Any firsthand demos/impressions of Catalinbread's Pareidolia?

[KevinFinn]

I think it's calling to me. Especially at 18v.

Talk me into it. ;)

[candletears7]

For modulation type fun, I tried the Pareidolia, the Malekko Vibrato, a Univibe by Jam Pedals the other day. The Malekko I felt was the most fun. The CB (while I love their stuff and have owned quite a few, the Valcoder is second to none) just didnt inspire me on the day.

[trickness]

I think it's calling to me. Especially at 18v.

Talk me into it. ;)


Once you're talked into it, PM me. Mine is 3 weeks old new in box and for sale for $150, shipped and PP'd ;)

[KevinFinn]

What color?

[trickness]

What color?

Silver.

[Burgs]

One first hand demo and impression at your service, sir. Stunning pedal. Gorgeous to play with, gorgeous to listen to (IMHO).

7xa9hzGyK8Q

[monkmiles]

I like mine.

[KevinFinn]

One first hand demo and impression at your service, sir. Stunning pedal. Gorgeous to play with, gorgeous to listen to (IMHO).

7xa9hzGyK8QThat's you? Sweet! That's the demo that sold me on the pedal! Best one on Youtube.

I play a lot of stuff like that and your unconventional use of it is what caught my interest.

Thanks so much.

[Mandoboy]

I don't have a demo, waiting for the mixes from a recording session where I used it for some very wavy pad chords and also a reverse reverb/Paredolia stereo psychedelic solo. VERY satisfying, it really is unique in how it combines Univibe, pitch modulation, tremolo and ergot fungus-inspired atmosphere...also the volume boost adds nice edge. It's a keeper for me.

[ruger9]

I'll have a first hand experience, mon or tues when mine arrives... as much as I love my Swamp Thang (the best pedal trem to mimic a sine wave/tube-bias trem IMO), it's getting a bit...boring as of late. Demos of the Pareidolia are very promising... we'll see how it stacks up...

[ruger9]

OK, played the Pareidolia yesterday... here's my first impressions...

First of all, I love tremolo. So for the Pareidolia to replace my tremolo (Swamp Thang), it would have to be uber-good. I realize they are different TYPES of trem, but I've been finding my ST a bit one-dimensional lately, which is why I picked up the CP, after several great video demos.

My inital impression is, I don't think this pedal can replace a trem or a vibe. It's a weird combination of both, with a little phaser thrown in. It's not "tremolo enuff" to replace my tremolo. This isn't a criticism, just an observation. It's sort of a "jack of all trades, master of none."

I think this pedal is one you'll either love or hate... the video demos I saw had me loving it, and those players certainly know how to get the best out of it, but the CP just doesn't mix well with my tone & style, I guess.

My "problem" with it (again, not a criticism), kind of goes along with other people saying it's "bright". Well, it's not bright... just turn the depth to zero and toggle the pedal on & off and you can hear the CP affects your base tone very little. However, it seems to have a sort of "sweep"... similar to a wah pedal, for lack of a better comparison. Picture a sine wave, where at the top of the sine wave the tone gets MUCH brighter, and at the bottom of the wave gets much warmer. That's what the Pareidolia does. As opposed to a regular trem, which is just volume modulation.

Personally, I really dislike the "top" (bright) part of that wave, and it's why I won't be keeping the Pareidolia. PM me if you're interested, I'm letting it go.

AGAIN- this is not a criticism of the CP, like I said, some people will love this thing, and the video demos are great, it's just not my bag. But I thought I'd chime in with my observations for those thinking about picking one up... especially those looking to maybe replace a regular trem pedal, like I was.

[enocaster]

Mine doesn't play well in the chain - sounds harsh and trebly when you turn on any pedal after it. I sent it to C-bread for a repair/checkup and they can't recreate the problem, but said they'd mod it anyway :dunno
Haven't heard from them in a while - I'm hoping it works out because it's the only mod effect I dig these days other than straight tremolo. Someone was selling one in the Emporium, also saying it didn't play well in their rig. I wrote them and they said they had a similar issue - it might just be a finicky pedal.

I might look into the Fuchs, but am concerned about its lack of volume control.

[ruger9]

I might look into the Fuchs, but am concerned about its lack of volume control.

You could also look into the Toadworks Pipeline, altho I haven't heard any good demos of it (meaning the demos aren't great, not neccesarily the sound of the pedal.)

At this point, I'm seriously considering giving the EHX Wiggler another try... yes, it's big, it can be noisy. I had a noisy one. But if I could find one that didn't have the infamous EHX noise issues, and could replace my Swamp Thang AND my Rotosphere, the size & wall wart would be worth it. At least it has several different flavors of trem/vibe/leslie...

[enocaster]

I have a Wiggler, too (ewww… ) and it's not noisy, but the top 2 effects (Looz and Hamm) have a treble boost, and the other 2 have a treble cut. Not extreme, but enough to change my "cut" in a band mix when I engage it. The strange part - the 4-way switch isn't supposed to effect the tremolo mode, but I get the same EQ shift in trem mode depending on where the 4-way is set. I tried swapping tubes with no effect.

Now you're probably thinking I'm super-picky, crazy, or have a messed up rig - but out of the 100+ pedals I've owned/tried, I've had trouble with only 4 or 5.

[MjCartney]

I'm in the "too much treble boost" camp as well. Cool pedal otherwise, but way too bright for my tastes.

[ruger9]

Now you're probably thinking I'm super-picky, crazy, or have a messed up rig - but out of the 100+ pedals I've owned/tried, I've had trouble with only 4 or 5.

;) Nah... I hear you. When you "hear it", you hear it. I went thru umpteen tremolos until I finally found an old Swamp Thang (the JRs weren't being made yet). Including the Wiggler... which I might have kept, except for the ground hum. Another one for you to try that I found great (only the Swamp Thang beat it): Guyatone FLIP. That's another one I'm considering re-visiting.

[enocaster]

Oh, I'm all set with "regular" tremolo. My main amp is a '61 Vibrolux, the biggest of the bias-trem equipped brownface Fenders - the inspiration for the Swamp Thang (all larger models had the Harmonic Vibrato). My other amp is a silver Vibro Champ, which is no slouch, either!

[ruger9]

Oh, I'm all set with "regular" tremolo. My main amp is a '61 Vibrolux, the biggest of the bias-trem equipped brownface Fenders - the inspiration for the Swamp Thang (all larger models had the Harmonic Vibrato). My other amp is a silver Vibro Champ, which is no slouch, either!

Bastard. :Devil

[ThePenwellCrash]

This thread is like a reflection of my own personal journey :p

I have the Toadworks Pipeline because I really liked the concept and feature set! I'll say this, it might have been a contender...:boxer... if it had a volume control to make up for the perceived volume drop associate with tremolo. But alas, the lack of volume compensation made me move on

http://tunnelvisionmusicblog.com/wp-content/uploads/pipeline.jpg


...so here comes the Pareidolia. Looks like it's got all the basic's necessary, including some nice demo mojo from these guys like Burgs and BobbyD...:BluesBros ....Sadly, it totally colored my tone and it was really noticeable with drive, regardless of whether it was in front or behind the dirt, it smoothed out and removed the natural harshness of the overdrive every time. That's something that the Pipeline didn't do (or any of my other modulations; chorus, vibe)

http://www.tunnelvisionmusic.com/assets/images/pareidolialavender.jpg


I really wanted to like these pedals and haven't sold either of them yet and they make regular appearances on my gigging board in the attempt that I might still grow to love them.... haven't left me satisfied yet :(

[enocaster]

Yeah, I noticed the Pipeline didn't have a volume control, like the Fuchs. It seems essential for an effect like this. 3 pedals dedicated to one obscure (and admittedly complex) effect, and no home runs.

[ruger9]

I still haven't seen a good demo of the Fuchs (sorry Andy)... I'd like to see a ProGuitarShop-like demo on both the Pipeline & the Fuchs...

[Fuchsaudio]

I might look into the Fuchs, but am concerned about its lack of volume control.

Never really thought that a volume control was something a tremolo user would find necessary. We could certainly add a level control to the unit as a custom mod (not difficult nor costly), but the pedal is unity gain, so I'm not sure why you'd want one.... ?

[ruger9]

Never really thought that a volume control was something a tremolo user would find necessary. We could certainly add a level control to the unit as a custom mod (not difficult nor costly), but the pedal is unity gain, so I'm not sure why you'd want one.... ?

I think the idea is, that since roughly half of the signal will be below unity gain, there is a perceived lessening of the volume, or the sound getting lost in the mix. Many people here seem to want volume controls on their tremolos so they can boost it a bit for that reason. Some trems have a built-in boost... I think the Swamp Thang has a built-in 3db boost (and since the Swamp Thang is reportedly an "improved copy" of the Tremadillo, the Tremadillo might as well.)

[Fuchsaudio]

I see. We somewhat compensated for that, but I see your point. Good to think about for a future production tweak...maybe even if internal...

[KevinFinn]

Yeah, since the volume peak during trem is actually the bypassed level, a lot of people compensate a bit to bring the average level up.

[catalinbread]

Heya folks. We've taken a look at the brightness folks have mentioned. It becomes apparent depending on what pedal that is stacked with the Pareidolia. We've addressed this on recent shipments. Thanks for all the support!

:BluesBros

[ruger9]

I just tracked mine down... it doesn't play well with the buffer on my H&K Rotosphere... plugged straight into the amp, it sounds fine.

FYI: putting the Rotosphere into the amp's loop (which most people recommend anyway) solved the problem.

But, keeping the Pareidolia for future use, I might run into the stacking problem with other pedals in the future...Can older units be shipped back for the upgrade?

[analogmike]

One first hand demo and impression at your service, sir. Stunning pedal. Gorgeous to play with, gorgeous to listen to (IMHO).

7xa9hzGyK8Q

Great sound for a youtube demo!!!

That's a cool idea for a pedal, I had been thinking that something like that would be cool.

[catalinbread]

Great sound for a youtube demo!!!

That's a cool idea for a pedal, I had been thinking that something like that would be cool.


Thanks for the kind words Mike!

[catalinbread]

I just tracked mine down... it doesn't play well with the buffer on my H&K Rotosphere... plugged straight into the amp, it sounds fine.

FYI: putting the Rotosphere into the amp's loop (which most people recommend anyway) solved the problem.

But, keeping the Pareidolia for future use, I might run into the stacking problem with other pedals in the future...Can older units be shipped back for the upgrade?


Sure! email erksin@catalinbread.com :crazyguy

[Burgs]

Great sound for a youtube demo!!!
..

Thanks Mike, that's quite a compliment coming from you, a builder whom I've admired since I got caught up in this crazy obsession. It wasn't hard though, with the Pareidolia - it's quite inspiring. Cheers, BK.

[_jt_]

I'm in the "too much treble boost" camp as well. Cool pedal otherwise, but way too bright for my tastes.

I've had one for about a month. I have not read any reviews on TGP until now but I did listen to as many videos as I could find. I'm somewhat shocked many people think it is too bright. Mine is very dark - so dark that it is very boomy in the bottom end and the high end always seems rolled off. I can't use it with certain guitars and/or settings. I chalk that up to me still figuring out where it goes and how to use/play it more effectively. I love it and I'm keeping it. But again... bright? Mine is the opposite of bright.

It is silver and I run it at 9V, if that makes a difference.

[erksin]

I've had one for about a month. I have not read any reviews on TGP until now but I did listen to as many videos as I could find. I'm somewhat shocked many people think it is too bright. Mine is very dark - so dark that it is very boomy in the bottom end and the high end always seems rolled off. I can't use it with certain guitars and/or settings. I chalk that up to me still figuring out where it goes and how to use/play it more effectively. I love it and I'm keeping it. But again... bright? Mine is the opposite of bright.

It is silver and I run it at 9V, if that makes a difference.

That 'brightness' can be accentuated with amps with hot inputs like Marshalls, etc - I don't experience it all with my tweed-based amps.

I've already had a few people contact me regarding the mod through our site (please don't PM me here) - if any of you would like to send yours in we need your pedal's serial number, the name of the dealer you bought it from, and your return address. We'll turn 'em around ASAP.

Mike

[_jt_]

That 'brightness' can be accentuated with amps with hot inputs like Marshalls, etc - I don't experience it all with my tweed-based amps.

I recently changed most of my rack and pedals, therefore I think the non-bright/dark sound shaping I experience is just me figuring out the new variables. I have two Catalinbread pedals and they are both keepers.

[enocaster]

Mine doesn't play well in the chain - sounds harsh and trebly when you turn on any pedal after it. I sent it to C-bread for a repair/checkup and they can't recreate the problem, but said they'd mod it anyway :dunno
Haven't heard from them in a while - I'm hoping it works out because it's the only mod effect I dig these days other than straight tremolo. Someone was selling one in the Emporium, also saying it didn't play well in their rig. I wrote them and they said they had a similar issue - it might just be a finicky pedal.

I might look into the Fuchs, but am concerned about its lack of volume control.

Heya folks. We've taken a look at the brightness folks have mentioned. It becomes apparent depending on what pedal that is stacked with the Pareidolia. We've addressed this on recent shipments. Thanks for all the support!

:BluesBros

Update. I received my repaired/modded/upgraded/v2 whatever you want to call it Pareidolia from C-bread and it now stacks with other pedals as it should. I've only played it a little at low volume, but it sounded great - not too bright, not too dark.