Tell me about boutique Rat pedals

Johnnyseven

My experience comes mostly from Turbo Rats (apart from the 2 Rat2s I mentioned before), i've had quite a few (they're my favourite dirt pedal, I currently have 4) and IMO the current ones just don't sound as good as the old ones - whether they have an LM308 or not.

EdGrip

The pots on mine have got no markings other than a funny little lambda y symbol.

samzadgan

juansolo said:

The switch is a generic 3PDT that most people use. Quality on them is variable generally and they're not very robust. But the vast majority of stuff uses them because they're cheap.

The pots on Sam's ProCo were decent enough. Nothing wrong with them as far as I was concerned. I only replaced them because the board I had was set up for some very specific pots.

i still need to try that pedal...wont be doing that for at least another month and a half...but when i do, i will report back.

(if anyone cares at that time!)

bingefeller

samzadgan said:

juansolo said:

The switch is a generic 3PDT that most people use. Quality on them is variable generally and they're not very robust. But the vast majority of stuff uses them because they're cheap.

The pots on Sam's ProCo were decent enough. Nothing wrong with them as far as I was concerned. I only replaced them because the board I had was set up for some very specific pots.

i still need to try that pedal...wont be doing that for at least another month and a half...but when i do, i will report back.

(if anyone cares at that time!)

yes I would be interested in this please Sam.   Mention me when you reply incase I don't get a notification.  

juansolo

samzadgan said:

juansolo said:

The switch is a generic 3PDT that most people use. Quality on them is variable generally and they're not very robust. But the vast majority of stuff uses them because they're cheap.

The pots on Sam's ProCo were decent enough. Nothing wrong with them as far as I was concerned. I only replaced them because the board I had was set up for some very specific pots.

i still need to try that pedal...wont be doing that for at least another month and a half...but when i do, i will report back.

(if anyone cares at that time!)

The Rat mods were definitely the most successful of the two. It's got optical bypass in there and a whole new posh multi-Rat board. I left it set to Turbo/no Reutz as that's what I preferred. The muff started out sounding a bit pants and now has a mid control that will allow it to cut a bit better... Doesn't really change the fact that it still sounds a bit pants however One of those things, EHX muffs are a bit variable... Why they don't just make clones of the few old ones that sounded good is beyond me.

dogload

My mate got himself this thing from Butterfly Effects

Apparently it's a RAT with switches to access all the different mods and with a blend control (he's a bassist). I think he said it came in at around 90 squids. I rather fancy one myself!

EdGrip

That'd be the one to get! A Four Knob Rat (FKR) with a blend knob. A four knob Rat puts the Reutz mod on a pot so you can vary between stock and full Reutz. Looks like you can select LED, stock, or FET for each side of the clipping stage, as well as selecting symmetrical (stock) or asymmetrical clipping, AND an alternative to the Rat filter control (baxandall)?

juansolo

If it was a bax it'd have bass and treble controls. It'd also have either a huge hit in output, have to be active or need gain recovery. All would change it's sound quite a bit.

EdGrip

Could be a Muff tone control? Butterfly seems quite obsessed with Muffs.

timmysoft

I've had a lot of rats, my favourite is the rat2. The Moore one is ok at home volumes but I don't think it gets close at volume. I had the Montgomery long tail which was also super good, a little less ferocious but still very much the rat tone. I don't buy into the lm308 myth, the usa rat I had sounded pretty much the same as my Chinese rat2, especially with the gain past half way.

dogload

I had my Mooer Black Secret RAT-alike out at band practice the other night and it sounded fantastic. I actually got it from the guy who got the Bad MFKR, and he reckoned that it was as close as could be to his original RAT. Although to be fair, he's a bass player so it might sound closer on bass than guitar.

Still, I enjoyed the sound it made!

bingefeller

dogload said:

I had my Mooer Black Secret RAT-alike out at band practice the other night and it sounded fantastic. I actually got it from the guy who got the Bad MFKR, and he reckoned that it was as close as could be to his original RAT.

What is the footswitch like on it?  I have a Mooer Shimverb and the footswitch is a bit stiff.  I don't really use it and would be reluctant to sell it as I think the footswitch will develop a fault soon after or after any sort of heavy use. 

hugbot

dogload said:

I had my Mooer Black Secret RAT-alike out at band practice the other night and it sounded fantastic. I actually got it from the guy who got the Bad MFKR, and he reckoned that it was as close as could be to his original RAT. Although to be fair, he's a bass player so it might sound closer on bass than guitar.

Still, I enjoyed the sound it made!

I don't know about "close" but I think it has more low end.

Whether its exact as the original is immaterial to me as to my ears it sounds better. 

dogload

bingefeller said:

dogload said:

I had my Mooer Black Secret RAT-alike out at band practice the other night and it sounded fantastic. I actually got it from the guy who got the Bad MFKR, and he reckoned that it was as close as could be to his original RAT.

What is the footswitch like on it?  I have a Mooer Shimverb and the footswitch is a bit stiff.  I don't really use it and would be reluctant to sell it as I think the footswitch will develop a fault soon after or after any sort of heavy use. 

I've been using a variety of Mooers on my board since they came out and haven't had any problems with the switches. The AnaEcho I used to use always got a serious amount of on/off action for a couple of tunes and the phaser has had a lot of hammering too, with no ill-effects, if you'll excuse the pun.

hugbot said:

I don't know about "close" but I think it has more low end.

I couldn't possibly comment as I've no experience with the originals, but it certainly seems to have a bit more beef. Mind, as a pedal in it's own right I was very pleased with it. I've been trying various combinations over the last few weeks and replaced an EH nano Hot Tubes with the Mooer and it did exactly what I wanted. 

I generally play a Squier Mascis JM with replacement slightly under-wound pickups into a bright, clean Selmer T'n'B (via a load of pedals!), and the Mooer pedal gave me the grunt and filth I'd been missing. It also works nicely with the other overdrive and fuzz pedals on my board to give a wide variety of sounds without choking any or making the sound jump in volume. 

Listening to the video (?) I think I prefer the sound of the Mooer to the Chinese RAT, although the '86 one sounds a bit edgier. However, I always use the guitar volume ('treble bleed' modded) to tighten up the sound when it's a little flabby.

simonk

The Buffalo FX Evolution can do a passable Rat plus a lot more. Definitely worth a look. And listen. 

bingefeller

simonk said:

The Buffalo FX Evolution can do a passable Rat plus a lot more. Definitely worth a look. And listen. 

Thanks.