Keeley unveils a somewhat late entry to the Klone Party, but adds another worthy modified variant into the mix with its Manis Overdrive

I’m at a stage now where I probably have all the Klone and Screamer pedals that I need - but I’ve really liked Keeley’s recent compact editions - which started with the Noble Screamer from the 4-in-Series.

Next came the Andy Timmons Muse Driver, now named the MK3 Driver - and this Manis is more along those lines - having just the one core circuit onboard (vs the 2 of the 4-in-1 Series). Where with the two toggle switches in down positions - you’re getting stock Klon Centaur style circuit - with Germanium Diode.

You then have another of Keeley’s signature Phat Bass Boosts via the left toggle in the Up position, and if you flip the second one up also - the clipping goes through a Germanium Transistor rather than the Diode - which results in more gain / intensity / saturation, along with a more tube-like character profile.

This is not Keeley’s first foray into Klone as it’s had its Oxblood variant out for several years now - where that has an almost identical topology with Phat switch, and Clipping switch. The Phat switch seems pretty identical - while I’m not sure the Oxblood swaps in a GE Transistor like it’s new sibling - but it has a similar switch to enhance the gain and saturation - so we can really look at this Manis as a replamcent and upgrade of the Oxblood - that’s certainly my take on it. I don’t know what the mileage is for those that have the Oxblood to double down - but I find the new format a little easier on the eye - but not by much really - the Oxblood has always been compelling - just never particularly heavily promoted.

Controls - Tone, Drive, Level, Bass : Bass Boost / Stock, Clipping : GE Transformer / GE Diode.

Everything about the core of this circuit is a high quality Klon reproduction - with relevant quality parts and values. And then you can turbo-charge both the EQ of the circuit, and the nature of its gain output. Simple, elegant and really versatile.

I totally love the similar format Muse / MK3 Driver - and indeed will be looking to add this one also to the reference collection. I’m a huge fan of Robert’s mods - particularly the ones he did for Boss, and particularly there for his BD-2 variants.

This Manis Klone is more of the same really - these are the same black knobs that are being used for the Custom Shop Sigalis Series - so surely a large job lot of said black knobs. This is more of Sigalis Series style enclosure as the original formats all had black enclosures - while this one is sporting a shimmery silver hue!

You generally can’t fault Robert’s approach - you know what you’re getting here, and if you’re a fan of the Klon circuit - then this is a strong take on that with some extras. The Bass Boost very much puts this in Wampler Tumnus territory - which is known for its slightly beefier low-end. So this will definitely appeal to those Tumnus owners - will be interesting to find out who different the Germanium Transistor Mode is on the Manis versus the Hot Mode on the Tumnus Deluxe - which also benefits from 3-Band EQ.

The Manis Overdrive is $199 and equivalent from the Keeley Electronics Webstore. I have a feeling it will do very well.

I already have the rest of the ’set’ so his one’s kind of a no-brainer for me - while I’ve still to assign it a priority!

I used to have quite a close association with Keeley, but seem to have been cut off from the mothership for a while now, and for what reason I may never know!