Catalinbread launches CBX Gated Reverb pedal

October 18, 2023 · 3 sources

The Catalinbread CBX Gated Reverb was announced on October 18, 2023, with coverage following from Gearnews, Guitar World and MusicRadar. The pedal recreates the gated reverb effect that studios began using in the late 1970s and that became widely popular in the 1980s¹.

The effect is associated with Phil Collins' drum sound on "In the Air Tonight" and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" album, among other hits of the era². According to Guitar World, it began as a mixing desk hack using the Solid State Logic SL4000 Talkback Mic channel, pioneered by UK engineer and producer Hugh Padgham, who hit on it while recording with Peter Gabriel in 1979 on the track "Intruder"². The CBX name is a nod to that console².

The pedal has five controls: Lag, Gate, Verb, Mix and Pre¹³. Gearnews says Lag adjusts the delay between the original note and the onset of the gate, Gate sets the gate's sensitivity, Pre controls the preamp level, Verb sets the amount of reverb and Mix balances dry and wet signals¹. MusicRadar reports that with the gate fully counterclockwise it is inactive, and that with the gate engaged the Verb control acts more as a thickness control³. Guitar World says turning the gate knob down disengages the gate and turning it up lets it handle higher gain tones².

The CBX runs on a center-negative DC power supply from 9 to 18 volts, with 18 volts allowing more headroom¹. MusicRadar reports a price of $199 and says the pedal is available now³; Guitar World gives $199².

More Catalinbread pedals are listed in the site's reverb pedals section.