I’ve used the original Catalinbread Belle Epoch for years (fantastic pedal - Eric Johnson has 4 of them on his board), and the deluxe version takes the amazing sound even further.
First of all this is not the same circuit as the original Belle Epoch. The circuit was entirely redesigned to exactly match the circuit of the Maestro Echoplex EP-3, so a big part of the circuit is analog.
This pedals truly feels like an old school analog effects unit with all the quirks, the magical sweet spots and the way it responds to your playing and guitar sound.
The base EP-3 sound is very close to the original Belle Epoch, but through the new preamp the guitar has a bit livelier response than the original. The modulation differs a lot - the original can wow and flutter to crazy levels, creating that 60’s mad science inventor vibe - the wow and flutter in the deluxe version (only talking EP-3 mode) is much more limited, but very musical and usable all the way up to max.
After a few hours of testing (mostly in Mode 1 - EP-3), I feel like, I’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg - the other modes makes it an entire world of delay sounds to discover. While many multi-mode effects units sounds very generic in each setting, each of the Belle Epoch Deluxe’s modes sounds good enough to be worth a pedal of it’s own.
I’ve recently tested the Universal Audio Starlight, which also offers EP-3 and DMM sounds. Though it sounded absolutely amazing and contains way more advanced features, I kept the Belle Epoch Deluxe which beats it in being a more fun and engaging effect. The UA Starlight offers an extremely high fidelity in beautiful stereo with a more predictable outcome when turning the knobs, so it is definitely also a big recommendation, but the Belle Epoch is just straight up rock n roll.
No pedal maker beats Catalinbread when it comes to creating unique pedals that feels and sounds like an old school effects unit with tons of mojo.
Oh and the new black on silver design looks awesome!
