The Keeley Oxblood is not a direct Klon Centaur clone, but certainly draws its inspiration from the legendary pedal. It’s an original circuit designed from scratch by Robert Keeley, Craighton Hale, and Jack Orman, with the explicit intention of outperforming the clones rather than joining them.
Jack Orman is a significant figure in effects design and having him as a named collaborator on the Oxblood is meaningful.
The result is a pedal with a wide dynamic range. The Oxblood has a perfectly clean boost through medium overdrive with a characteristic focused midrange, on to searing sustain. The voltage doubling circuit gives it exceptional headroom throughout that range. Control the bass with the Phat and Clipping switches. This gives you meaningful control over the bass response and diode character, rather than being a single fixed-voice overdrive.
One Keeley customer describes it as a “flavour” pedal as much as a function pedal — something you reach for when you want more of what’s already there rather than a dramatic transformation. At lower Drive settings into a good amplifier, it adds presence, focus, and midrange density. Push it harder and the character shifts into something more aggressive and sustaining.
The Phat and Clipping Switches
Most overdrive pedals have a fixed voicing. The Oxblood gives you four different fundamental characters via two toggle switches.
The Phat switch controls bass response. In the Phat-off position the bass is cut, giving the classic Screamer-style midrange. In Phat mode the bass is restored and the low-mids fill out with more body and less cut. The bass in Phat mode is also saturated with a hint of second-order harmonics, giving the low end a different texture rather than just more of it.
The Clipping switch controls the diode selection. Different diodes produce different clipping hardness and compression characteristics. The Oxblood’s two clipping options give distinctly different amounts of gain and sustain — one for singing, sustained lead tones and one for a more open, amp-like response.
Controls
- Drive: Controls the gain from no distortion at minimum to searing sustain at maximum.
- Volume: Controls the output level. The voltage doubling circuit gives substantial headroom — enough to drive any amplifier input meaningfully.
- Tone: Controls the high-frequency character from warm and dark to bright and cutting.
- Phat switch: Toggles bass response between cut (classic mid-focused character) and full (more body and low-mid warmth).
- Clipping switch: Selects between two diode configurations — near-infinite sustain or a more open, amp-like response.
Key Features
- Original Klon-inspired circuit — not a clone, designed by Keeley, Hale, and Jack Orman
- Voltage doubling circuit — massive headroom and output capability
- Phat switch — toggles bass response between cut and full
- Clipping switch — selects between two diode configurations for different sustain and compression characters
- Wide dynamic range — clean boost to searing sustain
- Works with any guitar — Strat, Les Paul, Tele all benefit from the midrange voicing
- True bypass
- 9V DC centre-negative
- Made in the USA
Watch It In Action
FAQs
No, but it certainly inhabits that space. Keeley explicitly designed it as an original circuit rather than a clone of the Centaur. It outperforms the clones rather than just joining them.
It controls the bass response of the pedal. The Phat-off position cuts the bass for a classic mid-focus. In Phat mode the bass is restored
It selects between two different diode sets which produce different clipping characteristics. One setting gives near-infinite sustain, the other a more open, less compressed amp-like response.
Yes. Just roll the Drive back to minimum and use the Volume to push your signal level.
The internal voltage doubling circuit takes the 9V input and converts it to a higher internal operating voltage, giving the circuit more headroom.
Jack Orman has been one of the most influential figures in boutique effects design for over two decades.
Yes.
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