Keeley Introduces Phaser

[kenstee]

Sounds pretty cool..........

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http://www.robertkeeley.com/product.php?id=57


"This is the first OTA 6-stage Analog phaser with TAP TEMPO and LESLIE STYLE RAMP! This is a chance to get a truly innovative pedal at a great price! $249 unmodded

The Keeley Electronics Phaser is a 100% analog signal path pedal, with modern features, like tap tempo.

The Keeley Phaser boasts a 6-stage analog phasing circuit based on OTA IC's. Phasers with these circuits are known for very rich and deep phaser sounds. The phasing is not as mechanical as their JFET cousins and this contributes greatly to their lush sound. The Keeley Phaser has a beautiful resonant response in the slow speeds and a sonorous shimmer at the faster settings.

While we were working on the sound, we were also looking for new methods of control. Features like speed ramps and tap tempos were what we had in mind. We tried creating some of these features without digital help at first. It soon became apparent that this was very limiting.

What we wanted the digital circuitry to feel like was an "Invisible Hand" turning the knobs on your completely analog effect. This is very much what we achieved with the Keeley Phaser. Your signal is never sampled, your sound never deconstructed. It's as if an impossibly good guitar tech adjusted your phaser to the exact speed you were tapping.

In addition to the tap tempo feature we added a ramp that allows you to merge seamlessly between two different speeds. We were looking for something similar to the brake on a Leslie. This feature turned out to be way more fun than we expected!

This is a design idea from our long time friend David Szabados who was my partner on the entire Time Machine Boost pedal. He also cre
The original idea for the Keeley Phaser came from Nathanael Medlam, the Keeley Modifications Team Manager. His idea was a phaser that had the same lush sound as the old phasers like the Maestro. But with some nice modern touches like a lower noise profile and a case that was pedal board friendly.

We first experimented with tried and true method of creating phase, the JFET circuits.

We realized to create the phaser sound we wanted we needed two things,

1. More stages than the customary 4

2. The more classic phaser approach, using OTA's
digital control. We came up with this first try at a single board design."

[markjazzbassist]

way cool. i'm going to wait and see what people say about it, but this sounds like something up my alley with the leslie ramping and tap tempo.

i'm very happy with my vintage small stone, so this would have to be very lush and thick sounding to sway me.

[Holy War]

pics?

[kenstee]

Here you go........

[Jared Lash]

Color me totally interested. The features I asked Mario for in my custom phaser (that at this point may not ever be built - he's got a lot on his plate) were:

OTA based
Six Stages
Ramp control like on the Jet Phaser, Halophaze and Maestro PS-1A
Plenty of depth for use on bass

Outside of the last point (which I've already emailed Keeley about) it seems to have everything I want, plus tap tempo.

[markjazzbassist]

jared if you give it a shot, let me know what you think. i really just hope the tone is there, like a nice thick old school small stone vibe. that would make all those extra's so much more worthwhile.

here's to hoping!

[rratajski]

I wrote to them about a week ago asking if they were going to do an expression pedal for the ramping. They emailed back stating that they were coming out with a larger, more suped-up version of this phaser, but they think the exp control will control the 'edge'.

[pasta4lnch]

looks VERY cool!

[kenstee]

Also seem to have a mod: "$75 - DS-ULTRA. We modify your pedal Item # DS-Ultra, MOD" Not sure what it is though.

There is a downloadable Quick Start Guide at http://www.robertkeeley.com/product.php?id=57 about mid-way down the page.

Can't wait to hear some BASS samples though! The key question: Will it be Larry Graham time a la Jet Phaser or not?


Keeley Phaser Specification
Power Consumption
 Max Voltage ………………..…9Vdc
 Avg. Current Draw………….50mA
Rates
 Max Phase Time*……………..…20s
 Min Phase Time…………….82ms
 Max Ramp Time………….…….13s
Dimensions
 Width
in [mm]………………..3.7 [93]
 Length
in[mm]……………….4.6[118]
 Weight
lbs……………………………0.9
*Max phase time are only valid for knob mode.
Longer phase times are possible in tap mode.

Introduction to the Keeley Phaser

What is an edge knob anyway?
Sometimes when working on an effect,
there are controls that really do great
things to the sound of your guitar but
don’t really conform to the traditional
labels. Should we discriminate against
these controls? Should we call them
what they are not? We say no!
Our edge knob is two things…
One part depth control, changing the
phase from a more subtle effect, to one
that is full out spacey as the knob
moves clockwise.
The other part is envelope filter,
changing where the signal is phased the
hardest. At the farthest setting clock-
wise, your highs are most enhanced.
When turned fully counter-clock, the
low end of your phaser gets the boost.

This is an
analog pedal. The only
hybrid-digital circuitry we use
in it controls the flow of the
analog signal. But your guitar
tone is never sampled and
remains 100% analog
throughout the pedal

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by markjazzbassist

jared if you give it a shot, let me know what you think. i really just hope the tone is there, like a nice thick old school small stone vibe. that would make all those extra's so much more worthwhile.

here's to hoping!

That's pretty much my take on it. The Halophaze always looked amazing to me, both visually and in terms of features but it's tone sounded too much like a script circuit for my tastes. I feared that it would sound amazing on guitar (which it does) and underwhelming on bass (which it did - at least during my brief time with it) so I'm hoping the Keeley has a darker, thicker and deeper phase tone. If so, I'll definitely be buying one.

[Holy War]

my interests are peaked right now. Ive always kind of shyed (sp?) away from phasers in the past, but this looks very promicing, and with Rob's track record, I have high hopes for this one.

[kenstee]

Their Press Release:


"Keeley Phaser Begins Shipping Monday, Jan. 04, 2010
January 04, 2010

The Keeley Phaser is the first OTA analog phaser with tap tempo and Leslie style ramping. The control of the pedal is separated into two modes: Tap mode and Ramp mode. In Tap mode, the pedal's phase rate can be controlled by a tap tempo or the speed knob. The Keeley Phaser is the first analog phaser to offer both tap tempo and speed knob options in one pedal. The tap tempo is capable of producing very slow speeds. The slowest phasing recorded to date is ten minutes, which appears to be the record for an analog phaser! When using ramp mode, the second footswitch becomes a way to change between fast and slow speeds that are set by knobs on the pedal. Users can switch between two speeds in an instant or have the pedal gradually go between speeds.

OTA style phasers are well known for their lush sound and shimmery characteristics. This six stage phaser delivers with great sound in any mode. High quality components are used in every part of the signal path.

Specifications:

* 6 stage OTA phasing circuit
*
* Tap tempo
*
* Extremely long phase times (with the tap)
*
* Leslie style ramping
*
* 2 speeds (in Leslie mode)
*
* 9-volt battery or standard negative tip adapter
*
* Backed by Keeley's 5 year warranty
*

Again, we are shipping the first pre-orders of the Keeley Phaser on Monday, January 4, 2010. The current price is $249.00."

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by Jared Lash

Color me totally interested. The features I asked Mario for in my custom phaser (that at this point may not ever be built - he's got a lot on his plate) were:

OTA based
Six Stages
Ramp control like on the Jet Phaser, Halophaze and Maestro PS-1A
Plenty of depth for use on bass

Outside of the last point (which I've already emailed Keeley about) it seems to have everything I want, plus tap tempo.

Got a reply back from Scott Murphy of Keeley. He said he had tried out their phaser on bass a while back but didn't remember enough to answer my questions so he tried it last night with a P-bass and an Ampeg rig. According to him the phasing was deep and clear and similar to the Maestro phaser. Also that he got a feel close to that of an envelope filter with the edge knob cranked and the speed set slow.

The last note was that they would probably be more bass testing soon. I will definitely be checking this one out.

So going from not buying anything new this year I've now bought three pedals and plan to buy two more since I'll definitely check out both the new Quasar and the Keeley phaser. Oh well.