Not every circuit makes it out of the lab – and that’s exactly the point of Catalinbread’s Proto Club, a new limited-run release initiative from the pedal heads behind some of your favorite modern effects. Born out of late-night breadboard sessions, side projects, and offbeat ideas that didn’t fit cleanly into existing product lines, Proto Club offers a direct line to the experimental edge of pedal design.
The idea is simple: release wild, niche, or too-weird-for-a-full-launch circuits for a short window and gather real feedback from real players. Some of these pedals might lead to full-scale releases, while others may remain rare collectibles for tone explorers. Either way, if you’re into sonic oddities, this is your club.
First up is the Tritone, a pedal that began life as an alternate voice for the Soft Focus Deluxe but proved too sonically divergent to stay in that family. Described as a “call-and-response” octave-up effect with a blendable perfect fifth and an onboard slapback echo, the Tritone turns your signal into a cascading wash of three-note arpeggios. It can float in as a textural pad, or hit like a glitchy lead enhancer.
Controls include Echo (for feedback of the slapback delay, ranging from subtle to self-oscillating), a Mix knob for master wet/dry blending, and a dedicated Tritone blend control for dialing in the perfect fifth’s presence. A Time knob adjusts arpeggio speed, which opens the door to tight rhythmic phrases or smeared, ambient chaos.
The result is a pedal that lives somewhere between glitch delay, harmonizer, and pitch-shifting modulator, with enough flexibility to shape everything from jagged leads to shimmering pads. Think of it as an arpeggiator that doesn’t follow rules.
Availability will be limited, and future Proto Club drops will be just as fleeting. If you’re into the sound of circuits that color outside the lines, the Tritone is your entry point. Hit the Proto Club while it’s live – or risk missing out entirely.
Get it here for $149.99 before it goes out of print on July 9.
