The Definitive Suite of Deluxe Authentic Shoegaze Sounds
The Catalinbread Soft Focus Deluxe revamps the brand’s popular Soft Focus concept of an all-in-1 shoegaze device, providing a springboard for players to lace up and dive instantly into game-changing, space-saving swirls of celestial sound. The Deluxe contains the original’s reverb, chorus, and shimmer features (each inspired by rackmount hardware that fueled shoegaze classics such as Slowdive’s Souvlaki) and dramatically expands them with delay for ultra-lush time-based enhancement and distortion for maelstroms of texture. Plus, there’s room to add a tap tempo switch or expression pedal for more control. Furthermore, six program variations on the Soft Focus patch expand tone options with the ability to highlight aspects of the reverb, chorus, distortion, shimmer, or delay — after all, no two shoegaze players ever sound exactly alike! Want angelic soundscapes and battered symphonic swirls at the touch of a button? This dynamic pedal from Sweetwater has you covered!
Honey, they shrunk the shoegaze!
The Soft Focus concept is simple yet highly ambitious: deliver monumental walls of shoegaze sound with one and only one pedal. The Soft Focus Deluxe’s tiny form factor fully realizes this concept with all-encompassing effects, including wide-ranging delay options and footswitchable distortion. Players are bound to save on pedalboard room with built-in distortion, which lets them freely devote their other dirt pedals to different needs. You can rapidly toggle between sweet, relatively clean symphonic tones and swirls of gnashing, hard-clipped atmospherics pummeled by the distortion channel. This distortion is tuned for shoegaze and complements other Soft Focus sections with boosted volume and crunchy presence that varies depending on where controls are set. Best of all, the distortion’s Series/Parallel toggle brings a welcome layer of precise control to driven sounds. In Parallel mode, the distorted signal replaces your dry signal (where the Mix knob is concerned), which unlocks precise blends of articulate distortion and the main channel’s atmospherics.
Extraordinary patch additions
Joining the original Soft Focus patch are five program variations that push the reverb, modulation, octave, and delay to extreme dimensions. Explore everything from heightened octave emphasis to near-infinite reverb decays!
- Program 1: The classic Soft Focus patch — reverb, slight shimmer, chorus-like modulation, and smooth compression
- Program 2: Expanded reverb capabilities with cavernous sound and the potential for near-infinite decays
- Program 3: Doubled modulation with a second chorus and a higher modulation ceiling for extra warble
- Program 4: Boosts the Soft Focus patch’s octave overtones for greater lush symphonics
- Program 5: Augments the octave up using a major third with altered octave functions handled via adjustments of the “Delay” knob
- Program 6: Adds delay mix expression control to the standard Soft Focus patch for sudden time warps and dramatic sudden twists of sonic space
Fix your ‘gaze on these extra perks
Players can alter and expand the Soft Focus Deluxe’s sound and behavior at multiple points. Connecting an 18V power supply expands the pedal’s headroom — an especially valuable feature for those who favor loud cleans and smoother shoegaze tones. Next, the parallel/series distortion toggle lets you merge or separate distorted signals with radically different results in each position. Lastly, a rear-panel jack allows expression pedal and tap tempo connections (Catalinbread recommends their own CBTap pedal for tap control). Expression controller maps to the pedal’s delay time, except in Program 6 where it adjusts the delay’s mix level to empower dramatic fades of repeating sound.
Catalinbread Soft Focus Deluxe Features:
- Expands Catalinbread’s acclaimed original Soft Focus pedal with a more comprehensive suite of shoegaze effects
- Chorus, shimmer, and reverb effects based on a famous patch used by ’90s shoegaze bands such as Slowdive
- 6-mode program selector unlocks reverb, modulation, octave, and delay variations ranging from subtle to dramatic
- Delay and footswitchable distortion round out this truly comprehensive deluxe shoegaze pedal’s tools
- Hard-clipped distortion circuit is carefully tuned for shoegaze and offers series/parallel switching for precise tone adjustments
- Expression pedal and tap tempo switch compatibility fuel seamless control that translates well to live performance
- Can be powered at 18V for greater headroom
