Catalinbread Talisman
The EMT-140 is THE plate reverb. It's the
sound of countless classic recordings,
from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon
to Van Halen's timeless eponymous debut
album, and the Catalinbread Talisman is
the only stompbox I know of that truly
captures its ambient majesty. The geniuses
at Catalinbread studied a real EMT-140
(housed at Larry Crane's storied Jackpot!
Studios in lovely Portland, Oregon) when
developing the Talisman, recreating every
aspect of its sound and behavior. The result
of this thorough R&D is a pedal that is
unmatched for realistic plate sounds. Real
live plate reverbs have minimal controls,
typically requiring pre and post-processing
via the recording console and other outboard
units for things like EQ and pre-delay, but
the Talisman provides comprehensive onboard control over the sound. It features
knobs for mix, volume, time, pre-delay, and
a high pass filter, which rolls off low-end for
increased clarity. It also boasts tails, for a
naturally smooth decay when the pedal is
clicked off, and nine-to 18-volt operation,
which gives the player the option to
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run it at a higher voltage for maximum
headroom. The Talisman's pre-delay control
goes up to 100 milliseconds, which is enough
to put a little slapback flavor before the 'verb.
This was a common mix trick in the old days,
but it required the engineer to set up a tape
delay in the signal path before the plate.
You shall not have to perform such a feat of
engineering to get the same sound out of
this fantastic pedal. Catalinbread's Talisman
is a tour de force, and is the only choice for
guitarists that are nuts about real plate tones.
Lose the Springs: 6 Premium Plate Reverbs