All user reviews of 4/5 for the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret

This is an overdrive. 2 modes: rock and raw. Very classic. Small pedal. I love that brand.

UTILIZATION

Configuration: tone, gain and volume. And switch rock / raw which reinforces the distortion.
Very easy to get WHAT THIS PEDAL does best: transform a Fender amp in the Marshall.

SOUND QUALITY

It is effective. I love how it hangs (type AC / DC), the rock aspect. Sometimes a little hollow in the grave, but rather an advantage in the final mix (mix live mostly).

OVERALL OPINION

I love it. I care. She does well, once again, for which it is miraculous out of my Fender sound rock to Marshall.

This is a fairly simple pedal. Volume, tone, and gain. It has a rock/rawk switch. One more interesting feature is the optional variable voltage which changes the sound according to Catalinbread. This pedal is supposed to turn any amp in a cranked marshall more or less. It’s a fairly high end pedal and the price reflects that.

UTILIZATION

Structurally it feels solid. I typically run it with the volume very low with the gain and tone around noon. I could never decide whether I liked the Rock or Rawk better. The Rock is supposed to be a plexi sound while the rawk is more of a jcm800 thing. To my ears the rock mode sounds like zeppelin while the rawk mode gives an 80's metal thickness. Both are great. One gripe I have is while the pedal feels very solid and well made, the knobs are very sensitive and easy to turn. This is a problem live and I have to resort to duct tape to make them stay.

SOUND QUALITY

Initially I did not like this pedal. I was running it at 9 volts and it sounded thin compared to some of my other overdrives. However, Catalinbread recommends trying it at 18v so I did. The difference was huge. The pedal got a lot thicker and fuller sounding. The Rock mode is great for Zeppelin or anything 70’s rock, just as the name suggests. It has that open midrangey tone associated with those bands. Using it through a Matchless Spitfire it really roared. The Rawk mode is more pushing and saturated. The voicing is a lot more modern. The comparison to a JCM800 is spot on. I like both modes a lot. I like them more with 18 volts.

OVERALL OPINION

The bottom line with the DLS is to try it at 18 volts before you dismiss it. At the usually 9v it’s just doesn’t sound quite the same. If you want cranked Marshall sounds from 1970 to 2000, this pedal with do it for you. That in itself is very impressive. The voltage caveat is an issue if you don't have the right PSU.