RAT Curious...

Seziertisch

https://www.guitarpedalx.com/news/gpx-blog/32-favourite-compact-rat-style-distortion-pedals---2024-ultimate-edition

This guy went out and bought 44 Rat variants so you don’t have to!

Dave_Mc

26.2 said:

I’ve a/b’d the Mooer with my mid-2000s US Rat and there was a problem. The sweep of the filter wasn’t right for me - I tend to use the Rat at quite low gain settings and the filter setting is important to keep clarity and brightness. I found that on the Mooer I ran out of adjustment anti-clockwise and it was a bit too woolly. It might be rig dependent though, but I’m using mainly Fenders into Fenders so you’d have thought I’d get enough cut. 

I only bought the Mooer to get me through a couple of rehearsals while my Rat footswitch was being fixed. I should have just got another Rat I guess. 

 That's very interesting. It may well be rig-dependent, but even still, if there's something the "real thing" does that you need and one of the cheaper clones doesn't do it, that's worth knowing!

(That's very funny that you ran out of filter anti-clockwise! I don't have mine on a board at the moment, but I was always able to get enough treble out of mine, especially into Fendery amps.)

Seziertisch said:

https://www.guitarpedalx.com/news/gpx-blog/32-favourite-compact-rat-style-distortion-pedals---2024-ultimate-edition

This guy went out and bought 44 Rat variants so you don’t have to!

LOL that's hilarious. Maybe I'm missing something (I only skimmed it), but did he try any of the cheapo clones? That'd be a more interesting comparison to me, to see if the cheap ones are "good enough" for only a casual user, or for someone who's never tried a Rat before.

Seziertisch

Dave_Mc said:

26.2 said:

I’ve a/b’d the Mooer with my mid-2000s US Rat and there was a problem. The sweep of the filter wasn’t right for me - I tend to use the Rat at quite low gain settings and the filter setting is important to keep clarity and brightness. I found that on the Mooer I ran out of adjustment anti-clockwise and it was a bit too woolly. It might be rig dependent though, but I’m using mainly Fenders into Fenders so you’d have thought I’d get enough cut. 

I only bought the Mooer to get me through a couple of rehearsals while my Rat footswitch was being fixed. I should have just got another Rat I guess. 

 That's very interesting. It may well be rig-dependent, but even still, if there's something the "real thing" does that you need and one of the cheaper clones doesn't do it, that's worth knowing!

(That's very funny that you ran out of filter anti-clockwise! I don't have mine on a board at the moment, but I was always able to get enough treble out of mine, especially into Fendery amps.)

Seziertisch said:

https://www.guitarpedalx.com/news/gpx-blog/32-favourite-compact-rat-style-distortion-pedals---2024-ultimate-edition

This guy went out and bought 44 Rat variants so you don’t have to!

LOL that's hilarious. Maybe I'm missing something (I only skimmed it), but did he try any of the cheapo clones? That'd be a more interesting comparison to me, to see if the cheap ones are "good enough" for only a casual user, or for someone who's never tried a Rat before.

The cheaper options are here (for the most part) - https://www.guitarpedalx.com/news/gpx-blog/9-of-the-best-mini-rat-style-distortion-pedals

Dave_Mc

Seziertisch said:

Dave_Mc said:

26.2 said:

I’ve a/b’d the Mooer with my mid-2000s US Rat and there was a problem. The sweep of the filter wasn’t right for me - I tend to use the Rat at quite low gain settings and the filter setting is important to keep clarity and brightness. I found that on the Mooer I ran out of adjustment anti-clockwise and it was a bit too woolly. It might be rig dependent though, but I’m using mainly Fenders into Fenders so you’d have thought I’d get enough cut. 

I only bought the Mooer to get me through a couple of rehearsals while my Rat footswitch was being fixed. I should have just got another Rat I guess. 

 That's very interesting. It may well be rig-dependent, but even still, if there's something the "real thing" does that you need and one of the cheaper clones doesn't do it, that's worth knowing!

(That's very funny that you ran out of filter anti-clockwise! I don't have mine on a board at the moment, but I was always able to get enough treble out of mine, especially into Fendery amps.)

Seziertisch said:

https://www.guitarpedalx.com/news/gpx-blog/32-favourite-compact-rat-style-distortion-pedals---2024-ultimate-edition

This guy went out and bought 44 Rat variants so you don’t have to!

LOL that's hilarious. Maybe I'm missing something (I only skimmed it), but did he try any of the cheapo clones? That'd be a more interesting comparison to me, to see if the cheap ones are "good enough" for only a casual user, or for someone who's never tried a Rat before.

The cheaper options are here (for the most part) - https://www.guitarpedalx.com/news/gpx-blog/9-of-the-best-mini-rat-style-distortion-pedals

Brilliant, thanks!

markv

I like this guy's comparisons:

26.2

GavRichList said:

I suspect the USA vs MIC stuff is 98% cork sniffery and almost entirely imperceptible in real-world settings. I do admit to hankering after a Fat-Rat based on demos but given that it wouldn’t fit on my board, the standard 2 is more than sufficient. I never switch it on and think it sounds anything other than great. 

Cork sniffery? Yep I’m slightly guilty

snowblind

You could go for something like the JHS Packrat but given the price I'd say just pick yourself up a stock Proco Rat 2. Does what a RAT does. Built like a tank.

Also the cheap options like the Mosky Black Rat. Given some of their other offerings there is no reason at assume these would be terrible clones of the original.

Here endeth the lesson.

oh_pollo

Check out Peter Buck's pedalboard from last year. Distortion is barely on....

guitargeek62

26.2 said:

Revolutions said:

Shipwreck said:

Thanks all - really great advice. And quite exciting! I think I'm leaning to a ProCo over the boutique offerings. Tones over aesthetics and all that but I do love how the big box models look. Such an iconic design (and I'd have board space) but absurd eBay prices are a bit jarring. With the "II",  from what I understand the chip differences are debatable but is there anything notable between the USA and MIC? The latter seems readily available for cheap, but happy to pay a bit more if there's better build quality / components stateside. Cheers!

Buy the cheap one. Unless you’re in your bedroom a/b testing them, you won’t hear much difference.

Good advice, but if you see a late USA built Rat 2 for a decent price that’d be even better IMO. Even with the ‘wrong’ chip I think they have a slightly better/deeper sound than the China ones. Could be all in my head though. 

CCGX had a bunch of new old stock USA ones not long ago. Might be some left? 

I have two RAT2s from a year or so apart - one with ‘right’ chip, one with ‘wrong’ chip… both sound superb. Some days I prefer the LM308N, some days I prefer the other. I find the 308 to be slightly darker and smoother, but with a bit more range of gain available. Big/full-size pot versions are more important than the IC inside - there’s more of an audible change once they switched to mini ones.

All RATs are good though imo, it’s just a great circuit that’s easily replicated at all price points. I’ll never part with my two though, they’re just fun to own and rightful classics. That said, I’d like a BRAT, and a JHS Pack-Rat, and a ThorpyFX Warthog…

Shipwreck

oh_pollo said:

Check out Peter Buck's pedalboard from last year. Distortion is barely on....

Amazing. Another guitarist who I've always loved their tone.  Again - unsure why it's taken this long!

Thanks for all the tips folks. I imagine I'll try and pickup a used Rat 2 and take it from there. That said, for purely aesthetics, if I can nab the clunky / ugly big box reissue, that would make me v happy.

Shipwreck

So I've been offered a big box Rat (OP7?? chip) for 120 quid. Obviously dearer than an off the shelf one - is there any better reliability on the chunkier model? Better pots etc? I dig the look which is entirely silly but want to consult the experts... 

Revolutions

Shipwreck said:

So I've been offered a big box Rat (OP7?? chip) for 120 quid. Obviously dearer than an off the shelf one - is there any better reliability on the chunkier model? Better pots etc? I dig the look which is entirely silly but want to consult the experts... 

reliability isn’t going to be any different. The big box, without the led, sounds a little sweeter to my ears. But it’s subtle. I rarely use mine vs normal rat cos it’s too big.

MCluer

If you want a Rat get a standard Rat and decide if you like it and does what you want. If you want a great Rat, built well sounds amazing get a Greer Gorilla Warfare....failing that you will end up down the rabbit hole or is that Rat hole!

Boromedic

Can highly recommend the Mosky King Rat, very flexible and lots of options, sounds amazing into my Morgan. Sounds just like an old Rat Bigbox reissue and vintage Rat 2

Reverend

Is the jhs 3 distortion a rat?

Dave_Mc

Boromedic said:

Can highly recommend the Mosky King Rat, very flexible and lots of options, sounds amazing into my Morgan. Sounds just like an old Rat Bigbox reissue and vintage Rat 2

Interesting- they looked great when they were first released, but in the early videos some of the sounds were a bit "weird" (that's the best way I can think to describe it!)- nothing weird going on with yours?

(It might have been the Distortion+/OD250 type one which had weird sounds... but IIRC the King Rat had it a bit too)

jpttaylor

Reverend said:

Is the jhs 3 distortion a rat?

It is, with a switch to go from a regular Rat to the Turbo Rat.

theatreanchor

I did this a while ago, and it sadly didn’t work out as I’d hoped! 

guitargeek62

Shipwreck said:

So I've been offered a big box Rat (OP7?? chip) for 120 quid. Obviously dearer than an off the shelf one - is there any better reliability on the chunkier model? Better pots etc? I dig the look which is entirely silly but want to consult the experts... 

That sounds reasonable, I like my OP07 one just as much as my LM308N model.

PAL

Don't get sucked into the hype just by a Rat 2 you can also get the mini one.