# Catalinbread DLS



## elbandito (Oct 14, 2009)

Why is everybody selling their Dirty Little Secret all of a sudden? It seems like everywhere that I look online, there's another one up for sale. Wasn't it just last year that everyone was clamoring for these things and swearing that they'd found the Holy Grail of OD/Distortion tone?

I just got one and I think it's pretty awesome. I must say that I think I'd prefer to have a WIIO, though. It just seems more versatile and more my style.


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

Ah, GAS is a cruel mistress! Some good pedals fall by the wayside, others are replaced by something that's closer to the tone inside the head. The unending tonequest must go on!


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## JMann (Feb 18, 2007)

I still got mine. Other OD/Dist/Fuzz pedals have come and gone but the DLS remains. Gas indeed is cruel. Just a great, non-compressed, medium gain OD. Still, my gas has me looking to try out a Timmy, which I believe is similar in tone. Btw, I also have an OCD which is a great complement to the DLS.

Jim


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## Thames (Oct 19, 2009)

DLS was a total waste of money in my case.
My BD2 Monte Allum H2O+ has quite the same tone. 
My CM PlexiTone stays the *best* Marshall-inspired pedal I ever came across. 

The DLS thru my plexi was a total disapointment, even more thru the Hiwatt.
There's no real "Marshall/plexi" tone in that box, just a lifeless crunchy drive which gets mushy when you turn gain up.

FAIL. I see why all the clips were using a small Princeton combo ... I was afraid at first, because I dont trust pedals that are demo'ed only thru 1 "non-relevant" amp... I was true.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Agreed !! how's that for a short answer 




Thames said:


> DLS was a total waste of money in my case.
> My BD2 Monte Allum H2O+ has quite the same tone.
> My CM PlexiTone stays the *best* Marshall-inspired pedal I ever came across.
> 
> ...


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I never tried the DLS, but it was the flavour-of-the-month for a while, and I certainly _wanted_ to try one.

The Timmy was a similar experience for me. Everyone swore by it, but I couldn't find a setting I liked. Also, it was _too_ transparent for me. I like my ODs to have character, which is why I'm a Tube Screamer guy.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

Love this thing. If you want heavy distortion this is not the pedal for you. If you want a great low-medium gain pedal that loves to be hit by fuzz and other pedals check it out. Think of this thing as an amp in a box and you are set; it is also the ultimate low volume pedal (I sold my Aracom Attenutor because the DLS and Timmy were better at bedroom volumes).

I assume many are selling used because there is a large online community who constantly buys what ever pedal is new; since the DLS is no longer new . . . 

The DLS are the Timmy are two pedals that live up to the hype AND are extremely affordable.

I have no idea what a "non-relevant" amp is, but the DLS has killed through everything I have played it through.

TG


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## KoskineN (Apr 19, 2007)

I love mine! I stack it right after my Fulltone '69 directly in my Fender Champ. I don't really like fuzz directly in a clean amp,
so the DLS is perfect to add some grit. And stacking a DLS with a Timmy is good too!


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## Salokin (Nov 10, 2008)

KoskineN said:


> I love mine! I stack it right after my Fulltone '69 directly in my Fender Champ. I don't really like fuzz directly in a clean amp,
> so the DLS is perfect to add some grit. And stacking a DLS with a Timmy is good too!



When stacking the DLS and Timmy, Do you put the DLS first or the Timmy before the DLS?


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## KoskineN (Apr 19, 2007)

Timmy into the DLS. My DLS is set for a medium gain and I use the Timmy to boost it for leads. Sounds great!


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## cristinelo (Mar 21, 2012)

Thames said:


> DLS was a total waste of money in my case.
> My BD2 Monte Allum H2O+ has quite the same tone.
> My CM PlexiTone stays the *best* Marshall-inspired pedal I ever came across.
> 
> ...


Did you try to simulate Plexi with a Plexi box when you have the real Plexi? No wonder you got Over-Plexed.
;-)


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Distortion, and distortion pedals, is one of those things that if you rotate it 1 degree, everythng you thought you heard is gone. This is most especially true of pedals whose goal is to achieve a certain quality of mild breakup. If the pedal has a "strong character", it will overcome the guitar, pickups, settings, and amp, but not all pedals have such a strong character and can depend very much on the circumstances.

It is also the case that the difference between one pedal and another is easily straddled with EQ settings. It also is often the case that pedal A and B have 60%+ overlap in the sounds they can produce, with A being able to get just a liiiiiiiiitttttle more of this, and B being able to achieve juuuuuuussssst a little less of that. Many of you have seen the Visual Sound pedal shootout ( Visual Sound: Pedal Shootout #1: Overdrive - YouTube ) where Bob Weil compares an assortment of overdrives. While it is possible for a great many pedals to be set to sound like a great many others, such videos do not explore the full range of sounds possible, potentially creating the false impression that they sound the same no matter how they are set, and that A and B are essentially the same pedal. Sometimes they ARE, but often they just aim for the same goal, and get to pretty much the same place via different means.

Then there are your ears, and how what you hear can change with time. Some things that sound crisply-defined to me on Day X can sound harsh and "brittle" on Day Y.

Then there are your expectations and tonal goals, which can change as new music enters your sphere of reference. Last month's tonal objectives may be a little cleaner than this month's, or vice versa.

My point is that there are plenty of reasons for a given pedal to fall into and out of favour, whether for a given player or a category of players.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

mhammer said:


> Then there are your ears, and how what you hear can change with time. Some things that sound crisply-defined to me on Day X can sound harsh and "brittle" on Day Y.


This happens to me all the time. I love my JTM45 and how it sounds, but some days I catch myself thinking that my tried-and-true settings on my tried-and-true amp are a little bright or lifeless. Then I go to bed and the next day everything is ok again 

Along the lines of the Visual Sound vid, I'm sure many have seen the Bad Monkey vs. Klon video as well, but like Mark said, just because one pedal can be made to sound like another, doesn't mean they are the same, or of the same quality or same capacity. There are plenty of thinks the Bad Monkey (or any pedal X) can do that the Klon (or any pedal Y) can't and vice-versa.

What I'd like to see is a video of a pedal shootout where the video reviewer sets the pedals up to his or her perceived best tonal settings to show the different relative STRENGTHS of the pedals. Although this would be highly subjective since everyone's _perceived_ strengths for any given pedal will be wildly different, it at least will show what each pedal is best at for that one particular reviewer. Taylor Barefoot sort of did this with his shootout video where they demoed everything at noon and then at the setting they preferred. 

[video=youtube_share;WuTt8YFblcE]http://youtu.be/WuTt8YFblcE[/video]


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