Robert Keeley is an American electronics wizard who has begun to carve an impressive niche for himself with his own brand of custom-built effects pedals, and also a neat line in modified versions of a couple of old favourites

The US rock cognoscenti are already well up to speed with Keeley’s work – Stevie Vai and Joe Satriani, for example, are both big fans; both guitarists have added ‘Keeleyized’ Boss distortion and overdrive pedals to their current setups. However, the good news is that Keeley’s work is well within reach of we ordinary mortals on this side of the pond, too. UK and European sales are looked after by Keeley Electronics Europe’s Dave Cartwright, who declared himself well and truly smitten after purchasing a Keeley-modded Boss BD-2 Blues Driver pedal as an ordinary paying customer last summer. We are intrigued indeed…

CONSTRUCTION & FEATURES
For our test we were lucky enough to have a selection of Keeley’s own-brand pedals and a clutch of Keeley-modified classics including several Boss pedals and an Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer. Keeley will gladly sell you a ready-modified unit, but for the more cash-strapped it’s less expensive to send your own pedal away to the factory in Oklahoma, where the modifications start from around £70.

Most of Keeley’s modifications essentially remain respectful to the original manufacturers’ intentions, but Keeley replaces most of the original components with military-spec capacitors and resistors; plus a few extra special tweaks and twists are added in the name of delivering maximum tonal heaven.

Dave Cartwright explains Keeley’s philosophy thus: “Companies like Boss make great pedals, but they obviously have to build them at a price. We replace certain important components to improve the signal path, reduce noise and improve the tone. In the case of the distortion pedals we carefully select and match diodes until we find a pair that is slightly ‘out’ to generate the right type of even order harmonics, making really musical-sounding distortion. In the case of a Boss distortion or Ibanez Tube Screamer, these pedals use carbon composition resistors that are cheap and inherently noisy. We replace these with metal film resistors that are really hi-fi quality. They are a lot more expensive than the standard components but you can notice the difference literally from the moment that you strum the first chord.”

Keeley’s own-brand pedals are similarly highly spec’d. The Java Boost and Time Machine Boost both take their cue from a vintage Dallas Rangemaster Treble Boost (the Rangemaster was a very successful early overdrive pedal as used by Eric Clapton on the legendary 1966 Bluesbreakers Beano LP). The unique point about both units is that Keeley has dipped into its vast stockpile of original 1960s vintage Mullard OC44 Germanium transistors for a totally authentic vibe. (Not every vintage transistor is a haven of tone, though. Those that don’t make the grade are chucked away).

Remarkably, both pedals are studio quiet compared with an original vintage Rangemaster overdrive pedal, which was anything but. The Java’s versatile three-way mode switch engages a version of the original Rangemaster circuit, plus mid-range and full-range boost options.

Again inspired by the Dallas Rangemaster but with wider tonal options, the Time Machine Boost uses more vintage transistors in a circuit with two separate overdrive modes; a ‘1966’ voiced overdrive circuit and a more aggressive ‘1973’ vintage boost. A separate ‘Modern’ channel is also on hand, offering a totally clean yet massive 23dB of boost.

SOUNDS: TIME MACHINE BOOST
More versatile than you might think, the Time Machine’s powerful and clean ‘Modern’ mode is a great way to gently bump up a flagging vintage effects signal chain, but will also wrestle impressive gain levels from even the mildest of tube amps.

This is a real ‘players’ pedal designed for those who like to use tube amps and drive them hard. The ‘Vintage’ channel requires skilled hands to create rich swathes of musical overdrive a la Brian May or Stevie Ray, but beginners or home players limited by volume restrictions should look elsewhere.

SOUNDS: BOSS DS-1SE
The original Boss DS-1 distortion is one of the company’s most popular pedals despite the fact that it sounds primitive and somewhat inflexible in stock trim.

Compared with the relatively brittle standard DS-1, the beefed up version has massively boosted gain and a tone that can only be described as being as fat, warm and juicy as a Sunday roast. For an extra few quid, Keeley will build you an even more intense-sounding DS-1 Ultra (designed for Steve Vai, no less) with extra gain and output. Righteous.

SOUNDS: BOSS SD-1GE GERMANIUM SUPER OVERDRIVE
Out of all of Keeley’s Boss modifications, their Super Overdrive is one of the most impressive. Extensive mods include a vintage Germanium transistor and the same type of Texas Instruments RC4558P microchip as used in the legendary TS-808 Tube Screamer. Very impressive gain levels and a punchy-presence add an exciting wallop to an already overdriven amp.

The difference between this and the standard model is really like night and day, with superlative levels of gain and a broad tonal palette that ranges form an early Clapton growl to a Zakk Wylde roar. Great stuff.

TOUCHY KEELEY
SOMETIMES IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS…
Robert Keeley is no lone tone boffin locked in the shed at the bottom of his garden. No siree, Keeley Electronics employs a total of nine staff who modify countless pedals every month, including customers’ own personal pedals and of course brand-new units featuring Keeley-designed upgrades.

Robert Keeley is involved in every aspect of production, and even personally signs all of his pedals to boot.

GUITAR BUYER CONCLUSION
TAKING THE STRAIN OUT OF DISTORTION TESTING.
THE KEELEY PEDALS HAVE PROFESSIONAL APPEAL.
• Testing distortion boxes can be something of a teeth-grinding exercise, but we are genuinely blown away with Robert Keeley’s work.

• Boss Compact pedals’ massive sales – over eight million in total since they were launched in 1977 – are unlikely to be dented, and indeed for average musos on a tight budget, standard Boss effects will always represent fantastic value.

• If you’re a professional guitarist or have pro aspirations, and you find your own pedals lacking, however, you’ll definitely appreciate the benefits of investing in just one of these fine-sounding, thoroughly road-worthy devices.