Keeley Bubbletron
Keeley Bubbletron
Keeley exploded in 2016. They put out a huge array of pedals that year, and one of the most popular was the Bubbletron. This incredibly unique pedal was modeled after the sounds that came out of Frank Zappa’s guitar from the late 70’s to the mid 80’s. That alone should be reason enough to pick this pedal up. It has some truly unique takes on flange and phase, and some wonderful LFO filter sounds. This stompbox’s sonic craziness and usefulness is all up to you. As frank Zappa said: “Do you love it? Do you hate it? There it is, the way you made it.”
External Control: None
Cost: $$
HornFX Review
| Interface | Versatility | Clarity of Effect | Live Application | Total Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.5/5 | 13.5/20 |
Complexity: Medium
Interface: 3.5/5
The four knobs and one switch are clearly labeled and color coded. The pedal’s controls are intuitive. The main drawback is that only half of the pedal’s sounds can be accessed at once. There is a switch that can only be accessed by opening up the pedal the switch to the second bank of sounds.
Versatility: 3/5
The Bubbletron has a lot of beautiful and musical sounds. The flange/phase/envelope options are all useful and can range from intense to subtle. The real limiting factor is the second bank switch in the pedal’s interior.
Clarity of Effect: 3.5/5
This pedal speaks well. You can change the sensitivity and thus in some cases, the saturation. It does however, have a less dramatic effect that its intended use on guitar. That being said, the effects are unique and beautiful and worth your while.
Live application: 3.5/5
The lack of presets make this pedal slightly less desirable than others. However, the dynamic flanger and phaser serve the horn player well in that there is no oscillation of the effect when the pedal is not in use. This eliminates the washy waves of sound one gets from most phasers and the oscillating sound that many flangers emit when you are not playing.
DynaFlange, DynaMoPhase and Random Filter effects
Classic experimental and progressive sounds of the past
Simple, easy-to-use control layout
Rate, Sensitivity, Depth and Level controls
Filter, Phase and Flange toggle switch
Product info from the Guitar Center website