The Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink is a Catalinbread overdrive pedal. Close alternatives include the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout and the Friedman BE-OD Deluxe. It pairs well with the Dumble Steel String Singer and the Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head.
Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink
Catalinbread · pedal
The Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink is a limited Traditional Ink finish 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 reproduces the early Black Sabbath tone created when Iommi ran a treble booster into cranked Laney amps. Controls include Range for spectrum adjustment, Gain, Presence, and Volume. The Traditional Ink edition shares the identical circuit with the standard Sabbra Cadabra, differing only in its decorative finish. Suited for doom metal, heavy blues, and classic hard rock.
What stands out
“Noise at high gain settings is a known characteristic inherent to the circuit”
— from the community notes
“High gain settings produce inherent circuit noise requiring management in quiet contexts”
— from the reviews
“The circuit reproduces the early Black Sabbath tone created when Iommi ran a treble booster into cranked Laney amps”
— from the listing
“Suited for doom metal, heavy blues, and classic hard rock”
— from the listing
“The combined Rangemaster treble booster and Laney Supergroup preamp modeling produces authentic Iommi crunch with harmonic depth and natural sustain”
— from the reviews
- noise
- treble booster
- hard rock
- doom metal
- crunch
- blues
- high gain
Genres the Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink is commonly used in
Amps that pair well with the Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink
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
Ampeg V-4
Ampeg
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Ampeg V-4's warm balances out the bright tone
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
Park P45H
Park
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Where this leans bright, Park P45H answers back warm
Ampeg BA 108
Ampeg
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Where this leans bright, Ampeg BA 108 answers back smooth
Pedals that stack with the Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink
Spaceman Explorer 6-Stage Phaser
Spaceman
21% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
Spaceman Explorer 6-Stage Phaser's lush voice goes after Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink in the signal chain — it's not there to compete with Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink's own bright character
Comes later in the signal chain
Electro-Harmonix Green Russian Big Muff
Electro-Harmonix
18% 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
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
Ashdown Velvet Compressor
Ashdown
16% 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's own compressed character is the real reason this is worth trying
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.
Put Suhr Discovery after Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink in the signal chain, clear of Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink's own gain stage — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Comes later in the signal chain
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
Boss
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.
Run Boss DD-3 Digital Delay after Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink in the signal chain, clear of Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink's own gain stage — 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 matchSolidGoldFX 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
Alternativessee all similar tone character →
Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout
Catalinbread
66% similarityShared character: high gain settings, dark, circuit
Friedman BE-OD Deluxe
Friedman
59% similarityShared character: high gain settings, noise, volume
Friedman Box of Doom Distortion
Friedman
58% similarityShared character: hard rock, high gain settings
Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal
Boss
57% similarityShared character: noise, gain
Joyo dark flame
Joyo
56% similarityShared character: high gain settings, dark, noise
Wampler Dracarys
Wampler
55% similarityShared character: high gain settings, noise
Universal Audio Uafx Anti 1992 High Gain Amp
Universal Audio
53% similarityShared character: high gain settings, presence, crunch
ProCo RAT 2
Proco
53% similarityShared character: high gain settings, dark, noise
Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra 10 Red
Catalinbread
52% similarityShared character: dark
Joyo British metal
Joyo
52% similarityShared character: high gain settings, circuit, noise
Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster
Dallas
52% similarity“combining a custom-tuned Dallas Rangemaster treble booster with the preamp section of a Laney Supergroup amplifier”
MXR Fullbore Metal
MXR
51% similarityShared character: high gain settings, noise, hard rock
See all alternatives to the Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink (cheaper + boutique) →
Questions people ask
What are good alternatives to the Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink?+
The closest matches in character are the Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra Blackout, the Friedman BE-OD Deluxe, the Friedman Box of Doom Distortion.
What pairs well with the Catalinbread Sabbra Traditional Ink?+
Strong matches from rig and tone-complementarity evidence: Dumble Steel String Singer, Marshall JTM45 45W Tube Guitar Amp Head, Ampeg V-4 — Where this leans bright, Dumble Steel String Singer answers back smooth.