Keeley Halo Core

The Keeley Halo Core is a compact digital delay pedal from Keeley Electronics, a streamlined version of the company's top-selling HALO Andy Timmons Dual Echo. Where the full Halo is a five-mode pedal with presets and modulation controls, the Core keeps three of those modes, three main knobs and a mode toggle, and puts the deeper editing in secondary knob functions. It runs on Keeley's DSP technology and carries Andy Timmons' signature "Halo" sound: a modulated dual echo that Keeley describes as long kept secret by the guitarist, who spent decades combining and crafting the tones the pedal reproduces¹².

The pedal went on general release in November 2024 at $249 on the Keeley Electronics webstore, after an initial limited run of 300 units in July 2024³⁴.

What the Halo Core does: Andy Timmons' modulated dual echo

The centerpiece is the Halo mode, which reproduces Andy Timmons' mysterious-sounding "Halo" effect, a modulated dual echo sound⁷. Keeley's own description of what comes out is unusually vivid: notes dance rhythmically, almost creating a reverb diffusion, and those notes are held together with tape-style effects like modulation, saturation and compression¹. The same description appeared in Pedal of the Day's review of the original Halo in 2023, and the site repeated it for the Core in 2025, finding the streamlined pedal "simplifies it, making for an easy-to-use effect that doesn't skimp on tone"⁵⁸.

The Core is a stripped-down version of the dual echo rather than a new circuit family: you get the full force of the main Andy Timmons Dual Modulated Echo Halo effect, along with two further time signatures³. Compared with the full pedal, the Core is around 50% wider than the original Andy Timmons signature stereo delay, in a mid-size enclosure with RCA Bakelite-style knobs and a vintage jewel lens pilot light LED⁷³. Robert Keeley has said the Core shares the same bent aluminum enclosure as the company's new trem reverb⁶.

The controls and secondary parameters

The front panel keeps three knobs and a three-way mode toggle, with a second layer of parameters reached by press-holding and turning the knobs³.

MusicRadar's Jonathan Horsley walked through the knobs in the pedal's announcement coverage: Time gives "a huge range here, from a barely perceptible 1ms to 1500ms," the oversized Level knob sets the delay's output level, and FDBK controls the number of repeats². With the tap/hold switch depressed, the Time dial controls a high pass filter running from 10 Hz fully counterclockwise to 8750 Hz fully clockwise². Keeley says the Tone and High Pass Filter controls shape your overall delay sound and mix, and the Saturate control adds tape compression texture to your tone¹. Set the Time and Feedback controls low, and the pedal opens up ambient chorus and flanger effects¹.

Two footswitches handle everything else: an On/Off footswitch, and a right footswitch for tap tempo that, when held, engages a momentary Infinite Hold effect redesigned for the Core for an enhanced sound⁷³. The pedal also offers All-Wet or All-Dry modes, engineered for straight-into-amp and effects loop setups¹.

Modes: Halo, quarter note and dotted eighth

The Mode toggle selects between three delay modes³:

• Halo: Andy Timmons' signature modulated dual echo sound⁷
• Quarter Note: a classic quarter-note rhythmic delay⁷
• Dotted Eighth: a rhythmic dotted eighth delay⁷

The Core keeps three of the five modes found in the first version of the Halo; the full Light Bending edition also offered Analog Rack Delay and Multi-Head Tape Delay rhythms⁷⁹. The dotted eighth mode is itself an addition: the limited run version had one less mode, and the general release candidate added the Dotted Eighth format³.

History and versions: from the Halo Dual Echo to the general release

The Halo Core's story runs through the wider Halo line. The original Keeley Halo Stereo Dual Echo, an Andy Timmons signature pedal with a preset recreating his modulated dual-echo sound, shipped with mono/stereo inputs and outputs and a four-knob layout of time/high pass filter, level/saturation, rate/tone and depth/rhythm¹⁰¹¹. The Core strips that back to three knobs and three modes.

The Core itself first appeared as a limited edition of 300 units in July 2024⁴¹. Robert Keeley priced the limited run at 199 USD⁶. The pedal later returned to production, with the general release version adding Dotted Eighth mode alongside Halo and Quarter, plus minor circuit, logo and control-toggle changes; the limited run's logo was offset rather than centerd³. Robert Keeley indicated a slightly different version with the dotted eighth mode and stereo in and out was due in December 2024⁶, and the general release carries a list price of 249 USD³.

What reviewers said

Coverage of the Core has been positive, with a couple of qualifications.

• Pedal of the Day called it "the ideal grab-and-go, studio-grade delay pedal, offering professional quality in an easy-to-use format," and of the sound itself: "Grab those headphones, this one sounds amazing…"⁵
• Gearnews welcomed the return to production, calling it "the simplest way to achieve the Andy Timmons Halo effect" if you are searching for that sound⁴.
• Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson noted the ergonomics cut both ways: players with bigger hands and feet will likely gravitate towards this format, which has more distance between the two footswitches, but he personally prefers the full-featured and granular nature of the compact Light Bending Halo edition³.

For players weighing the Core against the full pedal, that reviewer preference is the main published counterpoint: the Core trades the original's presets, modulation controls and extra rhythms for a simpler panel and a dedicated tap tempo footswitch, at $50 less than the stock Halo³.

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