Robert Keeley made his name modding pedals , and one of his most beloved upgrades was to the Boss Blues Driver . Keeley ’ s “ phat ” mod added some low end to the mostly full-range Blues Driver and , despite the Boss pedal ’ s reputation as a “ transparent ” overdrive , the restored beef was deemed a welcome addition . The Super Phat Mod is Keeley ’ s in-house take on the Blues Driver ; it follows the original pedal ’ s topology but , notably , upgrades some of the components . Interestingly , the result is somewhat similar to Keeley ’ s Oxblood : he ’ s turned a supposedly transparent low-gain fave into an addictive rock monster .
The Super Phat Mod has controls for Level , Tone and Drive , and a toggle switch for “ Flat ” or “ Phat .” The Tone control is a little more nasal than the Blues Driver ’ s , but the difference , while discernible , is small . As you turn it clockwise , the Tone control adds some very aggressive upper mids , and accentuates the low end as you turn it counter clockwise . The Phat setting suggests Flat is misnamed ; to my ears , Phat added back low end that was otherwise cut in Flat , and the Super
Phat Mod ’ s bass cut in Flat mode is a little more noticeable than the Blues Driver ’ s .
Using a low-output Tele , I started in Phat mode , rolled the Tone control back a hair and heard my basic clean tone with just a hint of dirt . Advancing Drive to 9:00 and moving Tone to noon gave me a very hairy overdrive with attitude — think The Replacements . With Drive at 2:00 and Tone rolled back to approximately 11:00 I was into early Aerosmith territory — past that , the low end was a little too woofy .
I rolled Drive back to 1:00 and discovered a Tweed-y snarl with an Ampeg-y
KEELEY ELECTRONICS
SUPER PHAT MOD
REVIEW BY ERIC TISCHLER STREET PRICE $ 149.00
Robert Keeley made his name modding pedals , and one of his most beloved upgrades was to the Boss Blues Driver . Keeley ’ s “ phat ” mod added some low end to the mostly full-range Blues Driver and , despite the Boss pedal ’ s reputation as a “ transparent ” overdrive , the restored beef was deemed a welcome addition . The Super Phat Mod is Keeley ’ s in-house take on the Blues Driver ; it follows the original pedal ’ s topology but , notably , upgrades some of the components . Interestingly , the result is somewhat similar to Keeley ’ s Oxblood : he ’ s turned a supposedly transparent low-gain fave into an addictive rock monster .
The Super Phat Mod has controls for Level , Tone and Drive , and a toggle switch for “ Flat ” or “ Phat .” The Tone control is a little more nasal than the Blues Driver ’ s , but the difference , while discernible , is small . As you turn it clockwise , the Tone control adds some very aggressive upper mids , and accentuates the low end as you turn it counter clockwise . The Phat setting suggests Flat is misnamed ; to my ears , Phat added back low end that was otherwise cut in Flat , and the Super
58 GEAR REVIEW // Keeley Electronics Super Phat Mod
Phat Mod ’ s bass cut in Flat mode is a little more noticeable than the Blues Driver ’ s .
Using a low-output Tele , I started in Phat mode , rolled the Tone control back a hair and heard my basic clean tone with just a hint of dirt . Advancing Drive to 9:00 and moving Tone to noon gave me a very hairy overdrive with attitude — think The Replacements . With Drive at 2:00 and Tone rolled back to approximately 11:00 I was into early Aerosmith territory — past that , the low end was a little too woofy .
I rolled Drive back to 1:00 and discovered a Tweed-y snarl with an Ampeg-y