Mr. Black CAT Distortion rebuilds mid-70s high-gain for modern boards
Jack Deville's CAT Distortion redesigns a mid-70s high-gain idea for more output and long cable runs - a 48-unit special run, now marked sold out.
The snarl on some vintage high-gain boxes was never the problem - it was how little volume you had left once the circuit clamped the output. Mr. Black's CAT Distortion is Jack Deville's answer: a ground-up redesign aimed at mid-1970s Kalamazoo aggression, rebuilt for long cables and modern boards.
CAT is 100% analog with Volume, Distort, and Filter on a CNC-milled Hammond enclosure. After nearly two decades of requests, Deville insisted on a full redesign rather than a parts clone - Mr. Black says the preamp, harmonic distortion, filter, and output stages look little like the vintage layout, yet the pedal still cleans up from the guitar volume knob. Output impedance is 1 kOhm - low enough to drive long cable runs - with a 470 kOhm input.
True bypass, about 9 mA at 9 V DC (or an internal 9 V battery). Footprint is 67.3 mm x 113 mm x 47 mm. Power is 9 V DC centre-negative (regulated supply over 100 mA recommended) or the internal battery. An EZ-2-C LED with diffusion lens sits on the face. This first batch is a special run of 48 units, made in the U.S.A.
The Mr. Black product page marks the run sold out.
