RATS

[goosekevin]

anyone used one of those little bear rat clones from ebay? thinking it might be worth a go, i havent tried a rat and they are cheap as chips

[ThurberMingus]

^Get one of those!

[backwardsvoyager]

and don't kill your low end.

That's the beauty of it when used in a band and your purpose is to not "disappear". There's a reason you can see Rats (and clones) in a lot of venues, and obscure "cool" sounding stuff stays on internet ppl's bedroom/basement/whatever.

^ yup.
like i said, if you want more low end you can fix it as much as necessary if you pair it with an EQ pedal. it wouldn't be such a notable pedal if it didn't suck the lows.
try playing shows with a pianist with a low-end heavy distortion. everything is drowned and muddy and awful. sometimes you just need that CUT.

[gordian knot]

I had the rack one a couple of decades ago. It was fun, 2 rat units & you could cascade them. There was a lot of room under the hood. IIRC I think I wound up switching the clipping diodes and retuning the filter on one of the units

[popvulture]

I have a Whiteface RI that I love. Sounds really great at low and hi gain, plus I'm pretty sure it could be used a pretty devastating weapon in a pinch.

FWIW I also really like the RAT2. It sounds different, but killer in its own right. And though I never owned one, I liked the sound of the JHS All American - based on the RAT but with a little more control. No longer made, but worth a listen if you ever come across a used one in a shop...

Also, isn't the Wave Cannon based on a RAT?

[backwardsvoyager]

I really liked the stock Rat. No idea what year/make but it has the LM308thingbob.

Slightly OT, but has anyone tried the Keeley Stahlhammer? I've been wanting to try out a Rat clone and accidentally just bought one from an ebay seller in the USA. Apparently it's a Rat with a different tone stack?

did you snag one of those cheap ones on the madape store? i'm really tempted to.
i had no idea it was RAT-based, they're marketing it as a marshall-in-a-box with LM1458 chip

[rot gut]

i have an 80's white face rat that i love, picked it up for $10.

[WORMDIRT]

For what its worth I have a late 80's rat 2 w/ dat lm308 toanz, and a brand new rat 2 that I threw a metal can lm in, can't tell the difference

[tremolo3]

For what its worth I have a late 80's rat 2 w/ dat lm308 toanz, and a brand new rat 2 that I threw a metal can lm in, can't tell the difference

Of course not... there are more differences involved from rat to rat rather than a simple IC, even if you play at really low volumes with headphones. People sometimes likes to listen with the eyes instead.

[culturejam]

Huge fan of the Rat. I've owned several versions, including the quasi-shitty Brat and Roadkill versions. I've modded several, gutted and rebuilt some, and I even designed a PCB that drops in the standard Rat enclosure (and it has popular mods built in). So yeah, I'm a fan.

It's one of the few circuits in which I can hear a really dramatic difference in sound when swapping op amp part numbers. And you can tweak the slew rate manually by changing the compensation cap. Sweet!

For what its worth I have a late 80's rat 2 w/ dat lm308 toanz, and a brand new rat 2 that I threw a metal can lm in, can't tell the difference

Well, it's the same exact circuit inside the IC, just a different package. The metal can was designed to be used in more adverse environments (hot, probably). But it's functionally identical to the plastic black spider variety.

But it looks cool, so why not?!?!?

[The_Active_Conundrum]

For what its worth I have a late 80's rat 2 w/ dat lm308 toanz, and a brand new rat 2 that I threw a metal can lm in, can't tell the difference

Well, it's the same exact circuit inside the IC, just a different package. The metal can was designed to be used in more adverse environments (hot, probably). But it's functionally identical to the plastic black spider variety.

But it looks cool, so why not?!?!?

so would it be possible to pait the metal can like a can of surge? make it cooler looking and more Xtreme?

[HorseyBoy]

Love the Rat threads. Love the Rat. I bought one of the vintage reissues new in 1991 (was looking for a Muff but couldn't find one and turned to the Rat) and it never let me down. For years the Rat and an old Hot Cake were my only pedals. I use a jerms tone-knob Rat these days and it KILLS but the vintage reissue is a very, very close second. Great thing about them is you can still pick them up cheap.
Wish I could discover the Rat all over again. Such a versatile pedal.

[culturejam]

so would it be possible to pait the metal can like a can of surge? make it cooler looking and more Xtreme?

I prefer Tantrum, but whatever floats your boat.

[The_Active_Conundrum]

so would it be possible to pait the metal can like a can of surge? make it cooler looking and more Xtreme?

I prefer Tantrum, but whatever floats your boat.

but surge is real

[Mudfuzz]

Love the Rat threads. Love the Rat. I bought one of the vintage reissues new in 1991 (was looking for a Muff but couldn't find one and turned to the Rat) and it never let me down. For years the Rat and an old Hot Cake were my only pedals. I use a jerms tone-knob Rat these days and it KILLS but the vintage reissue is a very, very close second. Great thing about them is you can still pick them up cheap.
Wish I could discover the Rat all over again. Such a versatile pedal.

My first rat was a 90's VR too, I got a sovtek muff [still have] around the same time, I liked that rat but it was pretty vanilla so i never used it much and so traded it.. out of whatever kind'a whatever… I'll blame you guys… I picked up another VR rat… thing is awesome, more lows than I remember and it does a great overloaded sound when dimed, also kills going into a muff