The original , standard if you will , Belle Epoch entered the guitar effects world in 2013 . The folks at Catalinbread set out to emulate a Maestro Echoplex EP-3 in pedal form and by most accounts they nailed it , even going so far as to recreate the EP-3 ’ s preamp section . Now they ’ re back with Belle Epoch Deluxe , which according to Howard Gee , Chief Designer at Catalinbread is a “ no compromise ” take on the EP-3 . “ For the Deluxe , I wanted no compromise in sound . I wanted that big sound and headroom the actual unit had . And I wanted to be able to have my cake and eat it too . I wanted that big sound and feel but without the inconvenience of the wall units . I didn ’ t want to have to require the use of a special power adapter or anything like that .” As a result , the Deluxe ramps up the internal voltage to 22 volts ( the voltage of a real EP-3 ), makes some features that were formerly digital now analog , and adds an expression input and a momentary switch for oscillation . No , there isn ’ t tap tempo . Get over it . The Deluxe also adds five additional echo voices including ones that apply the chorus and vibrato from a Deluxe Memory Man ( DMM ). Yep . EP-3 repeats with DMM modulation . That ’ s sure to be a winning combo .
So no , we didn ’ t see anything 100 percent new from Catalinbread this go around . But we did get very exciting updates on two of their classics — the Belle Epoch Deluxe ( mentioned above ) and the Formula 55 ( an update to the Formula 5 ). For my money , the original Formula 5 was probably the best Tweed Deluxe ( 5E3 ) in a pedal on the market . Sure , it didn ’ t do a lot in the way of clean tones ( without dialing back the volume on your guitar ), but most folks aren ’ t chasing Deluxes for the clean tones . The 55 looks to be adding some clean versatility to this formula along with adding a control for Presence and a Hi-Lo switch which Catalinbread describes as the equivalent to dropping in hotter tubes . I can ’ t wait to see how this tweed stacks up .
catalinbread belle epoch deluxe
The original , standard if you will , Belle Epoch entered the guitar effects world in 2013 . The folks at Catalinbread set out to emulate a Maestro Echoplex EP-3 in pedal form and by most accounts they nailed it , even going so far as to recreate the EP-3 ’ s preamp section . Now they ’ re back with Belle Epoch Deluxe , which according to Howard Gee , Chief Designer at Catalinbread is a “ no compromise ” take on the EP-3 . “ For the Deluxe , I wanted no compromise in sound . I wanted that big sound and headroom the actual unit had . And I wanted to be able to have my cake and eat it too . I wanted that big sound and feel but without the inconvenience of the wall units . I didn ’ t want to have to require the use of a special power adapter or anything like that .” As a result , the Deluxe ramps up the internal voltage to 22 volts ( the voltage of a real EP-3 ), makes some features that were formerly digital now analog , and adds an expression input and a momentary switch for oscillation . No , there isn ’ t tap tempo . Get over it . The Deluxe also adds five additional echo voices including ones that apply the chorus and vibrato from a Deluxe Memory Man ( DMM ). Yep . EP-3 repeats with DMM modulation . That ’ s sure to be a winning combo .
Catalinbread Formula 55
So no , we didn ’ t see anything 100 percent new from Catalinbread this go around . But we did get very exciting updates on two of their classics — the Belle Epoch Deluxe ( mentioned above ) and the Formula 55 ( an update to the Formula 5 ). For my money , the original Formula 5 was probably the best Tweed Deluxe ( 5E3 ) in a pedal on the market . Sure , it didn ’ t do a lot in the way of clean tones ( without dialing back the volume on your guitar ), but most folks aren ’ t chasing Deluxes for the clean tones . The 55 looks to be adding some clean versatility to this formula along with adding a control for Presence and a Hi-Lo switch which Catalinbread describes as the equivalent to dropping in hotter tubes . I can ’ t wait to see how this tweed stacks up .