The 1970s were a pivotal era for rock music, shaping many iconic sounds that still resonate today. Catalinbread, famous for its high-quality effects pedals, invites us to relive this golden era with its brand-new StarCrash ’70s Collection. This collection revisits several of their iconic pedals, while adding two new gems to its arsenal: the StarCrash and the Sidearm.
Catalinbread SideArm Overdrive
The Catalinbread SideArm Overdrive is a variation on the famous Tube Screamer. What immediately differentiates this pedal from a classic Tube Screamer is the addition of a Mids knob that lets you adjust to your taste the typical “midrange hump” produced by this overdrive on the 720Hz frequency.
The Tone knob integrates the Mids knob with the classic toggle action, boosting treble above 1.1 kHz while cutting bass below that frequency, or vice versa. The drive will add more gain than the original Tube Screamer, approaching distortion when pushed all the way.
Retail price: €142.92
Catalinbread StarCrash Fuzz
On the other hand, the Catalinbread StarCrash Fuzz is an evolution of the Fuzz Face. This circuit reimagines what the designers of the original Fuzz Face should have done when they decided to replace the original germanium diode with a silicon diode, which made the pedal more coherent at different temperatures but noticeably changed its sonic character.
Devoid of a Fuzz control, as almost everyone who has ever used a Fuzz Face keeps this knob pushed all the way down all the time, the StarCrash introduces instead a Volume (output) knob, which pushes the front of the amp to facilitate the interaction between the fuzz and a saturated amp. The Bias control, entirely foreign to the original Fuzz Face circuit, starves the circuit producing, at lower settings, all sorts of velcro and sputtering sounds, and classic, smooth vintage tones in the upper positions. A bass cut filter, finally, cuts low frequencies between 30Hz and 500Hz, offering additional options for brighter, midrange-oriented tones.
Retail price: €142.92
Old models revisited
What really sets this collection apart is its aesthetics. The pedals have been given a new paint scheme that evokes the spirit of the ’70s, reminiscent of the decor of the custom vans of the era.
Among the revisited models are classics such as the Adineko, Katzenkönig, SFT and Valcoder. These pedals, already popular with musicians the world over, now have a new look that’s sure to appeal to vintage and retro enthusiasts. Collectors beware!
Find out more on the Catalinbread website.
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