Catalinbread CB Paint: 80s Reverb in a Pedal
The perfect '80s style Lo-Fi Reverb for Shoegaze fans?
5,0 / 5,0 | 
Catalinbread has announced the release of CB Paint, a compact stompbox designed to capture the “digital-but-musical” soul of the Alesis Microverb. The ’80s classic reverb is now available as a stompbox. Let’s take a closer look.
Alesis Microverb
First, a little history: the Alesis Microverb was a big deal when it was launched. In the late 20th century, high-end digital reverb was a luxury reserved for elite studios. The original Alesis Microverb changed the landscape by offering professional-grade shimmering ambiance at a price point accessible to the masses.
While the Microverb was born of its era’s computational limitations, those very constraints, quirky decay patterns, and unique reflection filtering created a signature sound that remains a staple for ambient and shoegaze enthusiasts. The new CB Paint seeks to preserve these idiosyncrasies rather than “cleaning them up” for the modern guitarist.
CB Paint
While the original rack units were often cumbersome to integrate into a guitar signal chain, the CB Paint introduces several player-centric features. Making it a much easier solution to integrate into modern pedalboard setups.
A 2-pole low-pass filter that allows users to transition from bright, articulate reflections to dark, moody textures, ass accessible via the Tone control knob. Then the Mix control knob provides a full range from 100% dry to 100% wet, a significant upgrade over the original hardware’s limited routing options.
Next, the Onset dial is a multi-functional tool that acts as a pre-delay in standard modes, a gate-timer for rhythmic effects, and a “smear” control for reverse textures. This one control certainly gives players a lot of control, depending on which mode they are in, and there are 8 modes to explore with this pedal.
8 Modes of Time Travel
The centerpiece of the pedal is an 8-position Mode switch. The first six positions offer a progressive journey through the Microverb’s original algorithms, ranging from tight “room” sounds to cavernous, infinite decays. This already offers many classic reverbs to explore, and it also includes two specialist reverb modes to experiment with.
Gated Reverb is position 7, and this recreates the punchy, abrupt cutoff that defined the drum and guitar production of the mid-80s.
Finally, position 8 is reserved for Reverse Reverb, and this emulates the Microverb’s unique mathematical approach to “backwards” sound, creating a swelling, rushing effect that feels as if it is pulling the listener through time. The shoegaze players will love this one, and it has ‘that’ sound that many ambient musicians also love.
Who is it for?
If you love “lo-fi” digital recreations or classic ’80s reverb and want to experiment with non-perfect reverb algorithms, then this one is for you. I suspect anyone who enjoys shoegaze, dreampop, or ambient adventures will want to check this pedal out.
Price & Availability
The new Catalinbread CB Paint is available to order now for €249 at Thomann.
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