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Keeley Compressor - Anyone?

EricF

EricF

Habitual User
Sep 26, 2005
7,829
536
Pasadena, CA
www.myspace.com
#1
Does anyone use one of these? I'm thinking of adding one to my board, but I'm curious to hear what other bass players think of it.

The HC reviews are very favorable (9.7 for sound quality on 168 reviews), but pretty much all from guitar players. I haven't found much in the TB archives.

I had a Punch Factory, but it never sat right with what I wanted - too transparent. I'm intending to use it as an effect rather than a full-time processor.

I could take the cheap route and get an MXR Dyna Comp, but I'm drawn to the build quality of the Keeley.
 
#4
I would highly recommend a Demeter Compulator for nice bass compression or the Analogman BiComp if you want the more Ross style without losing too much low end (and the squeezer side is cool as well).

The compulator is quite different from the Analogman and Keely designs but you might really like it.
 
#5
SMASH said:
The Keeley comp is no good for bass. The lows start to roll off below the "A" so forget it for 5-string especially.

After waiting far to long for mine, I found this problem and he aknowledged the problem and said he was working on a fix for bass (which really should probably just involve adding a capacitor that I'd have done myself if it weren't easier to send it back) and after many delays he finally said he wasn't going to recommend it for bass and I got a refund. Some emails went unreplied and I'd have to send the same thing a few times, so not the customer service I read so many raves about IMO.

Unless he's finally made those changes to it, IMO it's not suitable for bass.
Click to expand...

From the looks of it - at least according to the Keeley website - the pedal has been tweaked for bass players.
 
#6
+1 on the Compulator. Good squeeze, won't distort easily, quiet.

Just aquired a Barber Tone Press this week. Still working with it, but for transparency this is the best I've heard so far. I'll prolly keep it, although a Boss CS-1 has always been my mainstay.

There's a Toadworks Mr. Squishy on its way here soon. Looks interesting as well.
 
#7
I just got the new 4 knob Keeley about a week ago. There is a slight roll off in the bass but I think it starts pretty low, like around 100Hz. I wanted something that would bring down my slap style volume a few dbs, nothing drastic. It does that pretty well. It also makes everything sound a little more articulate. My friends thought that my bass sounded a little brighter with the Keeley on. As far as the bass roll off, I think I'll just boost the bass a little with my onboard. I didn't care for the sound of this pedal on my fretless 5.
 
#9
raymondl3 said:
I just got the new 4 knob Keeley about a week ago. There is a slight roll off in the bass but I think it starts pretty low, like around 100Hz. I wanted something that would bring down my slap style volume a few dbs, nothing drastic. It does that pretty well. It also makes everything sound a little more articulate. My friends thought that my bass sounded a little brighter with the Keeley on. As far as the bass roll off, I think I'll just boost the bass a little with my onboard. I didn't care for the sound of this pedal on my fretless 5.
Click to expand...

Think about it- you boost the bass with your onboard, then you feed it straight into a device that rolls off bass. All you'll get is the frequencies above the rolloff point crossing the threshold even sooner, causing the comp to squash your signal more with no benefit to the lows, and an apparent "loss" of highs.
 
#10
Here is a little test I did using the Waves PAZ Frequency. Tone controls were set flat on the bass with both pickups up full, onboard preamp engaged. I tried playing some open Es until I got two waves of the same velocity.
The program was set to display "peak hold" and I was carefull to reset it between readings. The Keeley was set to the following:
sustain: all the way down
attack: fastest
Level: 9 o' clock
Trim: all the way up (no cut)

The top graph is with Keeley Bypassed
The bottom graph is with the Keeley engaged.
I might be kind of hard to see, but on the graph, from the left it goes 8, 16, 32, 64 Hz... etc.

What does this graphic say about the Keeley compressor's effect on the bass frequencies?
 
#11
Well, it's hard to read accurately because of the small size/low resolution. But if you figure that the open E fundamental is roughly 1/3 of the way between 31 Hz and 62 Hz, I do see a significant drop in dB at that point, with a steeper slope to the drop overall from the 62 Hz point. An even more telling graphic would be from an open low B.

As far as I can tell it confirms what I was saying- maybe you see it differently?
 
#15
I used the Keeley 4-knob for a while, and found myself constantly tweaking the knobs trying to find that "sweet spot" where it evened out the volume across my strings, without killing the volume, and providing that tight punch i like from a comp...I would seem to have it dialed in at one gig, and then the next gig I was fiddling with it again.

I wound up getting a Demeter Compulator and had it dialed in the way I liked it in no time flat, and have basically left it set that way ever since. Much easier (at least for me) to get the sound I wanted out of the demeter than the Keeley.

I sold the Keeley to a guitar player who absolutely loves it...

I wish I would have spent some time with the Keeley and a passive bass (all my gigging basses are active). Just for the heck of it...
 
#16
raymondl3 said:
Can you not right click over the graphic and download it ("save target as..") for a bigger version?
Click to expand...

Oh yes, it works- but the target region (centered ~42 Hz) is not clearly shown. You end up having to roughly eyeball about where the dB/Hz target point is, maybe even holding a piece of paper or a ruler up against the screen. :D

I'm glad you did the test though, it's interesting!

My point earlier was that the Keeley isn't just an "EQ shape" that you can easily readjust, it's a device that dynamically reacts to the levels of your signal- so if you turn up the lows (already the highest amplitude part of your signal) it will just make the Keeley react more and compress more. It compresses your whole signal, not just the offending frequencies, so a big spike in the lows will actually cause the mids and highs to get "swallowed up" as their level is reduced at the same proportion as the boosted lows.

Aside from that, IME with the Keeley there is an actual "cutoff point" just below open E where the fundamental will not get through at all (or at least not at an audible level). If you're playing the lower notes on a 5, boosting the lows will not help the fundamental at all, only its harmonics.
 
#19
A year ago I had a chance to A/B a Keeley and Carl Martin. After half an hour of tweaking and comparing, Carl Martin was the clear winner. IMHO Keeley sounds great with a guitar but it sounds ok at best with bass.
 

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