Catalinbread unleash the Deluxe edition of their Dirty Little Secret Plexi Drive - to go head-to-head with the Tsakalis AudioWorks Room #40
I’ve long been saying that Catalinbread should be externalising the SB / SL switch of its DLS - which for such a long time has been an awkward-to-reach internal dip-switch. They finally decide to do it in this Deluxe edition which comes with additional Presence and Boost controls / functions too.
I’ve owned a compact DLS for quite some while - and it’s a decent Plexi type for sure - supposedly Andy Martin’s favourite, but has never quite been one of my own absolute favourites - unlike the Room #40. Its overall frequency profile is a little dark and dense, in some ways not too distant from the core LPD sound. I’ve always felt that those pedals were primarily tested with single coil pickup guitars - as their darker / denser profile nicely balances those guitars’ brighter outputs. While as I almost exclusively use Humbucker guitars, then there will always be some pedals less suited to that format - for instance the ThorpyFX Dane, and TWA SH9 - which were very much designed as companions for brighter single coil style guitars and their players!
Some might think a more logical head-to-head might be with the similar enclosure format DryBell The Engine - while that has a much more granular Rangemaster style boost and is overall rather different, so I felt that the Room #40 is a much closer and more fitting adversary for this comparison.
They’re actually both fairly similarly priced, and have a similar control topology - with simple boost. The Boost level control on the DLS Deluxe is on the front facia - which is admittedly preferable - while the Room #40 has its Boost Level trimmer accessible via an aperture on the underside of the pedal - so still fully externally accessible, but not so easily as on the DLS Deluxe.
Both pedals have a 4-band EQ of Bass, Middle, Treble and Presence, while the Room #40 has a little more granularity of control.
Readers will know that I have a significant preference for compact edition pedals - where the width profile is always the most critical component of that.
I would be interested in hearing which is your preference here and why?
Both of these have a pretty extended range as such with a lot of refinement.
Here follow the individual details :
Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret Deluxe Plexi Emulator - $299
Controls - Master, Preamp, Presence, Treble, Middle, Bass, Boost Volume, Mode : Super Bass / Super Lead, Boost Footswitch, Bypass Footswitch.
So I've had a couple of Dirty Little Secrets over the years - including the Limited / Not! - Red Edition. I've always thought is pretty decent, but where I've had other MIAB's that I've favoured more. As I mentioned in the intro - I never understood why the SB / SL switch was not externalised before.
I also found that the core tone and timbre of that circuit was somewhat dark and dense - as if it has been optimised more for single coil guitars versus humbuckers - something I've always felt about the LPD pedals too - both those brands or at least Marshall pedal types can sound a little darker and denser than suits my preference.
It certainly makes sense to do a Deluxe edition of the pedal - and per the Belle Epoque - we have the same cool custom aluminium knobs (don't like the standard Catalinbread knobs), and same horizontal 1590-BB size enclosure.
I can't fault the control topology or feature set here - it's really just a question of whether the overall tone and frequency profile suits your preferences. I do frequently wonder why brands don't make more of these pedals in a vertical BB layout versus horizontal - as that is so much more pedalboard friendly. While functionally and price-wise the pedal is about right.
Available for orders direct from the Catalinbread Webstore for $299 and equivalent and already arrived or arriving at international dealers. I'm sure Andy Martin will be delighted - as he's long cited the Dirty Little Secret as his favourite MIAB - while there are some industry insiders which tell me that the earlier editions of the pedals - from the earlier Nicholas Harris + Howard Gee era - are superior sounding to the more recent ones. Would love to hear your opinions on that!
Tsakalis Audioworks Room #40 MIAB - €239 (c.$279)
Controls - Master, Vaariac, Volume II / Body, Mode : 19 / 22, Volume I, Presence, Bass, Middle, Treble, Gain Boost Trimmer on rear, Boost Footswitch, Enable Footswitch.
Since it was launched in 2021 this has probably been my favourite specifically Marshall Plexi style pedal - its combination of form factor and features just makes for a perfect proposition. And you get the bonus of an EVH style Variac control too - in fact one of 10 highly granular and interactive controls.
I feel that features-wise this is a really good match for the new DLS Deluxe - it pretty much matches it in every department and offers even more granularity and range. Moreover it has a couple more controls, is priced slightly lower and has a more pedalboard-friendly footprint.
There are lots of similarities between the two pedals - which makes this a fair comparison. I generally much prefer the core profile and timbre of this Room #40 - which is somewhat more open than the DLS. Would love to here from those of you who own both - and what your overall impressions are!
The Tsakalis AudioWorks Room #40 is of course available direct from the Tsakalis Audioworks Webstore and at various International Dealers.
