The Catalinbread CBX is a gated reverb pedal: it wraps a reverb in a noise gate so the tail cuts off abruptly rather than fading away, the drum sound studios started using in the late 1970s and that defined much of the 1980s1. Catalinbread released it in 2023, and it was the second gated reverb stompbox to arrive that year, a rare thing in pedal form2. It is a digital pedal, pairing an '80s-flavored digital reverb with a gate, and it adds an overdrivable preamp in front so you can push the whole thing into grit before the reverb ever blooms32.
The idea has a specific studio lineage. Gated reverb was invented by accident in the 1970s, using the talkback mic channel on a Solid State Logic SL4000 console together with AMS RMX16 digital reverb units, and the CBX recreates that combination with an overdrivable preamp, an adjustable reverb lag time and a full wet-dry blend2.
What gated reverb does to your sound
On an ordinary reverb pedal, the tail rings out and decays on its own. On the CBX, the gate chops that tail off at a point you choose, which is what gives gated reverb its explosive, larger-than-life character: the sound blooms huge and then stops dead. Gearnews describes the CBX as doing "that gated reverb effect that studios started using in the late '70s"1.
Because the gate responds to your playing, the pedal interacts with picking dynamics in a way a plain reverb does not. Delicious Audio found the result to be "a lovely and expressive 'always-on' reverb that stays in its lane and won't interfere with the all-important mix"2. With the gate backed off entirely, it works as a conventional reverb, and at the Verb control's extreme MusicRadar reports you can dial in some "huge, harmonically rich reverb"5.
The controls: Lag, Gate, Verb, Pre and Mix
The CBX has five knobs. The maker's descriptions of what each does:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Pre | Controls the level of the onboard preamp, which can be driven into overdrive7 |
| Lag | Adjusts the delay between the original note played and the onset of the gate; it works as a pre-delay control for the gate7 |
| Gate | Sets the sensitivity of the gate; lower settings give longer reverbs, higher settings cut them sooner, and at zero the gate is removed from the circuit2 |
| Verb | Governs the thickness of the reverb; low settings give mild reverberation, and maxed out it gives a huge, harmonically rich reverb sound4 |
| Mix | Wet/dry blend; at minimum only the dry signal fed through the preamp, at maximum only the reverberated signal2 |
Two of these deserve a closer look, because they are what separate the CBX from a standard reverb box.
Lag is the timing control. In its lower half it fine-tunes how the gate tracks your picking attack; just past noon it produces slapback and reverse-esque sounds7. Delicious Audio describes it as "a predelay between the hit and the first reflections"2, and Premier Guitar's reviewer found that "the lag control enables cool swelling effects"6.
Gate is the on/off behavior of the whole effect. Delicious Audio explains that it governs the sensitivity of the gate, "producing longer reverbs at lower settings and viceversa", and that at zero you can remove it entirely2. Gearnews puts the working method simply: set your reverb amount with Verb, and "then the sensitivity of the gate is dialled in with the Gate knob"1.
The Pre knob feeds the front of the circuit. Because the preamp sits before the reverb, pushing it colors everything that follows, and the dry side of the Mix blend passes through it too42.
Where it came from and what reviewers said
Catalinbread launched the CBX Gated Reverb in October 202323. It joined a reverb line that includes the Topanga spring reverb, the Soft Focus and the plate-style Talisman, but the CBX is the odd one out: none of those gate their tails.
Reviewer reactions were positive with a clear sense of what the pedal is for. Gearnews concluded that "the results are pretty good and the demo videos below give a good idea of what you can expect to achieve using the CBX"1. Premier Guitar, reviewing it in August 2024, framed it as a precision tool rather than an all-purpose reverb:
"the CBX works best as a scalpel of sorts, enabling the player to fit big reverb sounds in very confined and specific musical spaces"6
That matches the pedal's design: a gate is a deliberate, rhythmic effect, not an ambient wash. Players looking for a long, evolving tail would be better served elsewhere in Catalinbread's range; players wanting the gated drum sound on guitar have exactly one knob for it, with the Gate knob dialling in the sensitivity of the gate1.
Price
Published prices differ. At launch, Guitar World reported the CBX Gated Reverb available for $1993, and MusicRadar gave the UK price as £1795. Premier Guitar listed it at $149.99 in August 20246, the newer and lower figure.
Videos
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JayLeonardJ
Demos In The Dark
News
Questions
What is a gated reverb pedal?
A gated reverb pedal combines reverb with a noise gate so the reverb tail is cut off abruptly instead of fading out naturally. The effect was invented in studios in the late 1970s by accident, using the talkback mic channel on a Solid State Logic console and an AMS RMX16 digital reverb, and it became the huge drum sound of the 1980s. The Catalinbread CBX puts that effect in a stompbox.
What does the Gate knob do on the Catalinbread CBX?
Gate sets the sensitivity of the gate. Lower settings let the reverb ring longer before the gate closes; higher settings cut it sooner. At zero, the gate is removed from the circuit entirely, so the CBX behaves like a normal reverb pedal and the Verb knob controls the length and thickness of the ungated tail.
What does the Lag control do on the CBX?
Lag sets the delay between the note you play and the onset of the gate, working like a pre-delay for the gate. In its lower half it fine-tunes how the gate responds to your picking attack; just past noon it produces slapback and reverse-esque sounds. Premier Guitar's reviewer found it enables cool swelling effects.
How much does the Catalinbread CBX cost?
At launch in October 2023 it was priced at $199 in the US and £179 in the UK. Premier Guitar listed it at $149.99 in August 2024, so the published prices differ; the newer figure is the lower one. Catalinbread has also sold a limited edition gold B-stock version.
Sources (7)
- Catalinbread CBX Gated Reverb, gearnews.com, 2023-10-18
- Catalinbread CBX Gated Reverb, Delicious Audio, 2023-10-26
- An arena on your 'board: this guitar pedal recreates the gigantic '80s reverb beloved by Bruce Springsteen and Phil Collins, Guitar World, 2023-10-19
- CBX Gated Reverb (Limited Edition Gold) B-Stock, Catalinbread Effects
- Catalinbread replicates one of Phil Collins and Bruce Springsteen's favourite '80s studio tricks in a compact guitar effects pedal with the CBX Gated Reverb, MusicRadar, 2023-10-20
- Catalinbread CBX Guitar Pedal Review, Premier Guitar, 2024-08-12
- CBX Gated Reverb, Catalinbread Effects
