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I'm sure this is gonna generate some flamage but srsly, why do ppl love the Rat so much? I've owned two of them in the 15 years that I've been playing with pedals and both times, I ended up selling em. The first one I owned was a 90's version and the second one was early 80's. To my ears, the Rat is all 'edge' and no 'depth'. Know what I mean? I even recorded my first record with a rat as my main dirt and nowadays I can't listen to that record at all (not just for that reason). It sounded best to me when used on bass guitar in a hilarious punk rock band that I participated in a few years back.

Iunno... Might be a good sound for Van Halen or some hair metal bands but that's as far as it goes for me. Opinions?

My mid-80s small box RAT has been my main distortion since I got it in 2000. I used it for overdrive for a long time until I decided it was too shiny.

With my Fender Blues Deluxe, Gibson Les Paul Faded Special w/ P-90s (or Epiphone Casino), and the RAT (distortion and filter at 10 o'clock, level at 3), I am getting an almost exact sonic duplicate of the distortion on Weezer's "Pinkerton". Can get a pretty good Blue Album sound too. Where I have it set, there isn't much sustain for solos, but who cares? The rhythm distortion is the best I've ever heard.

Other than that... perhaps it's useless!?

C

Definitely use it for medium-gain. Crank it for punk hilarity, as stated, but I like it between 11 and 1 o' clock.
It was my first dirt pedal. Has a special place in my heart.

cant say im a fan of the rat either

i still havnt found my dream overdrive as of yet without buying an entire amp dedicated to just doing that
but have come close

I had a Vintage Rat for while. I think it was my third forth dirt box, it sounded good in the store but I ended up never using it and found it kind'a boring on bass and guitar. I traded it and a XXL for a Rotovibe which is not boring.

I can't really speak for the other Rat pedals, but I have a 1985 Rat that sounds amazing.
It pumps out some nice smooth fuzzy distortion and really rich in harmonics.

there are a lot of good bands that played through Rats;
Sonic Youth, the Melvins, White Zombie, Teenage Fanclub, Superdrag ... the list really does go on an on
but the point it that the right Rat can give quite a bit of different tones.
I never got any of that over-the-top PUNK! tone with the gain all the way up.
I think if you turn the tone knob down you are good to go.

so yeah I like em.

I always liked the Turbo Rat more than the standard one.

i use the rat with the distortion at like 10 oclock and the volume maxed out, and use it as a boost. it adds tons and tons of character to any fuzz or distortion pedal you put after it

edkoppel wrote:I can't really speak for the other Rat pedals, but I have a 1985 Rat that sounds amazing.
It pumps out some nice smooth fuzzy distortion and really rich in harmonics.

there are a lot of good bands that played through Rats;
Sonic Youth, the Melvins, White Zombie, Teenage Fanclub, Superdrag ..

I know there are and I guess what I found boring was I was able to get lots of sounds I had already heard out of it but... So I think they sound great but....

idk rats sound pretty cool to me
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsczPPo42AY[/youtube]

It sits really nicely in a band mix. Also, once it's gone you miss it. Sometime, I'm like, meh...? But other's I'm blown away. IDK! Favorite dirt box though...

Teej212 wrote:i use the rat with the distortion at like 10 oclock and the volume maxed out, and use it as a boost. it adds tons and tons of character to any fuzz or distortion pedal you put after it

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futuresailors wrote:

Teej212 wrote:i use the rat with the distortion at like 10 oclock and the volume maxed out, and use it as a boost. it adds tons and tons of character to any fuzz or distortion pedal you put after it

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Not a fan either.

I wanted one forever, but always ended up missing them/passing on them for other gear/etc.

I finally got one a few months back and I think I flipped it within a week. It just wasn't for me at all. I went back to my personal Soviet and fuzz and haven't looked back at all.

Well, I've heard that there's a lot of variation in individual RATs.

Personally, I've always had one in my lineup (but I also play bass, not gtr). It's not one of my main pedals, but there's a particular cutting raunch that I get from mine (a turbo RAT) that nothing else can duplicate.