Catalinbread DirtyLittleSecret deluxe User manual

Overview
If you’re reading this, the secret is out! What started as a fourth version of our flagship
Dirty Little Secret ended up as this, the Deluxe version, which I’m sure you’ve already
played before reading this. Quite frankly, we don’t blame you, and right up front we
want to extend a hearty “hope you enjoyed it,” which you undoubtedly have. If you
haven’t, good news! This manual will explain everything in great detail, be you a “play
it first, who needs a manual” type or a “whoa there, let’s check the paper first” type.
The Dirty Little Secret Deluxe is dedicated to all things Marshall, featuring an
all-discrete circuit with a preamp, phase inverter, power amp sim and output
transformer. A built-in footswitchable boost modeled after a clean Marshall preamp
and effect order switch gives you a fully-customizable amp-in-a-box experience.
Before we get to it, thank you for your purchase. There would be no Catalinbread
without you, and we made this especially for you. You, the person reading this, right
now. Pat yourself on the back.
Owner’s Manual

MASTER: A descriptor that’s normally a formality, this knob occurs before the phase
inverter and output transformer rather than at the end of the circuit, just like a real amp.
We designed the output stage to be more impervious to input saturation than most
power sections, so really cranking it doesn’t alter the tone in an extremely noticeable
way. However, those that plan to use the DLS DLX as an always-on can find some subtle
sag and gentle compression living within the whole of the volume knob.
PREAMP: We’ve taken the original preamp control and tweaked it to deliver a wider gain
range with more cleans on the lower end and more cranked Marshall tones on the
higher end.
PRESENCE: Formerly an internal trimmer on the original, the Presence control is a
powerful low-pass filter that attenuates frequencies by 3dB above 1.59KHz when turned
all the way down, and the cutoff point climbs to an indistinguishable frequency by the
end of the turn.
BOOST: The boost circuit is actually one of the tube emulation building blocks that make
up the DLS itself. When you run the boost before the Dirty Little Secret, it acts as
another “preamp tube” added to the front end of the device for some saturated JCM900
tones. When run after, it makes everything louder without sacrificing clarity. WARNING:
please see note in “Effect Order” section below.
BOOST VOL: The boost circuit is actually one of the tube emulation building blocks that
make up the DLS itself. When you run the boost before the Dirty Little Secret, it acts as
another “preamp tube” added to the front end of the device for some saturated JCM900
tones. When run after, it makes everything louder without sacrificing clarity. This knob is
a volume control for the Boost side, so at lower points in the knob’s turn, the boost
signal can get below unity gain. This helps you dial in maximum tone shaping for
combining the two effects.
TREBLE/MIDDLE/BASS: These are the classic Marshall amp tone stack values that we all
know and love, highly interactive as always. These values are taken directly from the
amps themselves, and the entire tonestack circuit is passive, meaning that noon is not
flat on either knob. The Bass control in particular isn’t flat at noon, and most players of
actual Plexi amps keep this control pretty low. When switching between modes, the TMB
tonestack values are swapped as well, lending complimentary toneshaping to each.
SL/SB TOGGLE: The most requested mod in the history of Catalinbread has arrived; a
toggle to switch between both modes. Impossible in the original due to space and
function constraints, this allows you to switch between Super Lead mode, a cutting,
upper-midrange-heavy tone, and Super Bass mode, a smoother, smokier tone with a
lower midrange emphasis.
Controls

TIGHTNESS: Depending on the kind of music you’re playing, you may expect a certain
“tightness” from your amp. In real terms, what we call “tightness” is in reality bass
attenuation via a subtle high pass filter. This particular high-pass filter is designed to cut
nothing audible when turned down, and cuts up to ~230Hz at maximum for a full bass
cut extending into low mids.
EFFECT ORDER: Are you a “boost into drive” or a “drive into boost” kind of player? Now,
you can be both. This switch reroutes the order of the boost and the DLS circuit.
Running the boost into the DLS allows you to use the boost as an extra gain stage to
really saturate the front end, and running it afterward lets the boost act as an inline gain
coupler for your own amp. WARNING: The “Boost Level” knob can cut all volume when
turned fully down. If you’re planning on using the pedal in “DLS—>Boost” mode, make
sure you start with Boost Level at 0, then edge the knob up until you find the desired
level while adjusting your amp volume accordingly. It can get very loud.
LINE OUT: This is located on the rear panel of the DLS DLX, and is a dedicated +10dB
output for direct recording or mixing. You can plug into both the standard out and the
Line Out simultaneously, to run to an amp and mixer at once. Please note that this
means the dry signal is boosted to +10dB, and that if you’re unaccustomed to thinking
about loudness in those terms, that means it will be much louder. In fact…WARNING:
Make absolutely sure you’re plugged into the correct jack before playing. When
connected to Line Out, even your dry, unaffected signal gets boosted 10dB. If you’re not
expecting it, your amp will be ok but your ears/pets/neighbors may not be. Make sure
you are aware how you are plugging into this device!
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE: Because of the Line Out/standard out split, this pedal is
equipped with a pristine output buffer to preserve signal integrity. With that said, the
Dirty Little Secret Deluxe is equipped with buffered bypass. The tone won’t change, but
the pedal will not send a bypass signal unless power is plugged in. You may never have
noticed, but some of you will, and now you know!
Who doesn't love the sound of a boost circuit slamming the front end of an amp? For
many of us, this was our first introduction to "stacking," where two gain-generating
devices are coupled such that the level of the first controls the amount of available
distortion of the second. We ship the Dirty Little Secret Deluxe with this principle in
mind: with the boost side occurring before the Dirty Little Secret side, you can push the
whole arrangement into gooey saturation at will with a single stomp. And since the
boost side is modeled after a clean Marshall preamp, this lets you conjure up some
cranked JCM800 and 900 tones right out of the box. You can switch the order via internal
switch. More on that below.
Under the Hood
How it’s Shipped

Who among us hasn’t been completely enrapt by either the Marshall Plexi amps
themselves or records on which they were utilized? I am but a statistic in this regard.
I’d be hard pressed to name every album that I love that was recorded with Marshalls,
but I can definitely name a few examples. In Utero and Drive Like Jehu’s Yank Crime (RIP
Rick Froberg) are two of my favorite guitar albums ever recorded, with the former using
a Plexi and the latter using a JCM800. I have very intense and specific memories of
jumping up and down on my parents’ bed begging them to play the Police’s
Synchronicity LP; Blur’s Parklife was the first cassette album I ever bought with my own
money. Both Summers and Coxon are notorious Plexi players, and among the
innumerable Plexi-kissed albums out there, both of those albums specifically shaped my
musical taste for the better.
Taking on a classic platform was a daunting task, because the current MKIII edition is,
well, the third revision of this circuit and thus the most highly refined. I was working at
Pro Guitar Shop when that pedal came out and I still remember the hoopla around it.
Andy filmed a special demo video for it and everything. It definitely delivered, and after
looking at the circuit it was clear that everything possible had been done to extract every
last drop of tonal potential from the parts. How does one step in and take the pedal
world’s go-to Marshall-in-a-box device and change it in such a way that it sounds even
more like a Marshall?
I wanted the sound of other pedals running into a Marshall amp in totality. As it turns
out, the DLS preamp is tough to improve upon, and so I had to look at what wasn’t there
as opposed to what was. What we have is an incredible Plexi preamp. But that’s not
exactly an amp, is it?
The solution was to add all the other components that make an amp an amp. There’s a
MOSFET-driven phase inverter and power amp sim, along with an output transformer to
inject a little iron into the signal path. Having the Boost circuit mimic the preamp section
of the DLS gives you a six amp experience: Turning just the boost on gives you chime-y
Marshall cleans, using just the DLS side gives you a cranked Plexi, and running both
together gives you the sound of a roaring JCM. Plus, you get Super Bass and Super Lead
versions of each. I designed this for performance capabilities beyond what many drives
can provide.
The result is all the grunt and kerrang of a Plexi preamp with all the light compression
and sag of the rest of the amp. To me, that is the real Plexi experience. I spent more
time tweaking and adjusting this circuit than perhaps any other I’ve ever worked on, and
I firmly believe you’ll like it as much as I do and see it as a worthy successor.
Designer’s Notes

The Dirty Little Secret DLX accepts a center-negative DC power supply capable of
supplying 9 volts and at least 7mA of current (over is fine). Plugging in anything other
than this (center-positive, AC, higher voltage) will damage the pedal, maybe even beyond
repair. Check your supply and make sure it says all the right stuff. Plugging in the wrong
supply will void the warranty and possibly summon a puff of ozone-tinged smoke. Trust
me, you’d hate it.
Power Supply