NAMM 2017: The tragic loss of Catalinbread founder Nicholas Harris left the guitar world reeling last year, but the company has come out fighting in 2017 with the first of several NAMM releases, the Formula No. 55.
Aiming to capture the tones of the fabled '50s 5E3 Deluxe, with a big low-end response, touch-sensitive dynamics and punchy sound, the Formula No. 55 utilises an all-discrete JFET-based signal path to replicate that amp's preamp.
Controls include volume, tone, presence and master, while a hi-lo button swaps between vintage tweed and hot-rodded tones, spanning jazzier Grant Green sounds to full-on Neil Young fire.
The Formula No. 55 is available from 31 January from Catalinbread, although we hear there's more to come on the NAMM show floor...
![Eric Clapton and his gold-plated Cry Baby: [Left] a black and white image of Clapton playing his Bigsby-equipped Gibson Les Paul standard live on stage with Cream.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aPowLRdfjdvVAiwU8PYuBh-1280-80.jpg.webp)
“We are honoured that our company’s relationship with the legendary guitar player continues to this day”: Dunlop salutes wah pedal pioneer Eric Clapton with a gold-plated signature Cry Baby
“Honestly I’d never even heard of Klons prior to a year-and-a-half ago”: KEN Mode’s Jesse Matthewson on the greatest reverb/delay ever made and the noise-rock essentials on his fly-in pedalboard
“We are honoured that our company’s relationship with the legendary guitar player continues to this day”: Dunlop salutes wah pedal pioneer Eric Clapton with a gold-plated signature Cry Baby
“Honestly I’d never even heard of Klons prior to a year-and-a-half ago”: KEN Mode’s Jesse Matthewson on the greatest reverb/delay ever made and the noise-rock essentials on his fly-in pedalboard
