The Catalinbread Montavillian is an analog delay pedal designed to sound and feel as big as tube-driven echo units, with great headroom and stacking abilities. The maker put it plainly: "we wanted the Montavillian Echo to sound and feel just as BIG!"1 Delicious Audio, covering the pedal, called it a "Huge tube echo sound" and said it "addresses some of the shortcomings of other echo pedals."2
Catalinbread released the Montavillian Echo on December 1, 2010, and Premier Guitar reported at the time that it was "available now for $159.95."3 The pedal is a limited edition in the maker's own listing, so it was never a permanent catalog item.1 A reissue with new graphics followed in 2021, which Delicious Audio notes the Portland company did for Chicago Music Exchange.2
How it sounds and how it works
RockBoard's PedalPedia describes the Montavillian as built to sound and feel as big as tube-driven echo units, and RockBoard's PedalPedia says it took painstaking efforts to make the dry signal sound and feel better when on than with the pedal bypassed.1 That matters on a pedal you may leave on all the time: the clean part of your sound is not meant to suffer when the echo is engaged.
On the circuit side, RockBoard's PedalPedia says the Montavillian Echo utilizes an obsolete delay processing IC.1 Delicious Audio identifies the chip as the PT2399, "one of the more common delay chips used in modern delays."2 The two accounts differ on how scarce the part is, but they name the same family of chip.
Controls
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Cut | A lowpass filter that tailors where your repeats sit in the mix. Delicious Audio describes a knee that sweeps from 400 to 1500Hz; Premier Guitar's release coverage describes a musical bump ranging from 400Hz to 1400Hz.23 |
| Mix | At unity when set halfway (when running at 9V), which leaves room to boost the level of the repeats over the dry signal.2 |
| Repeat | The unit self-oscillates with fairly low settings on the repeat knob.2 |
The Cut control is the pedal's tone-shaping heart: it is helpful in determining just how piercing a self-oscillation meltdown becomes, according to Delicious Audio.2 If you chase runaway echoes, back the repeat level down only slightly and use Cut to keep the collapse musical rather than shrill.
Power
The Montavillian runs on 9V DC, center negative, drawing 35mA.1 Delicious Audio adds that the pedal is designed to have a lot of headroom at 9V, but should you run out, the unit operates at 18V.2 Running it at 18V requires a supply that can deliver that voltage; a standard 9V daisy chain will not.
At 35mA the Montavillian draws more current than many low-draw pedals, so plan your power supply accordingly.1
Where it sits in the Catalinbread delay range
The Montavillian is one of several echo designs from Catalinbread. The company's other delay pedals include the Belle Epoch and Belle Epoch Deluxe tape-echo style pedals, the Echorec, the CSIDMAN, the Adineko oil-can delay, and the Bicycle Delay. The Montavillian's angle is the big tube-echo feel with an obsolete delay IC, rather than a model of one specific vintage machine312.
A manual for the pedal is available from the maker.1
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Questions
Does the Montavillian self-oscillate?
Yes. Delicious Audio's write-up notes that the unit self-oscillates with fairly low settings on the repeat knob, and that the Cut control helps determine how piercing the meltdown will be. If you want runaway echoes, you do not have to work hard to get them; if you do not, keep the repeat level modest.
What does the Cut control do on the Montavillian?
Cut is a lowpass filter on the echoes. Delicious Audio describes a knee that sweeps from 400 to 1500Hz, while Premier Guitar's release coverage describes a lowpass filter with a musical bump ranging from 400Hz to 1400Hz. Either way, it tailors where your repeats sit in the mix, darkening or opening up the tone of the echo.
What chip does the Catalinbread Montavillian Echo use?
Catalinbread's own material says the Montavillian Echo utilizes an obsolete delay processing IC. Delicious Audio identifies that chip as the PT2399, which it calls one of the more common delay chips used in modern delays. The two descriptions differ on how rare the chip is, but both point to the same part.
How much does the Catalinbread Montavillian Echo cost?
Premier Guitar reported at the pedal's December 1, 2010 release that the Montavillian Echo was available for $159.95.
Is the Catalinbread Montavillian a limited edition?
Yes. Catalinbread's product listing carries the limited edition designation, so the pedal was not an open-ended catalog item. A 2021 reissue with new graphics was also made for Chicago Music Exchange, according to Delicious Audio.
Sources (3)
- Montavillian by Catalinbread, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
- Catalinbread Montavillian Echo, Delicious Audio, 2021-05-13
- Catalinbread Releases Montavillian Echo, Premier Guitar, 2010-12-01
