Keeley Memphis Sun

Head into the Keeley Memphis Sun and bask in the tones of the 1950s! Studio sounds of the 1950s and more. Small Room Reverb, Slapback Echo, Futuristic Double Tracking.

The new Memphis Sun – Lo-Fi Reverb, Echo and Double-Tracker is Keeley's second studio themed pedal. Like the Keeley 30ms ADT, this pedal gives you a wealth of tones for capturing that classic rock-and-roll sound as well as sounds you’ve not heard before. It’s an Echo and Reverb pedal. Think of this pedal as three different effects:

• ECHO 600 – Echo for Long Delays
• SUN MODE – Auto Track-Doubling and Slapback with Short Delays
• REVERB – Room Reverb – Full Studio Studio Simulation.
• Both of the ECHO 600 and SUN MODE effects have a Room Reverb. It’s a one-knob, rock and roll type of room reverb.

Room Reverb:

The Room Reverb simulates a small 33′ by 18′ asbestos-tiled room so filled with music the sounds actually get compressed. Then add a slight amount of “room compression” to the reverb; it almost lives and breathes. Kelley takes into account the frequency response of the mics used then. The RCA 77 is loosely simulated by a group of filters including a HPF = 300 Hz and LPF = 8 kHz. Many artifacts are incorporated in the room reverb. In fact, second and third order harmonics are added to make sure it sounds just right.

• The Time Control is the Pre-Delay amount: 0-150ms of pre-delay. This allows for a slapback sound as the first reflections come into focus.
• Regen/Mod is the Tone Control: this is an active filter +/- 10 dB and is centered around 1.1 kHz.
• Reverb Control is the Depth Control for the reverberations

Sun Mode:

Let’s Do it Twice Mama, It’s Alright! Automatic Double Tracking (ADT) was not available in the 1950s, but they sneak it in here because it makes a wonderful sound. If you lengthen the time, it goes right into Slapback territory which is the foundation of Country and Rock and Roll guitar sounds. Like our Keeley 30ms, this pedal will do ADT. The Memphis Sun creates a vintage-voiced double-track in mono. Your guitar playing “Gemini-Twin” in this case has a very warmed up tone. Adjusting the Time Control lets you easily create anything from Double Tracking to Slapback with up to 180ms of delay time.

• Time: Delay Time is 0-180ms. For Automatic Double-Tracking set this control at the second mark or lower, 0-30ms. For slapback echo 30-180ms sounds great. The knob markers notate 0,30,60, 90, 120, 150, and 180ms
• Regen/Mod: This is the Modulation for the ADT voice created. Set to OFF for no Rate or Depth. As you increase this control both the Rate and Depth of “Tape” modulation are increased.
• Reverb: Old Rock-and-Roll Room Reverb. RnR RR Right?

ECHO 600:

Rock and Roll is the Devil’s music, right? Of course Keeley made the delay time up to 666ms to simulate some unearthly echo machine that never really existed. Filtering in the Slapback Mode is done in stages. First, Keeley heavily filters the response at 1 kHz then compress the thing. Remember the concept… pack a bunch of sound in a small room and it compresses. Next they filter it again at 1 kHz! Sounds like Rock and Roll, right? Also, added are 2nd and 3rd order harmonics to this mix that simulate tape response and equipment distortions. Waves folded back on themselves. You're gonna love these curves.

• Time: 30-666ms \m/ \m/
• Regeneration: As Jack White says, “Three.” Up to three repeats. Or sometimes six….
• Reverb: It’s Still Rock-and-Roll Room Reverb to Me