The Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret is a Catalinbread distortion pedal, currently around $139. Close alternatives include the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret MkIII and the Colorsound Power Boost. It pairs well with the PRS HX 100 Head and the Marshall JCM800 2203.

Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret

Catalinbread · pedal

The Catalinbread DLS (Dirty Little Secret) is a Marshall Superlead-inspired overdrive from Portland, Oregon, designed to replicate the tone and dynamic response of a vintage Marshall Plexi amplifier driven to full saturation. The DLS captures the natural compression, harmonic complexity, and midrange authority of classic Plexi-style crunch and lead tones. Covers edge-of-breakup through fully saturated British lead overdrive. Associated with the classic British rock tones of Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton. Made in Portland by Catalinbread.

  • saturation
  • crunch
  • gain
  • full
  • british
  • overdrive
  • driven
  • specific character

Price updated Aug 27, 2026

Genres the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret is commonly used in

Amps that pair well with the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret

See all 36 amps that pair with the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret

Pedals that stack with the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret

Z.Vex Super Hard On

Zvex

23% match
$189via Reverb

Push the DLS's full, saturated British crunch with the Super Hard-On's clean JFET boost and it saturates harder without losing its color.

Boss BD-2 Blues Driver

Boss

22% match
$99.99via Reverb

The Blues Driver's transparent overdrive gives the Dirty Little Secret's plexi-voiced crunch a clean boost to push against.

Wampler Cory Wong

Wampler

20% match
$269.97via Reverb

The Cory Wong's optical funk compression evens out the pick attack before it ever reaches the DLS's own full, saturated British crunch.

Caroline Guitar Company Parabola State Tremolo

Caroline Guitar Company

17% match
$219via Reverb

The Dirty Little Secret's full, saturated British crunch gives the Parabola's stage-ready tremolo pulse plenty of weight to ride on.

Cusack Music Delay TME

Cusack Music

11% match
$169.99via Reverb

The Delay TME's reliable, American-voiced echo trails the DLS's full, saturated British crunch with real saturation to decay. — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)

Electro-Harmonix XO Deluxe Memory Man

Electro-Harmonix

9% match
$199.25via Reverb

Run the Memory Man's lush analog echo after the DLS's full, saturated British crunch and the repeats trail off real saturation. — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)

MXR double-double overdrive

MXR

tonal match
$99.99via Reverb

MXR double-double overdrive is voiced for Marshall-style amps — Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret gives it exactly that

Blackstar LT-Boost

Blackstar

tonal match
$63.34via Reverb

Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret leans into Marshall-style amps, precisely the platform Blackstar LT-Boost wants

Cheaper alternatives

Boutique & premium upgrades

Similar charactersee all similar tone character →

See all alternatives to the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret (cheaper + boutique) →

Questions people ask

What are good alternatives to the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret?+

The closest matches in character are the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret MkIII, the Colorsound Power Boost, the JHS Charlie Brown. Budget picks: Marshall Guv'nor, Electro-Harmonix Spruce Goose, EarthQuaker Devices Barrows Fuzz Attacker. Boutique upgrades: Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret Mk2, JAM Pedals TubeDreamer MK2, Cusack Music Metaplexi.

What pairs well with the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret?+

Strong matches from rig and tone-complementarity evidence: PRS HX 100 Head, Marshall JCM800 2203, Hiwatt Custom DR20H — The Dirty Little Secret's full, British-voiced saturation stacks with the HX 100's own transformer-driven gain for a thicker push than either alone..

How much does the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret cost?+

Around $139 (live listing price, updated Aug 27, 2026).

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