12 Great Brian Mena Menatone Mini Pedals
Readers will know that I’m a big fan of Brian Mena’s output, and own several of his flagship pedals. Early this year I identified a number of his Mini Pedals that I would really like to add to the collection. I had in mind then the formidable trio of Hindenburg Distortion (Supro Thunderbolt), Simplexity Germanium Harmonic Preamp, and The Thundering Revival Red Snapper -derived Hight Gain Distortion.
As is often my way I like to do these sorts of range overviews to really firm up and rationalise my choices - and to convince myself that I have come to the right conclusions and decisions therefore. I imagine Brian Mena sat in a wood-panelled study - carving out his highly celebrate pipes with one hand, while assembling pedals with the other. Brian very largely these days seems to operate mostly to order / or on commission - as when you check in on his website - a lot of his range is out of stock at any given time.
The only dealer that seems to cover a significant portion of Brian’s Mini Pedals - is Deluxe Guitars of Australia, while since they point-blank refuse to export / send out pedals outside of the island - the only course of action is to send Brian an email to request he make whichever pedals you are after - as an in effect custom order. My understanding is that even though he doesn’t list the full range of his mini pedals on his website - he does have parts for most, and will typically happily make them on commission. I’ve identified 12 varieties, while there may well be one or two more - these for sure though are most of the popular choices - usual details to follow as always :
The Blue Collar Overdrive Mini (Higher Gain, more compressed Red Snapper derivative) - $139
Controls - Level, Drive, Tone.
The Blue Collar came about when customers wanted a slightly higher gain version of the Red Snapper. The evolved circuit adds significant amounts of compression for a more bluesier core mid-gain tonality. It also stacks wonderfully with the original Red Snapper - per the dual channel Fish Factory variants - which I have in the most recent compact vertical format. There is no Mini Blue Collar Overdrive Demo yet - so I've referenced the compact one for now.
Das Boost Mini Single Knob Clean Boost (Boost from TBIAC) - $109
Simply the Clean Boost element from the Top Boost in a Can pedal - with single 'Ascend' knob. Just a really elegant and smooth Clean Boost! No demo exists for this pedal as yet!
Ms. Foxy Brown Mini Overdrive (Fender Brownface Deluxe) - $139
Controls - Volume, Gain, Tone.
Brian's take on the Fender Brownface Deluxe Amp - for some early Fender grit. As Brian says - this circuit sings with copious amounts of midrange, snarl and sass. Ranging from clean boost, through edgy, bluesy breakup and onto all out roar. Again there is no current demo for the Mini version so I refer to an earlier larger version of the circuit.
Fryzzl Fuzz Mini (Jordan Boss Tone) - $129
Controls - Volume, Fuzz, Fryz (Treble-Cut Switch).
Brian's take on the excellent Jordan Boss Tone circuit - with 3 simple controls - including a High Cut toggle switch. A really vibrant full-on texture fuzz with plenty of bass in the signal and a rich harmonic breakup texture. This goes on my wishlist too!
Hindenburg Distortion Mini (Supro Thunderbolt) - $139
Controls - Level, Gain, Tone.
A very decent take on that early Jimmy Page Supro Thunderbolt Amp tone - from the early days of Led Zeppelin. Fat and luxurious tones with a grinding midrange and plenty of bass. The Mini version is the exact same circuit as the full-size version - with the exact same original parts. I've referred to the compact here as there is no equivalent Mini Demo available yet.
JAC JFET Audio Compressor Mini - $129
Controls - Compression, Gain, Volume.
An elegant Mini Compressor where JAC stands for JFET Audio Compressor. It combines superbly with the Red Snapper - a really simple and elegant under-the-radar choice for Mini Compressor.
Mailbomb Mini Envelope Filter - $139
Controls - Depth, Peak, Attack.
A mini version of Brian's Mailbomb Envelope Filter - with one less control than the latest compact edition - which has an additional 4th Decay knob. Another simple and elegant take on that genre.
Pleasure Trem Mini - $139
Controls - Speed, Boost, Depth.
This is essentially a mini version the Pleasure Trem 5000 - a standard Amplitude type tremolo - where the original has a Waveform knob which takes you from Triangular to Square Wave Shape - while the Mini version has an equally useful Boost knob as it's third control. I've had to refer to the compact Demo as none is available for the Mini yet.
Red Snapper Low Gain Transparent Overdrive Mini - $139
Controls - Bite, Gain, Volume.
The Legendary Low Gain Transparent Overdrive pedal first introduce in 1996 - which deserves to be considered alongside the Klon Centaur and Greer Lightspeed as the best of that broader genre. Still a little under the radar for some, and not nearly as ubiquitous as those other celebrated varieties. The mini foregoes the 4th hi-cut control of the compact, but very much delivers that same wonderfully nuanced organic tones!
Shut Up & Drive Mini (Menatone King MIAB) - $139
Controls - Tone, Drive, Volume.
This is supposedly a miniaturisation and simplification of The King MIAB circuit - for some essential Marshall Flavour. It doesn't quite have the full-range extension of the full-size The King equivalents - but still delivers decent coverage of core Plexi and JCM800 tones.
Simplexity Germanium Harmonic Preamp Mini - $149
Controls - HF/Tone, Sensitivity, Volume.
I'm a huge fan of Germanium Transistor overdrives - with their glorious warm and gritty harmonics. This is a great variant of fuzzy-drive or gritty overdrive. And is probably my most wanted Menatone Mini. I've referenced the compact pedal demo here because of lack of a Mini one.
Thundering Revial Mini High Gain Distortion (Red Snapper-derived distortion) - $149
Controls - Tone, Drive, Volume.
The Thundering Revival is supposedly another Red Snapper derived circuit - where Brian wanted to create an elegant distortion - which worked with the amp rather than trying to take it over. Meaning a proper amp-like distortion with minimal output colouring.
Final Thoughts
As is often the way - I went into this exercise thinking that I had 3 essentials on my acquisitions / wishlist - while I've ended up deciding I want 5 here really - with the Fryzzl and Shut Up & Drive added to The Hindenburg, Simplexity and Thundering Revival.
I own 4 of the recent compact evolved vertical editions - the Fish Factory (Red Snapper + Blue Collar), King of the Britains, The King, and TBIAC. I feel the two must-have Menatone pedals are really the Red Snapper and Blue Collar - and I have both of those in my Fish Factory. While I've still to add a number of further Menatone compacts - including the Dirty B, Dumbstruck, Mena-Watt and Wreck'T - and probably Workingman's Blue too!
I tend to cycle around the various brands - as you can't get in everything at the same time - and I really want to give everyone a fair shake. Which means each brand has a period of focus - before I move on with other priorities - and then latterly cycle around again when there are further significant milestones.
So in my next wave of targeting Menatone Pedals - I will likely focus on the Mini contingent - which means that I would then circulate back to the Compacts a number months later - occasionally a year or more - depending on what else is going on.
There's no question that Brian Mena has a fine ear for tone and superior high quality pedal builds - where his pedals are always amongst my favourites. I surely have several more to add to the collection over the next months and years!
Anything here take your particular fancy?
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
