Keeley RK 2000 Fuzz Siren Delay Review: A Creative Looping Delay Workstation

Introduction

Some guitar pedals are content to sit quietly in the signal chain and do one job well. The Keeley RK 2000 Fuzz Siren Delay is not one of those pedals. This is a pedal built for players who want to spend hours making weird, freaky, creatively psychedelic loopy guitar sounds. It is a recreation, an homage, and possibly an expansion of the delay rack unit that Trey from the band Phish has used for decades to craft the foundational one-second swishing, swirling, glitchy loops that have become an iconic part of that band’s sound.

Even if you are not a Phish fan, this pedal has a lot to offer. It is a micro loop building station at heart, but it can also function as a standard delay pedal with tap tempo and subdivisions. The RK 2000 rewards experimentation and invites you to get lost in the sounds you can create.

Who This Pedal Is For

The RK 2000 Fuzz Siren Delay is for the creatives out there who want to get weird and freaky with their guitar sound. If you love sitting around for hours making unusual sounds and building loops, this pedal is built around that exact experience. It is a performance tool for finding something strange in the moment and then snapping back to a loop you have locked in.

That said, you do not need to be a Phish fan to appreciate what this pedal does. The pedal opens itself up to anyone with ears and the ability to enjoy the sounds those ears pick up. If you are the kind of player who finds joy in accidents that result in amazing moments you could not have planned for, this pedal will speak to you.

Main Strengths

The RK 2000 shines as a loop building station. With the feedback turned all the way up and the time set to a full second, you can capture freaky little loops and then shape them with the available controls. The blend knob acts as a volume for your loop or delay signal, and it can go a little above unity if you want it to. The filter control offers a low-pass on the right for murky sounds and a high-pass on the left for bright, crispy tones.

The modulation section is a standout feature. You can turn it on and off either with the switch on the pedal or with the left side of an external foot switch. This is great for wacky, out-there sounds or for dialing in a subtle tape warble or wow and flutter effect. The immediacy of triggering the modulation in and out is deeply satisfying, and it lends itself to super fun moments during play.

The input knob acts as a saturation control. At noon it is normal, but turning it up gives you a nice thick tape saturation that adds texture and helps you tell the difference between what you are playing and what is being played back to you. The time control goes all the way up to 1,023 milliseconds, just over a full second, and all the way down to zero if you want shorter delays.

The expression pedal functionality is another highlight. You can program the expression pedal to control any of the knobs in real time with your foot. For example, you can set the low-pass filter on the heel with the feedback pulled back, then move to the toe for no filter with maximum feedback. This opens up a world of live manipulation possibilities.

Things to Consider Before Buying

The RK 2000 is a deep pedal, and that depth comes with a learning curve. After spending two days with it, it is easy to feel like you have barely scratched the surface. There are presets to save, MIDI capabilities, and all sorts of deep-dive settings that involve holding buttons down and turning things on and off. This is a pedal that needs its presets, because if you find a freaky setting and wander away from it for too long, it will be gone forever.

The blend control does not go full wet out of the box. You can do a deep dive into the settings to make it go full wet, but that requires extra effort. The feedback control does nothing while you are holding a loop, which may take some getting used to if you are accustomed to adjusting feedback on the fly.

Activating ping pong delay requires a two-handed operation. You unplug the pedal, hold the left foot switch, and plug it back in. It is not difficult, but it is worth knowing before you need it in a live situation.

The phase invert button produces a fairly subtle sound difference, at least in casual use. It may be very important in certain contexts, but it is not immediately obvious what it does sonically or creatively.

Buying Advice

If you are a player who loves creative delay pedals and wants to get all the way weird, the RK 2000 Fuzz Siren Delay is worth serious consideration. It is built to be a weird delay performance tool, and everything about it feels right for being in the moment and finding something freaky before snapping back to your original loop.

For players who just want a tube screamer into a tube amp on the edge of breakup with a little spring reverb, this pedal is probably not for you. But if you love a delay pedal that lets you get creative and explore unusual sounds, this is exactly what you are looking for. The pedal rewards time spent with it, and the accidents that happen along the way often result in amazing moments.

Conclusion

The Keeley RK 2000 Fuzz Siren Delay is a micro loop building station that also works as a capable standard delay. It is inspired by a legendary rack unit and expands on that lineage with modern features like expression pedal control, tap tempo, subdivisions, and stereo ping pong delay. You do not have to be a Phish fan to love it. You just need ears and the ability to enjoy the sounds your ears pick up. For adventurous guitarists who want a creative performance tool, this pedal delivers in spades.