Seymour Duncan expand their pedal repertoire with the Palladium Gain Stage Overdrive andCatalina Chorus Pedals.

From the accompanying video for the Catalina Chorus, Seymour Duncan pull no punches by demoing their latest offering with the perfect example: Nirvana – Come as you are.

This is one of modern-rock’s most iconic songs to utlize the chorus effect offering that liquid-type sound, which was so definitive in the hit single from Nevermind and many other songs.

The delay, depth, mix and rate dials help to bring this modulation effect to the forefront and allow it to sit comfortably in a band mix whatever your genre. Furthermore, the hard/soft switch helps accomodate a more full on or conversley more subtle edge to this effect to suit your preference.

The Palladium Gain Stage Overdrive on the other hand is a full bodied overdrive pedal oozing with tonnes of character to help account for dynamic subtleties whilst operating at modern high gain levels. The built in three band EQ and on board boost switch help focus your sound to offer plenty of tone and stand out for the right reasons.

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It’s that time of year again! If you’re heading to the NAMM Show to see the latest in musical instruments from nearly every manufacturer in the world, drop by and say hi! We’ll be at Booth #5560, and you’ll be able to check out our new Catalina Dynamic Chorus, Jeff Loomis Blackouts and more. Here’s our artist appearance and performance schedule.

As I mentioned yesterday, it is officially NAMM season. NAMM stands for National Association of Music Merchants. There are two NAMM conventions. One in the winter and one in the summer. The winter NAMM is the biggest of the two. The point of NAMM is to connect dealers with builders in its most simple form. All music related builders and manufacturers set up booths, meet and network with other builders, and various dealers (large and small) can build and create relationships for offering great products for their customers.

During the time of NAMM commonly release new products. It’s an exciting time for everyone.  During this time I do receive press releases, so I’ll be posting a few! Last weekend I received this announcement by Seymour Duncan about their new chorus pedal – The Catalina Dynamic!

Check it out!

Seymour Duncan are probably the biggest name in aftermarket pickups, but that certainly doesn’t show off the range of their expertise. Alongside being giants of the pickup world, they’ve also delved into creating guitars, amps and effects pedals over the years. Recently after revitalising their pedal range over the last year or so, a new pedal emerges!

If you’re unfamiliar with Seymour Duncan pedals definitely check out the range, as they’re excellently built and sound great:Seymour Duncan Pedal Range

Their new offering is a chorus pedal, the Catalina Chorus. Apart from producing fantastical chorus sounds with a very versatile range with the option for some massive stereo routing, the pedal also features anDynamic Expression feature. Essentially an envelope filter which responds to your input volume, allowing you to play the effect, which is pretty cool feature and I’ve only seen that on a couple of other chorus pedals. You’re able to decide whether playing loud or quietly accentuates the effect too which is nice. I can imagine using it in a ‘ducking’ fashion allowing the notes to breath in loud passage but then bringing the effect in as the notes decay; or going the full hog and bringing in swirly madness during the heat of battle. A nice touch, excuse the pun.

Check out what the guys at Seymour Duncan say about the pedal:

“The Seymour Duncan Catalina Chorus pedal can produce a dizzying array of tonalities from subtle, clean shimmer to lush, swirling effects and everything in between. But the real magic here is the Dynamic Expression feature, which allows you to control the amount of chorus effect in real time by varying the dynamics of your playing. In “Hard” mode, the chorus is more pronounced the more you dig in, and in “Soft” mode, the effect intensifies as you lay back and let chords ring out. Set the threshold to control where the chorus kicks in, or you can turn the feature off to use Catalina Chorus like a traditional chorus pedal.

Catalina Chorus also has a tone control to roll off high end and stereo outputs for lush stereo effects when using a dual amp rig. To round out the special features, the Threshold knob is lighted and changes colour to indicate whether the chorus effect is engaged when using the Dynamic Expression feature, as well as which expression mode is selected. Like all of Seymour Duncan pedals, the Catalina Chorus is designed and assembled at the Seymour Duncan’s Santa Barbara, CA factory by the same team responsible for their legendary pickups.

Specifications

• Delay: Sets time delay from 6 to 60 milliseconds
• Tone: Sets cutoff of passive low pass filter from 0.5kHz to 6kHz
• Depth: Sets the modulation of the delay time from off to 50%
• Rate: Sets modulation rate from 0.33 – 10 cycles/second
• Expression: Engages the envelope follower
• Input Impedance: 1 Megohm
• Output Impedance: 500 Ohms
• Dry Gain: 0dB
• Wet Gain: Off to +3dB above the dry signal”

Certainly feature packed and worth a look if you’re interested in all things warble.

~ Rich T

Good design is often reflected in the intuitive nature of how something works. My first foray into design occurred when my father asked me to hold the flashlight for him while he fixed the wiring on a ceiling light fixture. I decided, in my 4-year-old wisdom, that putting the huge flashlight on the ground with the light beam facing upward would allow me to walk away and continue playing while my dad fixed the light. Genius? Probably not, but intuitive nonetheless.  Continue reading “Meet a Seymour Duncan Engineer – Wayne Rothermich: Shapeshifters, Mars, and Margaritas”

We started designing our Catalina Dynamic Chorus more than a year ago, and the process of development and refinement has resulted in a nice little piece of synchronicity that we didn’t even think of when we came up with the name: the Catalina pedal has arrived on the exact same day that Comet Catalina makes its closest approach to earth.  Continue reading “Up In The Sky And Down There On The Pedalboard…”

Some guitarists like their chorus to be subtle and traditional. Others prefer bold and unique. The Catalina Dynamic Chorus is designed to do it all: classic chorus and vibrato, deep 80’s goth, simulated double-tracking, watery grunge cleans and rotating speaker simulations. It does it all with analog character and an unprecedented level of interactivity, including a uniquely innovative Dynamic Expression mode that allows you to control the depth of the effect through the intensity of your playing. Catalina has controls for Mix (from silent to unity to a +3dB boost for the wet signal), Rate, Depth and Delay (which sets the amount of distance between the dry signal and the effected one), as well as a treble-attenuating Tone control for dialing in the clarity and warmth of the wet signal. The real magic happens when you step on the Expression footswitch, which lets you interact dynamically with the Depth control. When it’s on, flip the Dynamic switch to Hard mode and the chorus depth will increase as you play with more intensity. Flip it to Soft mode and you will receive more effect as you play lighter, or when your notes begin to fade out. There’s also a Threshold control to dial in the sensitivity of the Dynamic Expression feature to perfectly match any playing style. Catalina employs analog Bucket-Brigade Devices (BBDs) supported by modern low-noise analog electronics. It has a mono input and stereo outputs, and the footswitch is true bypass for the most pure signal when the pedal is not in use. Like all of our pedals, the Catalina Dynamic Chorus is designed and assembled at our Santa Barbara, California factory by the same team responsible for our legendary pickups.

Seymour Duncan Releases The Catalina Dynamic Chorus Effects Pedal

SANTA BARBARA, January 17, 2016 – Seymour Duncan, a leading manufacturer of pickups and pedals, announces the release of the Catalina™ Dynamic Chorus pedal. The Catalina effects pedal includes a uniquely innovative Dynamic Expression™ mode that allows you to control the depth of the effect through the intensity of your playing. There’s also a threshold control, which allows players to dial in the sensitivity of the Dynamic Expression feature to perfectly match any playing style.

“We’re very excited about Catalina,” says Max Gutnik, SVP of products and CRO. “In addition to a beautiful sounding chorus pedal, the innovative Dynamic Expression feature gives players the ultimate control – from subtle to bold, and everything in-between, without changing settings every other song or riding the footswitch all night.”

Catalina also has controls for mix, rate, depth, delay and tone. It employs analog Bucket-Brigade Devices (BBDs) supported by modern low-noise analog electronics. The footswitch is true bypass, for the most pure signal when the pedal is not in use.

For more information visit: http://www.seymourduncan.com/pedal/catalina

About Seymour Duncan

Seymour Duncan celebrates a rich history as the world’s leading pickup and pedal manufacturer. Since 1976, Seymour Duncan has helped the world’s artists develop their own unique, signature sounds. This is accomplished through a dedicated team of craftsman at their Santa Barbara, California office. For more information, please visit seymourduncan.com.

Media contact:

Elysse Miller

Seymour Duncan

[email protected]

Guitars are complicated instruments: there are so many parts needed to make it work that it’s no wonder sometimes a part breaks down or wears out.

Fortunately, a lot of problems can be solved with very little effort and cost, so you can make sure your guitar doesn’t end up with one of the problems I listed in this article. Those 10 signs your guitar needs some TLC are much more expensive to fix, so taking care of your instrument, even at its most basic level will ensure an extended life of your instrument. Here are some lo-tech DIY ways to tackle common guitar problems. (As always though, if you’re not comfortable doing this stuff, take your guitar to a trusted tech). Continue reading “Small Fixes For Big Problems”

You’ve heard that sound before: that watery, bubbly, thick guitar sound slathered over almost every clean guitar part from the late 1970’s throughout the 1980’s. That is the sound of a chorus effect, and when I was young, it was everywhere. It was the second pedal I ever bought (right behind the Next Distortion X), and when I needed a clean guitar sound, the chorus was always on. Other guitarists loved it too, as evidenced from the sound of guitar sounds of the day. Continue reading “Effects Basics: Chorus”