CATALINBREAD DIRTY LITTLE SECRET MKII (01) PDF Document

To start using the pedal, follow these steps:

1. Set your amp to a clean setting that sounds good. If you are playing into a Fender style amp, try setting the Volume between 2-4, Treble to 6, Bass to 3, and Middle (if available) to 6.

2. Plug your guitar straight into the CATALINBREAD DIRTY LITTLE SECRET MKII and then into your amp.

3. Start off by setting the Presence and Fullness knobs to their minimum setting (full counter-clockwise).

4. Crank the Pre-Amp control to full and the Master control around noon or so.

5. Play some licks and riffs to hear the full-bodied midrange sound.

6. Add a bit of Presence as needed and use the Fullness control to bring up the “cab thump” frequencies.

Master: This controls the output volume level. Normally you would set this to just above unity volume for best results.

Pre-Amp: This is your gain control. Turn it up for more overdrive, down for less. It incorporates a brightness preserving circuit that retains clarity as you turn the gain down. You will find that you will need less on the Presence control when the Pre-Amp control is set lower.

Presence: This controls the high treble frequencies. The best way to utilize this control is to start at minimum and then turn it up until you get the amount of presence you need to cut through the band.

Fullness: This controls the low, “cab thump” frequencies. You can really hear its effect when doing palm-muted chunky chords. Just like the Presence control, start with this control at minimum and then bring it up until you get the desired amount of thump or fullness for your rig and playing style.

The controls are interactive. For example, with the Pre-Amp set high, you will find you need less Fullness and maybe more Presence. With a low setting on the Pre-Amp knob, you might want to turn the Presence down and the Fullness up. You should adjust the Master control for the desired output level after you have dialed in the other controls.

Unity volume is when the pedal is about the same volume on as it is off. With the pedal running at 9 volts, unity is usually around 1-2 o’clock. At 18 volts, it is around 11-12 o’clock.

Think of the CATALINBREAD DIRTY LITTLE SECRET MKII as your virtual pre-amp and your actual guitar amp as your power amp. Pedals that you would normally plug in front of an amp should be plugged in front of the pedal. Pedals that you might prefer to run in an effects loop should go between the pedal and your amp.

An example signal chain is: Guitar -> wah -> treble booster -> fuzz -> phaser -> CATALINBREAD DIRTY LITTLE SECRET MKII -> delay -> reverb -> amp.

In this example, the delay and reverb are after the pedal, acting as a virtual effects loop, keeping the trails clear instead of distorted.

Try turning the volume knob on your guitar down. With medium to low output pickups, you will be able to get perfectly clean sparkly tones even with the CATALINBREAD DIRTY LITTLE SECRET MKII’s Pre-Amp control cranked. You can leave the pedal on all night and get cleans by turning your guitar down.

The pedal was designed to be boosted by plugging a dirt box in front of it. A Rangemaster “treble-booster” style pedal works well to tighten up the sound and add rich harmonics. Fuzzes and TS-style overdrives also sound great in front of the pedal. Generally, most dirt pedals are best plugged in front of the CATALINBREAD DIRTY LITTLE SECRET MKII.

One exception is if you want a clean boost pedal after the CATALINBREAD DIRTY LITTLE SECRET MKII to bring up the volume level of your entire sound, provided your guitar amp has clean headroom left.

Generally speaking, the CATALINBREAD DIRTY LITTLE SECRET MKII works best into a tube guitar amp set relatively clean and neutral. However, it can work great to further overdrive an amp that is already overdriven as well.

You can power the pedal with any quality power supply designed for use with effects pedals. The output should be a negative tip DC from 9 to 18 volts.

18 Volts: Great for playing with a band. It provides more volume, headroom, percussive attack, and clarity to cut through the mix.

9 Volts: Provides a slightly softer sound that saturates more easily, similar to the difference between a 50 watt and 100 watt amp.

Drained Battery (approx 8 Volts): You can try a battery slightly drained to 8 volts or so to get an even softer sound that is great for late-night jam sessions.