Extensive compressor reviews and FAQ

Keeley: Among guitarists, this is probably the most positively-reviewed pedal ever, but bassists have not gotten into it as much. I got the four-knob version; the regular model has attack and input trim pots on the inside, but those controls are very important for getting good response from a bass, so having those pots accessible on the outside is a very nice feature. Overall the tone of this pedal is exactly like another boutique Ross clone I reviewed, the Retro-Sonic. It has fairly clear highs, a punchy boost to the mids, and good sustain, but there is some noticeable rolloff of the lows. Also there is some noise, but it's not bad; although it does seem to amplify preamp noise from my active bass more than some other comps. With a four-string bass, live on stage, the lows would be sufficient, and the hiss would not be noticed. But if you play a 5, or detune, or record with it, those issues are audible.
 
It's not an extreme compressor, it's mostly suited to light or medium compression, although it can be pushed if you want. Just as with the other Rosses, I feel it's best suited to fretless jazz players or anyone for whom shiny high-end articulation is most important. The Keeley actually has a lot more natural "action" than the Retro-Sonic, I'm not sure why. The construction quality is top-notch, and the footswitch is true bypass. The one downside to having the four knobs on top is they are easy to accidentally turn while stepping on the footswitch, but that was unavoidable with such a small sized pedal. Actually, the more I work with this pedal the more I love the fullness, brightness, and harmonic richness it adds to the mids and high mids. If it weren't for the noise and low-end loss, this would be one of my favorites by far. I tried replacing the input cap with a higher value, but unfortunately that did not improve the low end at all; it only resulted in a boost to the mids and some attenuation of the highs. Replacing the output cap with a larger value may be a solution (see the Barge RC-2).
 

 
 
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