Keeley Dark Side Workstation

The Keeley Dark Side Workstation is a multi-effect pedal from Keeley Electronics, announced at Summer NAMM in July 2016 and shipping from 9 September 2016 at a launch price of $299¹². It is built around one player's sound: David Gilmour, whose "immense, pedal-loaded tone" Keeley set out to capture in a single box¹. Gilmour's tones are chased by many players, and the Dark Side gathers the pieces of that sound, fuzz, delay and modulation, into one workstation³.

The pedal is part of Keeley's Workstation Series and follows the same idea as the earlier Keeley Monterey Rotary Fuzz Vibe, which also aimed to give users a signature guitar sound in one medium-sized pedal²³. Guitar.com described it as "a boutique hand-made multi-effect unit"².

What is in the Dark Side

The individual pieces that make up the Dark Side workstation are Fuzz, Delay and Modulation⁶. MusicRadar summed up the palette at launch: "Gilmour sounds abound with fuzz, delay, rotary, uni-vibe, phase and flange tones onboard"¹.

The fuzz promises "more transparent 1977 Big Muff-style sounds"¹. On the delay side, Guitar.com's reviewer Huw Price found the standout: "The real stand-out is the Binson echo simulation with 12 preset 'head' combinations for seemingly endless multi-tap echo," with subtle pitch modulation and the facility to generate and control feedback⁷.

One limitation worth knowing before you plan a board around it: on That Pedal Show, the presenters confirmed that the delay and the modulation cannot be used at the same time⁸.

Analog fuzz, digital everything else

Inside the Dark Side's enclosure there is an analog fuzz and a 24-bit DSP engine running the rotary speaker, Uni-Vibe, phaser and echo effects⁷. Pedal of the Day described it as "an internal hand-built board containing analog fuzz and a high quality 24-bit DSP engine"⁹. So the answer to the analog-or-digital question is both: the dirt is analog, the time and modulation effects are digital.

The fuzz circuit has since had a life of its own. The Keeley Moon Fuzz is a pedal that draws on the Dark Side's fuzz circuit, which is a big fuzz style distortion based on a 1977 op-amp style⁵.

Expression pedal control

There is an Expression Pedal port on the pedal, and it has to be a TRS style expression pedal; Keeley suggests something like an M-Audio or Moog expression pedal⁵. Two things can be controlled from it:

• The rate control for the modulation effects, from a standard expression pedal foot controller²
• The number of repeats in the delay, which gives enough range to create feedback oscillation⁵

Players shopping for a controller can read more on expression pedals generally.

What reviewers said

Guitar.com reviewed the Dark Side in April 2017 alongside the Keeley Loomer, another Workstation Series pedal aimed at a different classic player's sound¹⁰. The review highlighted the Binson echo simulation as the standout feature of the unit⁷.

On That Pedal Show, Dan and Mick put the pedal through its paces in a December 2017 episode, working through the fuzz, delay and modulation blocks and confirming the delay and modulation cannot run simultaneously⁸.

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The Dark Side also appears in Guitar World's roundup of modern effect pedals inspired by classic albums, where its Gilmour inspiration is the through-line¹¹.

Price and availability

The Dark Side launched at $299 in the US, available from 9 September 2016 from Keeley Electronics and dealers worldwide¹². UK street price at launch was reported as £225⁴, a later Guitar.com review listed it at £301¹⁰, and a 2026 Guitar World roundup gives the price as $/£299¹².

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