Hi

I see toyz has the fish back in stock. I read on Tone Pilot that Menatone stopped making these because they weren't cost effective to make as a PTP pedal.

So are the new ones PCB? And if so is there any change.

Also could a someone discuss the switching of the pres -- to a switch. Is there enough variance with just 3 settings.

Cheers

I didn't open mine to check if it's PCB, maybe someone else can shed some light on that (or I'll check later).
But you don't need to worry about the pres switch, because there isn't one. Or a cut switch. It's more like a 'Fish Factory Lite'. I'm still keeping it because it sounds good, but its a let-down for sure.
Here's a pic of mine:

fishfactory.jpg (63 Kb, 432 downloads)

Duh... it says 'point-to-point wired' right on the front of the pedal

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks to me like the two switches are both on/off for each "side", no toggle right? So if that's the case with both of them on they are stacked...I'm assuming. I can't believe you have the gain maxxed on both of them. WOW!

ben,

i am sorry for the confusion. i sent teddy
some new pics but he hasn't gotten them up
yet. he is a busy guy.

the new pedal is meant to keep the retail cost down. if we were to reissue the old fish factory
it would have to cost in the $350.00 range.
we asked a lot of people and desided that the
pres and cut switches could be fixed in the
middle. these switches were pretty subtle anyway.

as for the footswitching function, almost everyone who bought the old version asked why
both pedals could not be on at the same time.
this new switching not only has the same fuction
as the old but now gives new sounds not available on the old fish. try setting the
gains lower and use the both on function as
your highest gain setting.

hope this clears things up. we are working on
our web page now, hopefully it will be up in
about a week.

brian
menatone

7832.jpg (100 Kb, 299 downloads)

ahhhh man....Now I have to get this one to....I LOVE my "old" fish factory but have always wanted to stack....I usually have the presence switch "on" on the blue collar while leaving the snapper switch in the middle...

Thank you for the reply.

This clears things up greatly.

Thanks for clearing things up Brian!
I've never played through the original Fish Factory, so I just felt like, "Hey, where are the pres. and cut switches!". I'm actually glad to hear the differences they made were subtle- I don't feel like I'm really missing out on anything. I will definately try having a lower gain setting on the Snapper side (or the Blue side)... I'm just having a hard time figuring out which tone I like for higher gain at the moment- hence why in the pic above I had them both maxed out. I had a rehearsal this weekend and I really went between the 2 to see which was more my taste and I just liked them both too much to come to a decision as to which one would be my lower gain side.
I want to make it clear though, that this is the best sounding overdrive pedal I've played through, both at low and at high volumes. It sounded great in the house, and great at rehearsal volume in the practice space. It actually makes my Visual Sound pedal sound completely fake, not that I expected a lot from it (although it is quite versatile).
Now when are you coming out with a 'Dirty Blonde' / 'King of the Britains' combo pedal? I'd be more than happy to test it out

-Ben

quote:

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Now when are you coming out with a 'Dirty Blonde' / 'King of the Britains' combo pedal?

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Hear hear! Yeah -why not any 2 of your pedals in one box? (I'm kidding of course, but one can dream -the Mena Custom Shop!) Looking forward to your site's grand opening, Brian.