ive watched a few vids on this pedal, and I've emailed Keeley about it (didn't get a response). Is this supposed to be a Marshall in a box, or is it based on a Rat?
I've demo'd one before, thought it was pretty good overall. Nice eq to give you some range of tones, nice control of gain and volume, small, very well built, nicely priced, nothing about it I didn't like at all. Worth trying out I would say. Doesn't break any new ground, but I liked it much more than a regular rat, and a lot of the other boutique based rats too.
I ended up buying a Bogner Burnley (which is stellar). I sent another email to Keeley (the 2nd one) regarding the Stahlhammer, but still never got a response. I know Keeley has excellent customer service, but I think they might have a problem with their email spam filter or something.
I picked one up in a trade deal. not really a 'distortion guy', more into good ODs, but there are some very good useable tones in the Stahlhammer. VERY flexible and for someone with a lot of different amps, that's important to me, because a pedal rarely works it's best with every amp I have. The full 3-Knob EQ section (with TONS of range on those controls) and the switchable gain modes put this one on my board. I like that I can get excellent Marshallesque sounds through my blackface-oriented amps (Carr Slant 6V and Milkman Creamer) AND my tweeds (5F10 Harvard, 5E3 Deluxe, and 5F6A Bassman) with the same pedal. Also seems built very well... solid, compact, and I love that the power jack is on top. It's the little things, right??
I can get mid-gain-ish edge of distortion all the way through WAAAY too much distortion for my taste, and it never really loses it's clarity. I don't get that buzzsaw, ragged, grainy crap that usually makes me shy away from distortions.
Waking this one from the dead. Just ordered one of these, and really looking forward to checking it out. I'm sure it will sound amazing with my P90 SG.