Catalinbread launches Belle Epoch Plus with tap tempo

December 9, 2025 · 3 sources

Catalinbread announced the Belle Epoch Plus, a compact delay pedal, on December 9, 2025. The maker describes it as its first compact delay with full tap tempo capabilities and a set of upgrades to its tape echo simulator¹.

The pedal builds on the Belle Epoch, which the maker says was inspired by the Maestro Echoplex EP-3². Tap tempo is engaged by holding the footswitch to enter tap mode and holding it again to enter tap bypass mode¹. The Plus adds increased headroom, a redesigned Mix control, improved buffered bypass, a touch of noise gating and what the maker calls better impedance specs for rig integration¹. The Echoplex-style preamp has been tweaked for a higher dynamic range, which the maker says gives a more hi-fi tone while keeping the feel and response of the original Echoplex pre¹.

A three-mode tape wear selector corresponds to wear on the virtual tape, from a pristine "fresh off the line" Echoplex to a dusty unit that has been sitting in an attic for 40 years¹. Controls cover Sustain (feedback), Tape FX (modulation), Rec Level (preamp drive and saturation) and Echo Delay (time)³.

The original Belle Epoch is listed as an analog circuit running on 9V DC, center negative, at 66mA². Catalinbread has not published price or availability details for the Belle Epoch Plus in these announcements³¹.