Menatone King of the Britains or ZVex Box of Rock?

[se7en]

I'm really intrigued by the new Menatone KOTB pedal. I'm ideally looking for a nice fat, full-bodied plexi crunch pedal to run thru the clean channel of my Soldano SLO. I'm not sure whether this pedal was designed for this purpose or whether it's really for Fender clean amps, Vox, etc. I'm also considering a ZVEX Box of Rock. Any insight here would be much appreciated.

 

[PlexiFuzz]

Both killer pedals. The Menatone was designed to be used primarlily with clean Fender-type amps (listen to the clips on his site with the Fargen Blackbird) and the the Zvex with Marshalls.

You can use them with other amps, of course---and I used the BoR for a good while with a Fender style amp---but that's not what they were designed around.

 

[se7en]

Both killer pedals. The Menatone was designed to be used primarlily with clean Fender-type amps (listen to the clips on his site with the Fargen Blackbird) and the the Zvex with Marshalls.

You can use them with other amps, of course---and I used the BoR for a good while with a Fender style amp---but that's not what they were designed around.

Damn, heh...I was really hoping the KOTB wasn't designed around a Fender style amp. Seems perfect otherwise.

 

[rawkguitarist]

I wouldn't count out the Menatone until you try one. His amp in a pedal-pedals are quite good. The best distortion box for my Matchless Hurricane was a 5 knob KOTB.

I would say the main difference is that the KOTB is more of a distortion, where as the Box of Rock is still more of an OD. Both are amazing at what they do. If I didn't have an Eternity that is "the perfect overdrive" for me, the Box of Rock would be one of the first on my list.

 

[se7en]

I wouldn't count out the Menatone until you try one. His amp in a pedal-pedals are quite good. The best distortion box for my Matchless Hurricane was a 5 knob KOTB.

I would say the main difference is that the KOTB is more of a distortion, where as the Box of Rock is still more of an OD. Both are amazing at what they do. If I didn't have an Eternity that is "the perfect overdrive" for me, the Box of Rock would be one of the first on my list.

Yeah, overdrive is fine...I've got distortion covered quite well with my SLO. I wish I could test out a Menatone and Zvex before deciding, but there are no dealers around that carry these pedals.

 

[PlexiFuzz]

Damn, heh...I was really hoping the KOTB wasn't designed around a Fender style amp. Seems perfect otherwise.

Well, there's a difference between "primarily designed for" and "sounds good with."

A lot of folks have gotten killer tones with the Menatone through other amps. I think Carl's Menatone clips (carlygeetar) were all through a Marshall and they sounded wonderful.

And I loved my BoR through a Fender-style amp, so ...

Buy both from somewhere with a return policy and return the one you don't like.

 

[se7en]

I wouldn't count out the Menatone until you try one. His amp in a pedal-pedals are quite good. The best distortion box for my Matchless Hurricane was a 5 knob KOTB.

I would say the main difference is that the KOTB is more of a distortion, where as the Box of Rock is still more of an OD. Both are amazing at what they do. If I didn't have an Eternity that is "the perfect overdrive" for me, the Box of Rock would be one of the first on my list.

Do you think the Eternity might be a good alternative for me as well?

 

[se7en]

Well, there's a difference between "primarily designed for" and "sounds good with."

A lot of folks have gotten killer tones with the Menatone through other amps. I think Carl's Menatone clips (carlygeetar) were all through a Marshall and they sounded wonderful.

And I loved my BoR through a Fender-style amp, so ...

Buy both from somewhere with a return policy and return the one you don't like.

I've heard about Carl's clips for this pedal, but haven't been able find them with the search function. That's good to know though that it can get killer tones with other amps.

 

[PlexiFuzz]

Search his clips here. He has a number of songs with different Menatone pedals (including the King of Britains).

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=343910&content=music

 

[se7en]

Search his clips here. He has a number of songs with different Menatone pedals (including the King of Britains).

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=343910&content=music

Thanks. Sounds great so far....quite plexi-esque.

 

[justonwo]

Both killer pedals. The Menatone was designed to be used primarlily with clean Fender-type amps (listen to the clips on his site with the Fargen Blackbird) and the the Zvex with Marshalls.

You can use them with other amps, of course---and I used the BoR for a good while with a Fender style amp---but that's not what they were designed around.

I know I've seen many people post that the Menatone was intended for Fender-type amps. Does this information come from Menatone? The KOTB has been used mostly with my Champ so far. Sadly, I haven't been able to make it down to the studio much recently to play in front of my plexi.

 

[se7en]

I know I've seen many people post that the Menatone was intended for Fender-type amps. Does this information come from Menatone? The KOTB has been used mostly with my Champ so far. Sadly, I haven't been able to make it down to the studio much recently to play in front of my plexi.

I emailed Carlygtr and he said that the KOTB would likely sound great on the clean channel of the SLO.

 

[rawkguitarist]

Do you think the Eternity might be a good alternative for me as well?

Only you could really decide, but I think so. To me it's the most special pedal available. It's a deceiving sound that's very familiar at first, but then when you get used to it many subtleties turn out to make it amazing. It just sounds so right for low gain to medium-high’ish gain. It’s really a special pedal. (There’s a lot of people that like to discount it as simply a barely modified classic pedal, it sounds nothing of the sort to me. I have to completely disagree with these assertions) Bare in mind, I use it through a clean amp too.

If you want something that’s more neutral sounding than a “distortion” pedal such as the KOTB (which isn’t subtle sounding) or RAT, the Eternity is the best I’ve heard.

 

[se7en]

Only you could really decide, but I think so. To me it's the most special pedal available. It's a deceiving sound that's very familiar at first, but then when you get used to it many subtleties turn out to make it amazing. It just sounds so right for low gain to medium-high’ish gain. It’s really a special pedal. (There’s a lot of people that like to discount it as simply a barely modified classic pedal, it sounds nothing of the sort to me. I have to completely disagree with these assertions) Bare in mind, I use it through a clean amp too.

If you want something that’s more neutral sounding than a “distortion” pedal such as the KOTB (which isn’t subtle sounding) or RAT, the Eternity is the best I’ve heard.

Cool, I'll look into the Eternity more. I checked out some youtube clips earlier this week and was pretty impressed. I like the sound of my SLO with the crunch ch. gain on 11, but have to run that channel on 3 to get a nice clean with a slight bit of breakup for my clean sound. This seems like the perfect pedal to get the sound of the preamp on 11, or hopefully even a little bit more gain than that too if necessary.

 

[H_V_C]

I had both the KOTB and BOR and I liked the Menatone a lot better. I have both fender style and marshall style (and vox) and I'd say that the Menatone sounded better on all styles amps. Don't get me wrong, through the bright input of a marshall style amp, the bor sounds fantastic. But so does the menatone.
On a fender style amp the bor can sound way too bassy/flabby/muddy. The menatone still sounds fantastic.

Just IMHO

 

[justonwo]

I had both the KOTB and BOR and I liked the Menatone a lot better. I have both fender style and marshall style (and vox) and I'd say that the Menatone sounded better on all styles amps. Don't get me wrong, through the bright input of a marshall style amp, the bor sounds fantastic. But so does the menatone.
On a fender style amp the bor can sound way too bassy/flabby/muddy. The menatone still sounds fantastic.

Just IMHO

I should mention I owned both those pedals at the same time as well, and the Menatone came out on top. The BOR is a great pedal, but I think the Menatone does that . . . and more.

 

[se7en]

I should mention I owned both those pedals at the same time as well, and the Menatone came out on top. The BOR is a great pedal, but I think the Menatone does that . . . and more.

Cool...I've been leaning towards the Menatone. Which version did you have? Does it get a decent plexi crunch for chords and seem rather amplike in response/dynamics? Also, how is the boost on it?

 

[Free]

Uncanny. I had just recently planned to compare those two exact pedals in particular this weekend. Those two and the OCD is the tone trilogy I had narrowed it all down to. I see a lot of good advice comparing KOTB and BOR.

Any words of orientation bringing in the OCD too before I check these out personally? Might as well ask. Nobody knows better than TGP. And, weird things have been known to happen to buyers' perspectives after a few days at home with an effect or amp. Guess my main question is which one has the most midrange "krraanggg" and the least compression?

 

[selahvie]

I currently have both, and they are different pedals, but if I had to keep one, it would be the KOTB. The BOR doesn't have quite the gain available of the KOTB, but the KOTB can do what the BOR does and more. Also, the boost on it is stellar. The BOR does low to medium gain well, but I just got a Tim and to my ears, the Tim does it better. I'm currently trying to decide whether to keep it or not...

 

[rawkguitarist]

Uncanny. I had just recently planned to compare those two exact pedals in particular this weekend. Those two and the OCD is the tone trilogy I had narrowed it all down to. I see a lot of good advice comparing KOTB and BOR.

Any words of orientation bringing in the OCD too before I check these out personally? Might as well ask. Nobody knows better than TGP. And, weird things have been known to happen to buyers' perspectives after a few days at home with an effect or amp. Guess my main question is which one has the most midrange "krraanggg" and the least compression?

Hey Free, fellow TopHater!

I've not played the version 3 OCD, but 1 and 2 both had a mid scoop that didn't work for me. Very open and uncompressed though, the least compressed of the 3. I bet you'd dig the Box of Rock most, but it could be a toss up. The BOR is definitely the mildest of the 3 (gain wise), but can get a good medium gain thing. It's very musical, has a cool boost of course. For my taste it had a bit much in the bass frequencies.

Over all, the KOTB would be the most versitile and may have the most midrange, although I've not tried the newest version. But my KOTB sounded a tensy bit harsh with my Club Royale, although not much different than the harsher upper mids from my real plexi. This can be a good thing in a loud band though.

I wouldn't rule out trying them all out. Does Maken Music have them all?

BTW, have you tried any BJF pedals? Stock they don't have the right output for TopHat's, but Bjorn will mod them for you. His pedals are the most musical I've ever heard. I bet you'd love my custom Dyna Red Distortion. A nice fairly flat midrange, but really full.