The Catalinbread Tribute Parametric Overdrive is an overdrive pedal with a twist: instead of a conventional tone control, it carries what Pedal of the Day calls "a supercharged one-band parametric EQ in lieu of a tone control for some serious studio-esque ton" shaping1. Guitar World reported the pedal's launch on 13 April 2022, priced at $179 USD and available at that time2. The Tribute is an all-analog circuit, and Pedal the Day describes it as combining "an extremely expressive high-headroom drive engine" with that EQ section1.
What the Tribute does to your sound
The parametric EQ is the heart of the pedal. Where a normal overdrive's tone knob just rolls off highs, the Tribute lets you choose a single frequency and then cut or boost it. Pedal of the Day suggests the practical use: "Playing rhythm? Dial in a low-mids grunt and boost that band for some fat chords. Playing leads? Flip that thing and inject sparkle"1. If you have ever wanted the body of a cocked-wah setting without the pedal, this is the kind of control that gets you there, and it sits alongside other EQ-focused options on the Equalization Pedals page.
The controls
The Tribute is a four-knob pedal. Guitar World sums up the layout: "Its Volume and Drive knobs control output volume and the amount of gain respectively, while the Tone and Freq knobs handle EQ"2.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Volume | Controls output volume; Pedal of the Day notes it "gives you plenty of the good stuff"12 |
| Drive | Sets the amount of gain2 |
| Freq | Selects a frequency between 70Hz and 1.4KHz to be cut or boosted by the Tone control1 |
| Tone | Boosts or cuts the selected frequency by 12dB; center-detent potentiometer, at noon the frequency is flat1 |
The Tone knob uses a center-detent potentiometer. Pedal of the Day explains that at noon the selected frequency is flat and the VariOboost component is effectively removed from the circuit, so the EQ section goes neutral without changing anything else1.
The VariOboost circuit behind the tone section
The EQ section is not a new design. As Pedal of the Day puts it, "The back end of the Tribute pays, ahem, homage to one of our oldest designs, the VariOboost"1. Premier Guitar and Guitar.com both reported the same lineage, with Guitar.com describing the Tribute's back end as paying homage to one of Catalinbread's oldest designs34. The VariOboost was a boost pedal, and its circuit forms the basis of the Tribute's tone section. There is more on the original at the Catalinbread VariOboost page, and the Tribute sits in the wider context of Overdrive Pedals.
What reviewers said
Pedal of the Day's verdict was that the pedal is more than its panel suggests, calling it "a complex, genre-spanning, thought-invoking and experimental pedal that was an absolute monster" despite looking like a simple overdrive with four knobs1.
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Questions
Is the Catalinbread Tribute analog?
Yes. Pedal of the Day describes the Tribute as an all-analog circuit, combining a high-headroom drive engine with the parametric EQ tone section. It is a four-knob pedal with Volume, Drive, Freq and Tone controls, and its EQ section is derived from Catalinbread's VariOboost design.
What frequency range does the Tribute's Freq knob cover?
The Freq knob selects a frequency between 70Hz and 1.4KHz, according to Pedal of the Day. Whatever frequency you select is then cut or boosted by the Tone control, which applies up to 12dB of boost or cut at that frequency.
What does the Drive knob do on the Catalinbread Tribute?
Guitar World reports that the Volume and Drive knobs control output volume and the amount of gain respectively. So the Drive knob sets how much overdrive the pedal produces, while Volume sets the output level.
How much does the Catalinbread Tribute cost?
Guitar World listed the Tribute Parametric Overdrive at $179 USD when the pedal launched in April 2022, and reported it as available at that time.
Can the Tribute pass a clean signal?
The Tone control is equipped with a center-detent potentiometer, and Pedal of the Day notes that at noon the selected frequency is flat and the VariOboost component is effectively removed from the circuit. That gives a neutral EQ setting, though the Drive knob still sets the amount of gain.
Sources (4)
- Catalinbread Tribute Parametric Overdrive, Pedal of the Day, 2022-04-13
- Catalinbread launches the Tribute, an overdrive pedal with “a supercharged one-band parametric EQ”, Guitar World, 2022-04-13
- Catalinbread releases new overdrive pedal: the Tribute, Guitar.com, 2022-04-14
- Catalinbread Unveils the Tribute Overdrive, Premier Guitar, 2022-04-13
