TS-808 Mod Plus

Before I start, I have to say that this pedal replaced a very good Landgraff Dynamic overdrive. As much as I liked that pedal and it certainly had more gain on tap, to my ears the modded 808 was much more musical, organic and useful to me and worked well on both lead and rhythm whereas the Landie proved to be more of a lead pedal. Hats off to Mr John Landgraff and Blue Angel Music though who deserve a special mention as they were wonderful and very helpful to deal with throughout and whilst the product is ace and 808 derived, it wasn't for me. I use the 808 either on its own or in conjunction with an Xotic BB preamp (gain set higher) and Keeley Compressor and it works extremely well with these with minimal noise. The other effects I "bring in" are a Budda Wah, Boss DD-3 (soon to be replaced with a TC Electronics Nova Repeater)and a looper/router pedal with tuner mute to clean up the chain between the true bypass and non-true bypass pedals. My guitars are an MIM heavily modded Fender Strat with Lindy Fralin blues and a S.D.Little'59 in the bridge and Callaham bridge parts and electronics, a 1989 PRS Custom 24 and an Ibanez AK-95 Artcore semi-hollow. My amp will surprise some here but it works for me on many counts and it's a Roland Cube 60 (solid state). This is used on the Blackface channel and set fairly cleanly. The 808 loves this set up and can be cleaned up really well from my any of my guitar's which have all been installed with custom pots to retain fullnes and tone when their respective volumes are turned down. This tried and tested way of altering your tone and sound from the guitar really should be "shouted" about more as apart from simplifying things, there are some great tones to be had. My preference for use of the pedal is mentioned above (low gain) and with my Strat. However, it's really sweet sounding on full gain but never heavy metal territory, more blues to classic rock. With my PRS and semi-hollow, I can get some nice Robben Ford/Larry Carlton sounds (the Landie did this very well too) and I love the dynamics and eveness of the sound. Added to the amp distortion also works well and was famously used this way in the 80's! The note definition is excellent and the lower gain settings should not be ignored as they offer some great Nile Rodgers tones or jazz lead tones. The 808 likes other pedals and there's a great marriage there with my other Keeley pedal, the wonderful compressor but it's really someting special with the Xotic BB preamp and I replicate a 3 channel set up with the amp's clean sound. I don't know how this modded 808 compares to the Ibanez stock one but I do know that the Ibanez re-issue is close in price to it. If not modded, does it still carry the same mid-hump, thin, lacking in bass end issues that makes us look at boutique or modded pedals???

I don't foresee any reliability issues with this pedal and it's built like a tank. For its' size, it's certainly alot heavier than other pedals I've owned and Ibanez have a good reputation. Internally and where R.K has done the work, I've had my Keeley Compressor for a good few years without any issues so I trust it to be the same but time will tell. For back up I have my BB on my board anyway which can get into that ball park or I'll use the amp distortion

Having first borrowed this pedal from a friend before I bought my own from new, I used the suggested settings on the sheet that accompanies it (nearest thing to manual) and was instantly satisfied - it's a great starting point. I also worked back n'forth through the gain range and within a very short space of time found sounds that I use and suit me. I settled on the "more is less" gain suggestion and set the gain at 10 o'clock and tone and volume at 1 o'clock - this allowed me to get a blackface Fender sound from my single coils allowing for clean arpeggios, some dirty, edgy funk sounds/SRV/Tom Petty but when I switched to my bridge humbucker, it crunched up beautifully for the perfect rhythm sound. My model has the Texas Instrument chip not the vintage JRC one which was offered for a limited period but has now ceased. Much has been said on this subject but I've talked to several people in the know and they can't hear a big enough difference to warrant the silly prices these vintage ones are going for on E-Bay. Unless you really have a preference for the Vintage chip sound or can hear "that big difference", you'll be fine with the Texas Inst one. Some say that the Texas Inst. chip can sound brittle in some pedals BUT NOT IN THIS ONE! I also opted for the non-True bypass version as it sounded good to my ears and I like to have the odd buffer (no more than 3) in my chain but my looper/router assists with all that (see below). Having the non-TB version also meant I kept the original rectangular switch which purely for aesthetic reasons, I really liked and on that score too, I love the old styling and colour.

I dealt and purchased directly from the Keeley distributor in the UK and Dave was wonderful. He answered all my questions and turn around was faster than expected. Being a pedal maker himself rather than just a retailer or distributor, he knows what he's talking about and was very knoweldgeable on the range and other cable issues.

I play in a function band (Top 40 band) and need different sounds. It's taken me a while to arrive at the right combination of pedals but I think I'm certainly there on the overdrive side as the 808 helped seal that. I've been playing for 29 years and this is one of the best pedals I have ever owned. I've gone through quite a few boutique OD pedals but this one along with my Xotic BB Preamp are my favourites and combined with my Keeley Compressor, make up my desert island pedals. If it were gone, I'd replace it, no question of that and I'm even considering seeing what 2 of these beauties sound like together, set at different gain levels. A very musical pedal and I'm astounded by some of the people here who've hated the sound or had issues with it but opinion and preference are personal so fair dues.

This is the last modded pedal I will ever buy.. I waited for this exact pedal to show up on Ebay & when i got it I thought this is going to be the ****.  **** is right! Keeley makes great pedals & have stellar customer service. Buying a modded pedal like buying a polished turd.  There's a reason these pedals are modded, because dumb asses like me buy them.  (not anymore).  I'm not knocking Keeley they took an OK sounding pedal & made it so it doesn't sound like the crap.  Again, I do not blame Keeley for the tone of this pedal.  It's a thin, non-blooming crap pedal.

Solid..

Easily dialed in.

The Best! It's not their fault they get paid to mod ****** pedals. If Keeley made a Low Gain OD pedal I'd buy a dozen..

There's plenty of TS808 clones out there that sound light years better than this pedal.  Even with the mod it has the worst compressed tone I've come across in some time.  I have a Barber LTD, MI Blues Boy, BYOc tube screamer, DOD 250, Java Boost etc....  Compared to the noted pedals this thing is unusable.. I'll give it an 6 only because Keeley almost made a turd sound good. I would never ever buy this pedal again.  There's a reason so many pedals get modded..?  They inherently suck!  A turd still remains a turd! I don't think I could use enough **** analogies to describe this pedal..

The sound quality is definitely superb.  I'm a Fender guy, so I primarily use Strats going through a '68 Twin Reverb with a slew of effects in between. I also use a vintage TS808, so I'll make some comparisons to that pedal.  The original pedal is a bit smoother- more creamy with the overdrive.  The Keeley is a bit more gritty sounding- but not much.  The big difference is with the EQ.  The vintage TS808 cuts out a lot of the lows and kicks up the mids.  This is good for certain things.  The Keeley keeps the lows and lowers the mids a bit.  It's more true to the amp.  I now use the Keeley as my main OD pedal and the vintage TS808 for some extra umph when I need it. One of the questions on this review submission page I'm looking at says, "Can you get the sound of your favorite artists?"  To that I say, "Who cares?"  Use the pedal to sound like you, not SRV, Mayer, Hendrix, or anyone else.

I just got back from playing at a week-long Campus Crusade for Christ conference, and the pedal held up great.  My only complaint would be that both the decal and the rubber padding on the bottom don't stick to the metal base of the pedal.  The pedal has come off my pedal board a few times.  However, this has nothing to do with Keeley and more to do with Ibanez.  You may want to pick up some Crazy Glue along with the pedal.

The knobs are self-explanitory, and the pedal comes with an adaptor to convert a typical power supply plug to the vintage mini-plug of the TS808.

I haven't had any problems with the pedal, but before I bought it, I sent Keeley a few emails to ask him some questions.  He was very pleasant and prompt in his replies.  This is quite contrary to some other custom pedal guys I've heard about.  I would definitely buy from him again.

I've been playing for about 13 years, and my styles include blues, rock, and Christian contemporary worship.  Every guitarist is on a quest for the perfect OD pedal, and this one comes pretty close.  If I could reverse time, I would definitely purchase the pedal again.