Catalinbread announces STS-88 Flanger/Reverb pedal

March 1, 2023 · 3 sources

Catalinbread has unveiled the STS-88 Flanger/Reverb, a pedal that combines a flanger with a reverb¹. MusicRadar reported the launch on March 30, 2023, and Guitar World covered it on March 31, 2023 under NAMM 2023¹². Gearnews published its article on March 29, 2023³.

The Portland, Oregon, company describes the pedal as "a love letter to the flanger" and traces it to a "late night frenzy of pedal swapping" in which its team ran a flanger into a "cavernous reverb"¹². MusicRadar and Gearnews both report that Catalinbread name-checked the Boss HF-2 and Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress, along with the MXR Flanger/Doubler and the DeltaLab Effectron ADM 256³¹. Guitar World gives the Effectron model number as ADM256².

The four knobs are Depth, Rate, Mix and Reverb. Depth sets the LFO amplitude, Rate sets the LFO speed from 0.077Hz to about 6Hz, and Mix sets the wet/dry balance³¹. MusicRadar reports that with the Reverb knob fully counterclockwise the STS-88 behaves like a regular flanger pedal, and that the dial controls the length of the reverb tails¹. Inside the unit are an adjustable gain trimmer and a buffer switch for true or buffered bypass, and the pedal runs on 9 to 18V DC and draws a minimum of 100mA¹². Catalinbread has fitted what Gearnews describes as a gentle noise gate to stifle guitar hiss and LFO clock noise³².

Reported US prices differ. MusicRadar gives $172.74 and says the pedal is available now¹. Guitar World gives $210 and also says it is available now². Gearnews lists an MSRP of USD 209.99³.