CATALINBREAD TOPANGA REVIEW

Overview of Reverb Pedals 

In some beliefs, when a person is seen as a look-alike of a lost or dead person, it is believed the look-alike is a reincarnation of the previous person. The same can be said of the epic Fender 6G15 invented by Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender with the emergence of the Catalinbread Topanga reverb pedal. The Topanga is modeled after Fender 6G15 and captures all the original formats of its tubes and springs units in a portable mechanical device.

CatalinbreadTopanga is a popular pillar for great guitarists today. It is the most dynamically responsive reverb penal unit available in the market. Just as “reverb” is derived from the word “reverberate”, this pedal takes in sounds and loops it out continuously until it gradually decays. This can be likened to the effect you get when you clap at the top of a mountain or hollow of a valley in Topanga. The echo you get reverberates all around you. Now imagine channeling all such echo into one single device which releases it out to produce such magnificent sound effects. That and more are what the Catalinbread Topanga reverb pedal is built for.

Even though the Topanga is a spring reverb pedal, it is also an awesome boost pedal thanks to its volume knob and circuitry.  Catalinbread indeed got this right as all these discreet Silicon in-built preamp transistors go the whole mile in helping with the reverb’s touch-sensitivity.

Features and Control

The controls of the Catalinbread Topanga include the Dwell knob, Tone knob, Mix knob, and Volume knob. These knobs have their distinct and inter-relationship functionalities. The make-up of these controls is to give identity and true sound feelings that inspire. It makes the guitarist be in charge of his environment and not give room to abrupt gaps in sounds.

Features of the Topanga most appreciated by guitarists are its touch-sensitivity, volume boost and extra control it has.

The Topanga is dynamically touch-sensitive. It responds to your picking from soft to over the top. When the reverb comes on, you are left with that epic crashing, Fender’s upward spring reverb sound. In using the Topanga, when you pull back and you are picking an 'attack', it can get nice and sweet and will still not be over the top.

Ever imagine getting all spring, twang, splash, and boost for your sound effects? That is what you get with Topanga. With the volume knob, it is more exciting to feel the sound texture. Turning the mix down on the Topanga and using the volume control to show you the boosting function, you get a nice warm overdriven sound from it. It summarily gives you that awesome boost ability.

While many guitarists like to have set-up on their reverbs for Dwell at 3-4, Tone at round 7 and Mix to suit, Topanga gives you extra control, especially with the Volume knob. The outboard unit of the Topanga is 100% wet, so turning the controls up high will emit that super wet sound.

More importantly is the fact that Topanga as a preamp, makes reverb feels better than actual amps.

Tone and Performance

The Topanga is more or less a responsive reverb pedal. It is like riding a bicycle in the direction you want to go. While many spring pedals out there give sound harshness or gaps in output, the Topanga creates that perfect wet/dry balance. The beauty of this created balance is that it is natural. No artificial distortion whatsoever.

You can create the ambiance you want with Topanga. Trust this reverb to work wonders, .particularly when you want to up your game and consider the sound is a bit dry.

The thing of value about Topanga is that balance. It fine-tunes your mix to avoid space within song sections and gives you that top-notch performance whether it is stage performance or just a rehearsal.

Sometimes, you feel like creating something different from an original mix or your gig isn't just giving you the desired sound you want and you want a flavored tempo but still retaining your originality. 

In such an instance, only the Catalinbread Topanga can afford you such magic! With its elements of control knobs, you can churn out that dream performance at the center of your heart.

If you are an old fan of sounds from the sixties, combining the Catalinbread Formula 5F6 with the Topanga gives the old Fender sonic bliss. It produces a Fender spring tank slamming into a crank basement and it will still be dynamic even with extra gain gotten from the foundation pedal.