Catalinbread Hyperpak

[TaySte_2000]

Now this is an odd and rare little beasty, now I have serial 73 which is cool because I didn't realise so many had been made since Catalinbread only sell them via Ebay when he can make them.

To get an idea of the size I took a picture of a box that Tone Factor generally use to send 1-4 pedals next to the Hyperpak box



Info from Catalinbread

This pedal is an incredibly small "tube like" overdrive/boost named Hyper Pak.
The first 30 Hyper Paks were single knob units. This is the updated TWO knob version.

Q: Is the Hyper Pak True Bypass?
A: Of course it is with a LED too.

Q: What is it?
A: The Hyper Pak was inspired by an early 60's MOPAR aluminum block Slant Six engine that weighed a whopping 80 lbs combined with a very-long-ram intake manifold for a 4 bbl carb. Giant power to weight ratio...

Q: What is it REALLY?
A: The Hyper Pak is a boost/drive pedal that utilizes cascaded MOS gain stages instead of the clipping diodes common of most other overdrives. This is the main contributing factor to the Hyper Pak's tone and feel. It's feel is open and uncompressed. It's tone is balanced and organic. The gain ranges from clean and boosted to overdriven and TOO LOUD.

Q: That thing can't be big enough to fit a battery inside!?
A: Right-o the Hyper Pak's footprint is tiny therefore no batteries will fit inside. It is powered by standard DC jack.

Q: What if the pedal breaks?
A: All Catalinbread pedals big or small have a lifetime warrantee on workmanship and parts.

Q: What if I bust the pedal cause I am a reckless individual?
A: YOU ARE TOO!? If the story is good enough I may waive the cost of parts & labor for the repair.

I had him stick a blue led in mine so it sounds better. But the whole point of getting it was I had to make a choice between my Tone Factor Mule and my Tone Factor 442 so I went on the lookout for something similar to the Mule but smaller if that was possible I knew about the Hyperpak and was told that they might be similar, but WOW oh WOW I did not realise how similar.

You can see the size of it here



Here are the sound clips

Hyperpak

http://myselfalone.com/tayste2000/Ca...20Hyperpak.mp3

Hyperpak and Mule being switched between, it starts clean then Hyperpak then Mule see if you can hear the difference. The pops you can hear is the switching between the 2 pedals.

http://myselfalone.com/tayste2000/Hy...0vs%20Mule.mp3

Enjoy

[markjazzbassist]

WOW. that thing is tiny. i'm looking foward to the clips and review.

[jonpopu]

Originally Posted by markjazzbassist

WOW. that thing is tiny. i'm looking foward to the clips and review.

+1

[JanusZarate]

Subscribed! This looks cool.

[TaySte_2000]

Bump for clips

[The BurgerMeister]

hmmm.... to me, the mule sounds like it's retaining the lows a little better. the character of each overdrive is strikingly similar.

the mule sounds a little louder, too. maybe that's why i'm hearing the extra lows...? in any case, they both sound great. thanks for the clips!

[TaySte_2000]

OK so I've had this a few weeks now and have used it quite a bit and had a great gig with it as well.

Firstly let me explain my preference for gain I like my fuzz's old school and smooth sounding and my distortions quite hi-fi and modern and I have both on the board for the following uses. The fuzz tends to stay on for most of my set but I will change to using the distortion if I have a song where I'm using my fingers and have the distortion volume slightly higher to make up for the volume loss between me going from a pick to fingers and the added clarity also evens out the sound so I tend to use this on our power ballad type songs and things where I need some reall punch and clarity yet still a dirty sound if that makes sense.

This was also my first gig where I bi-amped running a clean and dirty rig and my god the sound was amazing I used this pedal for intro stabs and as it gets that extra punch a vintage fuzz doesn't and it was like being hit in the chest. There is no bass lost at all on this pedal so the previous clip the mule must be slightly louder but man oh man using this I didn't miss the mule at all, true they are very very similar in sound but it's so small even the most crowded of pedalboards can take it. Does it show I like this pedal

Other things I've noticed with my time with it is the Hyperpak can get cleaner than the mule almost verging on a nice tubey overdrive sound but it doesn't have quite as much gain as the Mule but my perferred sound is available on both so no big deal. In terms of volume both have way more than you'll ever have to use with the Hyperpak being slightly louder I think.

I know Davidmwilson has had one of these and sold it as he wasn't that impressed with it so maybe he can weigh in with his thoughts but I'm very happy with this pedal and am purchasing a few more of these mini pedals as I got the boost recently but that is one for another thread

Enjoy

Also I got mine direct from Catalinbread and had him fit a blue led so that could be why mine sounds better than Dave's

[Soma666]

so tell me, how does the orignal one knob version differ from the two knob one?

[TaySte_2000]

Originally Posted by Soma666

so tell me, how does the orignal one knob version differ from the two knob one?

The one knob is the same as the 2 knob one apart from it missing the gain knob so it's the same as having the pedal cranked all the time, the first one was designed to be used on guitar and have you lower the gain by using the volume knob on the guitar as many guitarists do I think the 2 knob one is the only option for us bassists especially since most single knob ones are selling for more than the 2 knob ones

[Soma666]

agreed, so where can i get one? theres two on ebay but they are the single knobs. and, strangly, theres a bid on one from a "davidm2006". hmmm could that be our own mr wilson? also, it needs to be able to work in aus

[TaySte_2000]

Originally Posted by Soma666

agreed, so where can i get one?

Generally they are available from Catalinbread via ebay but I don't think any are on there at the moment. Also soon this will be come an official Catalinbread product and go up in price sicne it will only be available through dealers.

Give Nick a shout at nicholas@catalinbread.com tell him that "That Bass Guy" sent you apparently that's what I'm referred to as in the pedal building community, I'm sure he can sort something out.

[Soma666]

message sent!! thanks tayste, i wanna get one of these bad boys. however, now its off to bed for me

cya's

[David Wilson]

Originally Posted by Soma666

agreed, so where can i get one? theres two on ebay but they are the single knobs. and, strangly, theres a bid on one from a "davidm2006". hmmm could that be our own mr wilson? also, it needs to be able to work in aus

actually, not me. I got and sold mine already. My main bass (status stealth 5 string) has an extremely hot output, and the pedal just didn't like that at all.

[TaySte_2000]

I thought I would share my views on some of the other mini pedals they have done

Some further info on these pedals currently I have the Hyperpak and the Serrano Picaso boost which is the mini version of the Segrado I think. I have the phaser on it's way to me and I'm going to pick up a V8 next week.

So here are my impressions of them:

Serrano Boost: No idea made I've seen less of them than I have the phaser though has to be the cleanest, clearest boost ever, it adds a bit more harmonic emphasis to your tone which just results in the pedal sounding sweeter with no added bass, mid or treble. I'm currently using mine as a line driver for my setup since I'm Bi-amping (Clean and Dirty) and running about 60ft of cable in my rig. It has loads of volume on tap and I believe it gets a bit hairy when cranked but I've not got that loud with it yet as it would blow my speakers

Hyperpak: I have the 2 knob version and I think it is fantastic, I was pretty much forced into getting it as I have run out of board space and refuse to change my board or the custom made case I have for it so it was either the Tone Factor Mule or the Tone Factor 442 that had to leave my board so I figured what the hell give the Hyperpak a chance maybe it will work and you can get that and the 442 on the board. HOLY CRAP when I got it I was blown away I was/am a huge fan of the Mule which I think is one of the best distortions I've ever had and it replaces a Crowther Hotcake which inturn had previously replaced loads of things. It doesn't have quite as much gain as the Mule but it is louder and I'm glad I own both as if I had a huge pedal board I'd probably be using the Mule since the Hyperpak is a little to small and I'm using it in a blendable loop as I do with most of my pedals so I can get some crazy combinations. But it can get cleaner than the Mule which seemed quite useful almost taking you to that slight tubey grit range. So to sum it all up am very happy with this pedal but will be holding onto my Mule as well since its shiny and got barcode artwork which is just too cool

Pheaton: Heard it and it sounds like no phaser I've owned before almost vibeish am really looking forward to getting it and making some choppy swirly noise. Only 4 of these ever made and Nic still owns one.

V8: I don't know alot about thsi but I was sold when I read something along the lines of this "With the gain knob above 12 o clock it generates a sub-harmonic." So yeah any input from you guys on this would be great but I'm gonna buy it regardless.

Enjoy

[KarateKid25]

Originally Posted by Soma666

it needs to be able to work in aus

umm.. All pedals work in Aus. Granted, if it came with a power adaptor, you may have to use an aussie one, but other than that, well, nothing

[TaySte_2000]

Originally Posted by KarateKid25

umm.. All pedals work in Aus. Granted, if it came with a power adaptor, you may have to use an aussie one, but other than that, well, nothing

Some pedals are scared of huge spiders so will cower in a corner refusing to work.

Just something for you to bare in mind

[KarateKid25]

Originally Posted by TaySte_2000

Some pedals are scared of huge spiders so will cower in a corner refusing to work.

Much like a bassist I know