The Talisman Ghost expands on our original Talisman pedal by simulating two EMT 140 plates in modulated tandem, adding a chorus-like effect to the reverb trail.

Here at Catalinbread, we are big on creating devices that serve as exacting models of vintage equipment, but part of reimagining old technology is stepping outside the boundaries of possibility. Sometimes, that can look like dramatically increasing the decay of a spring reverb to simulate springs far larger than those found in amps, other times it can look like a room reverb if the room were an infinite number of square feet. In the plate reverb realm, our Talisman already pushed the boundaries of what a real EMT 140 could sound. In that pedal, we expanded on an EMT 140’s impetus, a giant sheet of metal suspended in a frame with springs and clamps, adding a handful of tasteful appointments designed to create controls where once were none.

Our Talisman Ghost takes a step outside of even that framework to answer the question: what would happen if you configured two EMT 140 plate units to work in modulated tandem? The result is a luscious chorus-like effect, applied only to the reverb trail. This ground-up reimagining took a careful look at the diffusion characteristics of a real EMT 140, bolstered by the luxury of having a second 600-pound behemoth running in parallel, which most studios did not.

This tasteful modulation dramatically opens up the spatial effect of the reverb by giving you the sound of two plates co mingling with one another in satisfying ways. This serves up a slick post-process doubling effect that lends a sense of dynamics to a normally static reverb decay.