Members anglerfish Posted February 3, 2011 Members Share Posted February 3, 2011 I got one of the first run of Catalinbread Perseus pedals today. Luckily, Howard's demos are already so good I'm not under a lot of pressure to try to do the Perseus justice in words. For anyone who doesn't already know, the Perseus is a fuzz with two switchable sub-octave tones that you can blend with to the fuzz tone to taste. There's also a "Cut" control that controls the amount of low end in the fuzz itself (not technically a "presence" control, but that was kind of how I was using it). You can turn the sub-octave off entirely and just use the fuzz (it's pretty decent; kinda spitty and gated, could be used on its own for rhythm if you wanted), but I think it's safe to say that the point of the Perseus is the sub-octave blend. If you've ever used an octave-down effect, you already have a pretty good idea of how it works. What makes the Perseus special is the number of tones you can get by choosing which sub-octave (I or II), the amount of octave, the blend of fuzz and octave, and the cut of the fuzz itself. You can get "barely there" following bass lines, huge organ or synth type tones, smoothly-tracking or glitchy, etc. There's really a lot of range and you can easily and intuitively dial in pretty much anything you can imagine within the limitations of the effect itself. I found that running a relatively tame Perseus tone into a high-gain fuzz pedal (like the Zero) added even more possibilities for synthy goodness and got real awesome real fast (however, the Zero definitely cut out a significant amount of the Perseus' low end; I'll have to see if the Supa Tone handles the low end any better). I think someone asked in another thread if the Perseus can handle chords. Uh, that's a NO. Unless I'm missing something, the Perseus is all about single notes, unless you're going for a wash of glitchy noise, which the Perseus can definitely pull off as well if you want. I was playing through a single 12" speaker. It wasn't farting out or anything, but I really need to try the Perseus through a larger cabinet SOON... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Neat, thanks a lot for the review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thezeng Posted February 3, 2011 Members Share Posted February 3, 2011 I really want to know if me getting this pedal and blasting it at full volume will cause an earthquake and the displacement of people's hearts. If so, I am so in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members anglerfish Posted February 3, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 3, 2011 I really want to know if me getting this pedal and blasting it at full volume will cause an earthquake and the displacement of people's hearts. If so, I am so in. You know, it might! I was definitely more worried about the neighbors than usual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deeohgee Posted February 3, 2011 Members Share Posted February 3, 2011 Thanks for the write up. I'll have to check one out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members less_cunning Posted February 3, 2011 Members Share Posted February 3, 2011 killer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hangwire Posted February 3, 2011 Members Share Posted February 3, 2011 so more of a stable and striped down MI Audio Pollyanna... nice... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members macadood Posted February 3, 2011 Members Share Posted February 3, 2011 [video=youtube;XQBTsbL376g] meh not really my cup of tea. but on a related note just picked up a Formula no 5 in a trade and that {censored} is the bomb really likin it right now, my first Cbread pedal ever and its impressing me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members juri Posted February 3, 2011 Members Share Posted February 3, 2011 meh not really my cup of tea. but on a related note just picked up a Formula no 5 in a trade and that {censored} is the bomb really likin it right now, my first Cbread pedal ever and its impressing me Formula 5 is legit, love mine.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Leaves Posted February 3, 2011 Members Share Posted February 3, 2011 I wish I didn't have such a problem with pedals that have decals/stickers on them... I just can't deal with looking down on my board and seeing a matte reflection.... If this pedal was screen-printed I would totally buy it, and probably many other catalinbread effects. I know it makes no sense and it is the sound that matters, but I'm inspired visually, too.... I think I'm just pedal vain like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hangwire Posted February 3, 2011 Members Share Posted February 3, 2011 wtf ^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members anglerfish Posted February 4, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 I wish I didn't have such a problem with pedals that have decals/stickers on them... I just can't deal with looking down on my board and seeing a matte reflection.... If this pedal was screen-printed I would totally buy it, and probably many other catalinbread effects. I know it makes no sense and it is the sound that matters, but I'm inspired visually, too.... I think I'm just pedal vain like that. I have and have had a bunch of Catalinbread pedals and never even notice the decals. They just look like nice screens to me, even close up. I know intellectually that they are Lexan decals, but they don't look cheap or "stickery" in the least. In fact, they look GOOD. If the decal thing is keeping you from picking up some of their pedals, it's keeping you from trying out one of the most consistently exciting builders of the last few years, IMO. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NetStar Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 I wish I didn't have such a problem with pedals that have decals/stickers on them... I just can't deal with looking down on my board and seeing a matte reflection.... If this pedal was screen-printed I would totally buy it, and probably many other catalinbread effects. I know it makes no sense and it is the sound that matters, but I'm inspired visually, too.... I think I'm just pedal vain like that. http://www.thegearpage.net/board/forumdisplay.php?f=4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members claytonjohn18 Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Literally one tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zappa74 Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Literally one tone. Yeah, I listened to all the demo videos and it all sounded the exact same. Weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members claytonjohn18 Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Sarcasm alert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members macadood Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 I have and have had a bunch of Catalinbread pedals and never even notice the decals. They just look like nice screens to me, even close up. I know intellectually that they are Lexan decals, but they don't look cheap or "stickery" in the least. In fact, they look GOOD. If the decal thing is keeping you from picking up some of their pedals, it's keeping you from trying out one of the most consistently exciting builders of the last few years, IMO. :/ yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Leaves Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 I have and have had a bunch of Catalinbread pedals and never even notice the decals. They just look like nice screens to me, even close up. I know intellectually that they are Lexan decals, but they don't look cheap or "stickery" in the least. In fact, they look GOOD. If the decal thing is keeping you from picking up some of their pedals, it's keeping you from trying out one of the most consistently exciting builders of the last few years, IMO. :/ I've actually owned several catalinbread pedals. They just didn't gel with me. I thought the Heliotrope was cool.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members anglerfish Posted February 4, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 I've actually owned several catalinbread pedals. They just didn't gel with me. So, your earlier post was just internet throat-clearing, then? : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members less_cunning Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 if it were not for Catalinbread my life would be incomplete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hazelwould Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Thanks for the review! Kinda weird seeing something like that here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members anglerfish Posted February 4, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Thanks for the review! Kinda weird seeing something like that here... Why is that weird? Did I miss something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LowWoods Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Why is that weird? Did I miss something? Your fly is unzipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members anglerfish Posted February 4, 2011 Author Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 Your fly is unzipped. That's not weird at all. I'm showing off my Wonder Woman Underoos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LowWoods Posted February 4, 2011 Members Share Posted February 4, 2011 That's not weird at all. I'm showing off my Wonder Woman Underoos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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