Robert William Gary Moore (* 4 April 1952 in Belfast, Northern Ireland; † 6 February 2011 in Estepona, Spain) was a Northern Irish blues, blues-rock and hard rock guitarist, composer and singer.

Moore was often described as a virtuoso and has been cited as an influence by many other guitar players. He was voted as one of the greatest guitarists of all time on respective lists by Total Guitar and Louder. Irish singer-songwriter Bob Geldof said that "without question, [Moore] was one of the great Irish bluesmen".

Over the years, Moore played many different guitars. Besides the three guitars he acquired from Bluesbreakers and Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green (a 1959 Gibson Les Paul – now owned by Kirk Hammett, a 1961 Fender Stratocaster, and a Gibson Les Paul Junior), he played models by Charvel, Ibanez, Hamer, Jackson, PRS, and Heritage. Moore often used Marshall amplifiers and also Soldano amps. In his later experimental phase, when he added synthetic sound elements, he used Line 6 preamps.

Spoiler: Videos

Videos

Gary Moore - Parisienne Walkways - Live HD

Gary Moore Greatest Hits Full Album

Gary Moore - Over The Hills And Far Away (1987)

 

Thanks, I know that. I know how to copy from the web too.

But I don't need to: he was one of my best friends and we played together often. In my home, in his, later in my studio, recordings included. And a thousand other details that aren't on the web.

I still don't understand the reference. What does it have to do with this pedal?

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2026 at 4:06 PM

I'm a software guy so I may be saying stupid things.
However, from my software experience, compressors distort when:
1) Attack and/or release are too fast.
2) The input is too loud.
Try lowering the input volume and making attack/release slower and see if the problem disappears.

 

I don't know about the thread being closed, hope not. At least not at this stage until it is solved.

I did contact Keeley in the past, about the problem, and for specs (input Vpp limit for example). I got the specs. Emails went back and forth about the distortion problem. But as I didn't know what's going on exactly, I described all the problems as distortion, and wrote them when it occurs. They had no clue what causes it, replied that it is strange, agreed that as the other compressors do it as well, it may not be a pedal fault, but the offered to look into it. Before the intermodulation issue has been identified, noone knew what actually it is and when symptoms showed more than just clipping, everybody became confused by the strange behavior of the pedals, so did the Keeley support.

Now as the research has come to a stage that I know the exact problem, I have not reached out to them yet. First of all, because there are still some questions to clarify. But to tell the truth I am not rushing to contact now at all. If I get stuck with solving this, I think I will, if someone shows up with a working tweak, maybe I will not.

 

Already Outruled, just disguises the problem on the expense of optimal settings. Input signal has no effect on it below a certain level (bruought under the clipping limit). All these mentioned in the first post.

 

==>

Did you try the Keeley Compressor GC-2 Limiting Amplifier ?

http://robertkeeley.com/product/gc-2-limiting-amplifier-compressor/

It replaces my old TC Electronic Sustain + Parametric Equalizer on the pedalboard: at low (entry) levels, it had, in the "background" a strange behavior (so I sold it). This did not come from the pickups (different guitars, different pickups). Now I'd like to hear it again but it's gone.

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2026 at 4:56 PM

If you need good equipment and are a bit unsure where to start, I recommend looking at what the great guitarists use. You can't really go wrong with that, whether it's pickups or effects pedals.

Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy, blues guitar) ---> https://equipboard.com/pros/gary-moore

Boss DS-1 Distortion
DigiTech Bad Monkey Tube Overdrive
T-Rex Moller Overdrive Pedal
Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano
Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer
MXR M193 GT-OD
Radial Tonebone Classic Tube Distortion Pedal
Ibanez TS10 Tube Screamer Classic
Boss DM-2 Delay
Boss OC-2 Octaver
Boss BF-2 Flanger
T-Rex Engineering Gristle Luxury Drive
Boss FRV-1 '63 Fender Reverb
Ibanez CS9 Stereo Chorus
Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
Boss RV-5 Digital Reverb
Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler

 

If this post is for me: I don't need good equipment. I have it since 40 years. Gifts from GM included ( and reciprocally ).

Seems I need to read all sono's posts now. And a Doliprane .

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2026 at 5:20 PM

Not yet. I might add it to my list though, but first I will read what they write on the page. Also need to check the features in detail. Thanks for mentioning anyway!

 

Opinion :

=> http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/keeleygc2.shtml

Your Carl Martin Comp-Limiter is mentioned.

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2026 at 5:37 PM

That's a good sign. The only problem with that is the Carl Martin is not suitable for my needs. It is an old-fashioned pedal. As it turned out, that is the best in dealing with many different guitar signals, but a huge problem for me is the lack of the blend knob. That way the knocking sound on transients cut can cause a lot of issues, makes the sound annoying. At least for me.For country players it might be an advantage though, or for funky. So usually I am looking for ones with a blend knob. But if the system of the two pedals are the same, that is sure that the intermodulation will not appear on that Keeley. So from that point of view it is suitable.

 

@sono
There are parallel loop pedals that will let you add a blend knob to any stomp box.

 

Hello @ sono.

With blend knob : would you know...

* the TC HyperGravity Compressor ? " Multiband Compression Pedal with Vintage Compressor Mode and Built-In TonePrints " :

* The JHS Pedals Pulp N Peel V4 Compressor / Preamp ?

* JHS Pedals / Keeley Electronics Steak and Eggs :

* The Frank Marino Audio Sus IV pedal with a little demo :

http://www.frankmarinoaudio.com/fx-bundle/#susiv

http://www.frankmarinoaudio.com/fr/store/pedales/sus-iv/

' a tool for achieving clean, extended sustain without compromising tone. Utilizing compression and gain technology, the Sus IV ensures your clean notes last longer while maintaining clarity and stability '

( aouch : 495.00 $USD; 'Custom designed and hand-signed and assembled by Frank Marino' )

 

Last edited: Feb 26, 2026 at 12:14 AM

INTERLUDE - about tubes, solid-state and pedals - :

Frank Marino : 'In My Ways' – Live At The Agora Theatre - 2019

http://limewire.com/d/GRJcB#IGKu84yY2a

( click above link to view or download )



​

' As for amplification, Marino uses a rack system that includes a preamp he built, a wireless receiver, another preamp, a Crown power amp with an Ashley backup, and a preamp/power amp/speaker-selector system.



“It’s a very large box, but everything in it is doubled,” Marino detailed.

On stage left, a Marshall amplifier modified by Tommy Folkesson sits atop a 4×12″ cabinet.

“Tommy has re-done three Marshalls for me. I like to say it’s the last Marshall you’ll ever need,” the guitarist chuckled. “And I do use it for recording.” But as much as Marino likes the amp, onstage it serves only as a backup; attached to a relay, kicks in if his main amp goes kaput.

On stage right, a cabinet with two 15″ speakers is powered by Marino’s primary amp, and a 4 x12″ cab (formerly owned by Aerosmith’s Joe Perry) works with his Marshall. The speakers have Fane baskets, and the voice coils and cones are built for Marino by a shop in Montreal. '

( http://www.vintageguitar.com/3484/frank-marino-2/ )

Asked to share his opinion on tube amps vs solid-state when it comes to pedals, the guitarist said:

"It's definitely a better platform for pedals. I proved that throughout the '70s when everyone thought I was using tubes. I did a gig once with Black Sabbath, and Tony Iommi, of course, played through tubes."

"For some reason, they were having a really bad problem with grounding, and the crowd was sitting there listening to this huge noise. I walked up to Tony and said, 'Why don't you just use my amp? It's still sitting there, plugged in.'"

"He saw it was a transistor amp and basically, he refused. He said, 'No, I'm not going to use that,' not realizing it worked. The bottom line was that it worked."

As for why people tend to hold tube amps in such high regard, Marino offered:

"They like the compression you can get. But it's not so much from the tube as it is from the fact that, by definition, tube amplifiers have transformers on the output. So they're playing through transformers. That's the magic of a tube amplifier."

( http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/gear/its_not_so_much_from_the_tube_frank_marino_names_real_reason_why_people_idolize_tube_amps_reveals_case_in_which_solid-state_amps_are_better.html )

 

Last edited: Feb 26, 2026 at 1:20 AM

Now, with that review it definately interests me. I will bookmark this too. Thanks!

His stage rig can only be a distant dream for me, moneywise.

 

It seems I managed to find what element causes the problems in the Keeley:

The pedal has a Blend knob shown below. The instruction says if you turn it fully to the left you have 50% wet - 50% dry signal. When you turn it fully to the right, you got 100% wet signal. The situation is: if you make sure that the input signal is below the input limit ( 9V input - 2.5Vpp / 12V input - 3.5Vpp), then if the Blend knob is turned fully to the left, the outcoming signal is crytsall clear even if you set heavy settings on the Sustain or Tone knobs. When you turn the Blend just a tiny bit clockwise, the intermodulation is already there, and it extends more and more towards the headstock causing problem in more and more frets as you turn the Blend knob more and more clockwise towards 100% wet.


Does it help anything to solve the problem? I am asking those who can interpret schematics.