One entry in Keeley’s next-gen pedals, the Compressor Mini is an automatic “Manhattan-style” compression. The tiny tool’s secret is an Automatic Tone Recovery Circuit that ensures signal maintains clear high frequencies during the heaviest compression. The purported result is a wider range of tonal possibilities and a transparent signal that won’t mask the subtleties of your artistic expression.

The Compressor Mini clocks in at half the size of a standard stompbox. Its Volume control affects output level, while Comp shapes sustain and compression of input signal. Its transient-release-time feature adapts to humbuckers and single-coils, giving both a range of enhanced sounds.

Tucked into a pedalboard in front of a Fender Deluxe Reverb, the Compressor Mini was not only an excellent clean boost, but a valuable sculpting tool that created varieties of countrified squish or super-funky choked sounds. It would be an excellent choice for a funk enthusiast, but also improves clarity and definition with just the right amount of throatiness. It’ll also smooth-out a woolly overdrive pedal, making it sing and adding enviable sustain.

The Compressor Mini is an excellent tool for adding that layer of polish to tighten up an already stellar signal.

This article originally appeared in VG’s March 2022 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.