The Catalinbread 5F6 is their take on the classic tweed Bassman-style amplifier from the late 1950s.  Utilizing 2-6L6 output tubes into 4-10" speakers, the Bassman quickly became the mainstay of stages everywhere during that era.

The Formula 5F6 adds vintage tweed Bassman response to their range of Foundation Overdrives, giving you the awesome characteristics of this classic amp into any clean amp. Do you play a high-powered clean amp such as a Twin and can’t get a good cranked response at the real world gig volumes you have to play at? Do you play a smaller amp at home but it’s still too loud to give you a great amp response? Do you have a two-channel amp but hate the dirty channel? Or maybe you can playas loud as you want but you crave more touch-sensitivity in your rig. Or maybe you’re having trouble integrating fuzzes into your rig; maybe they get too loud or they just don’t sound right because your amp tone is too clean and the dirty channel of your amp makes the fuzz sound thin, farty, and pinched-o. Adding the Formula 5F6 to your rig will solve all these problems and will become the foundation of your pedalboard, the pedal that will enhance the response of all your other pedals. The Formula 5F6 lends itself to almost any musical style, from the classic Strat - Bassman blues tones of Buddy Guy and Otis Rush to artists like Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robbie Robertson, Robben Ford, all the way to heavier styles by stacking boost, overdrive, or fuzz pedals into it. Don’t worry, the Formula 5F6won’t just make you play old music! It will take you where your imagination takes you!

POWER

You can power your Formula 5F6 with any quality power supply designed for use with effects pedals. The output should be a negative tip DC from 9 to 18 volts. If you want more volume, headroom, and percussive attack, try running an 18 volt power supply. A 9 volt power supply will have a slightly softer sound that saturates more easily - it's sort of like the difference between a 50 watt and 100 watt amp! Definitely try it on 18volts though - there's quite a difference! 18 volts is great for playing with the band. You'll get great attack and clarity with power to cut through the mix. You can also try a battery that is drained down to as little as 3-4volts to get an even softer sound that is great for late night jam sessions when you don't want to wake anyone up! Or use a power supply that is capable of providing "starved" voltage. It's sort of like running a Variac and you get the same benefits - a "browner" sound and less volume! We encourage to to try these different powering options to see what you like the best!