Keeley Electronics 4-in-1 Series #3 : Super Rodent - Boss SD-1 x ProCo Rat
I already teased this review in my recent Compact Rat Distortions rundown - where I stated that I much preferred the Alternative Rat setting - with the SD-1 Tone Stack. Often the distinction can be fairly subtle, but overall the SD + RT output profile is more punchy and articulate.
That said - that Rat setting is only my 3rd favourite voicing here overall - where the big surprise for me is the RT Tone Stack with the SD Clipping. That turns out to be a little like the TS808 with the ODR-1 Spectrum Tone Stack - in that it massively beefs up the output - adds a little more to the top and bottom of that profile and similar to the elevated Rat profile - gives it a little extra punch.
One side here is Keeley’s take on the Boss SD-1 Super OverDrive, and the other side is the classic ProCo Rat - a sort of White Face / Rat 2 era take near enough.
The SD-1 / SD Side has an Active LPF Tone Stack which also delivers more bass and treble, and deploys Soft Drive Clipping, where the Rat / RT Side has a High Frequency Roll-off Tone Stack, and a Hard Drive Clipping profile.
All 4-in-Series pedals are MAP / RRP priced at $199 in the US, €259 in the EU, and £199 in the UK, of course available direct from the Keeley Electronics Webstore, and at all leading dealers!
Controls : Tone, Tone Stack Switch : SD (Active LPF EQ) / RT (High Frequency Roll-Off EQ), Drive, Drive Clipping : SD (Soft) / RT (Hard), Level.
The 4-in-1 Options :
EQ + CLIP Variations
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SD + SD = Boss SD-1 SuperOverdrive Classic
RT + RT = ProCo Rat Distortion Classic
RT + SD = SD-1 Soft Clipping with Rat style ’Filter’ High Frequency Roll-off
SD + RT = Rat Hard Clipping with SD-1 Style LPF Tone Stack - with added bass and treble
As before you get 2 classic circuits for the price of one, but with 2 further enhanced / alternative / hybrid modes via mixing up those twin Tone Stack and Drive Clipping settings.
This time around there’s no weak combination here really, while I do have a distinct order of preference in terms of which are my favourite combinations here.
Trial Sessions and Test Results
EQ + CLIP
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SD + SD : Tone @ 3 o'c, Drive @ Noon, Level @ 3 o'c
RT + RT : Tone @ 3 o'c, Drive @ 2 o'c, Level @ 5 o'c
RT + SD : Tone @ 3 o'c, Drive @ Noon, Level @ 3 o'c
SD + RT : Tone @ 3 o'c, Drive @ 2 o'c, Level @ 5 o'c
As has been typical of this 4-in-1 series so far, one of the Tone Stacks or Clipping Types tends to deliver a slightly lower output profile, where you kind of need to boost the Level and Drive settings to sort of compensate - at least for my preferences. The pattern has frequently been that the you deploy a specific pattern of settings in accordance with either the Tone Stack or Drive Clipping Type. And here it seems to be the Rat Clipping profile that needs more Drive and Level.
As I mentioned in the intro - for the previous two 4-in-1 Series pedals I reviewed - one of the combinations was noticeably weaker than the others, while here - all these combination sound pretty decent - and I quickly and easily was able to dial in sweet spots to my preferences.
The SD-1 voicing here is particularly strong for me, while the Rat voicing is pretty usable too. Obviously I'm spoilt for choice with Rats - which you can see from my recent rundown, and there are for sure other more potent Rat variants out there - while the SD + RT voicing is a significant improvement over the default classic one for me - delivering more articulation and punch to the output - altogether a little more satisfying!
That combination is unique to this Super Rodent as such - while a number of my other Rat pedals have further extended range Tone Stacks with 3 or 4 controls dedicated to that task - so they of course would have a wider range of possibilities. In contrast I have only 4 Boss SD-1 variants in my Reference Collection - of course including the Robert Keeley 5-Star Ge modded variant!
Favourite Modes in Order
EQ + CLIP
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RT + SD : Beefed up SD-1 - more bass and treble, more edge
SD + SD : Beautifully balanced SD-1 Profile, perfectly calibrated
SD + RT : A more punchy and articulate Rat
RT + RT : A more typical, slightly fuzzy Rat profile
I really wasn't sure exactly how this was going to turn out - and very originally I thought it might come to a contest between the two alternative settings as initially I really liked those two combinations. As it ended up, the RT + SD combination was easily the winner here, while the default SD-1 Mode eventually pipped the SD + RT combination - I just felt that the SD + SD variant was a little better balanced.
That leaves the default Rat voicing in last place, while this time around that's not really a weak link - I actually like all 4 combinations here, it's just that I slightly prefer some of the combinations to the others. Across all 4 Modes / Combinations - this pedal is so far the most accomplished of the series, while I will also do a final ranking across all 4 pedals in the series - to determine my outright winner/s.
The 4-in-Series pedals are all priced at MAP / RRP $199 in the US, €259 in the EU, and £199 in the UK, of course available direct from the Keeley Electronics Webstore, and at all leading dealers!
One of the technical aspects of this 4-in-1 Series that I've so far not gotten around to mentioning - is the superb silent switching of these pedals - engage / bypass, and switching between the different Tone Stack and Clipping Options - all of which operations happen wholly noiselessly. You furthermore have the option to press-hold the footswitch to engage either True or Buffered Bypass.
Demos
