Keeley Bassist Compressor

This is a fantastic piece of kit. It really is studio grade: I use 4:1 to smooth out the loudest peaks a little, and there's no noise and no loss of tone at all. The gain makeup knob is great if you're using a lot of compression, and it's really easy to set it so there's no volume difference between on and off. That said, it's permanently on for me - it's utterly transformed my sound, and now every note on every string is the same volume. The threshold control and red/green LED makes it simple to set when compression kicks in. I specifically wanted a pedal that wouldn't colour my sound, but instead simply tame my output a little - and this pedal does that brilliantly. It'll fit on your board, too - the box itself is 31mm tall (the switch adds another 17mm height), by 110mm deep by 57mm wide. Can't recommend this enough!

Research:
I spent many hours reading all the reviews and watched all the available videos before taking the plunge.

The decision:
I formally owned an MXR M87 bass compressor, which is a good compressor, but wasn't quite what I was looking for. I had previously tried several brands of bass compressors before settling on the M87, but it did the job until I could find something better.

Verdict:
The Keeley Bassist Compressor is everything it claims to be and more. It definitely produces the sound that I was looking for and it is so much easier to dial in my sound.

Conclusion:
Overall, the Keeley Bassist Compressor is a very professional pedal that cannot be beaten in my opinion. It has taken a permanent spot on my pedalboard.

After trying several compressors for my bass, this is the one I kept. It beat out serious contenders: MXR Bass Compressor (clamps to hard, and is finnicky to set up), Wampler Ego Mini (could not handle high output and distorted), and Seymor Duncan Studio Bass (fine, but Keeley is simpler and smaller).

I use Keeley at the end of my chain, to even out the signal a bit. I use quite minimal settings. Somehow, the bass sounds the same, but just a little bit more authoritative. It especially works well after overdrives, it somehow makes them sound fuller. Having this compressor at the end of the chain allows me to slam an overdrive with a signal boost, but then not have a big volume jump. With only three knobs, it's extremely easy to use. You can't make a mistake with settings, it sounds good throughout.

Cons: I like simplicity, but some might find that limiting. Also, placed at the end of the chain, it clamps the octave pedal a bit too much (but that's the case with all comps I tried).

Definitely recommended!

Switching from the very good EBS compressor to this. I took a risk but actually, this compressor is, from far, much better.

First: setting the ratio and threshold independently is a big advantage (if you know what you are doing).

Secondly: the sound is very transparent, this compressor handles very well different input levels. It was my main issue with the EBS one. My JB on steroids was blowing it up, even with the -15dB on.

I would recommend this compressor to every bassist who knows the theory behind compression and likes to test settings. If you are more like jumping on stage, turning all the knobs all the way up and play, maybe find a "one knob" compressor then.