Airis Effects 51-Filthy vs Keeley Filaments

The Airis Effects 51-Filthy and the Keeley Filaments are both pedals sharing tight, high gain. The Airis Effects 51-Filthy leans crunchy. The Keeley Filaments leans mid-forward and saturated. Current prices: $169 vs $189.

Similarity
citedBlended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.

37% somewhat different

Shared genres
citedGenres both listings are associated with.
  • Metal
Shared tone character
citedDerived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.
  • tight
  • high gain
Citation fame
citedCitation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.
17%
0%
Price

$169via Reverb

$189via Reverb

Description

The Airis Effects 51-Filthy is a tight, articulate high-gain preamp pedal from the Ontario, Canada-based boutique builder founded by Richard Seidlitz in 2014, voiced somewhere between a block-letter EVH 5150 and a Diezel Hagen, delivering crunchy, saturated distortion without losing note definition even at aggressive gain settings. Handbuilt in small runs and backed by a two-year warranty, it represents Airis's focus on high-gain metal and hard rock tones within a boutique pedal format, aimed at players wanting studio-quality amp-in-a-box distortion rather than a simple fuzz or overdrive circuit.

The Keeley Filaments is a high-gain distortion pedal from Keeley Electronics delivering tight, focused, harmonically rich saturation suited to modern rock and metal applications. The circuit provides powerful gain with controlled low-end tightness and mid-presence for note definition in dense playing contexts. The Filaments is positioned as Keeley's primary high-gain distortion offering, providing the saturated, cutting character needed for modern heavy music without the loose, unfocused quality of some fuzz-based high-gain designs.

Genres
citedGenres this gear is documented as being used in.
  • Hard Rock
  • Alternative Rock
  • Electronic
  • Rock
Tonal lean
  • crunchy
  • mid-forward
  • saturated
  • transparent

Related searches

Airis Effects 51-Filthy vs Keeley Filaments — Shared Character & Differences — NodeTone