Over the past 10 years, Robert Keeley has watched his
company grow from offering a few experimental pedals into
a major effects manufacturer with products being sold in
more than 200 US stores and nearly 100 internationally. Here
he reflects on the journey, technological strides, and where
he sees his company going in the future.
By Lindsay TuCker
Robert Keeley wants to solve your sonic problems. His business is only 10 years
old, but in the guitar-pedal universe he’s
known as a guru at taking the most beloved
effects and making them even better. He
says it’s all the result of a serendipitous
accident—a conversation he had with his
wife one day when he was desperately try-
ing to get his hands on a Ross Compressor.
His inner voice of reason spoke loud and
clear: “Didn’t you just get a degree for
building those things so you wouldn’t have
to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars
on vintage ones?”
It was early 2001, and Keeley had recently
earned his electrical-engineering degree from
Oklahoma University. He had been hoping
to break into the amp-building industry—an
industry that was already highly saturated
and becoming more so every day—but
instead he was teaching. He enjoyed it, but
not nearly as much as his music obsession.
“Sure enough, I did find the schematic
and the parts for the [Ross] pedal, and I
took off and built one,” Keeley says with
childlike enthusiasm. “When I heard it, it
was magical—I was completely stunned.”
In fact, hearing his own handiwork generated enough personal excitement and fervor to convince Keeley to ditch his teaching career and start Keeley Electronics. At
that point, few people were doing modifications and independent effects, so the lack
of competition was reassuring.
