Keeley's Angry Orange pedal
Keeley unveils three new pedals that offer overdrive, distortion, and fuzz sounds.
Angry Orange
Keeley put two very different overdrive & distortion pedals in one box and gave you two new sounds in the process. The Keeley Angry Orange is a 4-in-1 pedal that gives you two well-known fuzz and distortion circuits and allows you to create two dope new hybrid tones! It’s sort of like pedal-modeling except these are 100% old-school, analog circuits and you decide which tone control or clipping section you want to rock. Heavily saturate your guitar through either a legendary ‘78 Japanese OrangeDistortion or a ‘91 Soviet War Fuzz. The design keeps the pedal a simple and space-saving three-knob distortion pedal with an amazing tone. The AngryOrange lets you determine if it’s buffered or true-bypass, on the fly. The Keeley Angry Orange Distortion and Fuzz is entirely designed and manufactured by KeeleyElectronics in a new aluminum enclosure.
- Two classic distortion/fuzz circuits are combined into one pedal
- Swap tone controls and/or distortion sections to create new sounds. By mixing the MF Fuzz andDS Distortion, you can create two unique Hybrid Fuzz Distortions.
- Silent Buffered Bypass or True Bypass - hold footswitch for one second to change
- Professionally Engineered and Expertly Manufactured Pro Audio Gear - sounds developed
Tone Control
The Angry Orange gives you two tone control circuits to choose from. When the Tone Switch is up and inthe MF Position the tone control is a scooped sounding, passive tilt-style. If the Tone Switch is down andin the DS Position it also features a passive sounding tilt control, voiced a little differently.
Diode ClippingHard or Soft Clipping
The Angry Orange gives you both styles of diode clipping. Diodes are used tocreate hard clipping distortions or smooth overdrive sounds. If the Clipping Switch is in the DS Positionit features Hard Diode Clipping which is an edgier, more aggressive tone. When the Clipping Switch is inthe MF Position that uses Soft Diode Clipping, like a muffled fuzz tone.
Angry Orange - Buffered Bypass or True Bypass
The Keeley Angry Orange features our Jfet buffer for noise free switching. We have developed anamazing sounding buffer which not only makes your rig sound better, it gives you silent switching with notone loss. No more pops and clicks to distract from your music. If you want to turn that feature off andgo back to true bypass, simply press and hold down the foot switch for two seconds and the pedal willswitch to True-Bypass (LED will flash twice). True Bypass is great for players that want the effect ofplugging directly into their amp when the pedal is off. Alternatively, players that want a strong and clearsignal even when the Angry Orange is turned off, simply hold the stomp switch down for two secondsand the effect is back to Buffered Bypass (LED flashes three times). Enjoy truly silent switching and letyour music be the only voice.
Blues Disorder
Keeley combines two different overdrive & distortion pedals in a way that yields four different sounds.The Blues Disorder has two switches that allow youto separate the tone control and clipping section ofthe drives, giving you two brand new sounds. Youcan play through a Bluesy, Breaker-style Overdriveor a fuller, OC Distortion sounding circuit, better yetyou can innovate new sounds switching into hybridmodes. The clever design keeps the pedal a simpleand easy to use three knob overdrive. Easily switchbetween buffered or true-bypass on the fly, whateverworks best in your rig. The Keeley Blues DisorderOverdrive and Distortion is entirely designed andmanufactured by Keeley Electronics in a newaluminum enclosure.
- Two classic distortion/overdrive circuits arecombined into one pedal
- Swap tone controls and/or distortion sections to create new sounds. By mixing the BBOverdrive and OC Distortion, you can create two unique Hybrid Drives.
- Silent Buffered Bypass or True Bypass - hold footswitch for one second to change
- Professionally Engineered and Expertly Manufactured Pro Audio Gear - soundsdeveloped in the Keeley tone lab and in the field, then built entirely in our factory. Made InThe USA
Tone Control
The Blues Disorder gives you two tone control circuits to choose from. When the Tone Switchis down and in the OC Position you will hear an active midrange boost and then the tonecontrol rolls off high-frequency. If the Tone Switch is up and in the BB Position you don’t havethe active mid-boost, there’s just a simple high-frequency filter and therefore a more transparentsounding overdrive and response.
Diode Clipping
Hard or Soft Clipping: The Blues Disorder gives you both styles of diode clipping. Diodes areused to create hard clipping distortions or smooth overdrive sounds. If the Clipping Switch isin the OC Position it features Hard Diode Clipping which is an edgier, more aggressive tone.When the Clipping Switch is in the BB Position that uses Soft Diode Clipping, like a softlyoverdriven tube amplifier.
Blues Disorder - Buffered or True Bypass
The Keeley Blues Disorder features our Jfet buffer for noise free switching. We have developedan amazing sounding buffer which not only makes your rig sound better, it gives you silentswitching with no tone loss. No more pops and clicks to distract from your music. If you want toturn that feature off and go back to true bypass, simply press and hold down the foot switch fortwo seconds and the pedal will switch to True-Bypass (LED will flash twice). True Bypass isgreat for players that want the effect of plugging directly into their amp when the pedal is off.Alternatively, players that want a strong and clear signal even when the Blues Disorder is turnedoff, simply hold the stomp switch down for two seconds and the effect is back to BufferedBypass (LED flashes three times). Enjoy truly silent switching and let your music be the onlyvoice.
Super Rodent
Keeley put two very different overdrive & distortion pedalsin one box and gave you two new sounds in the process.The Keeley Super Rodent is a 4-in-1 pedal that gives youtwo well-known distortion circuits and two brand newsounds by way of the toggle switches! It’s almost likepedal-modeling, except these are 100% analog circuitsand you decide which tone-control or clipping-section youwant to play through. You can play through the classicyellow ‘Japanese Super O-Drive’ or a ‘RodentiaMichigander’ distortion circuit, or even better, you canFrankenstein new monster tones with the two hybrid modes. The creative design keeps the pedal a simpleand space-saving three-knob distortion pedal with anamazing tone. The Super Rodent lets you determine if it’sbuffered or true-bypass, on the fly. The Keeley Super Rodent Overdrive and Distortion is entirely designed andmanufactured by Keeley Electronics in a new aluminumenclosure.
- Two classic distortion/overdrive circuits are combined into one pedal
- Swap tone controls and/or distortion sections to create new sounds. By mixing the SD Overdriveand RT Distortion, you can create two unique Hybrid Distortions.
- Silent Buffered Bypass or True Bypass - hold footswitch for one second to change
- Professionally Engineered and Expertly Manufactured Pro Audio Gear - sounds developed in theKeeley tone lab and in the field, then built entirely in our factory.
Tone Control
The Super Rodent gives you two tone control circuits to choose from. When the Tone Switch is downand in the RT Position the tone control simply rolls off high-frequencies. If the Tone Switch is up and inthe SD Position you have an active low pass filter and more bass and treble frequencies are available.
Diode Clipping
Hard or Soft Clipping: The Super Rodent gives you both styles of diode clipping. Diodes are used tocreate hard clipping distortions or smooth overdrive sounds. If the Clipping Switch is in the RT Position it features Hard Diode Clipping which is an edgier, more aggressive tone. When the Clipping Switch is inthe SD Position that uses Soft Diode Clipping, like a softly overdriven tube amplifier.
Super Rodent - Buffered or True Bypass
The Keeley Super Rodent features our Jfet buffer for noise free switching. We have developed anamazing sounding buffer which not only makes your rig sound better, it gives you silent switching with notone loss. No more pops and clicks to distract from your music. If you want to turn that feature off andgo back to true bypass, simply press and hold down the foot switch for two seconds and the pedal willswitch to True-Bypass (LED will flash twice). True Bypass is great for players that want the effect ofplugging directly into their amp when the pedal is off. Alternatively, players that want a strong and clearsignal even when the Super Rodent is turned off, simply hold the stomp switch down for two secondsand the effect is back to Buffered Bypass (LED flashes three times). Enjoy truly silent switching and letyour music be the only voice.
For more information, please visit robertkeeley.com.
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Peterson StroboStomp Mini Pedal Tuner
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Cory Wong—a funky player with his own signature-model Strat wiring.
Guitarist, songwriter, and producer Cory Wong is renowned for his solo work, his band Fearless Flyers (with Mark Lettieri, Joe Dart, and Nate Smith), and collaborations with artists such as Vulfpeck, Jon Batiste, and Dave Koz. His playing style is deeply rooted in funk rhythm guitar, with a heavy dose of rock and jazz. Well-known for playing a Stratocaster, his signature model was released in 2021, and it’s a unique offering. If you want to build your personal Cory Wong Strat, here is your shopping list, starting with the primary structure:
• Alder body, scaled down to slightly smaller than a regular Stratocaster, with Fender American Ultra body contours
• Maple neck with a rosewood fretboard with rolled edges, modern Fender American Ultra D neck profile, slightly larger headstock, 25.5" scale, 10" to 14" compound radius, 22 medium jumbo frets
• Locking tuners with all short posts, a bone nut, and two roller string trees
• Vintage-style 6-screw synchronized tremolo
• Hair tie around the tremolo springs (which mutes them to enhance the rhythm tone)
• .010–.046 strings (nickel-plated steel)
“While these are all interesting features, resulting in a very comfortable guitar, you don’t need to copy every detail to transform one of your Stratocasters into a Cory Wong-style Strat.”
For the physical build, as you can see, Wong and Fender created a real signature instrument to his specs and wishes. While these are all interesting features, resulting in a very comfortable guitar, you don’t need to copy every detail to transform one of your Stratocasters into a Cory Wong-style Strat. My personal favorite of these is the hair tie for muting the tremolo springs. A lot of my funk-playing customers are doing similar things on their Strats to get a dry sound, and they’re using all kinds of funny things in there, like foam, rubber bands, and pieces of cotton, as well as hair ties.
Now, let’s have a look at the electronics:
• Seymour Duncan Cory Wong Clean Machine SSS pickup set
• Standard 5-way pickup-selector switch with classic Strat switching matrix
• 250k master volume pot with a 90/10 audio taper and Fender treble-bleed circuit PCB
• 250k tone pot with a 90/10 audio taper and Fender Greasebucket tone control PCB for only the neck pickup
• 250k audio push-push tone pot with Fender Greasebucket tone control PCB for only the bridge pickup; the push-push switch overrides the 5-way switch and defaults to middle + neck pickup (in parallel) as a preset
• Middle pickup is without tone control
Let’s break this down piece-by-piece to decode it:
Pickups
The pickup set is a custom SSS set from the Seymour Duncan company with the following specs:
• Overwound hum-canceling stacked bridge pickup with a 3-conductor wire and shield in permanent hum-canceling mode (red wire taped off), bevelled alnico 5 magnets, approximately 14.5k-ohm DCR
• Overwound middle single-coil, RWRP, beveled alnico 4 magnets, approximately 7.1k-ohm DCR
• Overwound neck single-coil, bevelled alnico 4 magnets, approx. 7.0k-ohm DCR
The pickups are voiced for clear highs, which perfectly suits Wong’s funky playing style and tone. While a lot of pickup companies will have pickups in that ballpark, it will be difficult to put together a full set that really works as intended. The Duncans in the Cory Wong Strat are available as a balanced set, so if you want to get as close as possible, I think this is your best bet.
5-Way Pickup Selector Switch
Nothing special here, just the standard 5-way switch with two switching stages that is wired like a classic Stratocaster:
bridge
bridge + middle in parallel
middle
middle + neck in parallel
neck
The upper tone pot is assigned to the neck pickup, while the lower tone pot is connected to the bridge pickup, leaving the middle pickup without tone control.
Master volume pot and treble-bleed circuit.
The 250k master volume pot is a standard CTS pot with a 90/10 audio taper found in all U.S.-made Fender guitars. The volume pot has the treble-bleed circuit from the Fender American Pro series, but uses a ready-to-solder PCB from Fender instead of individual electronic parts. The PCB is available from Fender individually (part #7711092000), but I have some thoughts about it. While using a PCB makes a lot of sense for mass production, it has some downsides for us mortal human beings:
• Soldering on PCBs requires some training and also special soldering tools.
• The PCB is quite expensive, while the individual electronic parts are only a few cents.
• The PCB uses ultra-tiny surface-mount parts, so it’s very difficult to repair or mod it to your personal taste.
I don’t think we need a PCB for adding a treble-bleed circuit, so let’s do this project using conventional electronic parts. The treble-bleed PCB contains a 1200 pF capacitor with a 150k-ohm resistor in parallel, plus another 20k-ohm resistor in series. Using individual parts, it looks like this:
Courtesy of single-coil.com
In general, a treble-bleed circuit will help you to combat the “volume vs. tone problem” when using passive single-coil pickups. When you turn down the volume (even just a bit), the high end or treble loss is not proportionate. In other words, a small cut in volume creates a far greater loss in your guitar’s treble response. Using a treble-bleed circuit is an easy way to get rid of this problem, as long as it is calculated carefully.
ONLINE ONLY: If you want to find out more about treble bleed circuits please have a look here: https://www.premierguitar.com/diy/mod-garage/treble-bleed-mod
Next month, we will continue with part two of the Cory Wong Stratocaster wiring, bringing it all together, so stay tuned!
Until then ... keep on modding!