Added: 3 years ago
From: JustinSandercoe
Views: 246,094
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (443)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • Hey it's Roger Waters!

  • Giving serious thought to buying a keeley blues driver, just wondering if its worth it though as I havent got a tube amp. Any thoughts?

  • not much difference at all on this video

  • Cool accent! Where is it from?

  • @skurtix england?

  • @RafoRamone No you think? There's more than one dialect in England mate!

  • I tried both and kept the Keeley one. Fat switch really adds the bass sound. You need to try it on a larger amp (speaker). Keeley rules!

  • I would like to hear some single not lead stuff.

  • you should've turned both of them on

  • WAAAAY too much talking, dude. It's 3:10 before you play a note! Most of us know how to use a pedal, just get on with the comparison.

    BTW, I couldn't tell a lick of difference between the two over YouTube, so I think I'll just leave mine stock.

  • Comment removed

  • @lucypitbulloakland From what I'm hearing on a bunch of Keeley Demos of the Blues driver, it seems the original has more dirt and gain to it.

    Although I usually use the Blues Driver as a "signal buffer" for my 2010 Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, I have enjoyed using the amp clean channel and cranking the Blues Driver as the distortion sound.

  • @lucypitbulloakland ok, point taken.

  • rolling stones tone  ;p

  • Sorry Justin, but in my opinion the true sound of this pedal is not that.

  • This amp goes up to eleven! Haha love it, thanks for the review.

  • @bigbourgeois i never put my amp above 3 so 11 wouldent help me ( i dont put on 3 even when im playing live ) 150wts. is enough power for me

  • suenan igual estas weas

    

  • sounds so much like Austin Powers

  • Skip to 3:13

  • @UltimateGuitarist17 thx bud!

  • oh no not u again speak speak speak!

  • Keeley>>God. No offense meant ;) 

  • youll hear the difference if youre actually driving a tube amp

  • that's not sound different..

    both is same sound..

  • Rolling Stones!

  • you should have ran the keeley bd2 and then push it further with the stock one. that would have been interesting to hear! i thought thats what ya were gonna do at the end!

  • i got the boss blues driver for christmas and it broke straight away, not sure whats wrong with it, just doesn't work for some reason.

  • @riku11 did you get an exchange? could be too late if you waited till now...

  • @sunp No not yet, i got it from amazon and like Giveintometal said "5 year warranty."

    But, i found out my dad has chucked the box away and tried fixing it himself because he's a bit of a tool, so it might go back in pieces (if they'll have it back, which i doubt)

  • great review...

  • Hee hee, just won an online auction for a Boss GT-10 which, apparently, won't make me a better player.

  • what does that switch do again ?

  • @retardedsatan667 I do believe it's a fat switch. Giving it a bit more low end and a fatter tone :)

  • Justin, how do these pedal's work with single coils?

  • You are seriously helpful and awesome at video's. This helps me alot. I have also learnt the whole of Sultans of Swing now thanks to you. Thanks alot Justin :) Your awesome!

  • To Much Talkin plug in and Play ccccc

  • Nice job dude !

  • This guy is good for pedals, he doesn't show off with some stupid blues scale he does what people want to see when you want to check a pedal out

  • press f5 to skip ads. ;]

  • thing sounds pissa. btw love your lessons

  • google ads suck dick

  • almost sounds the same, the differance is very VERY minimal, how much did it cost to get the mod done?

  • @tkdbender google keeley and you can order direct from him

  • @tkdbender 65$

  • Keeley actually makes the best crompressors you can find...

  • @leobalestrin

    While Keeley's compressor DOES sound good, I can name two that are better. Google the Effectrode compressor (expensive!) and the Visual Sound Compressor. It's my opinion that Keeley's compressor sounds WAY overly-bright and is pretty metallic sounding. There are however, effects that Keeley makes that are top-o-the-notch effects.

  • are you a canadian dude?

  • @MrLogan2martin he's british

  • @leobalestrin oh haha he sounds kinda like one! but nevermind XD

  • @leobalestrin He's from Tasmania, off the coast of Australia.

  • @MrLogan2martin Tasmanian

  • i really did not hear much difference between the two boxes!

    all hype?

  • so if you have a BOSS ME 50 its like if you already have those right?

  • these pedals sound like shit though if you dont have a half way decent amplifier. For example this man has a mesa boogie. Play these through a solid state amp and its no better than the distortion channel on your amp.

  • @Gradey3 Solid State always sounds like shit. It's not a distortion pedal, it works better with tube amps because it's an overdrive, not a distortion. But let's just be honest, everything sounds like shit through a solid state, and if you have a solid state amp, no pedal will change the shittyness of the sound

  • @micsan28 I couldn't agree more my friend.

  • @micsan28 except for the Roland Jazz Chorus.

  • @micsan28 first stage of your amplification is what matters because it is generally the largest (1:100 typically). solid state (of good quality) gives you a very accurate gain but that sounds boring (cold and sterile). A good tube preamp with some solid state after makes a big difference, adds a little "tube warmth" (which is technically a form of distortion, if I were to put my engineering hat on).

  • @micsan28

    Roland Jazz Chorus?

  • @micsan28 100% acc-u-rate. I've never heard a solid state tone that made me say, "I want that amp."

  • Comment removed

  • @dashofchutmeg

    Ibanez TBX150H

  • @jonboyyyyyy This amp sounds terrible! It sounds like a BOSS Metal Zone!

  • @dashofchutmeg -- go play through a Roland Jazz Chorus.

  • @rovibe Okay, okay. But that's one pedal.

  • @micsan28 --You've obviously never played through a vintage Roland Jazz Chorus. Killer cleans, and loves pedals. Not for metal/hard rock, but solid state and pedal friendly nonetheless. I pair mine with an old JCM 800. Try it.

  • I have a dual overdrive ds-2 boss (discontunued) ..works like two pedals and has the thicker mids like the keeley. BTW..my last name is Keeley also!

  • Beats all the other Blues Driver reviews.

  • Surprisingly I kind of preferred the stock model in a few aspects. I have one and it works great, I have a thick rhythm tone and I use this as a boost/od for solos, and it kicks it up to a 'lead friendly' bandwidth. It's surprising at how much snarl that thing has, and I happen to disagree with our dear host - if you indeed had a metal gig to play and only had a BD, you'd be surprised at how legit it can sound in that context.

    Just don't expect SRV out of it - get a Delta Labs tube box, legit!

  • Thanks for posting this.

  • Thanks for the demo.

  • a boss distortion when you have a mesa boogie, dont tell me this is because you dont like the sound of mesa.

  • sometimes , you just need a different tone dude....

  • I have reason to believe te BOSS is the best pedal ever. It can turn any guitar into gold. I use it everytime I go to the guitarcenter. I use my $120 Squier.

  • @RastafariPoet

    wooooow really? you probably play through a solid state fullstack too huh?

  • well i can tell you haven't played long lol...boss is considered one of the most durable pedals, but they're all just plug-n-play...they sound good at most settings, but not great...just too digital for me.

  • A year

  • Great demo man, really helpful! Gotta say, you have great stuff up here on youtube. I just ordered the Boss DS-1 Keeley mod and I think I'm going for this one next. What are your thoughts on the Ibanez TS9 Keeley ultra mod?

  • i got the ts7 by keeley and i recommend it, the pedal sound exactly like a tubescreamer should sound.

  • What does Robert Keeley do with the pedals?

    Is there something he changes? because I've always heard that just the standard Boss pedals are pretty good too.

  • Not sueabout the RK Pedals. But I'd say the BOSS pedal is perfect by itself.

  • iv modded a lot of pedals.. and sometimes i wonder about the improvements... its depends on the rest of your gear as aswell. you may not hear the subtle differences in modded pedals with a practice amp and cheap pickups.

  • very useful demo, thanks

  • I'm planning to get a Boss Blues Driver after trying one out on a couple of occasions.

    I know the camera mic isn't going to do justice to these pedals but I honestly couldn't say I was able to notice the overall difference on a large enough scale and more to the point, able to say I preferred the sound of the keeley pedal enough to fork out the extra money.

    To me, it sounds like there is a slight bass lift and something in the upper mids to smooth it out a bit further.

  • To clarify: I'm just not sure after being more or less 100% happy with the pedal I tried out that I'd want a slight low boost and an upper mid range boost. I think whether or not this is useful would depend on the amp/guitar combination used and I'm unconvinced how beneficial boosting the low end is in a band situation and I've often found tinkering with the upper mids can lead to what we think of as a 'processed' sound.

    If anyone else has experience with both pedals, I'd be interested to hear.

  • I bought the Blues Driver after trying it in the store and liking it. Unfortunately, using it in a live setting a few times (as opposed to just demoing it in Guitar Center) exposed how brittle and thin the stock pedal is. I sent it to Keeley and had it modded, and the difference was night and day to my ears. Nice and full sounding, with no more "ice pick in the ears". I would have never used the stock Blues Driver again if I hadn't read about the Keeley mod. Worth every penny!

  • @thejakeludwig

    for me the difference between the original pedals compared to the keeley modded ones aren't that significant for me to pay all that extra money for. but keeley's own pedals such as the katana or his 4 knob compressor are GREAT pedals.

  • @thejakeludwig are you an idiot? Keeley is famous for there mods. they have a website and he even builds pedals that sell on musicians friend and other websites. Im sorry your ears are not trained enough on tone to notice the difference. Maybe you should now what your talking about.

  • Sounds like you can get some good Rolling stones tones with that pedal! Start me up, I can definitely hear that sound.

  • Outstanding review! You really did a nice job comparing the two. I love the Keeley mod, it does have a distinct low end sound. It also allows the notes to come through even when the gain is maxed out. Thanks!

  • 4:00 WHat song?

  • brown sugar i think

  • Very helpful, thanks a lot.

  • I love Justin's videos. Thanks, man!

  • thank you for a great review. Very nicely done.

  • A really fine review...

    I never considered a Boss Blues Driver until now.

    Not a bad way to go... you could do a lot worse!

  • sutil

  • In other words which of these two pedals works best with a thick sounding but none the less "transister" amp. Keeley or the basic? or what other pedals

  • I have a transistor amp called a Polytone, I not only love it with a clean sound but I have heard others use a dirty sound with it and love that to I love that amp it gets almost a tube sound but is transistor, The amp I have doesn't have distortion built in like some Polytones therefore I like the moderate blues driver pedal sound.What Blues Driver, or distortion pedel works best with transiter amps??????????

  • Good job!!!

  • were you using a compressor?

  • nice review man thanks

  • Good review, nice rug!!

  • i've got the keeley 1. its much better than the stock in my opinion. gd review. but the sound dsnt really come through in my little computer speakers. =(

  • Thanks Bro, very nicely done. I'm not sure the mod justifies the cost and hassle.

  • NIce review buddy. Informative :)

  • whats the name of the lead your are using to conect the two pedals ?

  • why u can just get an ibanez PREMIUM 95 or Planet Waves lead or the BEST monster cable

  • Looks to be just a George L solder-less cable. You can buy kits for George L's anywhere online and in some major music stores.

  • thanks man

  • great review by the way, nicely done..thanks

  • why do all dudes with accents have weird ass guitar cables Ive never seen..or should I call them "leads"

  • Very nice review. Thanks!

  • hi what are the settings on your amp

  • I really like the overdrive sound with only the tad of crunch that the boss has. I feel like the crunch belongs in slightly heavier music but for overdriven blues, i'd go with the boss. Thanks justin, this was really helpful to me.

  • The modified one and stock pedal sound very close.

  • I just put Boss ME 70 on lay buy. Is it any good?

  • i'm sure you want justin's opinion, but the ME70 is okay. I just prefer analog though because of the tone.

  • I played it at the shop with my amp and a fender squier. )I have a fender strat as my main guitar). It sounded pretty good to me. i only had like 5 minutes to play with it, but it sounded really nice.

    I want justin to do a review on it though.

  • The tube screamer mod is not as good as the BD-2 mod IMO. There is a marked difference in the BD-2, not much difference in the sound from what I could tell between the stock tuber screamer and the keeley tube screamer. I love Keeley stuff! The bd-2 and ds-1 ultra are nice. I've also got a Metal Zone with the twilight mod.

  • yea... if you want a modded ts-9 I would suggest the analogman mods for that... that is what they are known for

  • Comment removed

  • Whoa! Seasonedtoker, you are the most original person on the planet! Get down with your bad self.

  • Comment removed

  • right on man. i do the same thing. innovate. never emulate

  • dont agree with you on playing covers... but hey different strokes.....

    I dont have nearly the techincally ability, time, etc.... to mod pedals or learn to do so

  • @seasonedtoker wow thats pretty cool that you are able to write music that is COMPLETELY unique. you must be awesome to have invented new chords and intervals never before heard. and your tone is completely your own too? wow man thats awesome. you must make all of your own equipment, thats the only way to not sound like ANYONE else. man your awesome. lets hear your stuff.

  • @rixills You forgot the never thought of time signatures.

  • haha, good point chicjenmanstan.

  • @chickenmanstan: I don't understand... 'you forgot the never thought'?

  • @rootvalue The phrasing was slightly awkward. What I meant to say was 'you forgot the time signature that had never been thought of before'. Makes sense?

  • great with a les paul

    i love it

  • hmmm. That Keely does have a good tone. It would sound great for some Stones stuff. It's like someone turned a presence knob up somewhere.

  • the keeley has really nice tone :)

  • which1 is better plz! keeley BD2 or keeley TS808?!!!

  • maxon OD-9

  • i prefer keeley ts808

  • Great review. I took a gamble and bought the Keely Mod based on online reviews (not checking out myself or watching this video). For some time I wondered if it was really worth spending the extra money for the mod, but, after watching this, I have no regrets.

  • Good review. I couldn't live without my BD2.

  • In my opinion the BD-2 isn't a good match for Gibson style guitars, the output is too hot so you get a lot of distortion and you can't clean it up, and it's a very muddy sound. I can make a really good lead sound though - which is what I use it for.

  • it also depends on the amp you use. The BD-2 is the ONLY pedal I use gigging, along with my Gibson SG and Fender Deluxe Reverb. I usually have the Tone all the way off, and volume at 10, gain at 11. It sounds pretty clear to me. I do plan on getting a tube screamer later on down the road anyways. I also have a Love pedals Les Lius, which doesn't sound so great with my Amp.

  • whats the difference between this and a boss sd-1 besides how much gain it can give you ..

  • they sound different, listen to them and play them both if you can. the bd-2 has a more bluesy tone to it obviously

  • clehneis - you may or many not be able to hear the difference during a live show, but with recording it can definitely make the difference. Also, it is likely that you cannot hear the tonal deviations because the recording was done with a low quality mic/computer mic...

  • And both of these sound exactly the same....maybe a minute amount of added bass on the Keeley but there is NO WAY anybody will hear the difference with a drummer. Keeley mod = complete rip off.

  • clehneis, it doesn't matter if other people can tell the difference...as long as I can tell the difference then I'm happy. I want to get the exact tone that I want and like, and if other people like my tone as well, great, and if they don't, that's cool too.

    Even the smallest differences can make a big difference.

  • Not for the price difference.

  • That all depends on how much you're willing to pay. For you it may not be worth it, but for other people who may have more money or are just willing to pay that much more it might be worth it.

  • Yeah....you guys can keep the pedal. Modding a Blues driver is like putting whipped cream on shit. There are sooo many more transparent od pedals that are better then this one in the same price range.

  • Well, you don't have to like it.  I, and many other people, think that it's great.

  • Both of these pedals sound like complete ass. I'm sorry but I've tried both and they don't work well in live applications.

  • anyone know if this pedal is good for AC/DC tones?

  • yea, its good for AC/DC

  • thanks :)

  • Gibson SG running through a JCM 800 or a plexi, depending on the era, aint no pedal gonna give u that

  • yeah yeah i know. but i cant really afford a jcm 800 and there rreally isnt a point for bedroom playing lol. i do however have a marshall mg30dfx and im wondering what distortion ( the built in distortion in the amp or this pedal) would be better to get that AC/DC tone.

  • hmm a t-rex doctor swamp would be nice for ac/dc

  • yeah it does sound great! thanks :)

    need a job soon aha >:(

  • For AC/DC, just plug into a british tube combo and crank it. Angus uses no pedals.

  • yeah, but pedals help when you can't afford an old sg and a marshall

  • yeah thats the idea i was going for too lol.

  • yea thats what i was thinking too haha, but for home use a cranked tube amp aint to practical (unless you use an attenuator) but with that thats like $3000 i was trying to find a pedal that can give a good AC/DC tone withouth the price tag.

    otherwise ill just wait till summer to work real hard and get a Marshall Plexi or w/e lol.

  • Don't get a blues driver if you want angus. An affordable pedal to look into is one from barber electronics. They should have what your looking for.

  • yeah ive tried it out at a local shop it didnt work out too well.. the MG30DFX amps distortion was better, and that aint saying much.. and yeah, thanks ill check out barber electronics! thanks!! :)

  • Please: put your headphones.

  • keeley sounds more full

  • I think its difficult to hear the difference because of the way its recordet... Its not Justins fault... It seems that you cant hear any difference because of the Compressor in the cam. I Made a little Clip of my Bugera, and i played with the High, Mid and Bass Knobs and you arent able to hear a big difference, but in real it was! Nice Clip Justin :) Lover your Site!

  • sounds the same to me. and the fat switch doesnt seem to work.

  • If I have noticed any difference at all, it is that they should have left well enough alone. I love the original, and I can only tell a slight bit of difference, and it's a negative difference to me. It just adds too much presence to an already quite present enough tone. I definitely prefer the original, bit mellower, warmer, and smoother, overall better for power chord rhythms and slow-blues soloing, and with a good compression pedal in front of it, wow! Try GTR-compressor-BD, and play a chord.

  • yeah i dont think it sounds better, i reckon most of the positive comments are the placebo effect of paying over the odds for somthing, im quite happy with my stock pedals too (not that i have this boss one, i was looking to get it though, il give the keeley a miss and save some money.)

  • UR right

  • how is it with a slide will it scream?

  • he plays slade at the one point

  • I have both the stock Roland and the Keeley Mod... The Keeley is by far the better...thicker..more usable live...pedal...

  • good video

  • When the gain is higher, the difference isn't as noticeable. They're both fantastic- I have a stock BD-2, and I've learned how to use it and get a great sound from it- but if I were to choose one, it would be the Keeley. However, I don't think the Keeley should be as expensive as it is.

  • Its a boutique pedal.

    The simple fact is that it does sound better. The ratio of what you spend to the how much better it actually sounds might not seem "worth it" to you.

    But the fact of the matter is any increase in sound quality is an increase in sound quality. And for a professional musician, or a tone hound, any increase in sound quality is worth it.

    For a hobbyist, maybe not so much.