Naga Viper
Catalinbread Naga Viper Treble Booster. Developed by Catalinbread to emulate the Trebleboosters/Range Masters of the 1960s with the following acknowledged design constraints:
- The germanium transistors that were ubiquitous in the 1960s are no longer reasonably available, and
- Provide additional controls to the pedal for maximum versatility.
- Thermionic Studios has one(1) Naga Viper available for rental.
Controls
- Knob 1 - "Range": Sets the frequency response for the pedal; starting at a full-ranged boost turning "Range" clockwise moves it from a full range to a treble boost.
- Knob 2 - "Boost": Sets the volume level. Turning clockwise increases amount of boost or output that would be hitting the amplifier, pushing it into overdrive or distortion.
- Knob 3 - "Heat": Sets the gain level of the pedal. This increases the amount of signal hitting the pedal's main "booster" transistor.
- Footswitch 1 - "On/Off": Toggles the pedal between active ("on") and bypass ("off").
Bypass:True
The Naga Viper is True Bypass.
General Information
YOOZE IT LIKE TOE-KNEE TO BOOST YER TOOB AMPS! (yes, we'll be back to correct this!)
Pedal Manual
http://www.catalinbread.com/manuals/NAGAmanual.pdf
Phase Inversion: Yes
Not having a schematic, but being able to review a layout of the Catalinbread Naga Viper PCB, we can confirm two things:
- The Naga Viper has a single transistor, and
- The path through the transistor to the output is from base to collector, not base to emitter.
We can therefore state affirmatively that this pedal inverts phase. We will shortly update this article with some pictures that demonstrate this signal flow to show that this pedal inverts phase.
| Schematic ID | Electronic Part | Action | Phase State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 2N2222 | Inverts | Inverted |
Schematic
None available!
We compared the parts and layout of a Naga Viper with the schematic of the Serpent Boost from Rullywow. The name Serpent Boost suggests it's a clone of the Naga Viper, and our inspection shows that it's indeed a clone.
Artists
We are currently unaware of any artists actively using the pedal now, or who have in the past.
- Additional Sources
