The Catalinbread CBX Gated Reverb is a digital reverb pedal with an onboard preamp, built to recreate the gated reverb effect that studios started using in the late '70s and which became a signature of '80s production. gearnews.com's Jef described it as "Phil Collins in a box," noting that it "recreates that classic '80s studio trick used by musicians including Phil Collins and Bruce Springsteen," though those players used the studio technique, not this pedal1. It launched in October 2023 at $199 in the US23.
Where it came from
The sound the CBX chases comes from the studio, not the stage. MusicRadar's Jonathan Horsley framed the pedal's circuit as what you would have needed in an '80s control room: "you would have wanted a Solid State Logic SL4000 Talkback Mic channel and AMS RMX16 digital reverb unit to hand"21. The AMS RMX16 was the digital reverb unit of that era, and the SSL console's talkback channel is where the heavily processed, gated drum sounds of the period were built. The CBX condenses both roles into one stompbox.
The controls: Lag, Gate and Verb
The CBX has three knobs, and each one shapes a different part of the gated reverb effect. Catalinbread's product page describes them as follows54:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Lag | Adjusts the delay between the original note played and the onset of the gate. The lower half of the range fine-tunes picking attack; just past noon it gives slapback and reverse-esque sounds. Acts as a pre-delay control for the gate. |
| Gate | Controls the sensitivity of the gate. Low settings give the least gating and the longest reverb trails; higher settings suit higher gain devices before the pedal. All the way down removes the gate from the circuit entirely. |
| Verb | On a reverb pedal with no gate this would control how long the tail rings out; here it governs the thickness of the reverb. Low gives mild reverberation, maxed out gives what MusicRadar called "huge, harmonically rich reverb." |
gearnews.com's reviewer put the same controls in plainer terms: "Verb dishes out the amount of reverb required," and "the sensitivity of the gate is dialled in with the Gate knob"1.
With the Gate knob all the way down, the gate is removed from the circuit and the CBX behaves as a reverb pedal without gating, according to Catalinbread4. That makes the pedal usable as a conventional reverb as well as a gated one.
Power and setup
The CBX accepts a center-negative DC power supply from 9 to 18 volts, and Catalinbread specifies that the supply must be capable of delivering at least 100mA of current, with more being fine4. The maker also suggests running it at 18V for more headroom4. A supply that cannot deliver that current, such as a low-output daisy-chain output, is not suitable.
What reviewers said
Coverage at launch was news-and-demo rather than full bench reviews, but the early verdicts were measured. gearnews.com's Jef concluded: "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. MusicRadar highlighted the Verb control's upper range, where "you can dial in some 'huge, harmonically rich reverb'"2.
Videos
60 Cycle Hum
JayLeonardJ
Demos In The Dark
News
Questions
What is gated reverb?
Gated reverb is a studio effect that studios started using in the late '70s: the reverb sound is cut off abruptly by a noise gate instead of ringing out naturally, giving a big but tight and dry-sounding ambience. It became a signature of '80s drum and vocal production, used by musicians including Phil Collins and Bruce Springsteen. The Catalinbread CBX puts that effect in a pedal, with a gate and reverb working together on a guitar signal.
Is the Catalinbread CBX Gated Reverb analog or digital?
The CBX Gated Reverb is a digital pedal. Guitar World described it as an '80s-flavored digital reverb pedal, and its circuit draws on two pieces of '80s studio hardware: the Solid State Logic SL4000 Talkback Mic channel and the AMS RMX16 digital reverb unit, according to MusicRadar.
What power supply does the CBX Gated Reverb need?
Catalinbread says the CBX accepts a center-negative DC power supply from 9 to 18 volts, and that the supply must be capable of delivering at least 100mA of current, with more being fine. Running the pedal at 18V gives more headroom, according to the maker.
How much does the Catalinbread CBX Gated Reverb cost?
The CBX Gated Reverb was priced at $199 in the US when it launched in October 2023, according to Guitar World and MusicRadar. MusicRadar also listed it at £179 in the UK, and gearnews.com noted a price of €229 at Thomann.
What does the Lag knob do on the CBX?
Lag adjusts the delay between the original note played and the onset of the gate, so it acts as a pre-delay control for the gate. In the lower half of its travel it fine-tunes picking attack, and just past noon it produces slapback and reverse-esque sounds, according to Catalinbread's product page.
Sources (5)
- Catalinbread CBX Gated Reverb, gearnews.com, 2023-10-18
- 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
- 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
- CBX Gated Reverb, Catalinbread Effects
