We know how to make it fun and easy to play. We know how to make your guitar jump from the mix. We know what it takes to make an instrument sound like it’s been professionally recorded. With well over 80,000 compressors built in our shop we have an expert understanding of compression, limiting, and sustain. It's less known for transparency and regarded more for its signature warmth.The Keeley Compressor is the most popular boutique compressor in the world. While the Boss is rugged, its transistors are not as precisely matched, and it does not use metal film capacitors. The Boss CS-2 is a little less subtle than the Keeley, and is a perennial favorite of chicken pickers who use it on the bridge pickup of their Telecasters. In many other ways, however, the pedals are very similar. The only difference is that Robert Keeley used metal film capacitors instead of ceramic to give it a less-harsh, quieter operation. The Keeley Compressor was actually intended to be a Ross Compressor clone. How does the Keeley Compressor differ from other iconic compressors like the Ross Compressor or the Boss CS-2? Here's a neat little test if you're a Strat player: Put the pickup selector at the 2 "quack tone" position and run it through a Keeley Compressor. If you don't like what the Keeley does to your tone, then you most likely aren't the type of player who would be interested in compressors in general. We would argue, maybe counterintuitively, that a Keeley Compressor is a good place to start since it isn't as divisive as some of the more bold compressors out there. If you've never used a compressor before, you won't know whether it's something you want on your board until you try one. Dynamics and tactile response still come through, which is often a complaint against comps for players who view their hands as the core of their tone. It makes the signal tighter and cleaner, more delicious you might say, without giving itself away. Most ears would hear a rig running a Keeley and think that there was no compressor involved at all. The extremely strict manufacturing standards and high-quality materials used in the Keeley Compressor, along with its circuit design, allow it to operate on a very nuanced level. Some people love this, but for others, this turns them off to the idea of using compressors. The Dyna Comp added its own color to your tone, an addition that most acknowledge as a flaw. Transparency, subtlety and quiet operation. Eight-string master Charlie Hunter, Adrian Belew, Sonny Landreth, Zac Brown and Dave Weiner (of Steve Vai's touring band) are a few other current acolytes of the Keeley Comp. If David Gilmour annointed the MXR Dyna Comp as the compressor of choice throughout the '70s and '80s, the Keeley Compressor emerged as the contemporary choice when tone hound John Mayer, among others, started singing its praises. David Gilmour was known for his use of the sustaining aspect of compressors to give his lead lines a soaring effect (think of his solos from Time, Comfortably Numb or Mother). That's why pedals in this category are often called compressor/sustainers. As the volume falls below a certain threshold when a note or chord is decaying as you hold it, a compressor can increase the volume to sustain it longer. Compressors can also do this trick in reverse. For big rock sounds, limiting the signal can add crunch that makes distortion feel like it's washing over you rather than assaulting you. For quick lines, this adds a feeling of precision (see earlier reference to funk and country). If it crosses that line, it pulls the signal's volume back a bit. Basically, it puts a limit or threshold on how loud your signal can get. If you're unsure exactly what a compressor does, think of it like one of those extendable leashes on an eager dog. Even if you don't play in these styles, having a good compressor on your board opens up a lot of possibilities, even you're happy with the way your rig sounds. Even the emerging djent genre uses a compressor to tight up the bass attack. For snappy funk and chicken pickin' country, a compressor is a defining element of the tone. For some styles, though, compression is almost necessary. For veteran players, the subject of compressors is often a dividing one. For new players with developing ears, compressors often have a mysterious quality about them, since they don't do anything drastic to your sound.
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