This is one of our original “non-foundational” overdrive from Catalinbread’s early days, a balls-out, juicy dirt circuit with a unique circuit topology, even now! The SCOD was initially designed around a “mystery IC,” back when you could get away with that kind of thing. But now that players demand a little more from their pedal lore, the SCOD is equipped with eight MOSFET devices, all stacked into one another and optimally tuned for a truly inspiring bottom-heavy crunch. Fans of Catalinbread from the early days might remember the SCOD as a three-knob device, but we’ve found that the addition of a tilt equalizer dramatically expands the tonal palette of the original. And since the Contour knob functions as a addition-by-subtraction mids control, the range of the pedal has opened up immensely. It’s a favorite around here and we think you will think so too.

TILT EQ: This new ingredient adds a tilt equalizer to the mix. This is a particular type of active, one-knob equalizer that establishes a centerpoint in the frequency spectrum and adjusts the surrounding frequencies. Picture a seesaw that is controlled by a knob, with one side being all frequencies below the center point, and the other being all frequencies above the center point. As one side is lowered, the other is raised. The center point of this circuit is 800Hz, and 12:00 noon on the knob is completely balanced; nothing boosted, nothing cut. Turning this knob up boosts >800 and cuts <800. The opposite is also true. We’ve used a knob with a handy center “click” so you can easily find the centerpoint if you’d like to disengage the EQ in a pinch.

VOLUME: It does the thing. And be careful, there’s a lot!

CONTOUR: This knob is almost like a second gain control and a mids control all in one. Much like a variable version of a real tube amp’s feedback, the Contour control feeds a variable amount of signal from the output back into the middle of the circuit, which elevates the midrange and provides some gloss and gooey saturation. Pretty cool, huh?

GAIN: Turn this knob up for more distortion, more harmonics, and more chug. This control is very interactive with the Contour control.

The SuperCharged Overdrive requires a center-negative DC power supply capable of supplying 9-18 volts and at least 10 mA of current. Any more current than that is fine. Don’t give it the wrong polarity, don’t give it anything outside the recommended voltage range and goodness gracious please do not feed it AC. Your pedal will become crispy and inoperable, causing your space to stink and void your warranty. Just say no!

Ardent effects nerds will remember the fur-lined Super Chili Picoso as the first Catalinbread effect, hand-made on a kitchen table in Washington and sold to Tone Factor, establishing us as a company. This one-knob (and sometimes one-toggle) device survived a plethora of graphical changes and manufacturing processes to become one of our longest-tenured offerings. This reimagining of the classic circuit takes all the sparkle and clean gain of the original and adds as mattering of new features. We’ve implemented a powerful yet natural-sounding EQ control that keeps the sound and feel completely intact with some extremely musical tonal enhancement.We’ve also added a switch to run two Chili Picosos in series for some extra oomph and covert overdrive, as well as a couple slight circuit tweaks to enhance the dynamic range. We think it’s a perfect continuation of this circuit and you will too.

BOOST: Like most boost pedals, the Boost knob controls the gain of the Boost circuit. Mind you, this is not a volume control, but a literal gain control within the boost. That is to say, rolling the Boost knob all the way back does not kill the signal. In fact, keeping the knob fully counter-clockwise adds a certain sweetening to the signal that you can absolutely use as an always-on.

TONE: This knob activates an active EQ circuit that boosts lows and cuts highs simultaneously depending on the position. At noon, this control is flat and effectively out of the circuit; we’ve installed a handy center-detented knob so you can find the flat spot quickly. The center point is 800Hz, and so turning the knob left-of-center gently boosts frequencies lower than 800Hz whiles lightly cutting higher frequencies and vice-versa. The circuit is balanced to curb icepick-y highs and muddy lows so you don’t take a full load of treble or bass when cranking this knob in either

SPICY/MILD TOGGLE: This switch represents the number of boosts in the audio path. When the switch is in the “MILD”position, it is in standard operating mode of one boost, which is the original Chili Picoso configuration. When it is set to “SPICY”, two Chili Picoso boosts are running in series. In “SPICY” mode, the amount of boost on tap is augmented and will drive any amp nicely. The Boost knob still controls the amount of boost in the first circuit, but the amount of gain in the second circuit has been pre-set to a value that still sounds musical even when the knob is cranked.

The Super Chili Picoso accepts a 9-volt center-negative DC power supply. Plugging in anything other than this (center-positive, AC, higher voltage, etc.) will potentially brick the Super Chili Picoso. I cannot recommend doing this. Check your supply and make 100 percent sure it says all the right stuff. If you plug in the wrong supply, it will be just a lil too spicy for the Chili. The smoke will get out. Do not recommend.