Which Rat clone?

[Systolic]

Will probably never take it to the insane level. Not doing the Stoner/Doom thing. More of the Nirvana/Tool/AIC thing. Never had a Rat before so I'm a little in the dark.

Just needs to take active basses well. Low end loss is certainly a pet peeve of mine as well.

 

[Systolic]

Huh...figured there'd be more than two votes over a few hours. Weird.

 

[Flymo Wang]

I've owned a blower box and a rat king, but never got on with them. Have had a COG TK421x on my board for a couple of years, it's ace. Discontinued by COG but replacement coming v soon I believe.

 

[Systolic]

I've owned a blower box and a rat king, but never got on with them. Have had a COG TK421x on my board for a couple of years, it's ace. Discontinued by COG but replacement coming v soon I believe.

Could you comment on the real world differences between these?

 

[Flymo Wang]

well not really, i'm sure everybody hears them differently. They're all good pedals, you've just got to see what works with your setup, to your ears.

 

[TheMightyEight]

I have a Rat Tail with the second distortion and feedback mod and it's a KILLER pedal!
I don't actually tend to go that wild with it (even tho it can and I do) it's the first pedal in my dirt loop and the gain is only around 9 o clock. It's usually on all night though!!

 

[petrus61]

Isn't the MXR Bass distortion RAT based?

 

[TheMightyEight]

Isn't the MXR Bass distortion RAT based?

It is indeed.
If I wasn't so happy with my Rat Tail I would've checked one out, heard nothing but good things about them and unless I'm very much mistaken, it was designed by Ryan from Fuzzrocious....?

 

[monkeyfinger]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[monkeyfinger]

If the Volt Thrower demos on that page don't make you go 'Holy Scooby Snacks', I don't know what will.

 

[mpdd]

the rat tail and or cat tail has silicone, LED, and no diode modes as well as the option of a second distortion or a feedback loop, mine is great with an L2000 and my LB100 for nirvana/jesus and mary chain type distortion at the practice space with the gk and markbass stuff and it also excels as a more transparent od pedal with my mesa d180 at shows

 

[Jonny_Orange]

I have just received a new TK-421 the new ones are in a small case and it sounds awesome.

 

[Basshappi]

Blower Box

 

[Korladis]

Dunwich Volt Thrower

 

[Systolic]

There are no Volt Throwers to be had, new or used, that I can find .​

 

[MrPierre]

A regular RAT with the mod to retain more low-end (don't remember the name).

 

[JimmyM]

RE: MXR Bass Distortion:

It is indeed.
If I wasn't so happy with my Rat Tail I would've checked one out, heard nothing but good things about them and unless I'm very much mistaken, it was designed by Ryan from Fuzzrocious....?

Correct. It's basically a stripped down Rat Tail. Sounds freaking awesome, too.

 

[AngelCrusher]

It's hard to go wrong with a Fuzzrocious or the MXR he designed. I have a Demon that I use to get synthy and also play leads with sometimes, or just engage whenever the heck I feel like it. The best way to describe it is that it never gets fizzy or harsh, it just has a really throaty and full fuzz tone that is just awesome. I had the Blower Box, and while I liked it, it was more of a fizzy sound that was trickier to dial in the. The Demon is simple..set the volume a little unde 12, the tone a little over and same with the gain. You can adjust from there.

Highly recommend Fuzzrocious pedals. In your case, it sounds like his Rat Tail would be perfect. I love the RAT sound a lot for playing rock. I used a regular one as an always on for one band, and it sounded great. The RAT tail probably kills it since it has more low end.

 

[gelinas666]

I own "The Rat King".. Great pedal and can be adjusted to match different basses.. I'd buy another if something happened to it!

 

[gregmon79]

Will probably never take it to the insane level. Not doing the Stoner/Doom thing. More of the Nirvana/Tool/AIC thing. Never had a Rat before so I'm a little in the dark.

Just needs to take active basses well. Low end loss is certainly a pet peeve of mine as well.

Ive tried quite a few rat pedals now that I think about it

Blower Box
Rat tail
Rat king
Peavey Hotfoot
Proco Rat
Volt thrower
Vick Audio rat
Abominable DTOM
Proco SOLO
MXR Bass Dist

There are a few I still really need to try like the NYC wood cutter and the Dunno grand deceiver. I REALLY want to try the Dunno, that thing sounds like it is a total bad a$$.


I have always REALLY liked my Blower box. The BB is the one dirt pedal that has stayed on my board since the first day I got it. Some say its not very ratty, I dont agree. It's very rat like to me. Its got the LM308 in it and it sags and raunches like a rat. And oh that sweet low end!! Its so fat and juicy. It can do OD to almost fuzz. Awesome choice IMO. The active EQ is really strong and it receives active basses wonderfully.

Just about all the rats I've tried accept active basses very well just an FYI

I liked the Volt thrower but it didnt really agree with my ear. Wouldnt have been my first choice, but I cant form a good opinion on it as I only spent maybe 20 min with it and that was with someone elses rig.

The Fuzzro Rat tail just rules (these are now called CAT Tail or CAT King. He had to change the name so he didnt get sued)!!! I actually have a RT w/ 2nd dist mod and a blower box on my board. They both sound different enough for me to keep both. The RT straight rips. It's easily the raunchiest most guttural ripping dirt box on my board (EDIT: actually the B:ASSMASTER is. But thats a fuzz ). The blower box (BB) is a little smoother. And many complain about it being too scooped, which is somewhat true depending where you set your EQ. But overall, it works well in a mix IME. And it is just mean and saggy and awesome. I think it's one of the most unique rats/dirt pedals around. Matt really designed a classic when he built it IMO. And good God that RT is the bomb though. At loud volumes it's absolutely lovely. I used to have a Rat King and I really didnt think it was all that but that was over 4 years ago and I have learned A TON about dirt since then. So if I had it again today, I may feel differently. But the RT and BB would be my first choice. I actually used the RT a lot on our new EP we just dropped today. It's all over that record. It just does what it does very well. The clipping options on it are the bees knees too, really allows for a poop ton of tones.

The Peavey is great. Low end loss though. That sucks because it could be a real contender. Maybe with a blender....

The Proco and the Vick, again, low end loss. Otherwise great rats. The DTOM was really nice, but I remember struggling with it in the mix. Same with the MXR. They both sounded great, but in my bands mix they were getting lost and I couldnt dial in a sound that didnt get lost. But that again is MY bands mix. My band is a hard rock original that is akin to Tool, Incubus, QOTSA, stuff like that.