Following hot on the heels of the much-lauded Halo comes a clean to mid-gain drive pedal
(Image credit: Keeley Electronics)
Andy Timmons and pedal modding maestro Robert Keeley captured hearts and minds with the impressive Halo Dual Echo last year. Now they’ve teamed up for a second project, the Super AT Mod – an overdrive pedal which in some ways dates back to the beginning of their working relationship.
As Timmons notes in the video clip, the pedal that first caught his attention was a Boss Blues Driver BD-2 that had received Keeley’s signature Phat Mod. Timmons has put that unit to good use for years now, using it to get the “mid-gain to clean” range crucial to his responsive guitar and finger tone.
“I was always reaching for this really crystalline, glassy [sound] but just a little bite and gain,” says Timmons. “[Keeley’s] modded BD-2 circuit was always the closest thing I could get to it.”
Despite his love of the original, the fastidious Timmons says he has nonetheless worked up a bit of a wishlist of tweaks over the years. Meanwhile, Keeley has channeled its knowhow into its own Super Phat Mod pedal – and it’s that unit that forms the basis of the new limited-edition signature model.
The chief innovation of Timmons’ signature is a new AT mode, which is voiced specifically for humbuckers and carves out some of the low-mid/bass EQ range “for tighter, more transparent response” that doesn’t compromise on the gain front. If you’re using single-coils, though, you can simply switch back to the regular PHAT mode.
Elsewhere, Keeley describes the Super AT Mod Overdrive as essentially an amp-in-a-box, albeit one that uses asymmetrical JFET clipping instead of tubes.
“The topology of the pedal is similar to classic California tube amps,” says Keeley. “We simply use JFET transistors in place of tubes. Nothing has been left out, even the filtering of an amp's tone stack is designed into the pedal. It's an amp-in-a-box, only better because it's Keeley developed with the guidance of Andy Timmons!”
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(Image credit: Keeley Electronics)
The Super AT Mod Overdrive is also true bypass, built in the USA and (perhaps the only downside) limited to 1,000 units. Expect to pay around $249.
Matt is Features Editor for GuitarWorld.com. Before that he spent 10 years as a freelance music journalist, interviewing artists for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.
