Description
On the menu for January 2026 are the Catalinbread Guitar Pedals, freshly added and carefully selected. These New units are available to order online with fast, secure delivery from trusted UK retailers. Read on for full details, specifications, demos, videos, reviews, and the best places to buy the Catalinbread Guitar Pedals today.
The Catalinbread 5F6 is Catalinbread’s take on the classic “tweed” Bassman-style amplifier from the late 1950s. Utilising two 6L6 output tubes into four 10″ speakers, the Bassman quickly became the mainstay of stages everywhere during that era.
The Formula 5F6 pedal injects vintage “tweed” Bassman response to your setup, giving you the awesome characteristics of this classic amp into any clean amplifier. Do you play a high-powered clean amp such as a Twin and can’t get a good cranked response at real world gig volumes? Do you play a smaller amp at home but it’s still too loud to give you a great amp response? Or maybe you can play as loud as you want but you crave more touch-sensitivity in your rig?
Adding the Formula 5F6 will solve all of these problems and will become the foundation of your pedalboard — the stompbox that will enhance the response of all your other effects. The Formula 5F6 lends itself to almost any musical style, from the classic Strat/Bassman blues tones of Buddy Guy and Otis Rush to artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robbie Robertson and Robben Ford, all the way to heavier styles by stacking boost, overdrive, or fuzz pedals into it. Don’t worry, the Catalinbread Formula 5F6 won’t just make you play old music! It will take you where your imagination takes you.
Controls
Gain: Controls the gain, obviously, but circuit-wise it is identical to the “Bright Volume” control on the tweed Bassman. So, turned down low, you’ll get those great sparkly cleans, turned up midway or so and you’ll get that elusive touch-sensitive response where you can play clean or dirty just by varying your picking attack. And cranked all the way up, you’ll get the gain structure of a Bassman on 12, thick and overdriven, but still sounding very “California”.
Volume: This is the master volume that controls the output of the pedal. The lower you set the Gain knob the higher you’ll want to run the Volume. For the best clean and on edge-of-breakup response, turn the Volume all the way up and start with the Gain control at minimum and then slowly bring up the Gain control to the desired response. This will give you the most authentic Bassman experience!
Treble, Middle & Bass: These controls reproduce exactly, part-for-part, the tone circuit(“tone stack”) of the tweed Bassman. If you’re familiar with the tone controls on that amp, you’ll already know how these work! The circuit was carefully tuned around this tone stack to give great tones, no matter how the tone knobs are set. Don’t be afraid to try things like full Mid and no Treble or Bass, or even full Treble with no Mid or Bass. You’ll find a huge universe of useful tones to make your part stand out in the mix.
Presence (Internal): There is a trimpot (accessible by removing the bottom plate) that allows you to fine-tune the amount of presence or high treble frequencies that the pedal produces. It is factory set to provide the best tone in most circumstances. However, everyone has different guitars, amps, and tastes so Catalinbread have given you control over the overall brightness of the pedal.
Mode Switch (Internal): There’s a switch inside that changes between Stock Bassman (S. Bass) and Secret Lead (S. Lead) modes! It will transform the Formula 5F6 from vintage low-gain goodness into a fire-breathing monster from California!
Specifications
- Voltage: 9-18V DC
- Dimensions: 4.33″ x 2.36″ x 1.96″
- Weight: 0.4 lbs
