Menatone

Handmade effects since the mid-1990s

Menatone's first pedal was the "Red," which launched in 1996, though the Red Snapper name itself did not appear until the NAMM show of 1998⁵. The Red Snapper overdrive debuted in 1996 in its original 3 knob, point-to-point form². The company describes its goal for that circuit as making "the most transparent touch sensitive overdrive that could possibly be made"⁸.

The Blue Collar overdrive followed as the second pedal design from Menatone⁹, and the two overdrives have stayed at the center of the range. The Fish Factory combines both in one box: the 4 knob Red Snapper and the Blue Collar, each independent and usable alone or together¹⁰.

The range has kept growing. The MenaWatt got a new 2025 version that adds a power gain control and a presence control to the top of the pedal⁷, and the Blue Collar Mini arrived for 2025 with a presence control of its own⁷.

Known for the Red Snapper and Mini pedals

The Red Snapper is the pedal Menatone built its reputation on. It is now offered in several forms⁵⁸⁶:

The four knob version's hi cut control is designed so that it is completely out of the circuit when turned all the way down, so a player can dial in the original sound or roll off top end as needed⁸.

The Mini line puts Menatone's circuits in smaller boxes, covering a range of effect types⁶¹¹¹²:

• Shut Up & Drive Mini, an overdrive/distortion pedal¹²
• Pleasure Trem Mini, a tremolo pedal¹³
• Thundering Revival Mini¹⁴
• Hindenburg Mini³
• Mail Bomb Mini, an envelope filter pedal⁴
• JAC Mini¹⁵
• Ms. Foxy Brown Mini¹¹
• The Law Mini, with a volume control and a red LED indicator light¹⁶
• Blue Collar Mini, the mini version of the Blue Collar overdrive⁹

Several of these also exist in point-to-point wired versions, including the Thundering Revival PTP, a distortion the maker describes as "a fairly transparent distortion that fits right along side with the Red Snapper and Blue Collar"¹⁷.

Point-to-point wiring

Point-to-point construction is a recurring part of the Menatone lineup. The Mojo PTP and 4 Knob PTP Red Snappers, the Blue Collar PTP, the Thundering Revival PTP and the Das Boost PTP all carry the designation, alongside the standard and Mini versions of the same circuits⁵⁸¹⁷. A player choosing between them is choosing between the maker's hand-wired builds and its other production formats, with the circuits themselves shared across versions.

The range (26)

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