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Rat issues

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It looks like when my old Ampeg cab was in the garage some rats moved in for a while... Everything works... but when I was looking through the rear ports, I noticed the droppings...

Ok, got the garage vacuum and cleaned up some rat poop inside it... but I am thinking of what to do next. Since everything seems to work, I guess I just need to clear out the acoustic material that's in the bottom of this duder, replace it, and then cover the ports up.

One thing is the amount of acoustic material seems pretty low. Not sure if the rats were eating it or carrying it off somewhere else... but I am guessing it used to have more than it does now. Ampeg Yamaha does not have any info on my old PR212 cab. I guess that was not transferred to the new owners. Any tips on how much fluff to add back to this cab? Generally, I wish i could just make it like it was... I just don't know how it was.

Also, would speaker covers like these be open enough to cover my cabs rear ports without issue?

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Are you talking about actual rats here, or do you mean mice? Either way, I guarantee that they have peed in the cab. Rats carry diseases and I’d be looking at replacing all the acoustic insulation.

In the RV world we use peppermint oil to repel mice. Put a cotton ball in a dish and put a few drops of the oil on the cotton. Rodents and spiders don’t like the smell. Some people claim that dryer sheets have the same effect. Either way, your bass cab will smell better and the critters will stay away. Moth balls might work, but they also repel humans.
 
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Are you talking about actual rats here, or do you mean mice? Either way, I guarantee that they have peed in the cab. Rats carry diseases and I’d be looking at replacing all the acoustic insulation.

In the RV world we use peppermint oil to repel mice. Put a cotton ball in a dish and put a few drops of the oil on the cotton. Rodents and spiders don’t like the smell. Some people claim that dryer sheets have the same effect. Either way, your bass cab will smell better and the critters will stay away. Moth balls might work, but they also repel humans.

I can confirm this. I had issue with mice in my truck, making nest on top of cabin air filter. No clue how they were getting in there.

I resolved the issue by spraying the cabin filter with peppermint oil before installing. They never came back.

Plus the interior smelled good.
 
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Rats got into a 2x15 cab out in the garage a few years ago and ate the rubber surround outta the bottom speaker. Worse than that they chewed into the box of an old Tyco HO slot car set I had packed away decades ago and ate all the wiring out of the controls and cars. There is a reason they are called rats. :mad:
Garage storage space is well sealed now inside, but raccoons ripped thru the chicken wire into the outside underfloor insulation and tore some of that up. The joys of home ownership.
 
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