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I had been looking for an Overdrive that was not a typical Boss or OCD. I started watching Youtube Videos and found this pedal there. SO many reviews. I asked my buddy about it and he says he has on at home and at his recording studio also. HE says it it unreal with its Bass tone as well as treble and mids. He then says it adjusts just like a Marshall Amp so I ask, but, you already have a Marshall? HE says he doesn't have to run his Marshall at deafening tones to get the break up that this one provides and that I should quit bugging him and just get it and thank him later. I thanked him later. I have to use three different pedals stacked to get the tone of this thing. It hardly uses any power so I can run it for a very long time on a Battery if I wish. IT is my favorite pedal on my whole board

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The pedal is not just a foundation OD that makes you sound like a SL or SB Marshall. I loved the demos by the company which showed those sound, and I chose the pedal, and in large part my new Princeton RI because of those demos. You can certainly do what the demos show you, and I am thrilled with it. But home playing demos , (I am not performing anymore) and sounds in the Catalinbread demos are just part of it. The controls on the guitar, pedal, and amp adjusted in so many possible ways means you can find a tiny amount of boost, mild but harder push, classic cleaner blues and rock tones all the way up to AC/DC crunch and lead sounds, or the highest drive levels of Allman Brothers’ most overdriven sounds. The master, and gain knobs control a wide range of each, so from subtle to raucous Page or Beck. I don’t know when but I am going to open it and try the super bass mode, but I imagine it sounds killer too. If you play it through a tube amp like a 15 watt at home, you can put the amp on 1 and hear your kickin’ sound very quiet, or lower, and not bother anyone. Or you can put it on 1, or 2 and get pretty darn loud for volume on one or two. If you have a sound in mind, you can’t put all the knobs at 5, and sound that way. For it to sound great in your ear, and at the volume you need, simply take a minute to adjust your pedal and guitar etc and I promise this pedal can do what you want, and if you set it to change with your volume on your guitar, you can also kick on a boost, run a fuzz into it, and it operates just as they intended as foundation. But it is so much more than a Marshall in a box. I see now I don’t need a different pedal for every song. With one this versatile and that sounds glorious I can get it all, except the numetal type stuff. But I am not into that. Love this pedal!

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The Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret is all it’s been hyped up to be over the years. This pedal deserves the same revered status that the Tube Screamer has achieved over the years.I am using this through a fairly clean and lower watt iteration of a JTM45 style amp using EL34’s, and this pedal shines in every aspect.Gain ranges from slight breakup, to crunch and up into a good rocking distortion. I’d say JTM45 to almost the gain of a JCM800. I use it with my amp just barely breaking with guitar volume up and hitting a chord with moderate aggression. Kick on the DLS and I get the harmonic overdrive I’m looking, turning up the pre-amp knob gets the pedal very much in the JCM809 territory…I did say almost. At 9v, it has a bit more perceived gain, but can get a little fizzy sounding, so do yourself a favor and use this with an 18v adapter or in my case a voltage doubler cable for my Voodoo Labs pedal power. Using 18v, the pedal has more headroom, more clarity and a much better tonal pallet. You will appreciate this pedal so much more using 18v.As for sound, the DLS plays great with other pedals and equally well with whatever pickup choice you have to use.Treble, Middle, and Bass controls are very functional and provide a wide range of boost/cut. This pedal has a lot of bass on tap, though manageable. My point is try less before you try more.Plenty of gain/level to drive any amp to its limit.The DLS is also incredibly dynamic and touch responsive. It cleans up astonishingly well via guitar volume and is very dynamic giving the player a feedback and almost sag that would only be found in a real amp yet this pedal gives that push/pull feel. Very surprised.Two switchable modes and an internal presence knob. If you find your bright, try taming the presence knob a hair at a time to taste after you think you have the base sound you’re looking for.I have given up on a Bogner La Grange and Friedman Dirt Shirley to get to this point and have zero regrets making the choice.The DLS has no match.Highly recommended!Pros:Very low noise floorImpeccable Marshall tone with a wide range availablePlays great with other pedalsVery intuitive-easy as 123 to get your toneBuilt in the USA and built to lastCons:Literally not one.

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This review is for Super Lead mode only as I have not tried the Super Bass mode. In Super Lead, this really does give you access to a range of Marshall amp tones. My target is something from Plexi to JCM800 depending on my needs and this pedal delivers. What you must keep in mind however is that the pedal reacts VERY differently based on input voltage. I honestly was not loving the pedal on 9 volts. It is billed as variac-like, and there may be some truth to that, but for my liking the tone was just way too loose and soupy and not to my ears what I like about the Marshall amps listed above. I decided to try 18 volts and whoa, that was the ticket. Much tighter, more "precise" but still has that tube amp feel. Very reactive with the guitar volume and picking dynamics.I should also mention that this pedal reacts very well with other pedals in front of it. A good screamer variant (I have the Cusack) gives you a fantastic gain boost for super sustaining solos or other work requiring extreme amounts of gain. A clean boost also works well, like the Xotic EP and I particularly love the DLS paired with my Xotic SP Compressor. It is this combination of the DLS and the SP that give me such an outstanding Marshall tone. Balanced, just enough gain, great sustain. Very inspiring and just makes me want to keep playing. Now I have access to all kinds of classic Marshall tones from 70s classic rock to 80s hair metal and everything in between. Works well with all my guitars from Duncan JB and 59 to Gibson 57 Classics to Barden Tele to EMG DG20 set.

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I tested every OD pedal in my guitar shop and it was clear that the DLS was the winner. While other OD pedals sounded a little tinny or thin, the DLS sound incredibly thick and saturated. Goes great with Gibson SG in Super Lead mode. Super Bass mode sounds great with a Tele. This pedal will make any amp sound like a Marshall

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