Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret Deluxe Foundation Overdrive Pedal with Exterior Toggle Switch

Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret Deluxe Foundation Overdrive Pedal with Exterior Toggle Switch

Taking Marshall Plexi emulation to the next step, the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret Deluxe offers an authentic, fully-customizable amp-in-a-box experience.

An Upgrade You Cannot Miss

Tweaking and upgrading the already-hit DLS circuit meant adding enhancements that could change the way you view it. So, in addition to the phase inverter, power amp simulator, and output transformer, the Dirty Little Secret Deluxe now features an exterior toggle switch that makes switching between Super Lead and Super Bass modes super convenient. The Presence knob has been externalized to let you dial in your Marshall flavor. A single preamp tube simulator is the new model’s dirty little secret. It has been added as a built-in boost circuit and can be used independently of the main circuit. If you need a high-powered, saturated tone, you can put the boost before the DLS. To pummel the front end of your amp, choose to go the other way around. Enjoy the enhanced clarity with the new tightness knob, and for some cool metal tones, attenuate the low end. With the line-out jack, you have a dedicated +10 dB output that can be paired with a mixer or DAW. With the Boost, order selector, and external Super Lead and Super Bass modes, this tool is engineered to be the ultimate performer.

Master Control

The Master control occurs before the phase inverter and output transformer instead of appearing at the end of the circuit. Since this model has an output stage that is more impervious to input saturation than most of the other power sections, it does not alter the tone upon cranking it. The ones who intend to use the Dirty Little Secret DLX as an always-on, should look for subtle compression.

Preamp Control

The enhanced Presence Control was originally an internal trimmer on the previous model. It is a powerful low-pass filter that attenuates frequencies by 3 decibels above 1.59 KHz when it is turned all th way down. The cutoff point then climbs up to an indistinguishable frequency by the time the turn ends.

Boost Control

Considered as one of the building blocks of DLS, the boost control acts as a preamp tube for some saturated JCM900 tones. When run after, Boost control makes everything get louder without compromising on clarity.

Boost Vol Control

This knob controls the volume of the Boost side. This effect lets you dial in the maximum tone shaping needed when combining two effects.

Treble, Middle, and Bass

Highly interactive as always, the Treble, Middle, and Bass controls are the signature Marshall amp tone stack values. Taken directly from the amps, the bass control is not flat at noon. In fact, most players of actual Plexi amps keep this control quite low. The TMB tone stack values are swapped as well when switching between modes. This lends a complimentary tone shaping.

SL and SLB Toggle

This was the most highly requested mod Catalinbread has ever received. This toggle switch between the two modes makes it convenient to switch easily. Although this was not possible in the original model owing to space constraints, this toggle switch lets you enjoy the Super Lead Mode and Super Bass Mode like never before. 

Tightness

When you play a certain kind of music, you expect a level of tightness from your amp. This bass attenuation is received via a high pass filter. This particular model has a high-pass filter designed to retain audible sounds and yet cut up to approximately 230 Hz at maximum to offer a full bass cut that extends into the mid-lows.

Effect

You can be both of ‘boost into drive’ and ‘drive into boost’ kind of player with the effect order. This switch allows rerouting of the boost and DLS circuit.

Line Out

Located on the rear panel of the DLS DLX, the Line Out is a dedicated +10dB output for direct recording or mixing. Plug into both the standard out and the Line Out simultaneously to run to an amp and mixer together.

Power

The DLS DLX accepts a center-negative DC power supply that is capable of supplying 9 volts and should be capable of at least 7mA of current, although over that is fine. If you plug in anything other than this, it will damage the pedal, maybe even beyond repair.