Belle Epoch

The Catalinbread Belle Epoch Tape Echo, has tape echo sounds so authentic you’d swear there was tape inside the pedal! Inspired by the Maestro Echoplex, EP-3 model, perhaps the most famous tape delay ever, the Belle Epoch features everything we love about the EP-3 in a small, maintenance free pedal format. We felt that a “tape echo” pedal was much more than just a standard digital delay with some “filtering” on the repeats. There are a lot of subtle and not-so-subtle traits of the Echoplex that needed to be implemented in order to be authentic. The preamp, the self-oscillation character, the ability to play the pedal as an instrument unto itself, the ability to control the “record level” of the signal hitting “tape”, the wow and flutter, the way the repeats decay, the way the circuit interfaces with the amp and other pedals - all these things were important to get right.

Belle Epoch: At a Glance

• Based on the epic EP-3 tape echo.
• 80-ms-800ms of real-time adjustable delay.
• Go from a single repeat to self-oscillations.
• Dial in a variety of wow/flutter tape modulation.
• 100% wet/dry mix & record level control.

Technical Specifications

• 2.34" x 4.39" pedal
• 9v-18v Negative Tip DC Power
• 61 mA draw

Control Surface

• The MIX control replicates the functionality of the Echo Volume control on the EP-3 and uses the same basic passive mixer circuit. Set at minimum to get dry only. Set at maximum to get wet only.

• The TONE / REC LEV control sets how hard the “tape” or delay line is hit. It does not affect your dry signal and only affects the initial first repeat. Turning the knob while repeats are playing will not affect them. In practice, you’ll want to use this control in conjunction with the Mix control to set your balance

• The SWAY / MOD control sets the amount of random tape wow and flutter effects in the echoes. At minimum, there is no wow and flutter. For the most realistic tape warble, set this control fairly low.

• The ECHO SUSTAIN controls how much delay signal is fed back to the delay line to get multiple repeats. From minimum up to around noon you’ll get a fixed number of repeats with a great decay curve. Above noon you start to get into infinite floating repeats and then into self-oscillation.

• The ECHO DELAY controls the delay time, from about 80ms all the way up to 800ms. It was designed to be manipulated in real-time, as you are playing, to get the same sounds as an EP-3. You’ll notice, especially when the Echo Sustain is turned up a bit, that the echo sound “lags” a bit, much like how the Echoplex behaves when you move the slider back and forth.

Front & Center

The Belle Epoch was designed to be run in front of your amp in the same way the Echoplex was designed to be run in front of your amp. They share almost identical input and output circuit topologies, including the passive unbuffered mixer circuit of the EP-3. However, we tuned it to have a lower output impedance than the EP-3 to not load down the output as much while still retaining the open non-buffered output interface. A buffer does just what the name implies - it isolates one circuit from the next and can create a “disconnected” feeling that is subtle but a player who relies on touch-sensitive dynamics in his rig will appreciate the difference of not having the buffer. Having said that, the Belle Epoch will perform great in almost any pedal stacking situation. But for the most authentic Echoplex-like experience, we recommend that you run it before any foundation overdrive type pedals and after fuzzes, treble boosters, and the like. For the most awesome experience, try playing it right in line before your cranked up tube amp.

Dirty Little Secret

Introducing the new Dirty Little Secret from Catalinbread. The Dirty Little Secret has earned itself a well-deserved reputation for replicating the sound and feel of a classic era Marshall amplifier, supplying one of the most iconic guitar sounds in music. Able to clean up with a flick of your guitar's volume control, or go from mild crunch to full kerrang with your pick attack, the Dirty Little Secret has seen the inside of arenas and bedrooms alike, providing great overdriven sounds to clean backlines, low-wattage amps, and even direct applications. When the JFETs used as the base for the Dirty Little Secret were discontinued, and as our stock of them began to dwindle we knew we had to find ones still being manufactured. However, rather than simply re-voicing around these new JFETs, we decided to push the envelope and provide an amazingly robust feature-set, from ever evolving listening and circuit skills, and pure power of intention. This isn't just 'a' Marshall in a box, it's the most versatile and dynamic Marshall-style overdrive out there!

What's new in the Dirty Little Secret:

• The DLS now offers two distinct voicings, "Super Lead" and "Super Bass" switchable via an internal slider switch.

• Completely redesigned full three-knob treble-middle-bass tone control complement that reconfigures for each mode setting.

• We've also added an internal presence trimmer that allows you to fine-tune the presence of the pedal precisely to your guitar and amp combination.

• The gain range is much wider and even more responsive to pickup types, playing dynamics and instrument volume knob!

The "Super Lead" mode expands the range of the DLS MkII with more gain available and more control over your tone sculpting with the addition of the midrange control without losing any of the touch-sensitive dynamic qualities that made the MkII so great to play - in fact, those qualities have been enhanced. The gain range now goes from classic plexi all the way to modified JCM800 levels and can get even more raw and open than any previous DLS. This mode was voiced specifically to make humbucker-equipped guitars really rock with clean to scream all from the twist of your guitar's volume knob.

The "Super Bass" mode is a new voicing that gives you the tone and gain structure of a Marshall Super Bass (which is very similar to a JTM45 or JTM50/100). This mode was voiced to really hone in on that elusive in-between "not quite clean, not quite dirty" response that old tube amps were so good at getting. And it was specifically voiced to make fuzz pedals sound great (especially two-transistor based fuzzes like the fuzz face). Plug a Strat into a Fuzz Face into the new DLS in SB mode and you'll see what we mean!