NAMM 2017: The tragic loss of Catalinbread founder Nicholas Harris left the guitar world reeling last year, but the company has come out fighting in 2017 with the first of several NAMM releases, the Formula No. 55.
Aiming to capture the tones of the fabled '50s 5E3 Deluxe, with a big low-end response, touch-sensitive dynamics and punchy sound, the Formula No. 55 utilises an all-discrete JFET-based signal path to replicate that amp's preamp.
Controls include volume, tone, presence and master, while a hi-lo button swaps between vintage tweed and hot-rodded tones, spanning jazzier Grant Green sounds to full-on Neil Young fire.
The Formula No. 55 is available from 31 January from Catalinbread, although we hear there's more to come on the NAMM show floor...