Rats! Foiled Again.

[KingsXJJ]

I tried a Rat once back in 1992. Borrowed it from a buddy and plugged it in…. To my young ears back then it was harsh. I was huge in to racks at the time and thought “well this is why folks are turning from pedals to racks!” Ah the assured ignorance of youth.

Fast forward 30+ years and racks are all but gone and here I am collecting pedals!

So I saw the Rat 2 on sale new for a good price and ordered one from SW. I am curious and a bit excited about how it will sound to me now. Good times!

 

[PLX]

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I tried a Rat once back in 1992. Borrowed it from a buddy and plugged it in…. To my young ears bracket then it was harsh. I was huge in to racks at the time and thought “well this is why folks are turning from pedals to racks!” Ah the assured ignorance of youth.

Fast forward 30+ years and racks are all but gone and I am collecting pedals!

So I saw the Rat 2 on sale new for a good price and ordered one from SW. I am curious and a bit excited about how it will sound to me now. Good times!

The three controls are very interactive. You might need to lower the Filter when you thick it isn't loud enough (it is really that the high end is being shelved off too much). Depending on the pedal, the "full power" on the Distortion pot can start around 8:00-9:00 or so. From there, you have clean boost, overdrive, distortion, and into fuzz as you turn the pot up. Play around with the pots some to get accustomed to the way they work and interact. Also, the pedal tends to prefer being a little above unity volume in my experience, then adjust the Distortion pot to get the gain level you want. Lastly, play with the Filter pot to shave off the appropriate amount of high end.

In my experience, I find the pots to want precise adjustments. You can go from too little to too much sometimes in as little as 0.5/0:30 on the pot's travel. Keep that in mind and you'll be able to dial it in much better.

Oh, and a Tube Screamer -> Rat -> clean amp is a great combination.

 

[KingsXJJ]

The three controls are very interactive. You might need to lower the Filter when you thick it isn't loud enough (it is really that the high end is being shelved off too much). Depending on the pedal, the "full power" on the Distortion pot can start around 8:00-9:00 or so. From there, you have clean boost, overdrive, distortion, and into fuzz as you turn the pot up. Play around with the pots some to get accustomed to the way they work and interact. Also, the pedal tends to prefer being a little above unity volume in my experience, then adjust the Distortion pot to get the gain level you want. Lastly, play with the Filter pot to shave off the appropriate amount of high end.

In my experience, I find the pots to want precise adjustments. You can go from too little to too much sometimes in as little as 0.5/0:30 on the pot's travel. Keep that in mind and you'll be able to dial it in much better.

Oh, and a Tube Screamer -> Rat -> clean amp is a great combination.

Awesome advice! Thank you!

 

[Blix]

Here's Nunos settings to tighten up his DSL

 

[gearJunkie]

I was missing both Rat and SD-1 pedals in my collection, so I opted for the Keeley Super Rodent that lets you mix and match the tone stacks and clippers. Very cool pedal, but it's sitting in its box right now.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

Here's Nunos settings to tighten up his DSL

View attachment 43852

Holy fuck. No way that Filter knob is what the pot actually relates to. Not with the Bill Lawrence pickups. Otherwise, that DSL must be set to a really dark setting to compensate. Is his live sound obnoxiously bright or something?

 

[Blix]

Holy fuck. No way that Filter knob is what the pot actually relates to. Not with the Bill Lawrence pickups. Otherwise, that DSL must be set to a really dark setting to compensate. Is his live sound obnoxiously bright or something?

Nuno runs his DSL's with quite unique EQ settings.

 

[Warmart]

Nuno runs his DSL's with quite unique EQ settings.

View attachment 43861

"Red ON" lmfao.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

Nuno runs his DSL's with quite unique EQ settings.

View attachment 43861

Weird. Those are strange settings. Presence, treble, and middle at 1.1, while bass is at 4.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Weird. Those are strange settings. Presence, treble, and middle at 1.1, while bass is at 4.

Filter knob position suddenly makes all the sense in the world

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

Filter knob position suddenly makes all the sense in the world

None of that makes sense. I figured that Nuno had "normal" settings on the amp, and the filter set to 12:00 was due to him having screwed up his hearing in addition to general age related hearing loss. Instead, those are some of the most oddball settings I've seen on an artists gear before.

 

[KingsXJJ]

Weird. Those are strange settings. Presence, treble, and middle at 1.1, while bass is at 4.

Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks things can be too bright!

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I think this might be Nuno's ADA MP-1 settings if anyone wants them.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I think this might be Nuno's ADA MP-1 settings if anyone wants them.
View attachment 43868

Does it come with his hands too?

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

Does it come with his hands too?

You wish!

 

[FuzzyAce]

Nuno runs his DSL's with quite unique EQ settings.

View attachment 43861

NO reverb, no dice.

 

[Dave Lewis]

I’ve got a Rat in mi kitchen

 

[KingsXJJ]

Well, it arrived! Much better than I remember. I was able to get some very useable tones. I can see why it’s a classic.

I’ll give it another go today. It may not be a keeper for me personally but it definitely has it’s own cool thing going on!

Excellent first pedal at this price.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I have a love/hate relationship with RATs. Just the bit of harshness in the upper mids annoys me in some amps. But using with an eq pedal can help though.