Rat chips

ICBM

USA, serial number 262002. (2002?)

It has to be intentional I think, no-one would substitute reverse-log pots for standard or probably even have them in stock, they're much rarer than standard. Unless somehow someone ordered the wrong ones and the management just told them to use them anyway... but that's very unlikely given that it would be a repeat order.

Gassage

ICBM said:

Just to resurrect this…

Does anyone know when they changed to the god-awful reverse-taper pots? Same time as the crap 3PDT and the different chip, or some time after that? I've got a later RAT II here for a repair - turns out there's nothing actually wrong with it other than it being built by idiots. The reason for the 'fault - that all the controls have all their useful range over the first quarter turn and then do nothing all the way to the top - is because some cretin decided to change the Audio Taper (Log) pots to reverse Log.

I don't remember having come across this before, so either I'm just dense and have been living under a rock, or it's something relatively new.

It's shit, anyway. It makes the controls *very* touchy if you want anything other than loud high gain mud. My favourite setting on the old Rats was with all three controls at about 1 o'clock - to get the same(ish) sound on this one, they're all at under 9 o'clock and it's difficult to dial in.

Sorry for the rant. This kind of stupidity just annoys me . I'm going to suggest he sells it and buys a proper Rat, actually.

John, above all, with a RAT setting the EQ and Volume loud and bright and then adding as much gain as is possible is key.

I have that R2DU (LM308 x 2 channels) and it still matches any of my exotica- it just is fabulous.

As I have said before, pound for pound, the greatest dirt pedal ever when set up well.

dindude

I like to run mine (we'll Jam Pedals Rattler anyhow) with the gain flat out - basically becomes a fuzz then but a bit more controllable and compressed. Had it at rehearsal sound levels today and with a Strat bridge pickup it sounded like concord taking off (in a good way).

ICBM

Gassage said:

John, above all, with a RAT setting the EQ and Volume loud and bright and then adding as much gain as is possible is key.

I know how to use a Rat, I had one for the best part of 20 years .

The difference with this one is that the control range is almost unusable - it's essentially like all three controls are up full (which for the filter is muddy, rather than bright) when they're at 'normal' positions.

Heartfeltdawn

ICBM said:

USA, serial number 262002. (2002?)

It has to be intentional I think, no-one would substitute reverse-log pots for standard or probably even have them in stock, they're much rarer than standard. Unless somehow someone ordered the wrong ones and the management just told them to use them anyway... but that's very unlikely given that it would be a repeat order.

SHould be 2002. The closest one I've had to yours in terms of serial number was 257315 (USA, 2002 pot codes, Texas Instruments OD07DP). I've now come across three Chinese ones personally with the wrong pots but yours is the first USA made one I've heard of with this problem. On the one I sold last year, the pot would go from zero to max within about 20% of the pot's range. 

ICBM

This one says Made In USA on the casing but has cheap pots with no date codes and the TI OD07DP. So it sounds like a late-USA change not a Chinese change. Although the Chinese will no doubt get the blame…

It's so disappointing when companies do this. They'd been making it just fine for over twenty years, why screw it up?

Johnnyseven

I had a modern Turbo Rat, which are still made in the US, with this issue. They have the crappy pots nowadays, so maybe the change to these pots came just before production of the Rat2 moved to China?

Philtre

Necro-ing this post as I'm on a LM308 replacement journey.

I bought an "LM308N" off a UK eBay seller recently. Tested it and it turned out to be probably an OP07. Same measurements and compensation cap did nothing. Got a refund, no quibble.

BTW - look at the schematic for an OP07 and you'll see that a compensation cap between pins 1 an 8 is not needed as these connections are for offset nulling (variable resistor).

An LM301 does require a compensation cap so that might be worth using rather than an OP07.

JMP220478

are the clones any good ?  Mooer or this ?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Upgraded-Mini-RAT-Distortion-Guitar-Effects-Pedal-LM308-chip-based-on-ProCo-RAT/222680007235?hash=item33d8c34243:g:ciUAAOSwllpbFVKF

Philtre

I doubt that LM308 chip is genuine. Probably a fake like the one I bought.