Keeley Noble Screamer Review
Our Verdict and Review Summary
The Keeley Noble Screamer is advertised as an amp-like overdrive, which I found to be a very honest description. It's not exactly heavy, but it sounded like my Mesa Rectoverb combo with the gain at mid-level. With four overdrive sounds (two legacy and with two types of diode clipping), there's certainly enough versatility here to get your money's worth.
BEST FOR: Tube amps and amp-style distortion, rock, blues, and non-metal-yet-heavy musical styles, definitely analog fans.
TONE
87
CONTROL
78
VERSATILITY
94
PRICE/VALUE
85
- Definitely lives up to the amp-style distortion descriptor
- Selectable types of diode clipping
- Four modes, all analog
- Silent switching
- Lots of control and versatility
- Smooth and warm but still punchy/aggressive
- With four modes, it would be great to be able to switch between two with a footswitch and not have to use your hands.
The most apt descriptor of the Noble Screamer is an "amp-style overdrive" which is a pretty clear element of the marketing copy. It's smooth but also on the aggressive side, like a metal-esque amp with the gain turned down to be less menacing. The four tones and dual analog circuits can give you that thin distortion sound before pushing into the full, boosted overdrive, like you might hear going from the verse of a song to the heavier chorus. What it really needs is two bypass switches that can move you back and forth between a couple of the Noble Screamer's sound. Right now you have to switch them by hand. But overall, it's another solid pedal from Keeley.
Read more: Best guitar pedals overall
The Noble Screamer in my hand ready for testing.
Current Noble Screamer Price
Price updated Fri, August 21st, 2026.
Noble Screamer Tone Quality
You can definitely hear the analog circuitry in the Screamer, similar to the Ibanez Tube Screamer and Boss Waza Craft overdrive pedals. Bluesy overdrive is one of the few remaining types of effects that digital models have a tough time recreating. For overdrive and/or boost pedals, I'd still recommend going analog. And the Keeley Noble Screamer is a great example of a physical circuit's superiority, at least in this effects category. Again, it's warm, smooth, and very similar to a heavier tube amp distortion. My demo below didn't turn out great, so take it with a grain of salt, but you can definitely get a feel for the pedal's tone and distortion shape.
Two Styles of Diode Clipping
The difference between the more aggressive and smoother sounds in the Noble Screamer are from the diode switching between the two modes. Rather than try and reword it, I'm going to quote Keeley's description here.
Hard or Soft Clipping - The Noble Screamer gives you both styles of diode clipping. Diodes are used to create hard clipping distortions or smooth overdrive sounds. If the Clipping Switch is in the OD Position it features Hard Diode Clipping which is an edgier, more aggressive tone. When the Clipping Switch is in the TS Position that uses Soft Diode Clipping, like a tube amplifier softly overdriven.
Analog circuits leave you with a very amp-esque style of distortion, with low noise and several modes (boosts/overdrives) to choose from.
Control and Versatility
Like all (almost all) overdrive pedals, you have a level, tone, and drive knob to work with. Strangely, the tone knob seems to push up volume a bit, depending on the mode you use. Maybe I'm missing something? Of course, the intensity of these controls depends on the diode clipping you've selected, a hard or soft clip via the switch on the right side of the pedal. Though I wouldn't worry about getting into the technical side of things. You can just set it up and tweak. All the settings seem very usable, without being too intense or impractical, so just find something you like. Note that you can also switch between true and buffered bypass by holding down the bypass switch for two seconds. For what it's worth, I usually prefer buffered bypass.
Selectable diode clipping and true/buffered bypass options are the two main Noble Screamer control highlights.
Price and value of the Noble Screamer Overdrive
Keeley has the Noble Screamer priced at the dead-clean center of the analog overdrive pedal market. When we published this review it was $199, which you see all over the pedal landscape for similar overdrives. So you're not really getting a deal, but this is a reasonable ask for an analog drive pedal with multiple circuits. Plus, Robert Keeley always makes good stuff.
The price is pretty standard. You're not getting the bargain bin, but no complaints here about value.
Concluding our Noble Screamer Review
There's a ton of application for overdrive pedals, so there are a lot of good fits for the Keeley Noble Screamer.
In particular, we like it for non-metal rock styles, rhythm guitar players, and anybody running a tube amp. The versatility, and weather or not you're interested in the two diode clipping options, should also be considered. Overall, it's a great pedal and a solid value, exactly what we'd expect from Robert Keeley.
If you have questions about our review, feel free to drop them in the comments section below.
More Overdrive Pedal Content
Written by GC Editorial on Effects & Roundups
Written by Bobby Kittleberger on Effects & Roundups
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