Catalinbread SideArm

The Catalinbread SideArm is an analog overdrive pedal from Catalinbread, built as a take on the Tube Screamer circuit. Where a stock Screamer attenuates frequencies above 720Hz at 3dB per octave to create its famous mid hump, the SideArm moves that cut up to 1kHz, which Catalinbread says opens up the upper mids. A dedicated Mids knob then lets you boost or scoop the 720Hz band, so the classic Screamer midrange becomes a control rather than a fixed trait¹.

It arrived in April 2024 as one of two new pedals in Catalinbread's '70s Collection, alongside the StarCrash fuzz, and was priced at $149 at launch²³.

A Tube Screamer with its mid hump moved to 1kHz

The Tube Screamer's characteristic tone comes from a filter that attenuates frequencies above 720Hz at 3dB per octave, cutting bass and treble and amplifying the remaining midrange. Catalinbread describes 720Hz as the "mid hump" frequency of the original Tube Screamer, and the SideArm's starting point is that same circuit¹.

The change is where that cut sits. Catalinbread explains:

For a player, that means the SideArm keeps the Screamer's midrange-forward character that helps a guitar cut through a mix, but with more upper-mid presence and pick attack than a stock green overdrive. RockBoard's PedalPedia entry describes the filters at different stages of the typical "green" overdrive as carefully adjusted to accentuate the new Mids control and the overhauled Tone knob⁴.

The gain range is also wider than a stock Screamer. Catalinbread says the Drive control goes from clean to very dirty, "much more than a regular Tube Screamer (and much less, too)"⁸. That makes the SideArm usable as a clean-ish boost or a fairly dirty overdrive, where a stock Tube Screamer sits in a narrower gain window.

The controls: Drive, Tone, Mids and Volume

The SideArm has four knobs. Catalinbread's own descriptions of each:

Two details are worth knowing. First, the Tone control is a tilt EQ rather than a simple treble roll-off, so it shifts the balance around 1kHz in both directions. Catalinbread notes the circuit has been tweaked so the treble is boosted slightly less than the bass when either side is maxed⁸. Second, because the Mids knob works at 720Hz while the circuit's own cut sits at 1kHz, the two controls address different parts of the midrange: the Tone knob rebalances around 1kHz, and the Mids knob shapes the classic Screamer band below it¹.

Power

The SideArm runs on a good quality filtered and regulated DC power supply with a center-negative tipped plug, the standard effects pedal arrangement¹. Catalinbread's guidance on power quality means a cheap, unfiltered supply is not recommended for this pedal.

Revisions and the '70s Collection

The SideArm Overdrive is one of two brand-new pedals in Catalinbread's '70s Collection, a six-pedal series that also re-skins four existing Catalinbread circuits, the Adineko, Katzenkönig, SFT and Valcoder, in new green finishes; the other new pedal is the StarCrash Sustaining Fuzz⁷⁵. Catalinbread describes the SideArm as a Tube Screamer derivative with an extra Mids control, and the StarCrash as a 70's style sustaining fuzz⁵. Guitar World noted Catalinbread released the collection earlier in 2024, chasing the golden era of 1970s gain tones³⁹.

What reviewers said

Press coverage of the launch was largely descriptive, with one clear verdict. Guitar Pedal X called the SideArm a Tube Screamer derivative with an extra Mids control and found it⁵:

That is the honest summary of where the SideArm sits: a well-specified Screamer variant in a crowded field of Tube Screamer derivatives, from the Fortin-Modded Ibanez TS808 with its enhanced upper midrange to the Ibanez ST9 Super Tube Screamer with its semi-parametric midrange stage. The SideArm's distinguishing features are the shifted 1kHz cut, the dedicated 720Hz Mids knob, and the wider gain range¹⁰¹¹¹².

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