Rat fur!!!! Why do amps have Rat fur?!

[seamonkey]

I just decided to de-fur my old swr cab. Everytime I walked past it, i'd get a big wiff of smoke and stale beer. I was planning to use that bed liner coating, but after I sanded all of the carpet adhesive off, i thought the wood was too pretty to cover back up, and decided to use some stain and poly. I'm much happier now

That does look good.

Now you need a nice cover to protect it from getting scuffed up. Might I suggest a rat fur?

 

[GregC]

I don't care much for rat fur (I get itchy just coming in contact with it), so I've been lucky--the amps and cabs I've wanted have been tolex-covered. Rips and chips? Well, that's what covers are for.

 

[Awesomenaut]

I just decided to de-fur my old swr cab. Everytime I walked past it, i'd get a big wiff of smoke and stale beer. I was planning to use that bed liner coating, but after I sanded all of the carpet adhesive off, i thought the wood was too pretty to cover back up, and decided to use some stain and poly. I'm much happier now

Holy crap! That was under the carpet on your SWR cab? That's amazing.

 

[GBassNorth]

That used to be a problem, I used to have to keep my rig in the truck. If I brought it in the house, my wife would instantly get a headache. That was back when 1. I was playing all the time, often 5-nighters, and 2. I still had a wife.

These days it's not legal to smoke in most of the places I play. But after schlepping dozens of speaker cabs & amps w/rat fur for nearly 40 years, I've developed a new problem with rat fur. Just in the last couple of years, when I pick up a cab, where my wrists/arms touch the rat fur, I get a red irritated spot, like an allergic reaction. Cabs I've had for 20 years, and the combo amp I bought last year, are all doing this to me. Rinsing the spot w/water doesn't help, but it does go away after a while.

Maybe your rat fur has fleas

 

[GBassNorth]

Any piece of musical gear that requires a trim/haircut, shampoo, vacuum, and a hair drier is not for me!

No one has yet to answer why no guitar amps use this type of covering.

Hey, if it's good enough for your lead singer it's good enough for your cab.

 

[Tarfinger]

I knew a fella who hated it, and he took to a heat gun to remove it. He noticed that it hardened up when he put the heat to it. He did this to all his furry cabs and wanted to do mine. I said nah. It did change the characterists of the fur.

 

[prd004]

It just occurred to me the rat fur on my eden cab and my PA mains look nappy and dirty and fuzzy and I hate it. But, I have a pair of Carvin Monitors which are at least fifteen years old and they are covered in a dark grey-ish carpet style covering that looks sensational still! No fuzz, no pine needles, no animal hair, nothing, they still look real good. If they could make good coverings then how come they can't now?

 

[lowend1]

Look at Fender SS guitar amps from the early 90s - lotsa fuzzy stuff.

 

[BogeyBass]

Rat Fur = Suck

Burn it, throw it in the trash

use rat fur and you will never get laid and your wife will get fat.
It smells, looks dumb and attracts everything useless.

Its not your fault, its the rat fur! change your life now before its to late.

 

[Frankjohnson]

Rat Fur = Suck

Burn it, throw it in the trash

use rat fur and you will never get laid and your wife will get fat.
It smells, looks dumb and attracts everything useless.

Its not your fault, its the rat fur! change your life now before its to late.

this sounds like Vince for Slap Chop!
Love My Nuts!
Quit having a boring Tuna - Quit having a boring Life!

 

[iriegnome]

My first Rat Fur cabinet was a 1988 Peavey 1516 that I got with my very first SWR SS-180. I kind of like the rat fur. To me it is a less harsh look. Anyway, 20+ years later, my cabinets are all rat fur. 2 of the cabinets are 6 years old now and look like they just came out of the box. The 3rd cabinet (My SWR Bass Monitor) is going on 15 years old. 1 corner is pulling up, but nothing else is wrong with it. Since we play 60 to 80 shows a year in all sorts of indoor and outdoor environments, I guess I really have nothing bad to say about rat fur, but to each his own.. Fight the good fight my bass brother.

 

[Robal]

What's the earliest commercial bass amp that used it? The earliest I recall was Cerwin Vega, using light grey carpet, on their big folded horn cabs. They were awkward to move and I am sure that tolex would not have lasted very long.

 

[hwystar]

The words "vacuum" and "bass cabinet" should never have to be used in the same sentence.

 

[skychief]

fresh out of the box, gimme tolex. For a gigging workhorse, ill take the rat fur. in 12 years the rat fur will always stand up better than tolex. Tolex gets tears and dimples whereas the rat fur masks these little injuries. That said, the only person really interested in the visual appearance of the cab is the player. The audience couldnt care less.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

The only tolex I have seen have wear problems is the flat Marshall style. The pebbly Peavey type seems to hold up very well. I don't know if it is the glue or the backing material? I have owned several peavey cabs and amps that endured much abuse without ever peeling or tearing. For that matter I toured an old Acoustic 106 2-15" cab for years (90-94) and never put a tear in that tolex. That mind you was with MANY drunken load outs!
Rat fur seems more durable but IME it is just equivalent to good tolex. Grey fender/crate style rat fur is hideous!

 

[Dan Knowlton]

Apparently, to keep my cat happy!

Dan K.

 

[zachoff]

rat fur + cat fur = recipe for disaster. My dumb old Yorkville combo had that stuff on it. Sucked & impossible to keep clean.

 

[dukeisdog]

Yup, I have pets. 2 dogs and a cat actually, and my Neo Avatar 212 is always full of hair. I wish I would've spent the extra money and gotten tolex, but it just needs a quick vacuum before I leave the house, so its not a big deal.

 

[Mr.Bassie720]

My first Rat Fur cabinet was a 1988 Peavey 1516 that I got with my very first SWR SS-180. I kind of like the rat fur. To me it is a less harsh look. Anyway, 20+ years later, my cabinets are all rat fur. 2 of the cabinets are 6 years old now and look like they just came out of the box. The 3rd cabinet (My SWR Bass Monitor) is going on 15 years old. 1 corner is pulling up, but nothing else is wrong with it. Since we play 60 to 80 shows a year in all sorts of indoor and outdoor environments, I guess I really have nothing bad to say about rat fur, but to each his own.. Fight the good fight my bass brother.

My 1st 8x10 was a Peavey 810TX. 15 years and thousands of hard miles later, it still looks great. A very stiff brush cleans it perfectly. I have used the stiff brush cleaning technique maybe 3 or four times in the 15 years. More importantly. The Peavey's kevlar impregnated speakers are still going strong.

 

[fourteenstrings]

What's the earliest commercial bass amp that used it? The earliest I recall was Cerwin Vega, using light grey carpet, on their big folded horn cabs. They were awkward to move and I am sure that tolex would not have lasted very long.

I believe you are correct, Cerwin Vega may have been the first to use it, at least on a mass-production basis. My Cerwin Vega BG250 head and B215 cabinet were covered with it, as were most of their stage products from the 70s and 80s.

I think the carpet that was used at first by Cerwin Vega was different than the "Rat Fur" material we see today. Today's covering seems to be almost felt-like, and does not wear gracefully. As I recall (and its been a few years...) the stuff Cerwin Vega used in the 70s/80s had a different feel and texture and seemed to hold up better physically (although smoke and other smells were still a problem, as was spilled beer). I was a huge Cerwin Vega fan back in the day and used their bass amp, PA, and monitors almost exclusively, and never had the early stuff look as bad as today's carpet covering gets. The cat sure does like it, though.