Keeley launches Manis Overdrive, a modified Klon-style pedal

June 15, 2025 · 6 sources

Keeley Electronics has released the Manis, a compact overdrive built around a Klon Centaur-style circuit, at $199 from the Keeley Electronics Webstore¹. Guitar Pedal X reported the launch on June 16, 2025, and described the pedal as a replacement and upgrade of Keeley's Oxblood¹. MusicRadar reported pre-orders open with shipping from Thursday, June 19²; Guitar World reported the pedal available now at $199³.

The Manis has knobs for Tone, Drive and Level, plus two toggle switches¹²³. With both switches down, Guitar Pedal X writes, the pedal delivers a stock Klon Centaur-style circuit with germanium diode clipping¹. The first switch moves clipping to a germanium transistor; the second engages a bass boost¹². MusicRadar and Guitar World both report the bass boost shifts the low-end response down an octave and adds 3 dB to the signal²³. Gearnews gives the current draw as 17 mA and the power requirement as 9 to 18V DC with a negative tip⁴. MusicRadar reports the pedal runs on 9V or 18V from a pedalboard power supply, ships in buffered mode with silent switching, and toggles to true bypass by holding the footswitch for two seconds². MusicRadar lists finishes in Brushed Silver, Black and Gold, with the Gold a Guitar Center exclusive, and says each unit is designed and made in the USA². Guitar World lists the Black as a PGH exclusive³.

Guitar World reports that Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, through his guitar tech Justin Stapler, was involved with the pedal from the outset, and that it ended up on the pedalboard of his acoustic rig³. Premier Guitar's Charles Saufley, in a review excerpt, wrote that the Manis was "virtually a mirror image" of a reference Klon in A/B testing, "and often a more satisfying one for its slightly less compressed voice"⁵⁶.