The Catalinbread Blood Donor is a distortion/fuzz pedal, announced in April 2020 as a "revamped and fine-tuned version" of the company's Katzenkonig1. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio described it as an updated mod of the Katzenkonig, "giving the old cat a little more fur and bite"2. The underlying circuit is what De Gregorio calls "the fuzzy circuit marriage of a Tone Bender MKII and a Pro Co Rat, reimagined"2, so it blends a classic fuzz design with a classic distortion design in one box.
The pedal also had a charitable purpose: Catalinbread pledged to donate 100 percent of its Blood Donor profits to the Red Cross1.
What it does to your sound
The Blood Donor keeps the Katzenkonig's two-parent circuit idea but pushes it harder. De Gregorio reported that Catalinbread "added a carefully selected transistor set that pushes the boundaries of saturation and gain to their electrical limits"2. The noise floor has been trimmed compared to the Katzenkonig, while widening the utility of all controls2.
For context on the parent pedal: Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson wrote that the Katzenkönig combines Rat Distortion and Tone Bender qualities in the one unit3. Premier Guitar's reviewer found that "Compared to a MKII, Katzenkönig is tighter, heavier, and more modern-sounding," though without the low-end tightness of a Rat4. The maker's own product page describes the Katzenkönig's Filter control idea as descending from the Filter control on a Rat, calling it "an even better version of tha[t]" idea5. The Blood Donor carries that lineage forward with more gain on tap.
Controls
The four knobs carry donation-themed names, mapped to standard functions2:
| Knob | Function |
|---|---|
| Blood | Input |
| Give | Gain |
| Please | Filter |
| Your | Output |
Guitar World's announcement likewise listed the four control knobs as labeled PLEASE (filter level), among the others1.
Where it came from
The Katzenkonig was originally released in 20156. Aion FX notes that Catalinbread has always been friendly to the DIY community, reasoning that since much of the development of the silicon Tone Bender and the tracing and analysis of the RAT had come from DIYers, the company wanted to give something back6. The Blood Donor continued that spirit in two ways: as one of the numerous variations and colourways of the Katzenkonig over the years3, and as a fundraiser, with all profits pledged to the Red Cross1.
The Blood Donor was a 2020 preorder release with shipping beginning April 6 of that year1. Guitar Pedal X reports the Katzenkönig line has since seen numerous variations and enclosure designs, so the Blood Donor is one variant among several rather than the current standard version3.
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Questions
What is the difference between the Blood Donor and the Katzenkonig?
The Blood Donor is an updated mod of the Katzenkonig, described by Delicious Audio as giving the old cat a little more fur and bite. Catalinbread added a carefully selected transistor set that pushes saturation and gain to their electrical limits, trimmed the noise floor compared to the Katzenkonig, and widened the utility of all controls. Guitar World called it a revamped and fine-tuned version of the Katzenkonig.
Where do the Catalinbread Blood Donor profits go?
Catalinbread pledged to donate 100 percent of the Blood Donor's profits to the Red Cross. The Portland company announced the pledge when the pedal went up for preorder in April 2020, and Delicious Audio reported the same commitment: all of the pedal's profits go to the Red Cross.
What are the knobs on the Blood Donor called?
The Blood Donor has four knobs with donation-themed names. Blood is the Input control, Give is the Gain control, Please is the Filter control, and Your is the Output control. Guitar World described Please as the filter level knob when the pedal was announced.
How much does the Catalinbread Blood Donor cost?
Guitar World reported the Blood Donor available for preorder at $179.99 as of April 2, 2020, with shipping beginning April 6. That was the preorder price announced at launch.
Is the Blood Donor a fuzz or a distortion?
It is both. Guitar World introduced the Blood Donor as a distortion/fuzz pedal, and Delicious Audio listed it as the Blood Donor Fuzz. The circuit is a marriage of a Tone Bender MKII, a fuzz design, and a Pro Co Rat, a distortion design, so it sits between the two categories.
Sources (6)
- Catalinbread's Blood Donor is a distortion pedal that aids the Red Cross, Guitar World, 2020-04-02
- Catalinbread Blood Donor Fuzz, Delicious Audio, 2020-04-12
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-04-19
- Catalinbread Katzenkönig Review, Premier Guitar, 2015-12-24
- Katzenkönig (Traditional Ink Collection) B-Stock, Catalinbread Effects
- Poseidon Silicon Fuzz / Catalinbread® Katzenkönig, Aion FX, 2021-02-19
