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

[sacahill42]

Thinking back to rat fur, a lot of the great brands (SWR, Eden) had them but I don't recall Ampeg or GK debasing themselves to doing that. Did I remember this correctly?
Analogeezer

I had a 115 cab from GK in the mid 80s that was covered in rat fur. I can't find a picture of it but it was this same cab (mine was not so ratty looking):

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

A few years back I donated it along with a 200W head to a local music program. Probably still going strong!

 

[Jefenator]

Up close in the cold light of day, sure you can tell my old rat fur cabs have seen some action. But not from a few paces back; not in any photos I have. That's why I can't join in on the hating.

 

[Hundred proof]

This little 1x15 has been my long term go-to bar gig cab. For how I use it, the finish works better than tolex, must be a better grade of covering as it doesn’t pill and ball up (still looks new)

 

[Shepsdad]

I bought a really nice Fender M80 2x12 last winter, it may actually be THE same amp I owned back in 92-93. It’s a 92 model, and has rat fur AND a vinyl cover!

 

[frankie5string]

What made it doubly suck was when smoking was banned in pubs and restaurants in Toronto, but you had these dudes walking in with rat-fur cabinets that just wreaked of ciggy smoke... I was thrilled when smoking was forbidden in those places but some of those rigs stannnnk like they were smoking for the musician.

People used to complain all the time how hard it was to get the smell out of rat fur cabs.

My Markbass NY121 cab has a Van-Dyke beard from using the velcro wedge Markbass sold for it.

 

[steelbed45]

Yep, there are still new rat fur cabs. Besides Glockenklang, Vanderkley comes to mind in the higher end.

 

[Robscott]

I have two Vanderkley cabs in rat fur. They are superb cabs and go everywhere with their covers on. Look brand new. However if I am playing a roughhouse they stay at home and I rock out my old beater which is a GK in tolex. It sticks to the floor somewhat but does the job

 

[Michedelic]

That's my only deal breaker for a cab or a combo.
That fur collects every bit or dirt and dust from the surroundings.
Most of the time it gets so gross I'm afraid what disease I would catch from it.

Just shave it.

 

[duderasta]

This CMD 121p & NYC 121 I just sold are carpeted. The Genzler Rig I bought is nice tolex

 

[Michedelic]

What was worse were the lesser brand ratfur covered rack cases, which meant that they were constructed of 1/2” or 3/4” ply; add those old school power amps, and….ouch. They were cheaper than Anvils, that was the only attraction(pre-SKB). Then there were the pedalboard boats/coffins, with the detachable
lids. Yeah, you could velcro your stompboxes down, but there was no tilt. Once again, ply construction(and pre-Pedaltrain). I bought one at a garage sale that Poison’s C.C.Deville was having, no roadie came with it. Got rid of it two years later. Definitely not ‘Nothin’ But A Good Time’.

 

[rtav]

The only rat fur cab I have is one of my Trace Elliot 4052h "Brite Boxes" (the other one is black tolex), and it's one rat fur cab too many.

 

[Unmost]

I shaved my Markbass rig a couple times. Never would have thought it was a thing...

 

[Killing Floor]

Jaco didn’t need rat fur…

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Rat fur covering is durable, but begins to smell like the trash can where bars / clubs dump ash trays and throw empty beer cans. I’ve had a few trucks with camper shells, and opening the back window of the camper shell to unload on a hot Sunday morning makes you begin to dislike rat fur greatly….

Old Peavey Tolex might be the same stuff that was on the heat shield of the old space shuttles.

 

[DJ Bebop]

One word.....microfiber!

 

[arbiterusa]

Love the rat fur. Doesn't get all janky and messed up looking after it's been gigged a few hundred times, unlike tolex.

Every few months, hit it with a tape roller to get the dog hair and bar crap off. About once a year, I hit it with a hair trimmer to get the pills off. My most recent cabs are over eight years old - SWR Golights - and look brand new. I don't use covers and don't baby them.

 

[Ductapeman]

Two winters ago, when the local waterways flooded, the water pushed a bunch of rats uphill into the storage room I had rented-- and the rats ate half the rat fur off my Gallien-Krueger 15" combo amp, along with most anything else they could reach. To be fair they also ate about 15% of the underlying plywood, and the speaker cone, and oddments-- I've been too mad about it to really look at it yet. And I too had a Kustom 100-watt head as a much younger man. Not the strongest tone by a long shot, but it always worked, which was important to us then. Still is, actually, though we've learned a few things about tone too, in the intervening decades.

 

[74hc]

I will go out on a limb and say that rat fur was used for cost-cutting.

 

[Ronzo]

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.

.
Yeah, but how many Naugas had to die to make those cabs? Huh?

My Avatar cabs from the early 2000s still retain some of my late kitty’s fur 8 years after he passed. Nothing gets it all. Not even duct tape.

 

[pfschim]

I had/have tolex covered cabs forever, from my original Fender Bassman rig circa 1967, right up to my current go-to Berg NV212t cab.
Some of the toughest tolex covering material I've ever seen is the Rhino stuff Mesa uses on some items. Super thick and very tough.
I've had the Kustom tuck and roll vinyl cabs (in lovely blue sparke). They were pretty tough, but the vinyl could scuff and tear fairly easily in late night load outs.
I've only owned one rat fur covered item .. an Eden/Nemesis NC4x10 combo that had very trimmed down rat fur. Worked ok, but it's long gone.
I seem to recall that the Bergantino NV610 originally came out in rat fur before Jim B changed it to tolex.

they all have their issues, but they also generally seem to work just fine.