Catalinbread Effects ANTICTHON DELUXE Pedal User Manual
- August 30, 2024
- Catalinbread Effects
Table of Contents
Catalinbread Effects ANTICTHON DELUXE Pedal User Manual
OVERVIEW
The kids will call this an “epic catalog pull,” a reach deep back into the Catalinbread pantheon to breathe new life into one of our most obscure circuits; the Antichthon has received a glow-up and evolved into the Antichthon DLX. This enhanced version aims to make the original more performance-oriented while upping the ante on the chaos just the same. All four controls on the original exist on the Deluxe model, with two extras; one is a powerful mids manipulator so you can stay just as present in the mix as your bandmates will allow. The other is an adjustable feedback control with accompanying toggle switch that transports your tone straight into another dimension. The new Action footswitch forces the Action knob to zero, wresting tonal control from the Antichthon DLX and giving it back to you by letting you dial in a bonkers freakout tone and reining it in at will. We’ve also added expression control over the Action knob, letting you set it to whichever value you like and then toggle between that tone and serenity with the Action switch.
SIGNAL CHAIN
The Antichthon Deluxe is loosely based on an old circuit featuring a gain control that was in reality a variable resistor on the input. With that said, you can attain the same functionality by placing the Antichthon Deluxe first in the chain and using your guitar’s volume control as a gain knob. This has a great effect on the rest of the circuit, giving you all kinds of bubbling harmonics that percolate to the sonic surface. Give it a shot!
CONTROLS
Volume: It’s here for you.
Action: This was the “Gravity” knob in the original Antichthon. While it’s responsible for most of the sheer chaos in this pedal, what it actually does is that it disrupts the ground path for both semiconductors in the first stage. This causes the pedal to freak out in a “predictably unpredictable” way the higher you turn it up, i.e., the same knob settings will always produce the same settings. This knob is also tied directly to the Action footswitch, which we will discuss later.
Bias: Originally called “Time”, this control governs how much voltage the gain stage encounters. In most normal discrete dirt pedals, this re- sults in a glassier, leaner tone that increases sustain. This knob does that here too, but it also affects the whims of the Action control, and so these two knobs are incredibly interactive.
Body: In its past life, this control was known as “Space”. It functions like a variable input capacitor, letting more bass (and therefore more gain) into the gears of the machine. Like the Bias knob, the Body control is not a monolith, and yields to the settings of the Action knob when the Action is set higher than zero.
Mids: This knob imparts an aggressive bandpass-based mids adjustment at ~800Hz with a filter width that stretches the endpoints of the band to 400Hz and 1.6KHz. When the control is at noon, the circuit is unaffected. Rolling the knob north of noon will boost at 800Hz, and rolling it south of noon will cut at the same frequency.
Feedback: The Antichthon DLX is divided into two distinct sections; the main engine where most of the magic happens, followed by the mids control. The Feedback knob sends a variable amount of the main stage’s output back into the input. This knob is only active when the Feedback toggle is in the UP position or when the bypass LED is RED. NOTE: by itself, the range of this control appears relatively narrow, but the rest of it comes into play when stacking with other pedals.
CONTROLS CONT.
Feedback toggle: This switch turns the feedback circuit on and off. When this switch is in the up position, feedback is on and the bypass LED is RED. When this switch is in the down position, the bypass LED is GREEN.
Action footswitch: This switch forces the Action knob to zero regardless of setting. While this footswitch is engaged, the Action knob does nothing. You can use it to toggle between zero (the “normal” setting) and a knob setting of your choosing for instant hands-free freakouts. When this footswitch is active (i.e. forcing the Action knob to zero), the LED is illuminated.
Bypass: On = happy, off = sad. Keep in mind that the color of the bypass LED is dictated by the direction of the Feedback toggle.
JACKS:
In: Instrument or other pedal patch cable goes here.
Out: Other pedal patch cable, mixer, DAW or amplifier goes here.
Exp out: This gives you hands-free control over the Action knob. The Action footswitch works even with an expression pedal plugged in, so you can force the knob to zero regardless of your expression device. This offers up a third performance-driven dimension, letting you sweep through the parameter and then tether it back to normal as you see fit.
POWER
The Antichthon Deluxe accepts only a 9VDC center-negative supply. It will run at up to 18V, but it intensifies every aspect of the chaos, and some extreme settings can emit some very low or high frequencies that may be harmful to your ears or amp, therefore we can not advise it and the Antichthon Deluxe is labeled as 9V ONLY. Current draw is negligible so any supply you have that matches the above parameters will work. This pedal is suitable for use with a daisy-chained power supply.
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