The Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout is a Catalinbread distortion pedal, currently around $145. Close alternatives include the Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink and the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra 10 Red. It pairs well with the Dumble Steel String Singer and the Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head.
Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout
Catalinbread · pedal
The Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout is a limited all-black edition of the Portland boutique builder's Tony Iommi-inspired gain pedal, combining a custom-tuned Dallas Rangemaster treble booster with the preamp section of a Laney Supergroup amplifier. The circuit is designed to reproduce the early Black Sabbath tone created when Iommi ran a treble booster into cranked Laney amplifiers. The Range control adjusts from focused treble boost to full-range boost, accommodating standard tuning and drop tunings. The Blackout edition shares the identical circuit with the standard Sabbra Cadabra, differing only in its all-black cosmetic finish.
What stands out
“The circuit is designed to reproduce the early Black Sabbath tone created when Iommi ran a treble booster into cranked Laney amplifiers”
— from the listing
“The Range control adjusts from focused treble boost to full-range boost, accommodating standard tuning and drop tunings”
— from the listing
“The circuit generates notable noise at high gain settings, which is inherent to its design and requires noise gate management in live performance”
— from the reviews
“Tends to generate noise at high gain settings, which is characteristic of the circuit but notable in quiet studio environments”
— from the community notes
“dark”
— from the community notes
- boost
- noise
- treble
- full
- high gain
- dark
- crunch
- treble booster
Price updated Oct 25, 2026
Genres the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout is commonly used in
- Hard Rock
- Doom Metal
- Metal
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Rock
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Alternative
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.
Amps that pair well with the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout
Dumble Steel String Singer
Dumble
24% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (bright → smooth)
Where this leans bright, Dumble Steel String Singer answers back smooth
Comes later in the signal chain
Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head
amplifier
24% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (bright → warm)
Run Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head after it and the bright edge settles into something more warm
Comes later in the signal chain
Hiwatt Park P18LH 'Little 45' Handwired18W
Hiwatt
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Where this leans bright, Hiwatt Park P18LH 'Little 45' Handwired18W answers back warm
Orange BT1000H Terror Bass 1000-Watt Bass Amp
Orange
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Orange BT1000H Terror Bass 1000-Watt Bass Amp's warm balances out the bright tone
Orange Terror Bass
Orange
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Run Orange Terror Bass after it and the bright edge settles into something more warm
Orange Little Bass Thing
Orange
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Where this leans bright, Orange Little Bass Thing answers back warm
Park P45H
Park
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Where this leans bright, Park P45H answers back warm
Gibson GA-50
Gibson
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Gibson GA-50's warm balances out the bright tone
Pedals that stack with the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout
Spaceman Explorer 6-Stage Phaser
Spaceman
20% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
Keep Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout's bright voice out front: Spaceman Explorer 6-Stage Phaser goes after Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout in the signal chain so its lush voice doesn't muddy it
Comes later in the signal chain
Electro-Harmonix Green Russian Big Muff
Electro-Harmonix
17% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (bright → smooth)
Run Electro-Harmonix Green Russian Big Muff after it and the bright edge settles into something more smooth
Comes later in the signal chain
Ashdown Velvet Compressor
Ashdown
17% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (bright → smooth)
Ashdown Velvet Compressor leans toward compressed, and that's a real, usable character to pair with
Comes earlier in the signal chain
Xotic BB Preamp
Xotic
17% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (bright → smooth)
Xotic BB Preamp leans smooth right where the bright tone needs it
Comes earlier in the signal chain
Suhr Discovery
Suhr
14% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
Suhr Discovery's warm voice goes after Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout in the signal chain — it's not there to compete with Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout's own bright character — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Comes later in the signal chain
T-Rex Junior Roomate
T Rex
13% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
T-Rex Junior Roomate's warm voice goes after Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout in the signal chain — it's not there to compete with Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout's own bright character — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Comes later in the signal chain
SolidGoldFX Commodore Breaker Overdrive
Solidgoldfx
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
SolidGoldFX Commodore Breaker Overdrive's smooth balances out the bright tone
Dunlop Blue Hippo Optical Tremolo
Dunlop
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Dunlop Blue Hippo Optical Tremolo leans warm right where the bright tone needs it
Cheaper alternatives
EarthQuaker Devices Arrows V2
EarthQuaker Devices
56% similarityShared character: bright, high end, dark
MXR Super Badass Distortion
MXR
50% similarityShared character: high gain settings, treble, bright
Carl Martin Blue Ranger
Carl Martin
93% similaritysimilar tone character
Boutique & premium upgrades
Abasi Pathos Distortion
Abasi
60% similarityShared character: high gain settings, high end, dark
Friedman BE-OD Deluxe
Friedman
54% similarityShared character: high gain settings, noise, presence
Origin Effects DCX Boost
Origin Effects
53% similarityShared character: dark, treble, boost
Way Huge Pork Loin
Way Huge
53% similarityShared character: dark, presence, recording
Death By Audio Thee Treble
Death By Audio
51% similarityShared character: circuit, presence, treble
Browne Amplification Carbon
Browne Amplification
51% similarityShared character: high gain settings, circuit, presence
Similar charactersee all similar tone character →
Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink
Catalinbread
66% similarityShared character: high gain settings, dark, circuit
Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra 10 Red
Catalinbread
60% similarity“The Blackout edition shares the identical circuit with the standard Sabbra Cadabra, differing only in its all-black cosmetic finish.”
Dean Markley Overlord
Dean Markley
55% similarityShared character: noise gate, high gain settings, noise
Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster
Dallas
55% similarity“combining a custom-tuned Dallas Rangemaster treble booster with the preamp section of a Laney Supergroup amplifier.”
Catalinbread Galileo 4K Foundation Overdrive
Catalinbread
54% similarityShared character: circuit, presence, recording
JHS Morning Glory
JHS Pedals
54% similarityShared character: high gain settings, dark, treble
See all alternatives to the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout (cheaper + boutique) →
Questions people ask
What are good alternatives to the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout?+
The closest matches in character are the Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink, the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra 10 Red, the Dean Markley Overlord. Budget picks: EarthQuaker Devices Arrows V2, MXR Super Badass Distortion, Carl Martin Blue Ranger. Boutique upgrades: Abasi Pathos Distortion, Friedman BE-OD Deluxe, Origin Effects DCX Boost.
What pairs well with the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout?+
Strong matches from rig and tone-complementarity evidence: Dumble Steel String Singer, Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head, Hiwatt Park P18LH 'Little 45' Handwired18W — Where this leans bright, Dumble Steel String Singer answers back smooth.
How much does the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout cost?+
Around $145 (live listing price, updated Oct 25, 2026).