While the differences may seem subtle, i personally prefer and own the the modded version. Bluesbreaker vs blues driver i have a keeley modded blues driver and its my favorite pedal for soloing, i love the tone alone with humbuckers and run simotaniously with my tube screamer for singles. This popular pedal provides instant access to the kind of warm overdrive and emotive distortion usually. The super phat mod is keeleys inhouse take on the blues driver. Keeley mods a mod with germanium super phat mod 16th. Just like the original, it breaks up sweetly like a tube amp. If waza craft is the flag boss is planting to mark its territory in the world of boutique pedals, then it makes sense to include the companys entry. Its basically just a blues driver but more, a bit like the waza craft but not quite the same voicing and the sweep of the knobs is a bit different. I own keeleys super phat mod bd2 and a bd2w wazacraft. Keeley retro super germanium phat mod robert keeley. The drive remains dynamic and touchsensitive all the way up the dial, thanks to keeleys trademark exclusion of clipping diodes. The keeley boss blues driver bd2 phat mod overdrive pedal if you are familiar with the original boss bd2, you probably wont notice any difference from just taking a quick look at the outside besides the added phat switch and the blue led and thats to be expected as most of the magic in the mod takes place on the inside.
Keeley boss bd2 blues driver overdrive guitar effects pedal p10996. Super phat mod keeley engineering keeley electronics. Thanks to sweetwater representative chris jenkins for always helping me out with me gear purchases. It follows the pattern of the red dirt which is the pinnacle of keeley tubescreamer modification. Keeley bd2 boss blues driver phat mod overdrive pedal modified. I will check out a blues driver in person this weekend and might try mixing it with an sd.
The tube screamer is a nice pedal and i think if it was between a stock bd2 and the tube screamer i would choose the tube screamer. I did try a boss blues driver a while ago and thats also a fantastic pedal, but i think that between the two even a stock sd1 will cover all the grounds. Keeley has made their acclaimed overdrive circuit even better with the super phat mod pedal. However, im happy to report that the keeley super mod workstation takes a sharp left turn from the pack and delivers a surprisingly solid overall experience. The keeley super phat mod is our famous mod now perfected with amazing sounding jfets that emulate old tube amps in a unique way. This is a very versatile pedal offered at a great price. Boss super overdrive discussion in the stomp box started by d. Keeley mod i was looking to buy a boss bd2 with the keeley mod but noticed that boss recently released their waza edition. Robert keeley released the super phat mod full range overdrive. It was done to give players two modes of bass response, with the slight boost it was called the phat mode. A demo comparing a stock bd2 to a keeley modified bd2 with the phat switch both on and off. It is a wonderfully complex circuit that has many layers of tube amp simulation. Among the pedals getting a polishing is the blues driver, which is a more recent addition to the boss family than the other waza craft beneficiaries, but its easy to see why it made the cut.
His new drive combines all his many upgrades to the bd2 in the form of the. The keeley super phat mod full range overdrive is handbuilt in the usa, so i would expect higher quality than pedals massproduced in taiwan. The super phat mod has controls for level, tone and drive, and a toggle switch for flat or phat. The keeley mod upgrades all the components for a warmer, more dynamic tone. I made the choice and got a bd2w instead, i would love to hear the differences vs the spm pedal. Keeley has made their acclaimed overdrive circuit even better meet the super phat mod pedal. Keeley electronices katana blues drive tone report. At the heart of the keeley retro super germanium phat mod is our germanium amplifier stage. The boss version strikes a great balance between affordability, durability, and versatility. The katana blues drive still retained the active bass and treble controls but.
In its time, it has inspired pedal tinkerers, builders, and even its own parent company to make the humble overdrive even better. Though it is specific to the amp to a point, cranked gain stages of the katana blues drive remind me of a jtm 45 run to the hiltwhich is a welcome, serendipitous slice of sonic life. I would like to have 2 or 3 different options to play around with. Id say the bd2w is the winner, its custom mode really cant be beat. Modded ts9, boss sd1, boss ds1, keeley blues driver, carl martin rock drive. The super phat mod is keeleys inhouse take on the blues driver following the original pedals topology but upgrading some of key components. The bd2s distortion may be a little abrasive to some ears unless you shell out extra for the keeley phat mod.
Dec 21, 2016 the legacy continues with the super phat mod, which progresses the blues driver circuit even further, delivering more of everything you expect out of a timetested keeley design. Interestingly, the result is somewhat similar to keeleys oxblood. Germanium super phat mod handbuilt edition starts shipping monday, february 12, 2018. Then keeley produced the regular goldcoloured super phat mod pedal, which was a soupedup version of the same circuit, tweaked by robert and his crew.
The keeley bd2 was the first mod that had a switch. Gpx blog 12 of the best blues driver style pedals guitar pedal x. Nov 18, 2016 the keeley super phat mod is our famous mod now perfected with amazing sounding jfets that emulate old tube amps in a unique way. Keeley super phat mod transparent overdrive in its most refined state. View profile view forum posts tone member join date mar 2004 location uk age 39 posts 187. Personally, i love the sound, but it doesnt have any extra modes or.
Does anyone know what, exactly, components keeley swapped out on the blues driver, and to what. The retro super is ultra responsive and has maximum dynamic gain. This could be one to check out if you want a versatile overdrive with an already proven heritage. Oct 07, 2006 i have the keeley bd2 and just got an od3, and they are both superb at what they do.
The humble boss bd2 blues overdrive is popular in its own right. The keeley bd2 has been on my board for some time, great pedal, at its best at lower gain. Keeley has evidently decided once again to come up with its own take on the circuit. The keeley super phat mod overdrive takes the original circuit up a notch, with vastly improved dynamics that have kept players captivated for over a decade. The super mod workstation is an exercise in swirly opulence. Its a wellthoughtout smorgasbord of sonic handicraft. Oct 24, 2010 after the super boutique bb preamp and the more mundane boss sd1, the next tube screamer alternative to be featured on guitar tone overload is somewhere in the middle born in the boss factories and modified in the workshop of mister keeley, the boss bd2 blues driver overdrive is not a tube screamer copy but a different machine as you will gather from the demo videos b. From the research i did when i was looking at bd pedals it seems like the keeley super phat mod and the boss waza are very similar sounding. The first blues driver i had was the diminutive mooer blues mood in fact a mooer mini clone of the keely blues driver mod which added a fat switch to boost the lowend frequencies and upgraded some of the cheaper components to give a more rounded and even tone profile. The bd2 blues driver delivers the creamy, yet crunchy sound associated with great blues guitar. Bd2 blues driver guitar pedal the perfect tone for blues the bd2 blues driver delivers the creamy, yet crunchy sound associated with great blues guitar. And with an updated jfet gain circuit, the super phat mod is more dynamic and responsive than ever. In praise of the humble, underrated boss blues driver.
As mentioned, the keeley mod is the fat switch now part of roberts own super phat mod pedal, while brian wamplers and mike pieras. Both these pedals are cheap and a worthy investment imo. The general consensus i found online was that it was basically a coin flip between the waza and keeley and that both were more liked than the original bd. The keeley compressor plus adds just the right amount of. One of his most popular modifications, the phat mod, was to the boss bd2 blues driver, where he tweaked the components to reduce the noise. The keeley retro super reads your fingers and mind to give you supernatural quantities of gain. Its a great time to upgrade your home music studio gear with the largest selection at. Not only does it act as a regular compressor, limiting the peaks in your playing, it adds more and more gain as notes fade out. A thorough comparison of the classic boss bd2 blues driver. Born in the boss factories and modified in the workshop of mister keeley, the boss bd2 blues driver overdrive is not a tube screamer copy but a different machine as you will gather. This time it uses a tungsram ac125 germanium transistor to improve the tone even. The tone control is a little more nasal than the blues driver s, but the difference, while discernible, is small. The boss bd2 blues driver is an extremely popular overdrive pedal, set up as a competitor to the ts9 tubescreamer.
Sweet spot johnny hiland super drive overdrive batch 2. Sep 12, 2017 then keeley produced the regular goldcoloured super phat mod pedal, which was a soupedup version of the same circuit, tweaked by robert and his crew. The super phat mod od promises to emulate the warm, tubedriven magic of vintage amps, providing players with naturalfeeling breakup, rich harmonic content, and dynamic, transparent. The keeley compressor plus is a compressor with an expandersustainer. The legacy continues with the super phat mod, which progresses the blues driver circuit even further, delivering more of everything you expect out of a timetested keeley design. After 15 years of tinkering with the original pedal, robert keeley released the super phat mod full range overdrive the super phat mod is inspired by the original bd2 sound, came with the expected gain, level, and drive knobs, as well as a flat to phat toggle that fully integrated the notorious bass boost of. The latest chapter in the bd2 history was written by its most hailed modder. The fulltone full drive 2 is also a nice pedal as well as the reverend train.
The bd2 blues driver is one of the earliest keeley modified pedals. Its a fuzz, its a drive, and its a cranked amp all in one. After the super boutique bb preamp and the more mundane boss sd1, the next tube screamer alternative to be featured on guitar tone overload is somewhere in the middle. If you have a mesa lone star, fender amp and a strat i would urge you to try this out. Dec 12, 2005 both these pedals are cheap and a worthy investment imo. This popular pedal provides instant access to the kind of warm overdrive and emotive distortion usually reserved for 30yearold tube amps. I have a super overdrive, but it can really be over the top crunch if you dont watch outand its got a. Dec 11, 2014 the drive remains dynamic and touchsensitive all the way up the dial, thanks to keeleys trademark exclusion of clipping diodes. Boss bd2 blues driver overdrive w keeley mod reverb. Unfollow blues driver keeley to stop getting updates on your ebay feed.
Keeley super phat mod overdrive andertons music co. If you want something really special get the keeley mod on the blues driver i have it and its very good, i have a crowther bluesberry hotcake as well but it gets a bit muddy and im leaning more towards the keeley bd these days. I have a blues driver already, so i dont particularly want to buy a brand new super phat mod pedal. When the humble boss overdrive isnt occupied with wailing blues licks. In praise of the humble, underrated boss blues driver reverb news. The original pedal was a great design that features tubelike amp stages, tube amp tone stacks, and a variety of tone shaping circuits to bring out the best in any guitars pickups. I know this one has jfet but i dont even know what is in the blues driver, so i guess side by side they should sound different.
Keeley modded blues drivers are used by many great players all over the world if youve ever watched that pedal show, youll know how. An optional secondary phat mod adds a switch for introducing more bass into the tone. Best thing is to go and try them, its all personal. Germanium super phat mod hand built edition robert keeley. One of the best parts is that it has tremendous volume output. September 2017 marks keeleys 16th year designing pedals. Finally, the keeley mod has a blue light rather than a red light. Ive found so much conflicting information online, and im wondering if anyone has definitive information about the old keeley bd2 phat mod.
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