The Keeley Tube Drive is a dual overdrive pedal that pairs a genuine high-voltage 12AX7 tube preamp with Keeley's Super Phat Mod circuit in one enclosure. The tube side runs at 168 volts internally, which Premier Guitar reports as a key factor in the pedal's sound, and the solid-state side is the Super Phat Mod, a Blues Driver-derived transistor drive that Keeley released as a standalone pedal about ten years earlier12. It is Keeley's first tube pedal, built from start to finish at the company's Oklahoma City headquarters, and it launched September 1, 2026, the 25th anniversary of the company2.
The tube stage runs its dual triodes in series in Class A into a vintage tweed-amp-style tone stack, and Delicious Audio describes it as adding touch-sensitive breakup on a clean amp or pushing an already-driven amp harder34. The Super Phat Mod side, in Delicious Audio's words, "brings that transparent, dynamic JFET overdrive Keeley's known for, full of harmonic content"3.
The controls and footswitches
Each side of the pedal has its own footswitch, labeled Tube and Drive, and its own three knobs: output level, gain and tone27. You can run the tube side alone, the drive side alone, or both together, each with its dedicated controls1.
On That Pedal Show, the presenters noted how Keeley names the controls: the drive control is labeled harmonic content, the level control is labeled audio balancing, and the tone control is a low-pass filter8.
| Control | Location | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Level (audio balancing) | Each side | Sets the output level of that side78 |
| Gain (harmonic content) | Each side | Sets the gain of that side78 |
| Tone (low-pass filter) | Each side | Rolls off high end on that side78 |
| Tube footswitch | Left | Engages the tube stage7 |
| Drive footswitch | Right | Engages the Super Phat Mod stage; hold two seconds to swap stacking order71 |
The tube sits under a custom Keeley shroud with a vented rear panel for airflow3. On That Pedal Show the presenters observed that the tubes are branded Keeley but were originally sourced from Electro-Harmonix8.
Four sounds from two stacking orders
Because the two sides can be stacked in either order, the pedal offers four distinct sounds: the tube channel alone, the drive channel alone, and the two stacked orders. As Robert Keeley put it to Premier Guitar, "So, the pedal truly has four different sounds. You have the tube channel, the drive channel, and the..." two stacked combinations2.
Switching the order is done on the fly with a foot gesture: hold down the Drive footswitch for two seconds and the signal path swaps from Tube into Drive to Drive into Tube, or back12. Editions with the Remote jack can also switch the order from an external switch connected at the tip4.
Gearnews describes the combined range as running "from gentle and warm to brutally distorted"1. On That Pedal Show, the presenters found the tube side does not have tons of gain but works well to fatten things up as a boost, either before or after the Phat Mod side, and that the drive side is more compressed than the tube side8.
History, designers and the six tube editions
The Tube Drive first appeared as a limited pre-release edition built around a 12AT7WA tube, with a Black "K" Tube Shield setting it apart6. That run sold out quickly, and what initially seemed like a limited-edition model became available to everyone at general release on September 1, 202623. The general release came in at least two editions: a Gold Dealer Edition with a 12AT7WC tube and a Standard Edition with a 12AX76. Keeley has since brought the total to six different editions, each with a different 12A*7 tube onboard, including a Black and Pink Edition with a 1984 GE 12AX7A/7025 tube5. Development involved Craighton Hale as lead designer and engineer, with Aaron Pierce and Aaron Tackett also on the project2.
Development involved Craighton Hale as lead designer and engineer, Aaron Pierce as the "golden ears" of the team, and Aaron Tackett2. Robert Keeley told Premier Guitar the pedal has a huge dynamic range and that "we tuned it by ear instead of by designing something very conventional"2.
By late October 2026, two further variants, the Black and Pink Edition with a 1984 GE 12AX7A/7025 tube and the Black and Magenta Edition, brought the total to six editions, each with a different 12A*7 family tube onboard5. All but the Dealer Edition remained available on the Keeley website as of October 23, 20265.
| Edition | Tube | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 12AT7WA pre-release | 1950s Sylvania 12AT7WA | RKFX.com exclusive, run of 100, brushed gold finish, sold out in minutes46 |
| Gold Dealer Edition | 12AT7WC | Gold K tube shield6 |
| Stock Edition | Keeley-labeled 12AX7 | Black and blue, $3995 |
| Black and Silver Edition | 1984 GE 12AT7A/7025 | $4995 |
| Black and Pink Edition | 1984 GE 12AX7A/7025 | 5 |
| Black and Magenta Edition | Priciest variant to date at $5495 |
Delicious Audio compared the standard and Sylvania versions: the standard Tube Drive is brighter and more versatile for high gain, while the Sylvania edition is about vintage NOS tube character3.
What reviewers said
On That Pedal Show's demo of four new pedals, the verdict on the Tube Drive was direct:
"Tube drive without doubt a fantastic foundation gain stage for any pedal board"
The presenters also found the drive side more compressed than the tube side, and noted the tube side's usefulness as a fattening boost rather than a high-gain device8. Guitar Pedal X, covering the pre-release, expected further small batch releases with different tubes and colourways, a prediction the six editions had confirmed by October 202665.
Videos
Keeley Electronics
Keeley Electronics
Premier Guitar and Keeley Electronics
News
Questions
Is the Keeley Tube Drive true bypass or buffered?
It is selectable. You can choose between true bypass and Keeley's silent buffered switching, so it works either at the front of a long pedalboard chain or in a setup where you want the cleanest possible signal path when the pedal is off.
What tube is in the Keeley Tube Drive?
The standard edition carries a Keeley-labelled 12AX7 running at 168 volts internally. Other editions ship with different 12A*7 family tubes, including a 12AT7WC in the Gold Dealer Edition and vintage GE and Sylvania tubes in the limited runs.
Can I swap the tube in the Keeley Tube Drive?
Keeley itself has shipped the pedal with several different tubes across its editions, swapping the modern 12AX7 for vintage 12AT7 types in the limited runs. The published coverage describes these as factory editions rather than user tube rolling.
How do you change the stacking order on the Keeley Tube Drive?
Hold down the Drive footswitch for about two seconds and the order swaps from Tube into Drive to Drive into Tube, or back again. On editions with the Remote jack you can also switch the order from an external switch.
Where is the Keeley Tube Drive made?
It is built from start to finish at Keeley's headquarters in Oklahoma City, and each pedal carries a numbered faceplate. It is the company's first tube pedal.
What is the warranty on the Keeley Tube Drive?
Keeley offers a two-year warranty on all of its tube products, which covers the Tube Drive alongside the rest of the tube range.
Sources (8)
- Keeley Tube Drive Twin Triode Dual Overdrive: Dual Tube Overdrive Now Available for Everyone!, gearnews.com, 2026-09-02
- Take a Thrill Ride with Keeley’s Tube Drive, Premier Guitar, 2026-09-08
- New Pedal: Keeley Tube Drive, Delicious Audio, 2026-09-01
- Keeley Tube Drive, Delicious Audio, 2026-08-07
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2026-08-10
- Guitar Journal: Keeley Tube Drive 12AT7WA & More, gearnews.com, 2026-08-11
- Jam Tiny Amp Destroyer, Keeley Tube Drive, Death By Audio Amp Crash, Summer School Spring Break, That Pedal Show (YouTube), 2026-09-25
