Phat Mod

Phat Mod

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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 roundness, and concluded that, in addition to restoring low end, Phat adds compression and pushes the signal more. It’s really most useful at low-gain settings, when the Drive isn’t working hard, or for lending weight to single notes. Drive compresses the signal, accentuating the upper mids but also bringing out attack in the low end, ultimately adding both cut and more muscle.

As I turned to plug in a variety of humbuckers and more powerful single coils, I switched the Super Phat to Flat mode. With the higher output pickups, the Super Phat Mod sounded wiry rather than weedy. As I eased Drive up to noon, I became more and more enamored of the pedal’s distortion and, by the time I had Volume, Tone and Drive at 12:30 I couldn’t turn back. The roar was intoxicating. And kinda British. The nasal attack of the Blues Driver’s tone stack was now a brash, Vox-y clarion call. The slightly anemic character of the Flat mode became the lean, compressed attack of a JCM800 but with a more powerful push that was HiWatt-y in its authority. I couldn’t stop playing power chords. My arm would hover—mid-windmill—as I’d wait for the notes to slowly resolve, each one audible within the halo of harmonics. Interestingly, this setting was equally fulfilling in both bridge and neck positions.

On his site, Keeley talks about looking for chips that provided the right “grain” for this pedal’s drive character, and I totally get it. While the voicing itself manages the enviable trick of being both focused and powerful, the character of the overdrive is so lively and complex that it was genuinely thrilling to me—it popped out of my speakers and lingered in the room. Forget internal charge pumps, forget germanium diodes: the Super Phat Mod has your new secret sauce and, apparently, its Toshiba FETs. Robert, I hope you had the good sense to goop ’em!

What We Like: Thrilling, amp-like distortion that manages to suggest unruly rock ‘n’ roll while maintaining articulation and responding to picking dynamics.

Concerns: Truly “transparent” voicings at lower-gain settings were a little dull to my ears, but the solution was simple: I turned the Super Phat Mod up.
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Hey guys, is this better than the Keeley Oxblood? The only review I could find was this https://guitarunited.com/keeley-oxblood-review-kron-killer-the-best-klone/. I actually commented on one of your klone shooutouts asking for feedback about this pedal. But in terms of overdrive transparency, is the Super Phat Mod better? Looking forward to what you have to say, thanks!
I like both pedals for higher gain applications. The Oxblood’s midrange is more focused—almost cocked wah-y. I talk about it in my review of the Keeley Tone Workstation. -E
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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 Phat Mod OD promises to emulate the warm, tube-driven magic of vintage amps, providing players with natural-feeling break-up, rich harmonic content, and dynamic, transparent overdrive.
Super Phat Mod Overdrive Canadian Edition
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4.6 out of 5 stars

21 ratings

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About this item Our famous mod now perfected with amazing sounding JFETs that emulate old tube amps in a unique way The Super Phat Mod pedal now has incredible dynamics. It is full range and very responsive. The phrase "transparent overdrive" was born of this design! From country, to blues and rock the Phat Mod is the choice for those not wanting the over-refined sound of a common screamer. Set the gain high and let your guitar's volume control or your pick attack do the work. With the Super Phat Mod you now have all of our refinements, the very best of tone-shaping electronics, and modern features like true-bypass.

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4.6 out of 5 stars

21 ratings

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I fancy myself a pedal stacking alchemist. Different styles, different orders, etc etc. I guess I'm a tone junky. One pedal I had written off years ago was the blues driver. On its own, it sounds good. But what I discovered is that if you run a tube screamer, or any mid-focused OD, into this pedal, it sounds absolutely glorious. It sounds like Led Zeppelin, but with more dirt and versatility. You can get a roaring modded marshall tone if you turn the drive up on the Keeley, or get a more classic rock tone just by turning the drive down. Moreover, while the Keeley SPM is a clone of the Boss BD-2, but with the Keeley mods built in, it does sound better, IMO. It's a bit smoother, if that means anything. I have bought and sold LOTS of dirt pedals looking for that vintage crunch/dirt sound that's clear and dynamic, but for the money, nothing compares to the blues driver style pedal boosted by a tube screamer. Give it a shot! You won't be disappointed.

I can run any of my guitars through this thing, and what comes out the other end is pure gold. It really makes my Stratocaster shine, particularly in the 'Phat' mode. Easily five stars out of five.

Very nice blues drive, I searched for videos on all my prospects and ended up pulling the trigger on this one. It is better than the Mooer version for sure, I own both. I really enjoy its sound, it does the blues thing very well. It's a great drive and boost, so definitely try both, before and after other pedals, respectively. Cleans up really well when you back off the guitar's volume knob.

Love this pedal. I run it in front of my Boss Katana Artist and used more as a clean boost and little breakup. Sounds glorious!! Adds Sustain and mellows out the bass responds on the Amp. It make my solid state amp sound more tube like. Highly recommended.

A well-made and thoughtfully designed product. Gets all the great thick blues sounds of the BD-2 and then some (phat mode). True bypass, low noise floor (could be lower, but is pretty good). It's a premium product with a premium price. I've A-B'd this product with a number of competing products including the Mooer Blues Mood (nice), the Donner $30 Blues Drive (needs improvement), and of course the original Boss BD-2. Super Phat Mod is the clear winner.

It's a Keeley Modded Boss Blues Driver circuit in Keeley's own box. This is how Andy Timmons gets his amazing 'clean' tone: has this puppy on with decent gain but volume knob on guitar backed way down so sound is clean but pedal provides a fatter tone. And all you have to do is roll up the volume and there is TONS of gain available.

Basically just another distortion\overdrive pedal.

3.0 out of 5 stars

Disappointed. Didn’t deliver the goods for me.

Hmmm... very disappointed by this. It might work for you but it sounded too fizzy with way too little bottom end for my liking. I tried it with a 90s standard American strat through a Chris Stapleton Princeton. I usually prefer drIves with a fuller tonal range as opposed to a TS or something that focuses on specific frequencies but this didn’t float my boat, sorry. It just wasn’t “phat” enough.

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Many say the Phat Mod delivers their favorite tone from a pedal. It’s that natural break-up that just feels good and lets you express yourself. The dynamics make it feel alive and part of your fingers. That’s the reason the modified pedal has stayed on people’s boards for nearly 15 years. The Keeley Super Phat Mod is our famous mod now perfected with amazing sounding JFETs that emulate old tube amps in a unique way.
The original pedal was a great design that features tube-like amp stages, tube amp tone stacks, and a variety of tone shaping circuits to bring out the best in any guitar’s pickups. The problem with building one in the past has been the difficulty finding the perfect FET to capture the magic. If the harmonic content and grain of the distortion and overdrive weren’t exactly right, we moved on and waited to try out other devices. Well, after all these years Craighton Hale stumbled upon a Toshiba device that had the magic. Our resident guitar hero, Aaron Pierce, known for being very critical of even the most minute nuances, was grinning from ear to ear when he approved this ear-candy final version. We had found the magic device that pushed it over the top. So, we just had to dress it in gold and royal purple. The name badge had to speak of its history and heritage. With Super Phat Mod in an old, Blackface-style logo and the metal-flake clear-sparkle on gold, we feel it will look incredible in any rig.
The Super Phat Mod pedal now has incredible dynamics. It is full range and very responsive. The
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