Catalinbread Soft Focus Deluxe - Black / Green

The next step in shoegaze evolution has arrived.

Our Soft Focus wrote a new volume of all-in-one shoegaze tone, but we’ve gone above and beyond to bring you the final word in shoegaze, the Soft Focus Deluxe. The Deluxe model installs the missing delay function from the original FX500 patch, giving you exacting control over every parameter across six different programs. Dip your toes into a vast array of shoegaze textures and soundscapes with an integrated footswitchable distortion circuit, giving you the option to run it in series with or in parallel with the Soft Focus patch. We’ve also upped the stakes with a multi-function jack capable of expression control or tap tempo. Your shoes will never look the same again.

Overview

In the late ‘80s, Yamaha released the FX500, and with it, kick-started the advancement of the shoegaze genre. You see, shoegaze—a genre named for how often the musicians spent looking at their pedals—ran on the layering of distortion, delay, compression and reverb in a time when reliable stompbox versions of these effects were sparse. The FX500 contained 60 patches, one of which contained all of these things; patch 40, Soft Focus. Whether or not Yamaha intended it, this patch fueled the genre’s popularity when Slowdive used it to record the pivotal Souvlaki. The rest was history.

We designed our original Soft Focus in 2022, aiming to recapture that sound in a more usable format and removing all the original’s problems with headroom, clipping, mixing and setup integration.

We’ve greatly expanded on our original model with the Soft Focus Deluxe, serving up a full-fledged version of the original patch with five extra programs to dig deeper and fully explore the genre.

The crux of the original Soft Focus sound is a big room reverb with some mild pitch shifting and chorus-style modulation. The rack unit also included light compression and a delay line that existed before and after the reverb, but they weren’t included on the original due to technology constraints. However, this has been remedied with the Deluxe model; the delay line has been added back in, delivering a fully-adjustable echo with pulsating reverb swells. You can control the delay time with an expression pedal or with our proprietary CB Tap device (sold separately). Also new to the Deluxe model is five additional programs, each highlighting a different aspect of the Soft Focus, from infinite reverb trails and extra chorus voices to shimmery artifacts and pitch shifting delays. We also fell in love with the idea of using the expression pedal to do volume swells, and so the last program assigns an input level control to the expression jack.

We also added a harmonically rich op-amp distortion to cling onto the spatial effects and add a velvety topnote to the Soft Focus patch. To get the most out of this onboard distortion, we’ve given you two operating modes, Series and Parallel, each with mode-sensitive mix controls. Series mode places the distortion circuit up front, such that it pushes the spatial engine of the Soft Focus. The Mix knob blends between the entire signal path and your dry signal. Parallel mode runs the distortion in a second channel parallel with the Soft Focus engine, and Mix controls the balance between these two. The distortion circuit is independently footswitchable and can be used by itself when the Soft Focus side is disengaged.

NOTES/QUIRKS

SERIES MODE:

The Mix control’s dry signal origin point is taken after the input preamp resulting in a slight volume bump across the Mix control. The dry signal will never be quieter than the input signal but may experience a slight volume bump depending on the settings, even in bypass.

SWITCH POP:

Allowing bass players to be able to use the Soft Focus Deluxe required beefing up some capacitor values. After plugging in the Soft Focus Deluxe, these capacitors take a little time to charge up and so this introduces some slight switch pop. This will stop after cycling the pedal on and off a couple times.

INFINITE REVERB AND BUFFERED BYPASS:

Program 2 has nearly infinite reverb available, but because the Soft Focus Deluxe is buffered bypass, this infinite verb will remain on after switching the pedal off. Reverb time must be adjusted to kill the reverb trail in bypass.

PROGRAMS AND CONTROLS

Each program highlights and embellishes a di!erent aspect of the original Soft Focus, please refer to the Program matrix for a detailed description of each control parameter.

Program 1: Original soft focus

Program 2: In"nite reverb

Program 3: Additional chorus voice and di!erent mod speed range

Program 4: “Shimmer” Soft Focus increases the octave-up mix

Program 5: Octave-up delay driving a more harmonically-rich Soft Focus

Program 6: Expression pedal volume control modi"cation, expression-controlled input volume

TECHNICAL SPECS

Buffered bypass with trails

Current draw: 120mA 9VDC center-negative

Input impedance: 1MΩ

Output impedance: 300Ω

POWER SUPPLY

The Soft Focus Deluxe runs from 9 to 18 volts using a standard DC center-negative power supply for pedals. Make sure you’re using a supply that provides at least 120mA. Running the Soft Focus Deluxe at 9V will sound great, but if you want a bit more output, a dry signal boost and increased headroom, try any voltage you like up to 18V!

The Soft Focus Deluxe does not run on batteries.