NAMM 2017: Can Catalinbread's Formula No. 55 pedal 'turn your amp into a 100-watt Tweed Deluxe'?

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...

Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.