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Help me pick out a Rat for bass please.

donahue

donahue

Supporting Member
Jun 10, 2015
3,109
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Oregon
#1
I've never tried a Rat style pedal made specifically for bass. At least I don't think I have lol.

I'd like to check one out. Please suggest your top pick. Something that will crush and have good non-muddy low end. Something that won't overly compress and get sputtery under high gain and volume. Maybe there's something newish out I've never seen before? 🐁 Thanks
 
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#2
I’m kinda surprised, weren’t you a regular in the Dunwich thread? The Volt thrower is King IMO. Tons of options that sound great, with multiple voltages you can run it at make it and endless tone engine that’s limited only by your imagination.

https://reverb.com/item/92549948-magic-pedals-volt-thrower-2020-black-powder-with-blue-ink

Coming in second would be the Nepenthes by electrofoods. A lot less variety, but the couple of options it does have can sound better than some of the options in the volt thrower, in some situations. I preferred the three knob, but the four-knob is a fine pedal as well.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

The options I haven’t tried, but get good reviews here are the Broughton Locust star, Idiot box Blower Box, and fuzzrocious rat king(now called Cat king). Never tried them because I was happy enough with the Dunwich and Electrofoods.
 
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#3
Copy that, thanks. I don't think I ever got around to trying a VT. Never tried the Fuzzrocious either. Had a LS for a bit.

Hmmm. I guess maybe I was hoping there was a new king or newer improved iteration of above items to try. Haven't used pedals in a few years. Am getting back to it.
 
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#5
I love this thing. I use it with my Reiner Gasoline and think it's awesome. With just a little drive blended in, it has that awesome grindy tone.

PSHC pdls. Tyrannosaurus Rat V2 Drive - Blend - Boost.​



1763747977296.png
 
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#8
I really like all the features that @rratajski packed into his current version of the Cat King and would be the one I would try first as his pedals work equally well on bass as guitar sometimes even better, remember Ryan is one of us after all.

I would love seeing someone doing a version of the very rare Proco Juggernaught.

Still sorry I missed out on the @Sushi Box FX Lab Rat. 😢
 
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#11
If I was in the market for a Rat these days, I’d look at the Blower Box Deluxe (I had an earlier version of the Blower Box), and the Big Booty Judy.
backburnernoise.com

BIG BOOTY JUDY (out of stock until end of August)

OUT OF STOCK UNTIL END OF AUGUST! —————— OUT OF STOCK UNTIL END OF AUGUST! You are more than welcome to place an order and Judy will ship out before September! —— All Ass. Pure Class. 🐀💨 Big Booty Judy is a dirt pedal from Backburner.BBJ is based off of your favorite rodent circuits. It is made...
backburnernoise.com backburnernoise.com

I think the Bass Mountain is also a Rat, and one I’d consider.

Bass Mountain | Fuzz Worship

fuzzworship.com fuzzworship.com
 
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#12
An interesting take on the Rat is The Zero Fret BRR with a Rat clipping and a Muff tone knob. They are available with a blend. I had the non blend version and enjoyed it, though I think the blend version is probably the way to go on bass.
thezerofret.bigcartel.com

Black Russian Rat - Rat / Big Muff Hybrid

PRE ORDER. Allow three weeks build time. ORANGE HEX RUSSIAN RAT Part Rat. Part Black Russian Big Muff. All DOOM! ORANGE HEX has the more variety...
thezerofret.bigcartel.com thezerofret.bigcartel.com
 
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#19
Wow, great read, there's a whole RAT culture/rabbit hole I didn't even know existed 👍

I wasn't aware of the RAT on bass until I (accidentally) ended up "cloning" the tone of my Guma Drive (B3K clone) with the bendable (CMOS'ish?) RAT emulation on a Zoom. Probably too apart from the real thing 🤣, but got me curious and conscious of a blendable REAL RAT's possibilities.



I've only listened to a few tone demos. Will do some thorough listening with headphones. Thanks for the sapience 🙏
 
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