the other]. I would replace it in a heartbeat.

If you unterstand how the EQ is intended to be used it will be ok, if not you will figt with the KOB. So i give it a 5.

This pedal is a Rocker - don't use it for Texas Blues! The KOB has 5 knobs, that are identical to a Master Volume Marshall Amp (2203/2204), except for the Presence-Pot. And they work exactely the same way as they do in the Marshall. Especially the interaction of Mid and Treble are typical: If you crank the Mids and dial off the Treble you get fattest Brit-Blues tone ever heard, the other way round it will be classical 80ies Metal up to Nu-Metal scooped-sound. The center frequencies Brian Mena chose on the EQ are very similar ot a Marshall's. So from that perspective it definitely is a Marshall in a can. It is very bright - like a Marshall. If you can't deal with that, stay away from the KOB. If you're familiar with a typical Plexi-Setup you will dial a warm fat tone on the amp and put a bright pedal like a treble booster or classic distortion like MXR D+ in front of it. That's how it was done in the past and that's what the KOB does. So it is not too thin sounding. The overall sound quality is - understanding the EQ and setting the Amp right - absolutely amazing. My setup is LP/Strat/Tele->KOB->Marshall 50 Watt MR-1987 without MV/VOXAC30/Fender Super Reverb. I get old Sounds like Hendrix/Paul Kossof/Robin Trower, 80ies Sounds like Gary Moore/Kee Marcello and modern Sounds like Steve Vai/Joe Satriani. It has a multicoloured fat and singing tone with lots of sustain and is great for rythm and solo-playing as well. You get the best results if you mix the pedal's overdrive with the crunch of good tubeamp. I love it. But you definitely need a good, big sounding amp. I give it 9 because it is a Marshall in a box and a good imitation, but only 92.2354..% of a real Marshall...

The pedal is hand-built, the interior looks cheap like from parts of the electronic parts shop next door, I would not let it fall from a certain height... But it works so far. Let's hope it will not fail, but my trust is not endless, so I give it a 7

No experience. In case of a problem I would contact the store I got it from.

I love it! It is a wonderful "toy" for obtaining the sounds mentioned before in a very simple way. And it plays so easy. I own a bunch of pedals (Barber, MXR, TS808, TS9, TS10, Boss OD, Boss DS...) and the KOB definitely has a special character. It would buy another one if it was lost.

Bought it used; no manual. Pretty simple to use, gets a 9 because: 1 it's alot of work to get it not to be too bright, and 2 the mid knob is wierd; it's more a presence adjuster than a mid controler.

Gretsch Comittee (like a thru-neck Les Paul) > Reverend Drivetrain > Peterson StroboStomp > Menatone KotB > flavor of the month chourus > flavor of the month digital delay > Vox AC15. Seems a little noisy at high gain, but very berable. almost too much sensitivity, for example, sliding your fingers along the strings while changing chords makes a TON og noise. Also, it's VERY bright; I play with the highs at 8 o'clock, the mids at 10, and the lows at 2. But, it does have great tone, and better sustain than some others here seem to have gotten.

Seems very well built. Switch gave me a couple of wierd sounds today, but thats an easy fix if it goes bad.

Straight forward Overdrive controls; However, love the fact that there are separate Treble, Mid, and Bass rather than one "tone" knob.

Here's where it get's interesting; I'm very picky, and have owned about every O.D. effect under $300 out there.... Including a Menatone "Blue Collar Overdrive" "The King of the Brits" has a much more smooth and singing character about it. This is the best, most open sounding "plexi" imulator I've ever heard....With my Tobacco Burst Les Paul, nails Gary Moore's tone on "Blues Alive" to a "T" (for tone!) With the Bass control less than 12:00, can get a little nasally sounding, but with the bass at 12:00 or more, you can tweak every other knob, and not get a unusable tone. Fantastic value!

Build very sturdy; However the first rule in Gigging? Never go more than a mile from home with out a back-up!

I've spoken to the creator Brian Mena on the phone before, (when I bought my Blue Collar) and is extremely pleasant, and truely desires to put out the very best product he can.

Would replace it in a heartbeat at full price ($225?) if necessary; Extremely amp like in quality of the tone. The amps I've tried it with; '64 Fender Princeton; '96 Fender Blues Deville; '69 Fender Twin. It may be a little harsh with a more "focussed" amp like a marshall.