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no more carpeted cabs?

#121
40Hz said:
I’m sure he or she did.

I also doubt they were seriously and regularly gigging with it. There are far too many factors beyond your control while on the road to fully insulate your gear from that mo matter how careful you yourself are trying to be. I’m also speaking more about working gear rather than the closet or “studio queen” vintage amps and cabs you occasionally run into for sale. I’m careful enough with my gear and the gear I’ve bought new and have been the sole owner of still looks newish and really good. I don’t like it when something gets damaged any more than the next player does. But I’m not about to faint over every little bump or ding something picks up in the course of honest use. I’ve been playing a long time. And I’d be a total wreck by now if I let that sort of thing bother me overmuch.

(Minor point: While I don’t care much for carpeted cabs myself, by the same token I don’t see the need to be constantly referring to carpeted cabs as “rat fur.” It got old 10 minutes after the first time it was uttered. And that was decades ago.) ;)
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BIG plus 1 !!!!!

Worked in several working touring bands playing 5 to 7 nights a week for years, constant load-ins/ load-outs, coast to coast, border to border, equipment loaded in trailers, or under the bus, or in vans / box trucks, ect.
No matter how careful you are things get beat, dinged, and thumped when their used.
Road cases really help, (but not in every instance), my Berg NV610, in a case, went through the Nashville flood a few years back and still had water get to it.
Still works and sounds GREAT!
 
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#122
To hell with carpet and Tolex, they need to bring sexy back:bassist::woot:
agedhorse said:
Depends on the quality of the bass wood and the coating.

The wood surface needs to be hard, and there are many different grades of coating, some very tough but many not so tough.

Most can be repaired, but to look good it's a professional job. Some coatings are very toxic until cured.

Rat fur is not immune to this kind of damage either.
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it only that, those rhino linings will add weight to the cab...
 
#124
40Hz said:
I’m sure he or she did.

I also doubt they were seriously and regularly gigging with it. There are far too many factors beyond your control while on the road to fully insulate your gear from that no matter how careful you yourself are trying to be. I’m also speaking more about working gear rather than the closet or “studio queen” vintage amps and cabs you occasionally run into for sale. I’m careful enough with my gear and the gear I’ve bought new and have been the sole owner of still looks newish and really good. I don’t like it when something gets damaged any more than the next player does. But I’m not about to faint over every little bump or ding something picks up in the course of honest use. I’ve been playing a long time. And I’d be a total wreck by now if I let that sort of thing bother me overmuch.

(Minor point: While I don’t care much for carpeted cabs myself, by the same token I don’t see the need to be constantly referring to carpeted cabs as “rat fur.” It got old 10 minutes after the first time it was uttered. And that was decades ago.) ;)
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Agreed. That term ratfur is so full of derision and disrespect. It's actually an offensive slur. Everyone knows it's carpet covering.

On a different point, I own GK cabs with very light vinyl covering, old Peaveys with Peavey branded tolex, and various Eden and other bass/guitar cabs. I've owned some of them since the 1980's and toured the country with them. None of them have any tears or gashes. I believe it's because I handle my own equipment. When I was younger using Peavey gear we did all move everything together. But after the guys broke a couple of tone controls on my amps I started moving everything myself. Being careful is job 1 for keeping your gear in great condition. Haul it yourself and it will stay nice longer.
 
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#127
Per an older ratfur thread, you can take a beard trimmer to a fuzzy carpeted cab and spiff it up a good bit. Work good on cat scratch fuzz.

But yes, per the OP, when these cabs of mine give up the ghost I’m going with a tolex or similar ... like a mesa subway or gk neo etc ... likely NOT buying a carpet cab ever again.
 
#128
How is the term "rat fur" disrespectful or derogatory?

The original material was a mottled gray, then cinder, then black. The original color looked like rat fur.

I still have a console case in the original color, really tight matted, tough as nails material. Held up to 10 years on the road.
 
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#131
frankie5string said:
Sorry, what? Since when is the term "Rat Fur" an offensive slur. To what group is it a slur?
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I guess people like you and me who probably wouldn't want to be called 'rat fur.' If you think about it, it isn't complimentary sounding. But I have been called worse! :laugh:

EDIT: If also think about it, people who don't like carpeted cabinets use the term 'rat fur' in a derisive fashion. Hairy animals, stinky after smokey gigs, etc.
 
#132
alaskaleftybass said:
I guess people like you and me who probably wouldn't want to be called 'rat fur.' If you think about it, it isn't complimentary sounding. But I have been called worse! :laugh:

EDIT: If also think about it, people who don't like carpeted cabinets use the term 'rat fur' in a derisive fashion. Hairy animals, stinky after smokey gigs, etc.
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*tongue in cheek*
Are you as offended as I am by the term "Monkey Fur" with regards to Case lining? Boy, does that chap my arse!
*tongue out of cheek*
Really?
 
#133
alaskaleftybass said:
I guess people like you and me who probably wouldn't want to be called 'rat fur.' If you think about it, it isn't complimentary sounding. But I have been called worse! :laugh:

EDIT: If also think about it, people who don't like carpeted cabinets use the term 'rat fur' in a derisive fashion. Hairy animals, stinky after smokey gigs, etc.
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Oh... ok. Honestly, I can't think of a reason why anyone would call ME or YOU "rat fur." It's not an attribution one would make to someone. I've been called a "globalist," a "kike," a "rat," and one of my best buddies was called a "porch monkey" once on a sound/PA job.

I just wanted to be sure that I wasn't missing something, because the term "carpet" has also been used as slang for the hair in your nether region for as long as I can remember.

I first heard the term rat-fur used for the kind of mottled-grey fabric covering that went on our wooden audio rack-boxes. The supplier actually called it rat-fur because it had a courseness to it and wasn't "alligator" like the Tolex, but also wasn't "soft" or woven like the other weird cover option they had (which I don't think anyone ever chose, but it was in the catalogue) That was a really long time ago.
 
#134
Thumpin6string said:
Actually, the real bedliner material can take a major beating without tearing. That is why it is used in pickup beds. The cheap spray can stuff is not very resilient. I had to repair collision damage on a bed that had the spray on liner and it was almost impossible to get off, even with a grinder.
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Didn't the Mythbusters pretty sucessfully 'bomb proof' a cinder block wall by giving it a skin of ( real) bedliner? And attack dog proof a set of denims iirc?

It must have some impressive tensile strength of its own .
 
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#136
I can understand that fabrics can be more abrasion and tear-resistant than vinyls and other synthetic sheets, but I'm curious why the industry settled on carpet-style covers rather than canvas. There are some nylon canvases that are very abrasion- and tear-resistant, and might even cost less.
 
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#139
I've never had one. I only have 2 pretty good practice amps, a Roland and a Orange. But I like the idea of the carpet to absorb vibrations, and hate the idea for all the reasons you guys say, stinky, gets dirty without looking after them, frazzled looking. What's some better options that would still give me the vibration absorbing that I want?
 

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