Keeley Monterey Rotary Fuzz Vibe Multi-effects Pedal Reviews

Outstanding sounds from this pedal. Roll off the volume for delicious clean tones, and crank the volume back up for warm and rich fuzz. Vib, wah, and rotary sounds are really well done.

The Keeley Monterey WILL get you there. Of course your fuzz experience is always dependent on the guitar you use , what's before the pedal, after the pedal and the amp you use. What finally comes out of the oven is so delicious you just cannot stop using this pedal.
Bon Appettit!

I got this pedal for Christmas in 2019. I used it all day every day for about a month and then quit using it. I decided to bring it out again so it doesn't go to waste, and sure enough, it's still incredible, and I feel guilty for not utilizing it. The fuzz on this thing is INCREDIBLE, and the univibe is wonderful.

I love the sounds I get from my strat and old pignose hog.
Sounds even better through my other amps!
I'm very happy to have this in my setup!

After a very patient back and forth with Adam (who has excellent recommendations), I decided that the Monterey would be a great way to expand my tonal palette. I am a huge fan of Jimi, but don't try to emulate his sound. I play a lot of blues, Allmans, love the searing Clapton tones (from the Woman tone through to his current live sound). I am typically a guitar into amp kind of guy, with maybe a wah and distortion in the middle. In a small apartment, lots of pedals lying around isn't an option. So, now you know a bit about my context.

I have never had a fuzz pedal before, and was a bit wary of the potential tone - but this is great. It is super responsive to your guitar's volume control, so you can go from a subtle crunch to a more wild distortion. It sounds much smoother than I expected. Run it into a distortion pedal for more wildness.

Over to the mod side. I have tried to like chorus and rotary effects, but they always sound cheesy to me. With the Monterey, I find the Rotary to be a perfect complement to classic rock - either arpeggios or chimy chords. It sounds neither too subtle nor too overwhelming. The Wah gives three options - I always liked to leave the wah on and adjust the filter to shift the tone of a solo, and this allows you to do that. It also gives a very responsive auto wah and harmonic wah. The only one I don't love is the vibe, but it's good enough. I am luck enough to have a Keeley Dark Side, and something about that Vibe is a bit more throbbing and Jimi like... I wouldn't let that hold you back though. I bought this expecting to send either the Dark Side or the Monterey back... but ended up keeping both as they are really complimentary, and run well into each other.

I haven't gigged with this, but if you are a play at home dad like me, this gives you a range of options and makes you feel like you are playing loud and wild, even if the amp is set to a pretty low volume. Tried with my strat, P90 SG, and Gretsch - each one drives the pedal in a slightly different, but still beautiful, way.

The only problem with this pedal, is it makes you want more pedals...

I got this pedal the other day and the heavenly sounds coming out of this pedal is an experience you will never forget. I played this pedal for 9 hours, and there is not a bad sound out it. It has a nice distortion sound to.

First of all, this is Jimi's rig emulation and I'm about as far from Jimi's proficiency and style as you can get. But this is still one of the best pedals I've ever played (and I own a whole lot of 'em). This pedal complements any guitar style: for me, it's got fuzz and old school modulation. Perfect for my stoner funk rhythm. Or for any style: clean, dirty and everything in between. This is simply a brilliant concept, and boy: did Keely follow through on the execution. Everybody needs this pedal. Seriously.

I had been looking at this pedal for sometime but didn't buy it. I was really attracted to the way it looks but didn't think I had a use for it. I don't play a Strat or Tele so I thought I'd be wasting the money. I play Metal and that's the tools I need. I've recently discovered fuzz and love this pedal. It's a useful pedal for Metal players as well.

The Keeley Monterey pedal packs 5 effects in a single box and does a great job of simplifying obtaining the tones of Hendrix. The pedal is very well made, sounds great and is easy to use. My past dealings with Keeley give them high marks for accessibilty and service. Highly recommended.

I originally got a Fulltone Wahfull which didn't provide the compatibility with expression pedals that I need. I exchanged it for a Keeley Monterey which has worked with all my gear, no tinkering. I also prefer the sound of the Monterey's wah over the Wahfull's. I wasn't interested in vibe and rotary at first but they're so good you have to use them. I haven't been able to get a bad sound out of it, works great anywhere in my signal chain. Thanks to Sweetwater's support for walking me through this and making sure I got exactly what I was after.

I was very impressed with the true harmonic magic these pedals create AND save. I can play various guitars that I know the harmonic range they shine in,through these and they retain all that very well,but the Monterey adds tons of Mojo Option with every minor turn of the knobs. I love these pedals, they nail what they are advertised to do.

Pedal is smaller than I imagined. Keeley loaded 5 pedals into one,effectively/brilliantly. This pedal smoothly hits the Band Of Gypsies swirl,but can do sooooo much more. There are rich textures and tones that just explode through a good tube amp. Also plays well with other pedals! A simple MojoMojo,Behringer Wah,Keeley Monterey floor pedal set-up will do serious Voodoo Magic, giving any Texas blues player everything from SRV to JMH to EJ. AMAZING pedal from Sweetwater and Keeley.

I buy pedals like most people drink water and the Keeley Monterey is one of the best pedals I ve bought in a while. It covers that "Hendrixy" sound better than any other pedal I own and there s plenty of other settings for your own sounds/style. I had no tracking problems with the octave settings. Does a lot for the price!!

First I want to thank Sweetwater and my rep Kenny Stratton for the best customer service in the world!
Now I bought one of these pedals when they first arrived at Sweetwater.
Once I received it I plugged in my Fender Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster thru my Vox AC10C1 amp and within seconds I had this big smile on my face and knowing I just got my favorite pedal.
Every time I played thru this pedal I was amazed by its rich tone no matter where you had the knobs and switches ...you will hear the typical effects and so many new tones with this pedal..this is the fun part of this pedal..the sky is the limit .
Only issue it stopped working after 2 days of having it (effect side would cut signal off) so I called Kenny and he patched me thru the Tech guys but I hung up and went to my computer and sent a email to Keeley Electronics ...Wow was I surprised when I received an answer within 24 hrs and I called and spoke with a young lady who was very professional who told me to send the pedal back and she would send me a new one.

I received the new one and I was off to the races...within 2 to 3 weeks the pedal failed again the same issue as the first..I called Keeley and spoke with a young man name Aaron and he told me they had an issue with a chip and was sorry that I received 2 defective pedals and he would ship me a new one.
I sent back the second pedal and within 2 days I received the 3 pedal...Aaron told me they corrected the issue they were having with this pedal.
I have this to say..I want to Thank Robert Keeley and his staff for the quick and professional way they handled this issue and it only made me a fan of this company..I truly like a company that cares for the customers who buy their gear....I had wrote to many companies and never received an answer expect
Keeley and Analog Alien Pedals (they also have great service).
So thank you Mr. Keeley and Staff !!
Buy this pedal you wont be disappointed by the many new tones you will discover and the super company that sells it and the one that makes it .

This follow review is after extensive use of my Monterey, both live and studio. I purchased it for the rotary/vibe effects only; I already had my dirty and fuzzy pedal's covered, plus I really didn't like the Monterey fuzz. I know a guitar player that uses a Monterey on his pedalboard, too...has a room in our rehearsal complex, and I mentioned my fuzz was weak. He quickly said "No, can't be right, cuz his fuzz circuit works just like a Hendrix fuzz!". Hmmm, I asked to hear it, and sure enough, his was killer,robust,and went all out crazy with the octaver. Drats, but no big deal cuz i already have my fuzz circuit covered. Thing is a few days later, I just randomly stepped on the fuzz switch and it was shorted out,creating a screechingly loud feedback ear assault. Wow, no good....So, I emailed Keeley,relayed a short outline of the pedal situation to them. The response was immediate, with the Keeley crew urging me to send it to them under warranty. I was thoroughly blown away that Keeley followed up, repaired my fuzz circuit as good as new, shipped it back in a matter of days...all good! There is more,though, as it was noted on my repair receipt that the vibe circuit-side was also failing, it too was replaced. What..wait, who does that kind of follow up?! Sweet- My unit was sent back to me performing better than ever,and my respect for the whole crew at Keeley went to 110%. Outstanding service from Sweetwater and Keeley, plus just to say, again, the Monterey is the best Hendrix-Vibe pedal available at this price.

This is a great pedal to recreate some of the Strat sounds from the golden years of 1967 to 1969.

I'm not big on effects pedals. However, this one gets a 4.0 plus (Great), particularly if you are looking for the Classic British Blues Tones of EC Cream, Jimi Hendrix etc. A bit expensive, but still cost effective when one considers the cost of multiple pedals to duplicate the same Effects/Tones. One final point. In my humble opinion the Monterey, like everything I've used from Keeley is TOP Quality and second to none compared to other pedal makers. The Monterey combined with my Marshall Origin 50, SG or MIM Strat produces the great tones/sounds of Cream and Jimi Hendrix. Highly recommend getting one from Sweetwater.

I have been using a Monterey extensively for over a year, wouldn't part with it for any reason. 4 Star Great is accurate. While this pedal has many variables, the ability to use them together is a hit and miss affair. Two of these pedals used together is the best way to access all the features in a live setting. I purchased the Floyd/Gilmour multi-pedal, the Monterey, and a Dunlop wah for a Hendrix/SRV pedalboard set-up. With a good expression pedal, I was able to leave the Dunlop off the rig by using the wah in the Monterey unit. The only negative that aggravates me the most is the effort it takes to match/blend the LEVEL controls of the FUZZ and the OCTAVE effects. A real rabbit hole,there;harder than it should be. Overall, one of the best pedals I have ever used, just don't expect it to do everything all at once.

Picked this up at GearFest 2017. Also purchased the Dark Side about 3 weeks ago. Both pedals sound amazing. The Monterey gives me those Hendrix tones and I haven't been able to dial in a bad sound. The thing I do not like about this pedal or the Dark Star is the fact that the input, output and power port are too close together and very difficult to access. Robert Keeley, you need to move the port where the power supply is plugged in a little further from the 1/4 output. It's very, very hard to use a "L" shaped patch cord to run the effects out put to the next pedal in the chain as the power cable is in the way. Same goes for the Dark Side. You have a cluster of 1/4 inch jacks and the port for power far too close together. That is what is keeping me from buying another Keeley workstation.

This is a great fuzz tone. But the other effects regardless of mix level never say well with it.

I thought I would get this pedal and my fuzz, vibe, rotary, wah, octave needs would be handled in one box. I read so many great reviews and Keeley is known to be a good boutique pedal maker. I assumed by the name Monterey and from what I've read that this was a Hendrix in a box type of pedal, but when this finally arrived and I had a chance to play it, I was absolutely disappointed. Btw, I play an America Deluxe Strat though a Fender Twin and a Marshall DSL100, both with good tubes.

First, the fuzz section. This does not sound like a Fuzz Face or anything that Jimi would have played, it's not a good fuzz at all, there's no magic to it, it sounds downright shrill when combined with the mod effects. Is it digital, sure seems like it. It's more of a rough distortion pedal and not even a good one at that.

The vibe and rotary sound pretty nice I must say. There was a nice range to the effects, but heavens don't put the fuzz through these effects, especially loud - eek. The wah sounded ear piercing especially at band volumes. The auto-wah and cocked wah effects worked as described but maybe it was just me, I just didn't like the way it sounded and would not have used it in a band context.

Which brings us to the octave knob. Why is this on here? It's a digital sounding octave effect that is in no way even close to an Octavia effect that Hendrix used. It's totally useless and sounds terrible like my old pitch shifter... the aliens have landed.

I couldn't get any good Hendrix sounds of this pedal. I use to have a Foxrox Captain Coconut, which I regretfully sold, and there is simply no comparison. I will say, the build quality and the paint job looked great. It is a well made pedal, no doubt. Maybe I got a bad one?

In the end, I had to return it and am totally bummed about it, it's a real shame as I looked forward to getting this pedal and checked the tracking every hour. Your mileage may vary, of course....

Let me start by saying that I am a Keeley fan and have used their pedals for years. I bought this pedal after watching several demos including the Sweetwater video on the product page. My intention was to make this pedal part of my live rig and to eliminate some of my other pedals in the process. What I discovered was this might be an okay pedal to noodle around with on your own at home but it is otherwise totally unusable. I tried this pedal by itself as well as in different positions with other pedals through several different types of amps before returning it. The tracking on the octave feature is so bad that it renders it completely unusable in any context. The wah was also a disappointment even with an expression pedal. The vibe and the rotary had a nice clear swirling tone but don't not sit well before or after the fuzz.(the better of the two was the vibe into fuzz setting). Trying to find a usable balance between the two effects even with the two level controls was unachievable. The fuzz screams for some type of onboard eq or maybe a boost. The small 3 way toggle is ill placed and does not feel like it is built to last. A great idea in theory but this one misses the mark..