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Rat clone!

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  • TTBZTTBZ Frets: 2873
    Question for you Rat users, on a completely clean amp does yours seem to be pretty low gain and not sound saturated til at least just past halfway on the distortion, and then it doesn't sound particularly fat or full? I'm wondering if mines one with weird taper pots or if it just my amp doesn't take pedals very well? It sounds great when the amp is a bit distorted but not when it's sparkly clean...
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26743
    TTBZ said:
    Question for you Rat users, on a completely clean amp does yours seem to be pretty low gain and not sound saturated til at least just past halfway on the distortion, and then it doesn't sound particularly fat or full? I'm wondering if mines one with weird taper pots or if it just my amp doesn't take pedals very well? It sounds great when the amp is a bit distorted but not when it's sparkly clean...
    What amp? I've always found Rats play best with Voxy stuff and less well with Fenders. I guess that could be the sparkly clean think you mention?
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • TTBZTTBZ Frets: 2873
    edited January 2017
    It's a Laney GH50L so not quite a fender clean haha, it does do cleans with the low input and minimal gain though. I always go for a "dirty clean" anyway but just wanted to try something different out.
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  • DopesickDopesick Frets: 1507
    When I used to own a GH50L, the RAT sounded glorious through it. Almost instant Goatsnake sound. Granted, the Laney was around halfway on the gain so no cleans, but it sounded huge.

    The RAT on it's own through my clean Matamp sounds fabulous too - although it does have a little bit of bark missing compared to other drives I use. 
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  • TTBZ said:
    Question for you Rat users, on a completely clean amp does yours seem to be pretty low gain and not sound saturated til at least just past halfway on the distortion, and then it doesn't sound particularly fat or full? I'm wondering if mines one with weird taper pots or if it just my amp doesn't take pedals very well? It sounds great when the amp is a bit distorted but not when it's sparkly clean...
    The gain on my Turbo Rats (which all have cts pots) doesn't really kick in until about halfway, so I think the pot on yours is probably ok.
    My trading feedback can be seen here - http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/58242/
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  • Dave_McDave_Mc Frets: 2324
    It depends a lot on your pickups, i think, and also which exact rat you're using. I haven't tried my black secret for a while but IIRC around 9 o'clock was where it turned from sort of overdrive to distortion, and then above 12 o'clock it got a bit fuzzy-sounding and more saturated. That was on vintage mode, though, the turbo setting (which uses LEDs I think as clippers) has less distortion for any given setting (i think because LEDs need more forward voltage (i think/hope that's the right term) to make them clip.
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  • Interestingly I've borrowed a big box reissue from a friend for a week or two. Mine is low 100000 on the serial number, his is in the 190000s and in mint condition compared to my battered one. Both are USA made, both have a National Semiconductors LM308 chip. 

    Soundwise with both at the same positions for filter/volume/distortion, mine definitely has a bit more low end. Actually sounds a little bit more open. Simply different tolerances between components I would say. It just works for me so try out a few different things, see what works for you. 



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  • Is the Little Bear one still in production?  I think it's time I tried a RAT and this seems well regarded, but they are pretty sparse on eBay at the moment.
    Trading feedback | FS: Nothing right now
    JM build | Pedalboard plans
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  • siraxemansiraxeman Frets: 1935
    just sold my RAT 2 for £62 + £5 postage on ebay...was as new, but you can buy em brand new posted for £68...so methinks me did well there! :lol: Now, that out of the way, I did have also the Mooer and sold that a couple of months ago - it sounded pretty much identical to the RAT 2, but the kicker is it also had the Turbo Rat setting as well..so in effect was a better pedal for less money. Now tho I is RATless. Smooth creamy drives are just more my taste.
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  • @siraxeman how did you get on with the mini-ness of the Mooer?  I worry that it (and the Eno) might be a bit fiddly to tweak and / or unstable underfoot.
    Trading feedback | FS: Nothing right now
    JM build | Pedalboard plans
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  • siraxemansiraxeman Frets: 1935
    It was ok - but that's the reason I sold the Mooer and kept the Rat...I preferred the bigger pedal - for its size and it sat more stable on my board as well - soundwise tho nowt in it on its regular Rat sound.
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  • Cheers @siraxeman ;
    Trading feedback | FS: Nothing right now
    JM build | Pedalboard plans
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    There is close to no difference between the Mooer Black Secret and the current Chinese Rat 2. 

    The older USA Rat 2's do sound different: slightly less compressed, a bit more bottom end. 

    For the money, the Black Secret is a really good pedal. 



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  • djspecialistdjspecialist Frets: 901
    edited April 2017
    @Heartfeltdawn do you know of any modern clones which are closer than the Black Secret to the USA RAT 2?
    Trading feedback | FS: Nothing right now
    JM build | Pedalboard plans
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    @djspecialist On the cheap side, no. The Mooer and the Little Bear are good pedals in their own right but they don't quite get the USA Rat 2 vibe. Most of the Rat clones I've tried from the higher end of the pedal market aren't as good either. Stuff like the Reutz mod is actually removing what makes a Rat good to me. 

    My all-time favourite Rat is a vintage big box reissue I picked up for £50 on Ebay. USA, LM308N chip, no LED, missing the screw in the base. It's got a bigger low end than any other Rat I've played (and I've played an awful lot now). It's one of those ones where natural tolerance variations of parts creates something a wee bit different to the rest. Alongside that is a Black Secret and a Thundertomate Rat which is a bit more refined that the big box. Need to figure out what to release from the board as DesVegas sold me a cracking Skreddy Lunar Module clone that is a keeper.  

    Quite honestly, if you want a USA Rat 2, they are findable on Ebay if you're patient for a decent price. I've never paid more than £70 for a Rat. 



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  • djspecialistdjspecialist Frets: 901
    edited April 2017
    Cheers @Heartfeltdawn.  I did a quick search for the Thundertomate Rat, but couldn't find anything.  Does it go by any other name?

    Edit: found it (
    http://www.thundertomate.com/)  Not sure how I didn't hit that ever-so-cryptic domain name before ... :-P
    Trading feedback | FS: Nothing right now
    JM build | Pedalboard plans
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  • HeartfeltdawnHeartfeltdawn Frets: 22096
    The Thundertomate stuff is fairly hard to find. I got mine (it's marked as an LM308 distortion) for £50 from this forum. Really nice Rat, cleaner and seems to have a touch more headroom than my fuzzy big box one. 

    There are tons of Rat clones. Jam Rattler is up on Ebay now and I think someone had one in the forum for sale. Vick Audio Classic Rat repro is one I'd like to try as every other Vick pedal I've had has been excellent. Depending on budget, see if one of the many excellent builders in this forum would do one for you.



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  • SassafrasSassafras Frets: 30273
    On an unrelated note, the Thundertomate treble booster I have is the best one I've ever used and not a single germanium transistor in sight.
    They;re great pedals if you can find them.
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  • photekphotek Frets: 1462
    Best I have owned was the Freakshow Effects Brown Rabbit followed closely by the Hartman LM308. Wasn't too keen on the Little Bear, seemed to miss the lower gain sweetness.
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  • A few chaps on here have mentioned the Arc Effects Soothsayer
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