Remember when "rat fur" cabinets were the latest thing?

[Ffreddy]

tear off rat fur and paint = +100$

(in this instance the cab was selling for -$50 though, so really only +$50 on this one)

 

[JazznFunk]

Interesting.... my 2 MarkBass 2x10 Traveler neo cabs are both covered in what would generally be considered 'rat fur'.... and I bought them both within the last 2 years. So yeah... rat fur still exists. Same for my old SWR cabs. Like anything, they can either look like crap, or age 'gracefully' depending on how much work you put into keeping them maintained.... and if you have covers for the cabs. It's never bothered me. Honestly, Tolex and 'tuck and roll' always looked 'cheap' to me and was a bit of a visual turnoff.... but YMMV. The biggest downside to rat fur was doing gigs in smoky bars/clubs in the days before indoor smoking was (thankfully) banned. I think now - 14 years later - all of my old SWR cabs FINALLY don't smell like smoke anymore.

 

[bholder]

I feel like rat fur would be a nightmare at a punk show. If beer spills on it, you need some carpet cleaner to get the stain and smell out, and how many people carry Woolite in their gig bags?

I think it's a basic principle of Mathematics that the number of punk bass players who carry Woolite (or even know what it is) is exactly equaly to 0.

 

[Analogeezer]

I feel like rat fur would be a nightmare at a punk show. If beer spills on it, you need some carpet cleaner to get the stain and smell out, and how many people carry Woolite in their gig bags?

With Tolex or something like that, I could easily rip off my shirt and wipe off the spilled beer.

Go figure, my early-2000s Carvin PA has carpet (black carpet from the "Red Eye" era) as do my Bergantino 1x12 bass cabinets. The price, quality, and features of that gear was too good for the carpet to be my dealbreaker.

I remember back in the 1980's when smoking was allowed in clubs and of course EVERYBODY SMOKED IN CLUBS (even if you were not a regular smoker, smoking and drinking went together LOL).

We'd set up again after the gig for practice and as soon as I started playing my rig, puffs of cigarette odor would come emanating out from the shelf ports LOL.

Analogeezer

 

[GreyBeard]

Yup, but hey, yeah, I go all the way back to "tuck'n'roll". First band guitarist had one of these:

View attachment 4397781

(and talk about a wear maintenance nightmare - they don't look so cool patched with electrician's tape all over).

I've got some rat fur Hartke cabs from days gone by. If you keep a cover on them when they are not in use they will keep a descent look.

I still think those rolled and pleated cabs are the coolest things ever.

 

[Analogeezer]

I think it's a basic principle of Mathematics that the number of punk bass players who carry Woolite (or even know what it is) is exactly equaly to 0.

Reminds me of an article I read about the challenges of marketing to younger people. The article interviewed someone from Proctor and Gamble who said the sales of fabric softener were really tanking.

The spokeswoman said "part of the challenge of getting them to buy the product is to know it even exists. Most don't even know what fabric softener is" LOL

Analogeezer

 

[40Hz]

One advantage of that stuff is if it does get scuffed up it's a lot easier to retouch.

Just like concrete, right?

Strong. Cheap. Easy to patch.

I think I’d still rather stick with Tolex and make the minor investment required to get myself some amp covers.

 

[Jebberz]

Other advantage of Rat Fur, you can velcro your power bar to it.

However, I had an amp that grew something that looked like greenish gray mold on the rat fur. I had to steam clean it, and then no mold anymore.

 

[Analogeezer]

Just like concrete, right?

Strong. Cheap. Easy to patch.

I think I’d still rather stick with Tolex and make the minor investment required to get myself some amp covers.

Oh I vastly prefer tolex too, just pointing out the spray coating stuff tends to be pretty durable.

The DOWNSIDE to using this on cabs is a lot of the cabs that use it do not have conventional metal or plastic corners on them. If you ding a corner it's a lot harder to properly repair.

But yes, covers are a must for me, as I said I ALWAYS buy them right off because if you wait a while then you find out they are no longer available, especially if the design/dimensions change.

Analogeezer

 

[DJ Bebop]

Yup, but hey, yeah, I go all the way back to "tuck'n'roll". First band guitarist had one of these:

View attachment 4397781

(and talk about a wear maintenance nightmare - they don't look so cool patched with electrician's tape all over).

My first experience with Kustom cabinets.
I was doing lights, just getting into running sound, I was about 12-13. This gig was at Reed College. Anyway the bass player for a local Blues band, Brown Sugar had finished their set and he rolled his cabinet into the spotlights I had downstage and melted his tuck and roll something terrible.


The band in question Brown Sugar, miss you Paul very much, Jim too.

Oh my, I didn't realize that the cab in question is in this video

 

[JohnnyBottom]

Used to love my Sonic Mini 15 cab with an EV BX15 long throw speaker. Used that for many years in my youth.

 

[StereoPlayer]

Just like concrete, right?

Strong. Cheap. Easy to patch.

I think I’d still rather stick with Tolex and make the minor investment required to get myself some amp covers.

Eh, vinyl(plastic) and concrete…

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I still remember the first one I saw, I had a bass player friend who always bought the latest stuff and I go to their practice place to hang out and he had a new Hartke 4 x 10", this was probably 1985?

Anyway he was showing me the cab and I noticed the carpet covering; he said "yeah this stuff is great, it won't get all scarred up like tolex"

As I recall this was the promise of rat fur back then, no big scabs of tolex coming off you didn't need covers because well the things were carpet covered so indestructible right?

Boy did we ever get sucked in by that promise didn't we? LOL

Other than some super cheap stuff (maybe Seismic stuff?) can you even buy a rat fur covered cabinet anymore?

Sadly the promise of durability was a bit of a joke, and it turned out that good old tolex actually wore a lot better.

I'll confess to owning a number of rat fur covered cabinets, all purchased during the heyday of the stuff but I bought them WITH covers and used the covers religiously.

I also use a board underneath my fairly heavy racks to keep the feet from the rack from tearing up the rat fur. The net result is aside from the detritus that collects to the bottom of the things they still look great.

Anyway it's comical to look back on it now and realize that DUH, carpet wears and while you may not have big scabs of missing tolex like the old days, you kinda wind up with something that looks even worse.

Bonus points if you post pix of your rat fur cabs that have lived hard lives and look like it!

Analogeezer

My Eden cabs are closing in on 15-20 years old and quite presentable. They are no problem if you take care of them. But if you have pets, like cats with claws in tact or dogs that shed like crazy and or not real particular where the relieve themselves, or live where they are subject to a lot of dust, lint, and air pollution (bar air), I agree. Not the best option.

 

[Christophe C]

It’s a great fabric… at least it makes my cat happy

 

[ToneMonkey]

I'll have to give that a try (I used the sweater shaver thing which took the worst off), two things seem to happen with rat fur:

1. The "hair"stands up

2. Bits of it get wrapped into little "balls" that stick up

How many "shaves" do you get with a cab before the wood starts to show?

Analogeezer

Never had it happen.

 

[Lync]

<Markbass enters the chat>

 

[DJ Bebop]

So what is an option when the fur is damaged or unsightly, stripping and staining the wood, Tolexing, or just leave it nasty?

Or this...

:Ol

 

[Aloe]

Other than some super cheap stuff (maybe Seismic stuff?) can you even buy a rat fur covered cabinet anymore?

sure, I can buy a MarkBass or EBS (but in fact, I have one already).

this said, not a fan of rat fur cabs, but my cats surely are.

 

[slagbass]

My Eden cabs are closing in on 15-20 years old and quite presentable. They are no problem if you take care of them. But if you have pets, like cats with claws in tact or dogs that shed like crazy and or not real particular where the relieve themselves, or live where they are subject to a lot of dust, lint, and air pollution (bar air), I agree. Not the best option.

Agree completely. My old Hartke cabs still look good after 30-odd years of gigging. But I don't have pets and don't use my cabinets as drink tables.
That said, our old band had a set of P.A. mains covered in rat fur that someone's cat decided was a good spot to take a wizz. It was awful being in a van for a couple of hours with those speakers inside.

 

[HardNHeavy]

still using my hartke xl 4x10"... I would share a picture but it actually doesn't look bad at all since 91' when i bought it..and never needed a new cabinet. I've had dozens of cats since then, but only a few were obliged to leave their claw nails embedded into the fur on the front edges.