"The new Manis Overdrive from Keeley Electronics offers a modern twist on the traditional K-style drive, catering to those who seek a different take on the classic drive recipe, whether they're dissatisfied with the original or not."
Pedal Swap: Klon Centaur Overdrive vs Keeley Electronics' Manis *Guitar Effects Revolution*
What if you could rework the mythical germanium diodes in a Klon Centaur overdrive pedal circuit and replace them with germanium transistors? That's exactly what Robert Keeley, the guitar pedal guru, did, and the outcome was Manis, the new drive pedal from Keeley Electronics.
While there are some other differences between Manis and the original Klon, Keeley claims this pedal "absolutely nails the original Klon sound" - and with germanium transistors, it might just be the K-style drive that players who dislike K-style drives will enjoy.
"Not everyone's a fan of the Klon, so if you're one of those, here's the Manis pedal," says Keeley. "What I discovered is that if you use Germanium transistors instead of the famed Klon diodes - the Germanium diodes that are in every Klon - you get a different cut-off voltage, and that increases the saturation, the compression, the sustain. So you have a Klon with a little extra gain on tap. It's got more second-order harmonics that sound more tube-like."
But with Keeley Electronics, you get the best of both worlds.
There's a toggle switch that allows you to switch between the Germanium transistor mode, in which these Russian transistors take the place of the original diodes, and Germanium diode mode, a la the classic recipe. Keeley revealed they compared the Manis with a reference Klon unit.
"What's crucial about the Manis is that we wanted to absolutely nail the original Klon sound, so we got ourselves a 'Golden Horsie' and did tons of comparisons," says Keeley. "We nailed it."
Moreover, a bass boost switch shifts the low-end frequency response down an octave and boosts the entire signal by an extra 3dB.
Upgrade Your Tone:One of the things that players loved most about the original Klon Centaur was how it moderated the relationship between their electric guitar and amp; the Manis is built with a similar spirit. If you own a Telecaster or Strat, the bass boost feature could be especially handy. Keeley refers to it as the "perfect low-end recovery and push for single-coil guitars."
Elsewhere, the pedal is as basic as it gets, with knobs for Volume, Tone, and Drive. Input and output jacks are located on the top of the pedal. You can run it in buffered or true bypass (hold down the footswitch for two seconds to toggle between modes).
It ships in buffered mode by default with silent switching. Power the Manis on 9V or 18V DC from a pedalboard power supply.
Limited Time Offer:Keeley Electronics is offering the Manis in standard Brushed Silver, Black, and Gold, exclusively at Guitar Center. Each unit is designed and made in the USA, and is priced £209/$199, with pre-orders open now, shipping from Thursday, 19 June.
Never gotten along with a Klon? This might do the trick. "It's really a kind of miracle cure for those with Klon blues," says Keeley.
For more details, head over to Keeley Electronics.
"The Manis pedal from Keeley Electronics, a reimagined version of the Klon Centaur overdrive, offers a unique twist with germanium transistors, providing a K-style drive that might appeal to those who typically dislike Klon-style drives due to increased saturation, compression, and sustain. However, a toggle switch allows users to switch between this mode and the original Klon sound."
"Moreover, the Manis pedal, upgrading the tone of electric guitars, maintains the original Klon Centaur's spirit of moderating the relationship between the guitar and amp, as evidenced by features like the bass boost switch that especially benefits Telecaster or Strat users, boosting the low-end frequency response down an octave while increasing the signal by an extra 3dB."
