Keeley Bassist

[Super4]

Hi guys and gal's,
I've got a Keeley Bassist in the mail which should arrive this coming week.
I've based my purchase on the brand names reputation, excellent reviews online and You Tube vids (using good headphones).

I feel ive made a good choice/purchase but was wondering what the opinion from the owners of this pedal are

Many thanks in advance, cheers

 

[BassAdder27]

It’s a great compressor. Thry had some quality issues on some batches that had “ noise” issues on the compressed note tails but I think they cured that.
Works really well

 

[MartinB]

It's brilliant. It takes care of the settings that can be tricky to dial in without an experienced ear (attack, release, knee) and leaves you with just the important bits:
1. How hard do I need to play before compression starts?
2. How much compression do I want when that happens?
3. Do I want to overall signal to sound louder, quieter, or the same when the pedal is active?

 

[Bodeeni]

I use one live, always on, every gig.

 

[feelow61]

Nice compressor. It's easy to use and works well.

 

[sheesh]

I have the Keeley compressor pro and maybe I over stepped and should have selected the Bassist instead. Maybe.

 

[instrumentlevel]

If you are going for a tonally transparent compressor that won’t dramatically change the attack or decay characteristics of your playing a lot until you get into high compression ratios (except, of course, for lowering the volume!), it will be great for you. If you’re going for a more colored sound, it may not fit the bill.

Personally, I love it. It’s an always-on pedal for live, and I use it (or the DBX160 it’s modeled after) whenever I record. In fact, I love it so much I bought a second one so I don’t have to yank it off my pedalboard when I don’t want to haul the board along.

 

[Matt Morgan]

I use one live, always on, every gig.

Same here. I can’t recommend it enough to every bass player I know.
Super simple, totally transparent and just works.

 

[BassicJazzy]

Excellent compressor. It is simple to use, does the basic job very well. I would say it's excellent for performance, not quite as good for recording, because it lacks some of the nuances that the more robust compressors offer.

 

[darwin-bass]

You bought one of THOSE? Dude, that was dumb.




KIDDING - Totally Kidding. You made a great choice! The Keeley Bassist is a very solid compressor that does the job with minimal fuss and minimal artifacts. Just a couple of knob tweaks and your have a well behaved bass signal that will sit in the mix better. I've had two of them myself and have recommended them to friends who are still friends.

Once I played with compression, I never wanted to go back. It is my always-on effect.

 

[getBAK]

Best compressor on the market for live performance.

 

[jbybj]

What they ^ said. All of it.

 

[prndltech]

It’s simple and it just works. Except the LED, it works a little too well! Nothing a little white out, nail polish or tape can’t fix.

If I ever go back to an analog compressor, that’ll be the one.

 

[Goatrope]

I keep taking it off my board to try others, and so far have always put the Keeley Bassist back in play. Last attempt was with the UA Teletronix LA-2A. It is simple, and had some cool features, like the mix, but I missed how the Keeley sounded.

The Keeley is super simple, and sounds good. I have a little difficulty finding a sweet spot for when it kicks in, but it's easy enough to move the knob a bit if needed.

 

[Medicine Man]

I've been using mine for quite some time. Very simple and effective for live use. I use it as a limiter to tame down peaks for when I get out of hand on stage.

 

[Thom Fioriglio]

Keeley Bassist has a great reputation around here and is highly recommended. I like it's simplicity. Three knobs and easy to dial in your settings. Set and forget and always on. As others have said, it is transparent, meaning other compressors may color your tone. The Bassist doesn't.

 

[Super4]

Wow, thank you to everyone for your replies.
I cant wait to receive the pedal now.
This pedal gets so much love online too...sounds like Mr Keeley has created another classic.
Awesome, thanks everyone.

 

[Guiseppe]

I keep taking it off my board to try others, and so far have always put the Keeley Bassist back in play. Last attempt was with the UA Teletronix LA-2A. It is simple, and had some cool features, like the mix, but I missed how the Keeley sounded.

The Keeley is super simple, and sounds good. I have a little difficulty finding a sweet spot for when it kicks in, but it's easy enough to move the knob a bit if needed.

Interesting comparison. I just bought the UA Teletronix with the intent I'd use it as a limiter on the end of my chain. I'll have to give it a shot in the front of the chain as a compressor and see what my thoughts are. (I've never used a Keeley limiter, I've seen lots of good comments on them over the years.)

 

[PCR]

Great pedal, you can't go wrong.
I had a Bassist on my live rig, and a GC-2 on my home practice rig for over 10 years. Personally, I couldn't hear the difference between the two, and the two were awesome compressors. Super easy to dial in because the knobs actually did something.
I recently replaced them with MXR M87 because I wanted more control of attack and release, but quite honestly, it didn't make that much of a difference.

 

[Super4]

Mine arrives in the morning so I'm really looking forward to plugging her in and having a fiddle.
I'm using an 800watt Genzler amp with a Genzler 1000watt 4 x 10 that has a poopie load of power. My gorilla hand can produce some pretty mean peaks so I need some speaker protection as well as a smoothing off of the roller coaster dynamics I produce.
Sounds like this pedal will do the trick.