Catalinbread SuperCharged Overdrive

It is not very hard to use, it has three knobs. If you can't figure that out, I don't know how you can play guitar... The pedal has very good tones comming out of it, no matter what settings you use. Volume, Gain and a middle knob which kind of shifts the mid frequencies to a more bassy or more trebly tone.

The set up that you use with the pedal really makes a difference in the tone that comes out. I was using it with a bastard strat (a mix of japanese and american strat parts with adeson atlas weiss pickups) out of my fender twin reverb and I thought it was a pretty good pedal. I would give it a 7 or 8 with that set up. However, I recently set up my Agile 3100 LP copy with Fresh Exlixer 10's and GFS Mean 90's and man... The tone really sounds mean now playing out of the SCOD.

In my humble opinion, the tone of the pedal is somewhere between a marshall Mid hump tone and an orange amp (Maybe that explains the orange paint). Something I should mention is that I really don't like how the Treverb takes to pedals and they usually lack a present or organic quality, yet when I played this pedal with the LP copy it sounded like a 10/10. I can only imagine what it would sound like on a ceriatone.

This pedal is HIGH GAIN. Not thrashy high gain, but rather super thick, in your face, 70/80 rock out w/ your c0ck out gain. There I said it :). When you set the gain all the way down, it does a great medium dirt sound.

I really think that they guy below me either somehow received a lemon or a pedal that slipped by catalinbread's quality control, but my pedal is dead quiet. I use Voodoo lab power supplied and there is never noise issues with any of my pedals including this one. Although the OCD is a very very good pedal as well, the SCOD and OCD are completely different beasts. The OCD is a light - medium gain marshall OD box while the SCOD is voiced in a sense like a marshall, but has its' own unique voice and is an OD/Dist pedal.

I cant say enough good things about this pedal. Do yourself a favor and get one of these along with a Homebrew electronics germanium treble booster and you will need a surgeon to give you jaw surgury after your jaw falls on the floor.

I don't really see how this pedal would break since it is built like a tank and the folks over at catalinbread are super cool. I don't gig with a backup per se, but I usually have 3-4 distortion/OD pedal on my board, so I wouldn't sweat it if it broke down. Again not that I have any reason to believe it would.

I haven't dealt with the company directly, but the dude from the company (I'm sorry I don't know his name) leaves post on forums all the time. I think he posts on the gear page forums. However, as I said I've never dealt with him directly, but no one seems to have ever had any problems with him.

I play a pretty large variety of music ranging from jazz to thrash. This is definitely not a jazz, thrash or light light dirt pedal. This pedal does wonders for my tone. I use it usually for rhythm work and some leads. When I want to have a lead that really cuts through, I use it in conjunction with an HBE germanium treble booster.

I love the pedal, but the only thing I wish it had was maybe a little bit less gain, since I usually keep the gain knob below 9 o clock.

I have a CRAP load of pedals, especially distortion. I have a EHX English Muff'n, Double muff, NYC big muff reissue, BYOC Ram's head muff copy, BYOC shredmaster, digitech bad monkey, BYOC silicone fuzz, and a few other ones. The SCOD is definitely in my top three.

3 Knobs, the Contour is kinda like a presence control. I have only one Complaint: It took me forever to get a battery in this thing! (Catalinbread pedals do not come with batteries) It is such a tight fit that u have to mess with it forever to get it to fit. If u use a power supply than this is a non-issue, plus it sounds so good it makes up for it. Just make sure u have a fresh battery before a gig or else u could look like a fool taking 10min to change a battery.

This thing will turn a clean channel into a fire breathing tone freak. If ur a rocker then this is a must have pedal, there is nothing else like it. They only way I know how to explain it is a cranked Orange Tiny Terror, a fuzz pedal, and either a supercharger or steroids all combined!!!!! Tons of gain, even metal. If u do not like mids they do not buy this pedal. Its like an Orange amp, tons of mids and cuts thru a mix with ease. This pedal has to be run on a clean channel to sound good.

Its solid and Catalinbread is great about customer service and satisfaction. The only issue may be that some thing might become loose someday from fighting batteries in there.

The Best!

If ur a rocker it is a must have. It can do anything from The Black Keys to heavy stoner rock and some metal. Do not forget to play with ur volume on ur guitar. Its not for the Faint of Heart.

Simple and easy to understand. No Manual included. I could not get a good sound out of this pedal!

This was the worst gain pedal I've ever experienced! Not sure what all the hype is all about. The noise level of this pedal is so bad its not even useable. I set the gain level at minumum and still the noise was horrible. I packed it up and sent it back to where I bought it and exchanged it for a Fulltone OCD. The OCD is a perfect gain pedal capable of many sounds. No hissy noise!

I have other pedal built by Catalinbread and there great! This SCOD is a pile of crap! Take it back to the drawing board boys!

This pedal is pretty much as simple to use as they come. There are just three knobs: Volume, Contour, and Gain. The contour knob shapes the overall character of the pedal, while the other two are self-explanatory.

This pedal is incredibly versatile and you really can't get a bad sound out of it. Minimum gain gives you some light-medium OD; there's a hint of crunch and it's cool for blues. The gain halfway up gives you some pretty thick distortion-type tones, but without the compression of most distortion pedals. It sounds very natural, there's no compression and no nasally qualities like some pedals have. With max'd gain, you get a little bit of feedback and some really cool fuzz tones. It's not exactly a full-on fuzz pedal, but I've used it in place of a fuzz pedal many times with great results. It has amazing sustain at these higher drive settings; you can hold a note for days.

I only have one real complaint about the sound, and that is that the contour knob isn't quite as sensitive as I would like. It has a good range, but I would like to see a little bit more for me to give the pedal a 10.

I've had the pedal for several months and it's been great. No problems at all; it's very durable and well-built.

I emailed Nicholas once with a quick question and he responded promptly.

This is probably my favorite pedal of all time. Its versatility is nearly unmatched and it is an incredible value. It does blues, thick fuzz-ish tones, and everything in between with no bad sounds at all. You can turn the pedal on, kick the knobs to some random setting, and it will sound great no matter what. It is very compact and LOUD (unity gain is at about 8:30 or 9 o'clock). They're $169 new (and shipped) and can easily knock two or three other drive pedals off your board.

This pedal has a good variety of tones available, so tweaking is a must. The manual came with some good suggestions, but really with a three knob pedal it's just a case of taking the time yourself. I found the tone I wanted straight away and haven't really tweaked it much since. As for sounds, there's NO bad sounds with this pedal.

I play a Gibson SG faitted with a high output Bareknuckle Warpig pickup, running through a couple of fuzzes, a Boss delay and finally a Catalinbread Poblomo bass booster, all into a Matamp 120 head and Orange 4x12. This pedal has NO hiss or noise at all and is of course true bypass so it doesn't colour the tone when off. I was looking for a fat, crunchy distortion sound as opposed to fuzz and this pedal has delivered in spades. I usually hate the term, but "organic" really applies to this pedal - it just makes my amp sound bigger, fatter, and of course more driven. I play in a sort of detuned heavy rock band along the lines of the Melvins/Kyuss/Harvey Milk and this pedal is perfect for the heavier stuff. It has buckets of volume and more drive than I'll ever need. Genuinely one of those pedals that just makes me want to keep on playing. One for the volume freaks too - this baby is LOUD!!!

One other major advantage is that this pedal turns even the thinnest solid state amp into a warm, tube-y monster. I had to play a charity covers gig recently (first and last time I assure you!!) and was given a Fender SS 100 to use. It sounded harsh and brittle. I stuck the SCOD in front with the gain way down, and I swear the amp sounded like a warm Neil Young-style tube amp breaking up!!! Incredible!!

Yes, for sure. I've had the Poblomo for a couple of years with no problems. I keep my pedals on a board too so they don't get overly abused. Built for the road though, that's for sure!!

I've had a couple of email replies about general queries. The guy seems like a reliable, helpful pedal builder.

As I said, I play heavy doomy music and this pedal is a keeper in my rig now. Definately better than my old Rat (which I loved!!) and one of the best gain pedals I've used. I wouldn't part with it, and there's nothing about it I don't love. If you want a fat, loud, heavy sounding overdrive pedal, this is your answer. Really!!!

It definately helps me make music!!!

Volume, Contour, Gain. True bypass footswitch. Simple.

Outstanding and as other's have said, surprising. Should come with a warning, as another review said, it's a howitzer! I plugged it into my normal rig, set everything at straight up (50%) and about blew my ears.

Incredible amount of volume and clarity from this little box, but surprizing retains a very good response to guitar pickup selection, volume, and tone control.

Bring out different qualities in all types of amps. I've only used it with tube amps. Makes old vintage amps, like my Gibson Skylark GA-5 (twin 6aq5 version), Harmony H400a, Silvertones and Kalamazoos into a fire breathing monsters (most have tube rectifiers). Sounds great with the more modern amps as well (mostly with solid state rectifiers)- various Peavey Classic's, Mig 50, Mesa Blue angel, etc.

You cab hear the different qualities of each amp and guitar, it doesn't color the sound like a one trick pony.

A must have for a tone junky who likes to rock - given nothing sounds like it.

Been running it daily and gigged for past couple months. Seems rock solid. Incredible, is that the battery life is far better than you would think with volume this little box puts out.

Don't see where will need them, but since have not tried to use them, no comment.

A must for a rocker's/hard blues/ hard rock / old school metal tone locker. It cuts through almost any mix (sure a 747 on a tarmat would give it some trouble)

Three knobs: volumue, contour, and gain. Not difficult really. The only thing that is different from most other pedals is the contour knob. It is similar to a presence knob, not so much a tone.

This a solid sounding pedal. That's the tone that you get from this, solid. I play through a Fender Amp, and while I love the clean tone, the gain does not get too extreme. This pedal turns it into a huge tone breathing monster. There is not a bad sound or setting in this pedal.

Built like a tank. Very solid. The only thing that might be a problem is the knobs seem slightly cheap and there is the possibility of one of them cracking. However I would have no problems giging without a backup.

I've not personally, but I've heard they are amazing to work with and I look forward to getting to talk to them sometime.

I play rock ranging from some current bands to classic rock to stuff that I wrote. This pedal fits in just right. I'm not a heavy gain metal head and this pedal probably won't fit for those people, but I love it. I've owned many other pedals but to compare it to another in a similar price range I would say this thing blows the Fulltone Distortion Pro out of the water. I spent three weeks tweaking before I found a tone from the Distortion Pro that I liked. I spent three minutes dialing in a sweet tone from the SCOD if that gives some comparison. If someone stole this thing I would hunt them found and make them pay, but if that did not work I would most definitely buy another one. While there is no such thing as the perfect pedal this is the coolest thing for me. I hope you like it too.

* How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?
really easy, unless you dont like the sounds...?

* How about Editing patches?
again very easy, it takes a moment to figure out what contour does though

* How is the manual for it (if there is one)?
adaquate but the customer support is there readily available. any questions just ask and he will let you know in much greater depth than a manual could provide.

* Do you know the firmware revision number? Has your unit been upgraded?
???

* Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? Who are they?
ive not tried emulating other people.
innovation not emulation as fender would say.

* Are certain effects (distortion, chorus, ...) very good? Very bad?
distortion effects are great, all the other are pretty poor, haha.

* What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?
LP and tele through other fx into JTM45

* Is it noisy? On what settings?
very quiet for a distortion pedal, of course a little noise is present but nothing worth noting.

* Are the effects weak or do they always sound great?
always sounds great on any setting, often its hard to choose how you want to use it.

* What amp are you using it with?
JTM45

* Can you depend on it?
i would happily depend on it, there are no signs of it ever breaking

* Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
i would and not, i always have something else that could take its place in an emergency.


should probably note that the covering on mine has come off (just the graphic on the front, not the orange paint) where my foot has rubbed it whilst adjusting the volume control. just something to look out for if you are really that picky.

* If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?
very helpful and very friendly. easy to contact by email or forums.

* Ever get an upgrade, or try and get it repaired?
nope and nope.

* What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
play mostly rock, blues, pop styles but will really play anything. this does a great job.

* How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
playing about 6yrs.
other effects include liquid sunshine, teaser stallion, semaphore, crybaby, TU2, holy grail, Dr Swamp, RAT RI

* If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
not sure really. probably have a look at what else there was, and probably end up with this again.

* what do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?
i love the sounds from it, and how simple and small it is.
i wish i could figure out where i want the contour...

* Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
i compared it to every other OD ive ever played. i use this one because at the moment its the best ive found.

* Anything you wish it had?
now i think about it, no.

* Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?
nope and nope,

* Anything else you'd like to share?
thats all folks!

Just as easy to use as any drive pedal. Can't really find a bad sound out of this pedal. Very simple with just the knobs volume contour and gain.

Im going through my strat with SCN fender noiseless pups. I run it throw my 68 bassman or my randall titan. It sounds amazing. You can get a good fuzz sound with the contour down but with it up you great an amazing warm creamy overdrive. It sounds great from low gain all the way cranked. and it does not lack gain either. If your looking for a pedal to play power cords threw than i would tell you look somewhere else cuz its not made for that. But if you want a great blues/classic rock overdrive this is a great one. Its the tone that ive been hearing in my head. Even threw my solid state head i run this on top of it and my strat screams with tone.

Only had it for 4 months, but its built like a tank, dont see anything happening to it ever.

n/a

I use it for blues, and i love the pedal, it makes me want to play for hours. If it was lost or stolen i would go out and buy a new one. Its not the versatalist pedal but it does what i bought it for, low to high overdrive, if you can go try one out you wont be disapointed.

Just as easy to use as any drive pedal. Can't really find a bad sound out of this pedal. Very simple with just the knobs volume contour and gain.

Im going through my strat with SCN fender noiseless pups. I run it throw my 68 bassman or my randall titan. It sounds amazing. You can get a good fuzz sound with the contour down but with it up you great an amazing warm creamy overdrive. It sounds great from low gain all the way cranked. and it does not lack gain either. If your looking for a pedal to play power cords threw than i would tell you look somewhere else cuz its not made for that. But if you want a great blues/classic rock overdrive this is a great one. Its the tone that ive been hearing in my head. Even threw my solid state head i run this on top of it and my strat screams with tone.

Only had it for 4 months, but its built like a tank, dont see anything happening to it ever.

n/a

I use it for blues, and i love the pedal, it makes me want to play for hours. If it was lost or stolen i would go out and buy a new one. Its not the versatalist pedal but it does what i bought it for, low to high overdrive, if you can go try one out you wont be disapointed.