Keeley releases Compressor Plus Germanium for 25th anniversary

October 6, 2026 · 2 sources

Keeley has released the Keeley Compressor Plus Germanium, a 25th-anniversary version of the Keeley Compressor Plus, at $189¹². Delicious Audio reported the release on October 6, 2026, and Guitar Pedal X reported it on October 8, 2026¹².

According to Delicious Audio, the pedal adds a germanium transistor used as a front-end buffer and tone-shaping stage rather than for clipping, which the site says rounds off brittle high frequencies, smooths downstream overdrive and adds harmonic warmth¹. The pedal keeps the Level, Tone, Compression and Blend controls of the original, with Blend mixing dry signal back in to preserve pick attack, and a Single-Coil / Humbucker switch that sets release time to match the pickups¹. Guitar Pedal X lists the controls as Level, Pickup Type (Single Coils/Humbuckers), Tone, Blend and Comp².

Delicious Audio reports a switch for selecting true bypass or buffered bypass, power from 9V to 18V DC at 25mA, and that the pedal is built in Oklahoma¹. Guitar Pedal X reports two finishes: a Standard Edition in lighter gray brushed aluminum, stocked by dealers, and a Black Custom Shop Edition available only direct from Keeley². Both are $189². Guitar Pedal X describes the Standard version's photo as looking "a little odd - with the pedal seemingly tarnished," with no such marks on the Black edition².

Guitar Pedal X states the Compressor Plus is Keeley's all-time bestselling pedal, said to have sold 132,000 units by early 2024, and that the design is based on the 1978 Ross Compressor².

Guitar Pedal X notes that germanium versions of the Pigtronix Philosopher Compressor and the Wren and Cuff Gold Comp appear to be discontinued².