Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret MKIII Overdrive Pedal

Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret MKIII Overdrive Pedal Overview

The Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret MKIII is an amp-in-a-box that emulates the tone and response of two vintage Plexis - the Super Lead and Super Bass. It’s a great way to inject a Marshall-style flavour into your rig.

Foundation Overdrive

The Dirty Little Secret MKIII is part of Catalinbread’s Foundation Overdrive series of pedals. Whilst these effects can be used as traditional overdrives, they’re designed to be a foundational part of your tone. The DLS MKIII works best when it’s left on and you stack your other gain/dirt pedals in front of it, providing your rig with the characterful warmth and crunch of a classic valve amp.

Vintage British Amp Tone

What Catalinbread have achieved with the Dirty Little Secret is remarkable, as they managed to pack a truly realistic amp tone into a pedalboard-friendly stompbox form factor. Not only does the DLS nail the sound of a British stack, it gets the feel and interaction right as well. Once you’ve dialled in a healthy amount of gain, you can back off on the volume for that “Wind Cries Mary” clean - just like with the real deal.

Two Pedals In One

The DLS MKIII boasts two distinct voicings, which are selected via an internal switch.

The “Super Lead” mode is reminiscent of the Marshall Super Lead amp, with all the lively harmonics, cab thump and dynamic touch sensitivity that entails. This mode works particularly well with humbuckers and there’s plenty of gain on tap if you need it. If you need that quintessential rock aggression - the Super Lead mode has you covered.

The “Super Bass” mode emulates the - you guessed it - classic Marshall Super Bass (which is tonally similar to very early Plexis). This mode features a rich, full response and is perfect for that open AC/DC-style sound that sits right between clean and dirty. If you’re a fuzz fanatic, the Super Bass mode is dialled in to make your fuzzboxes sound their best. With a Fuzz Face and a Strat plugged in, you can pull off those live Hendrix tones with ease.

Interactive Tone Circuit

Switching between the SL and SB does a lot more than simply adding or reducing gain. Each mode completely transforms the tone stack, reconfiguring the response of the Treble, Mid & Bass controls to reflect the emulated amp. Depending on where the tone controls are set, the way they interact with each varies - just like with a real amp.

If you want to inject your rig with an old-school Marshall-style flavour, the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret MKIII is a fantastic choice. Forget about taking the backbreaking stack to a gig and take your Dirty Little Secret instead!

Every brand new Catalinbread pedal comes with a 3-year warranty, which covers defects in materials and/or workmanship. Contact [email protected] for more info.