The Stahlhammer Distortion is a guitar effects pedal from Keeley Electronics in the distortion category1. It is built around classic hard-rock distortion sounds: the reviewer at Pedal of the Day described it as delivering "a cranked, Angus-style tone" through his low-wattage tube amp, referring to Angus Young of AC/DC2.
"I plugged the Keeley Stahlhammer into my board and that Micro Terror had the mighty [Angus]"
Controls
The pedal keeps its control layout simple, with a gain control, a three-band EQ and a gain-boosting switch2:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Distortion | Adjusts the amount of distortion |
| Bass | Low-end tone shaping |
| Middle | Midrange tone shaping |
| Treble | High-end tone shaping |
| Input-side switch | Adds more gain with sustain |
The EQ section is what lets the pedal move between different flavors of classic rock distortion. The same reviewer found that with the bass, middle and treble knobs "and a little tweaking," he could land on Judas Priest territory, and that turning the distortion knob further brought a Scorpions-style singing lead tone within reach2.
What reviewers said
Pedal of the Day's reviewer, Mike F, tested the Stahlhammer with an Orange Micro Terror, a low-wattage tube amp head, and found it produced nuanced, amp-like cranked tones at that setting2. Of the input-side switch, he wrote that it adds "not just gain for gain sake, but creamy" gain with sustain2.
Where it sits in Keeley's range
Keeley Electronics makes a wide range of drive pedals, from the Keeley Filaments high-gain distortion to the White Sands Luxe Drive and the Super Rodent SD-1 x Rat Overdrive / Distortion, as well as mods of classic pedals such as the Boss DS-1 Distortion Ultra Mod. For more on the category, see Distortion Pedals.
Videos
ProGuitarShopDemos
Keeley Electronics
Mike Hermans
Sources (2)
- Keeley Electronics Stahlhammer Distortion, Pedal of the Day, 2015-03-30
- Keeley Electronics Stahlhammer Distortion, Pedal of the Day (www.pedal-of-the-day.com), 2015-04-05
