The Catalinbread Crooner is a preamp pedal based on the RCA BA-31, a vintage microphone preamp that has been used, as gearnews.com's Jef put it, "used (and abused) by musicians in recording studios"1. Catalinbread describes it as covering everything from a transparent clean boost to a heavy, saturated fuzz, with vintage-style germanium components and an output transformer shaping the sound1. It follows the same format as the company's 2025 Airstrip preamp pedal1.
What it does to your sound
Catalinbread's product page lays out the range in three settings. With the neck pickup and the knobs at noon, the maker describes "1940s-50s tape-era warmth and pronounced saturation," naming Hail to the Thief era Radiohead, Wes Montgomery, Les Paul and Chet Atkins as flavors3. With the bridge pickup and knobs at noon, it becomes "crisp preamp saturation with minimal dynamic effort," suited to garage rock, 60's rock, proto-punk and general alt-rock3. And with the Volume push and Filter trim maxed, Catalinbread describes "thick sounding fuzz and warm blown out distortion" that "pushes into Velcro fuzz territory. Huge and explosive," in Fuzzrite and MC5 and The Stooges territory3.
At the low-gain end, the maker calls the Clean with Little Breakup setting a clean boost with a little breakup, dynamic sensitive and very musical, and an excellent always-on setting, with flavors of Velvet Underground, Dire Straits, Merle Travis, Motown and the Philadelphia sound3.
Controls
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Push | Controls the gain level of the UREI-inspired discrete opamp, voiced to mesh with the RCA-inspired preamp; at minimum adds minimal gain to the front end of the main pre circuit3 |
| Volume | Output level, up is up and down is down2 |
| Filter | A gentle treble cut to keep the action tight at high Push and Trim levels2 |
"Your sound is shaped by the Push knob, which controls the front-end amplifier."
At lower Push settings the pedal works as a clean, warm volume boost; turned up, it drives the preamp harder for rich, compressed distortion1.
Power
The Crooner runs internally at 18V and is powered by a standard 9V power supply1. It has no support for running off a battery1. Catalinbread's page is emphatic about feeding it more voltage: "the Crooner LOVES 18 volts"2. The original BA-31 ran on 30 volts DC2, and Catalinbread says that at 18 volts you get more of everything at every position, including more headroom, allowing dirt pedals to be stacked in front of it more effectively2.
The Crooner cannot run on a battery, so plan your pedalboard power around a dedicated supply output1.
History and the BA-31 lineage
The RCA BA-31 is a vintage microphone preamp with a following among musicians in recording studios1. The Crooner recreates that circuit with vintage-style germanium components and an output transformer1, and pairs it with a UREI-inspired discrete opamp gain stage that Catalinbread voiced to mesh with the RCA-inspired preamp3. The pedal was announced in July 2026 at $179.99 and reported to be shipping soon1. It joins a Catalinbread line of studio-inspired preamps that includes the Epoch Bias and the Airstrip, the latter based on the Trident A-Range console1.
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Catalinbread Effects
Brett Kingman
Brett Kingman
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Questions
Does the Catalinbread Crooner run on a battery?
No. The Crooner has no support for running off a battery, so a power supply is required. It is powered by a standard 9V supply, and Catalinbread says the pedal runs internally at 18V. Catalinbread also notes the pedal prefers an 18-volt supply, where it gains headroom at every setting.
What power supply does the Catalinbread Crooner need?
The Crooner is powered by a standard 9V power supply and runs internally at 18V. Catalinbread's product page says the pedal loves 18 volts, and that at 18 volts you get more of everything at every position, including more headroom, which allows dirt pedals to be stacked in front of it more effectively. It cannot run on a battery.
How much does the Catalinbread Crooner cost?
The Catalinbread Crooner was priced at $179.99 when it was announced in July 2026. At that time gearnews.com reported the pedal would be shipping soon.
How is the Crooner similar to the Catalinbread Airstrip?
The Crooner follows the same format as Catalinbread's 2025 Airstrip preamp pedal. Both are studio-console-inspired preamps in a pedal: the Airstrip is based on the Trident A-Range console preamp, while the Crooner draws on the RCA BA-31 microphone preamp.
What does the Push knob do on the Crooner?
Push controls the gain level of the UREI-inspired discrete opamp stage, which Catalinbread voiced to mesh with the RCA-inspired preamp circuit. At lower settings it acts as a clean, warm volume boost; turned up, it drives the preamp harder for rich, compressed distortion.
Sources (3)
- Catalinbread Crooner Preamp: Classic RCA BA-31 tones, gearnews.com, 2026-07-17
- Crooner Preamp (B-Stock), Catalinbread Effects
- Crooner Preamp, Catalinbread Effects
