Keeley Abbey Chamber Verb pedal, anybody?

[Villamarzia]

The new Keeley pedal reproduces the reverb used at Abbey studios and sounds very interesting. I like reverb on acoustics but I deeply dislike all new modern reverbs which sounds thin. This Keeley sounds warm, full. Anybody has tried it on acoustic?

[jalbert]

I have the similar "30ms" pedal. It's an (almost) "always on" part of my signal chain when I play amplified.

[Villamarzia]

At the end I bought it and have been playing with it for a few hours. At first, by just playing some short notes to hear its sound, kind of rolled my eyes, but then I started appreciating how musical it sounds. Now, having found a proper setup, it makes my amplified sound really sweet. It's one of those reverbs which "disappear" in the music, blending notes in a natural ambience even when used only slightly. In the past I had beautiful reverbs (the spring ones in Rivera Sedona and Schertler amps, fishman AFX reverb and Blue Sky). This is the best so far. Love it.

[Paultergeist]

Cool. Thanks for sharing this information.

[Kittoon]

[QUOTE=Villamarzia;4847606]At the end I bought it and have been playing with it for a few hours. At first, by just playing some short notes to hear its sound, kind of rolled my eyes, but then I started appreciating how musical it sounds. Now, having found a proper setup, it makes my amplified sound really sweet. It's one of those reverbs which "disappear" in the music, blending notes in a natural ambience even when used only slightly. In the past I had beautiful reverbs (the spring ones in Rivera Sedona and Schertler amps, fishman AFX reverb and Blue Sky). This is the best so far. Love it.[/QUOT

Do you have any opinion on Strymons Reverb machines into acoustic guitars? I have the blueSky and BigtSky. They are pretty good but I search for the very best! (Solid State only) I strive for separation of notes while maintaining the Reverb effect. Can be tricky! I have any one of 3 Martins, all with KK passive pickups, to RedEye preamp, then off to my Reverb machine, finally to AER/60 amp. I am using Mogami cables. Any suggestions to further improve tone?

[Villamarzia]

Originally Posted by Kittoon

Do you have any opinion on Strymons Reverb machines into acoustic guitars? I have the blueSky and BigtSky. They are pretty good but I search for the very best! (Solid State only) I strive for separation of notes while maintaining the Reverb effect. Can be tricky! I have any one of 3 Martins, all with KK passive pickups, to RedEye preamp, then off to my Reverb machine, finally to AER/60 amp. I am using Mogami cables. Any suggestions to further improve tone?

Strymons are very, very good reverbs. However, I found Keeley to be warmer, more organic, if this makes any sense... It might be due to the fact that the Keeley mimics the studio echo chambers and my hears have been used to that sound for decades. Maybe some younger "ear" will feel differently.

About separation, I use a light touch of reverb, after the preamp (not via its loop) and blend dry and wet at about 70/30. I keep the dry signal as the core one so notes separation is there. I also appreciate reverbs in which you hear the specific note into it, not just a noise. This "note embedded" in the reverb and a proper dry/wet ratio keeps a clean and separated final sound.

Btw, I had a very similar sound chain:

k&k -> redeye -> strymon or fishman reverb -> schertler amps (or rivera sedona, in that case I skipped the reverb pedal).

I also use Mogami cables and played mostly Martins. That set provided a very good natural tone, not as good as the acoustic one, but very close. A huge upgrade from USTs. But the next step was also significant: I included a DPA microphone and blended with the K&K. The sound I had, when well EQed, is not discernable from the acoustic one. With a touch of reverb, it's studio or record quality. My chain now is:

K&K (20%) + DPA mic (80%) -> schertler yellow blender preamp -> keeley abbey verb -> schertler 200 monitor

The K&K serves mainly as a backup solution in case of feedback. I use a Maton feedback soundhole cover (my Martin 0017 has smaller hole than usual) and I hardly get feedback at medium volume levels. When I can, I go mic only but usually I blend 80/20.

Hope it serves you well.

[Kittoon]

I included a DPA microphone and blended with the K&K. The sound I had, when well EQed, is not discernable from the acoustic one. With a touch of reverb, it's studio or record quality. My chain now is:


Do I understand correctly? You are using two channels at the same time? The first channel receiving sound directly from instrument and second channel from a microphone?

I want "stunning" sound. Several "ticks" above "pretty good"!

Strymons Reverb machines sure are pretty. Slightly "cool" though. I would like to "warm" up the sound a bit. Enhance the "growl"/earthiness of my Martins.

I really don't want to fuss with a microphone. I put my string into Ch2 (mic input) of my AER/60 amp (the idea using the amps "effects loop" and it sounded horrible! Back to Ch 1 only!

I will try your reverb machine but dread the idea of a microphone unless it sounds as though "Angels" from above are manning the sound!

[Villamarzia]

Yes, correct. 2 sources running at the same time. Some players use even three.

There is no way you will achieve a "stunning" sound without a microphone. If you search the forum, especially posts by Doug Young, you will find out soon how it works. If you play home or studio only, a paired couple of external mics is the way to go. If you play live, maybe better go for an internal mic as above described. Good luck, it's a long try-and-error path, but can be very rewarding.

[Kittoon]

Thanks for info! Goal is for LIVE!