Catalyst

[Cyrax]

   I received my Catalyst a few days ago and after getting a feel for it I absolutely love it!
 The only down side with this saber that I can find, is that the blade plug I ordered, while doing it's job, does stick about and inch or two over top of the emitter, But since I'm not planning on looking down the hole or pulling the old "free lazer eye surgery" gag I think all will be well.
 Went with a Sentinel yellow blade and couldn't be happier, yes there is a bit of color blending as you go down the blade but no one has said a thing to me about yet and I certainly can't tell when the blade is being flipped around.
 All in all a good first buy with what I hope are many more to follow.

-Cyrax

ps haven't been able to figure out posting pictures yet, when I do I shall upload them.

[Darth Obvious]

I just cut my blade plug for the Catalyst to about 1" long so it doesn't stick out.

[aray887]

As far as the bleeding on the sentinel yellow, use an ultra edge blade. I had the same problem when I had a midgrade blade in mine.

[Zren Tobas]

Photobucket then use IMG link, gotta join of course though. So Ultra Edge seems to be the best blade for SY? Like then does it turn out to be a full true yellow while with the clear blades you get that green hint near the emitter or can you still see the green hint even with Ultra Edge blades?

[aray887]

With the midgrade, it has a green hue near the emitter, vs the ultra edge blends the colors so its full yellow.

My tag picture has the midgrade on the yellow. Now that my prophecy is painted, for the second time, I'll update it with the ultra edge.

[Cyrax]

Thanks for the info reguarding pics posting, much appreciated. As for color bleed. I have the heavy gauge blade and i knew that might mess with the color but again i'm very happy with it also the "green" tinting seems to be towards the tip of the blade for me not towards the emitter.
 Even using a shorter blade, the exact name escapes me, makes this even less noticable.

 Will try to get some pics in today and ty again.

[Cyrax]

Here is an attempt at some pictures of the Catalyst, thanks again to Zren Tobas.



 Thanks again, hopefully this answered some questions and if not feel free to ask

  -Cyrax

[Zren Tobas]

Yup. No prob dude. Looks good in yellow. Very regal like. =]

[James Casey]

Looks fantastic, Cyrax. Great choice!

[Markus]

The Catalyst is a fantastic choice and it certainly looks great in (S)entinel (Y)ellow.
What soundfont do you have on the board at the moment?

From the looks of it, I'd imagine the Classic or Starkiller soundfont would go alonge nicely with SY.

[Cyrax]

Yup. No prob dude. Looks good in yellow. Very regal like. =]

Thank you very much and I agree completely, a very knightly weapon

Looks fantastic, Cyrax. Great choice!

Thanks, I would recommend this saber to anyone who has looked it for more than 3 seconds 

Looks fantastic, Cyrax. Great choice!

Thank you very much, hope it's the first of many.

The Catalyst is a fantastic choice and it certainly looks great in (S)entinel (Y)ellow.
What soundfont do you have on the board at the moment?

From the looks of it, I'd imagine the Classic or Starkiller soundfont would go alonge nicely with SY.

 Thank you Markus, as for the sound board it's still set to the "default saber" setting, I have downloaded the drivers and all the sound fonts I just haven't played with it yet. But I was thinking either the Original like you suggested or maybe the Old Republic.

 Thank you all and again, any questions or comments please don't hesitate to ask.

 -Cyrax

[Prowl 1701]

Nice review and pics Cyrax!  The yellow blade looks good on it!

[Zren Tobas]

How is the Catalyst for spinning and 2 hand grip and such? =] Still considering one. Is the Catalyst a nice, solid saber? You just hardly see any Catalyst love. Lol. Maybe I should get me one.

[Markus]

How is the Catalyst for spinning and 2 hand grip and such? =] Still considering one. Is the Catalyst a nice, solid saber? You just hardly see any Catalyst love. Lol. Maybe I should get me one.

As a Catalyst (Emerald) owner myself, I can tell you that with the narrow piece that one can refer to as the sabers "choke point", it is very nice to hold on to and spin around with one hand.
The grip section below the switch also allows for some fancy two-handed shinto-class saber action if you're into that.

Due to its light weight, the balance point is about an inch above the emitter, unlike with some other sabers where it's well below that.
That is not necessarily a bad thing, because that way you don't have put as much force (pun intended) into forwards swings and can partially let the saber do that for you.
However...with the pommel being MHS compatible, you can of course try and put some more counterweight on the bottom end.

The streamline look of the Catalyst from top to bottom and high polished surface makes it a nice modern day saber that kinda stands out from the others in the US arsenal.
Given the design, it can also be categorized as anything from Jedi to Sith or in between the two.

In essence, the Catalyst is a nice and streamline saber, that imo with its "neutral" design allows for a very wide range of customizations, but of course is also a nice stand alone saber.

P.S.: Although I already have the Dark Mantis, Manticore, Scorpion and Initiate V3 in my arsenal, the Catalyst is probably my new most favourite saber design-wise.

[Kaza yuri]

I am thinking of getting one of these as my next saber, already saving up, bummed I am going to miss the Halloween sale, what great bargains!

i am thinking of getting it with a Manticore emitter and using the emitter part of the catalyst as the pommel. not sure it will all work out but it may be worth a try!