NPD: Belle Epoch Deluxe

[AutomationBias]

I dig it! It absolutely nails that live Zeppelin slapback echo thing. My only wish is for indicators around the knobs so that you can dial your settings back in. The controls all interact with each other to some extent, so very small changes can make a big difference.

 

[laxu]

It's a great sounding pedal. I mainly sold mine because it lacked all the modern conveniences like tap tempo, presets and whatnot. My understanding is that these newer models have tap tempo options at least with the exp jack and the more legible controls is nice too.

If I remember correctly the pedal's preamp boosts the signal level by quite a bit so if you are comparing it to another delay, make sure you raise the level on the other effect.

 

[la szum]

Congrats! Such a killer pedal! I'd put it in the upper echelon of Echoplex based
delay pedals. I say this as an EP-3 owner. That charge pump to increase the voltage
is HUGE.

There's a respectable DMM model on their, too.

Screw modern convenience(s)!!

People still like to light campfires by hand and burn real wood.

 

[AutomationBias]

Congrats! Such a killer pedal! I'd put it in the upper echelon of Echoplex based
delay pedals. I say this as an EP-3 owner. That charge pump to increase the voltage
is HUGE.

There's a respectable DMM model on their, too.

Screw modern convenience(s)!!

People still like to light campfires by hand and burn real wood.

Nice! I haven't played around with the DMM settings, but I have an original Stereo Memory Man that's a lot of fun. It's my go-to 'freak out' delay.

 

[la szum]

I've had a BED in the past. I wouldn't hesitate to pick one up again. EXP pedal
works great for adjusting Mix/Feedback, or Delay Time. And you can use the
Echo/Osc footswitch as a momentary to send it into Self-Oscillation.

 

[la szum]

How you getting along with it?

I'd like to confess a personal stake/interest in Catalinbread. Not with the
current owners (though I do cheer them on), but with the OG owner and
crew. Nick was a legend. He was also engaged to a good friend of mine
when he passed so tragically in 2016. What happened after that was so
hard for me to witness. It's actually a miracle Catalinbread is still around
given what what down in the years following his passing. The story reads
like a Shakespearian tragedy, and would make a great movie. Maybe it will
someday.

 

[dronerstone]

How you getting along with it?

I'd like to confess a personal stake/interest in Catalinbread. Not with the
current owners (though I do cheer them on), but with the OG owner and
crew. Nick was a legend. He was also engaged to a good friend of mine
when he passed so tragically in 2016. What happened after that was so
hard for me to witness. It's actually a miracle Catalinbread is still around
given what what down in the years following his passing. The story reads
like a Shakespearian tragedy, and would make a great movie. Maybe it will
someday.

Yup, a total shitshow, imho. And yeah, RIP Nic, what a bummer.

I currently own two CB pedals, a V2 SFT (blue/grey, but no "stoner" mode) and a fairly new BOS Belle Epoch.

Both are superb-sounding!

The SFT kills at 18V. Despite the somewhat limited shaping capabilities, it's versatile enough to use as a nice preamp, and it has "that old Ampeg sound" in spades. Goes from London to California quite easily.

The Belle Epoch, I hesitated a lot before buying, and was looking for alternatives, but then thought "f**k it" and bought it anyway.
Sounds top-notch!!! No matter if only for short, very "organic" slapback, or rather psychedelic, warbling, spaced-out, longer delay, I love it.
The internal gain trim is useful. I keep that in always-on mode, which helps slamming the amp's front end even more.
Some might not like the omission of tap tempo though.

That said, I try not to partake too much in "cancel culture" fads, especially if there's no real reason to. No problem admitting that what went down with CB is totally crazy, but I can still like their stuff.
I also enjoy my two Fulltone pedals even though I personally believe he's not someone that I'd wanna be friends with and has said a few stupid things without using his brain.

 

[HomespunEffects]

I’d like to know the real story behind Catalinbread. I’m a fan of Howard Gee and his work.

 

[dronerstone]

I’d like to know the real story behind Catalinbread. I’m a fan of Howard Gee and his work.

Hard to say what really went down without having been there, though if I recall correctly, Howard left CB and was then sued into oblivion by Nic's mom, who took over and claimed he stole physical and intellectual property.

 

[la szum]

I’d like to know the real story behind Catalinbread. I’m a fan of Howard Gee and his work.

Sadly, I know way too many details, and could write a book about it. When I say
Shakespearian, that is no joke.

It's an amazing rise, and then a tragic fall---through no fault of anyone who founded,
built, designed, or worked for Catalinbread prior to Nick's passing. He and CB were
really on the ground floor of the whole Boutique Pedal craze of the 2000s and early
to mid 2010s.

I still can't fathom how it all went down. Mind blowing shit! Anyone with an heart
would be gutted by what happened.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Never tried a Catalinbread pedal, although the Adineko always fascinated me. I came close to getting one years ago.

 

[HomespunEffects]

Never tried a Catalinbread pedal, although the Adineko always fascinated me. I came close to getting one years ago.

I definitely want one.

 

[Achilles]

Never tried a Catalinbread pedal.

Me neither until I kept reading about this one being the best plate reverb in a box.
And only plate - single flavor pedal.

5 out of 5 stars!!!

 

[FuzzyAce]

Have any of you tried the Octapussy? Now that is a pedal I really need. Although the Helix stomp's take on the fuzz/octave is pretty darn great too.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Me neither until I kept reading about this one being the best plate reverb in a box.
And only plate - single flavor pedal.

5 out of 5 stars!!!
View attachment 21621

I've heard a lot of positives about it.

 

[Achilles]

I've heard a lot of positives about it.

Quick tip if you ever pick one up. Remove the back panel and make sure the little switch is set to BUFF.
When set for TB there's a weird volume match game you have to play between effect on or off.
I almost gave up on it until I RTFM.
I always default to true bypass but this pedal wants to be buffered.

 

[AutomationBias]

How you getting along with it?

I like it! We had company over the weekend, so today was the first chance I had to play it loud. There's a pretty big difference in tone between the preamp in the BED and the Chase Secret Preamp, which is kind of a surprise. The BED sounds cleaner, but thinner. I imagine I'll mostly leave in in slapback mode. Haven't had a chance to try out the expression stuff.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Nice!! I've tried the smaller one and it was awesome

 

[la szum]

Never tried a Catalinbread pedal, although the Adineko always fascinated me. I came close to getting one years ago.

Really cool topsy-turvy oil-can style delay that can do a quasi-verb and also has a
neat preamp in it.

Worth a plunge if you have not tried that style of delay before. Very atypical and weird.

 

[la szum]

The Bicycle Delay is also an out of the box delay. Based on a vision/idea Nick had when he
was tripping balls. Aptly named. And the annual Bicycle Day is just a few days away.

On This Infamous, Trippy Ride on April 19, 1943, Albert Hofmann Became the Godfather of Psychedelics

Whether or not you’re a fan of psychedelics, we highly encourage getting out on a bike ride today to celebrate the legend.

www.bicycling.com