Catalinbread is a renowned boutique pedal company based in Portland, Oregon, USA. Founded in 2003 by Nicholas Harris and Howard Gee, Catalinbread has established itself as a leading manufacturer of high-quality and innovative guitar effects pedals.
Catalinbread pedals are crafted with a deep respect for vintage tone and a flair for innovation. Hand-built in Portland, Oregon, they capture the spirit of classic amps, echoes, and fuzz circuits while adding modern versatility and character. Each pedal feels like a piece of sonic art, from their shimmering reverbs to their amp-inspired drives and dynamic boosts. Catalinbread’s approach is all about musical feel and responsiveness, giving players inspiring tools that make every note come alive.
Just Pedal Ingredients.
Bass — In the realm of guitar effects, “bass” pedals are designed specifically for bass guitars, enhancing their low-end frequencies and allowing bassists to shape their tone and explore new sonic possibilities. These pedals cater to the unique characteristics of the bass guitar and provide various effects to modify its sound. For instance, overdrive and distortion pedals add gain and saturation, giving the bass a gritty or distorted tone. Compression pedals help even out dynamics by smoothing out the volume of loud and soft notes, resulting in a consistent and punchy sound. EQ pedals enable bassists to sculpt their tone by boosting or cutting specific frequencies, allowing them to emphasize certain parts of the sound or compensate for room acoustics.
Other popular bass effects include envelope filters, which produce dynamic filter sweeps in response to playing dynamics, adding rhythmic groove to bass lines. Octave pedals generate harmonies one or two octaves below the original note, creating a fuller and more powerful sound. Modulation effects like chorus, flanger, and phaser add depth and movement by modulating the pitch or phase, creating swirling textures and enhancing the overall presence of the bass line. Lastly, delay and reverb pedals introduce ambience and spatial depth, adding echoes and reflections that enhance the sense of space in music. These diverse effects allow bassists to expand their sonic palette and express their creativity in numerous ways.. Catalinbread. Drive — A drive pedal adds grit, warmth, and harmonic richness by gently overdriving your guitar signal, simulating the sound of a tube amp pushed into natural breakup. It works by boosting the signal until it begins to clip softly, producing smooth, musical distortion that enhances dynamics without overwhelming the original tone. Drive pedals are perfect for adding sustain and body to clean tones or giving solos extra bite and presence.
There are many flavours of drive — from transparent low-gain pedals that subtly enhance your sound, to midrange-heavy overdrives like the Tube Screamer that cut through a mix. They can be used to push an amp harder, stack with other pedals, or simply shape the foundation of your tone. A good drive pedal responds to your touch, letting you control everything from gentle crunch to singing sustain just by adjusting your picking dynamics or guitar volume.. Pedal — Your pedal is like a signature dish for your sound — a flavour-packed creation that transforms the bland ingredients of your guitar into something unforgettable. Each one adds its own seasoning, texture, and heat, turning a simple meal into a feast of tone.
These tasty little boxes sit in a row, like plates on a buffet, letting you mix and match flavours as you play. With one tap of your foot, you can swap sweet for spicy, subtle for smoky, and serve up something completely new. From the comfort food of warm overdrive to the fiery kick of fuzz, from smooth jazz sauce to heavy-metal spice, pedals give players a full menu of options to express their taste. And just like with food — once you’ve tried one dish, you’ll want to sample them all.
Collecting, trading, and discovering new flavours soon becomes part of the joy of being a tone-loving gourmet geek with a guitar.. Series.