Keeley Compressor

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I bought a keeley 2 knob compressor over christmas time. I like it a lot, but i'm wondering what settings sound best with humbuckers. It seems to really shine w/ my tele but my main guitar is an LP. I'd go inside the pedal and change the attack and clipping too...

any suggestions?

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Keeley Compressor

Tweak. Tweak some more. Pick the best of the two. Tweak some more. Rinse, repeat.

 

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: Keeley Compressor

ah...time...the all inclusive time feature...

 

[FretFire]

Re: Keeley Compressor

I personally run mine with the sustain set fairly low, around 9-10 o'clock, and the level set for unity volume with the pedal bypassed. I rolled the attack trim pot back just a tad so it doesn't immediately clamp down - the stock setting is with an immediate attack.

It really took me a while to bond with this pedal, in fact at one point I sent it off in a trade for something else. That pedal wound up getting lost and not arriving for almost two weeks after I had expected it, in fact the seller filed a claim with USPS. When he did that he also shipped the compressor back to me (nice guy!) and I decided to spend more time with it before I offered it up for trade/sale again. I'm glad I did, I tweaked it more and now it's got a home on my board.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Keeley Compressor

In dealing with a comp pedal and going from singles to buckers the attack control is the key...

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Keeley Compressor

I have a difficult time getting it to work well with humbuckers, and I have a 4-knob version. I know I need to spend more time with it, but for the kind of compression I want with HB I just end up grabbing the Line 6 comp.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Keeley Compressor

I bought a keeley 2 knob compressor over christmas time. I like it a lot, but i'm wondering what settings sound best with humbuckers. It seems to really shine w/ my tele but my main guitar is an LP. I'd go inside the pedal and change the attack and clipping too...

any suggestions?

I think of those things as being most useful for a Tele - or maybe a Strat. But not so much a Les Paul.

Teles and Strats can sound weak and thin sometimes if you can't turn the amp up enough to to thicken the tone - a compressor can help.

But if you can play and shape the tone with your hands, Les Pauls and guitars with humbuckers already have that thick, warm, slightly compressed tone.

It's kind of redundant to use a compressor on an already fat sounding Les Paul or 335 or Gibson style guitar.

Just my opinion.

Lew

 

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Re: Keeley Compressor

thanks for the input guys, i guess i'll just take some more time w/ the comp and find the sweet spot.

do you guys usually use a comp w/ overdrive?

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Keeley Compressor

I find that overdrive is another way of compressing a signal so there is no real need to combine with a compressor - you will also increase the noise level. Too much compression and you lose feel and response.
For me, compressors are great for sound engineers when mastering or mixing. For guitarists, the standard pedal style compressor is used more as a kind of sound effect much like a fuzz or a phaser or whatever. They do tend to be more noticeable with single coil pups than humbuckers. Tube screamers and fuzzes also behave differently with hums/single coils and one particular pedal may just not do justice to certain guitars/pickups.
The compressed sound used often in both funk and country music is quite often played with a strat or tele type axe.
I have long ago ditched the compressor in favour or picking more lightly - spend some hours on this instead of the soldering iron. You may find it a better investment in the long run

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Keeley Compressor

If you want the sound of a compressor no amount of playing technique is going to give you that sound...David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Lowell George, Steve Stevens, Tony Levin, Roger McGuinn, Brad Rice, Keith Urban, Sonny Landreth, and many, many many other great players with killer technique use compressor pedals on a regular basis...

 

[FretFire]

Re: Keeley Compressor

I'm becoming pretty fond of using an OD pedal with the gain set lower for a nice gritty rhythm tone, then hitting it with the Keeley with the level turned up a bit for a solo boost. It thickens up the tone and smooths things out.