rwl
Well-known member
- Build Rating
This is a report on my build of the Harrier Distortion, based on the venerable Proco RAT. I was been interested in doing my own layouts of "classic" pedals, and of course the RAT fits the bill.
Inspiration
I knew I wanted some kind of "rat"-themed pedal, and I liked the way the Shika Fuzz turned out, so I went with a similar idea of the naming the pedal after the predator of the pedal or theme animal. I've done a few owl pedals, and so I figured I'd try a different rat-eating bird of prey, the Harrier. In the PNW we have the Northern Harrier. Not the most common bird normally, these are very easy to see in the Skagit delta in Washington, where there can literally be dozens in farm fields in the right season.
They're cool birds because they're raptors that tend to stay low - if you see a bird of prey not flying up high, swooping around open fields in daylight, odds are it's a harrier (in Skagit, short-eared owls are also common and have similar behavior - and actually harriers look a bit like owls themselves, since they have a face disc). Harriers can also kind of hover, so they gave their name to a VTOL aircraft. They're just a lot of fun, unless you're a rodent.
I'm very happy with the design. It's not a full-bleed print - I'm relying on the blue background of the pedal and the overall shape and orientation of the harrier with respect to the foreground rat is perfect. And I'm pretty happy with the rat silhouette as well!
The Build
It's a simple build with a relatively low parts count. I sprung for the LM308 for this build. I think I messed up the pinout for the 2N5458 and had to move the middle pin to the outside. Besides that, the pedal fired right up and worked like a charm. I used sheathed wiring for this build.
The Pedal
Well, it's iconic for a reason. There's not a lot for me to say about the RAT that hasn't been said. I think this is among my favorite "classic" pedals, since it's surprisingly versatile (going from a light overdrive to distortion) and just sounds good. I'd definitely recommend building one if you haven't. I haven't made too many RAT-based pedals, but I think I prefer the Katzenkoenig (my King Eider Fuzz), which is half-RAT/half-Tonebender, to the original. On the other hand, I like the original more than both the Informant Overdrive and Parentheses personally, which both seem to try too hard and seem more limited. But I think I probably need to try them back-to-back or blind
.
Build rating: 5/5
Pedal rating: 5/5
Inspiration
I knew I wanted some kind of "rat"-themed pedal, and I liked the way the Shika Fuzz turned out, so I went with a similar idea of the naming the pedal after the predator of the pedal or theme animal. I've done a few owl pedals, and so I figured I'd try a different rat-eating bird of prey, the Harrier. In the PNW we have the Northern Harrier. Not the most common bird normally, these are very easy to see in the Skagit delta in Washington, where there can literally be dozens in farm fields in the right season.
They're cool birds because they're raptors that tend to stay low - if you see a bird of prey not flying up high, swooping around open fields in daylight, odds are it's a harrier (in Skagit, short-eared owls are also common and have similar behavior - and actually harriers look a bit like owls themselves, since they have a face disc). Harriers can also kind of hover, so they gave their name to a VTOL aircraft. They're just a lot of fun, unless you're a rodent.
I'm very happy with the design. It's not a full-bleed print - I'm relying on the blue background of the pedal and the overall shape and orientation of the harrier with respect to the foreground rat is perfect. And I'm pretty happy with the rat silhouette as well!
The Build
It's a simple build with a relatively low parts count. I sprung for the LM308 for this build. I think I messed up the pinout for the 2N5458 and had to move the middle pin to the outside. Besides that, the pedal fired right up and worked like a charm. I used sheathed wiring for this build.
The Pedal
Well, it's iconic for a reason. There's not a lot for me to say about the RAT that hasn't been said. I think this is among my favorite "classic" pedals, since it's surprisingly versatile (going from a light overdrive to distortion) and just sounds good. I'd definitely recommend building one if you haven't. I haven't made too many RAT-based pedals, but I think I prefer the Katzenkoenig (my King Eider Fuzz), which is half-RAT/half-Tonebender, to the original. On the other hand, I like the original more than both the Informant Overdrive and Parentheses personally, which both seem to try too hard and seem more limited. But I think I probably need to try them back-to-back or blind
.Build rating: 5/5
Pedal rating: 5/5
