Planning a RAT...

[spi]

Does anyone have the DRV 1981? How does this compare to an OG rat?

I built both. I gave the Rat away before the DRV so I never had a chance to do it side-by-side.

I think DRV is voiced toward the lower gain range of the Rat, and is more like an overdrive that gets to distortion, while Rat is an overdrive that quickly goes to distortion then to fuzz.

I've never been a huge Rat fan but did like it at the low gain settings, which in part is what motivated me to build the DRV.

 

[JamieJ]

Do you mean other than @thewintersoldier built it?

Kiss ass

 

[fig]

Quiet you...I'm working heyah.

 

[fig]

Here you go, one Rat. Sounds heavenly!

 

[jimilee]

This is a rat hole and then some. I have a modified rate 2. 3 clipping mods and a switchable ruetz mod. Got 2 rats with led 914 switching mods, then I bought a fat rat. Then I started with the Brat / Roadkill rat. That board should be here Monday. It has clipping in the feed back loop. I’m working on another one with mosfet clipping similar the fat rat but with two misfits instead of just one. There are so many variations out there. The mosfet I’m working o. Will have 2 options and a diode lift for opamp clipping.

 

[jeffwhitfield]

I cheated and used the AionFX Helios PCB for my Rat build (https://aionfx.com/project/helios-vintage-distortion/). I used a LM308N op-amp for authenticity. However, for the clipping diodes I altered the specs a little bit. The cool thing about the Helios is that it has a three-way switch for diode selection. A set of LED's is always kept inline for hard clipping. By default, AionFX specs it out with switch setting for a pair of 1N914 diodes and another for two pairs of 1N914's. I nixed the two pairs in favor for a pair of 1N34A's. So, basically, you get the standard 1N914 clipping (basic Rat flavor), LED clipping only (Rat Turbo?), and GE diodes (Dirty Rat?). Pretty much covers all the Rat most people would want I think.

 

[fig]

My BB sounds even better after putting that 30p from 1-8 instead of 1-5 . I'll put some groovy pics of squiggly lines my scope put out in the Test Kitchen...

Jeff, I used 1N4148s, a 2N5457, and a LM308N.

Derek, have you decided on what mods?

 

[Big Monk]

My BB sounds even better after putting that 30p from 1-8 instead of 1-5 . I'll put some groovy pics of squiggly lines my scope put out in the Test Kitchen...

Jeff, I used 1N4148s, a 2N5457, and a LM308N.

Derek, have you decided on what mods?

I’m going to keep it simple. 3 Knob with 3-Way switch for LEDs, Sym and Asym diodes.

 

[fig]

I’m going to keep it simple. 3 Knob with 3-Way switch for LEDs, Sym and Asym diodes.

Groovy! I'll see if I can add the same.

 

[Big Monk]

Groovy! I'll see if I can add the same.

It’s on my now short list for 2022. Next up on the bench is my Tearjerker overhaul.

 

[jeffwhitfield]

My BB sounds even better after putting that 30p from 1-8 instead of 1-5 . I'll put some groovy pics of squiggly lines my scope put out in the Test Kitchen...

Jeff, I used 1N4148s, a 2N5457, and a LM308N.

Derek, have you decided on what mods?

2N5457 here as well. With the LED hard clipping in-line after the main clipping diodes, I would imagine the 1N914’s sort of clip in a similar manner with the LED’s. They’re there no matter what so the kinda clip a bit with the other diode selections…at least I think they do.

 

[Big Monk]

@Big Monk here's a video I took last night of my SG and the rat going into a deluxe. Sorry for the low volume I'm not sure what happened there. But you get the idea. The clipping is asymmetrical and the gain us at noon.

Nice!

This is definitely on the build list for 2022.

 

[thesmokingman]

You've been planning this longer than Tayda takes to ship you the parts ...

 

[Harry Klippton]

I

So this can live in Will's head rent free @Harry Klippton

Hadn't thought about that song for like 25 years til yesterday

 

[Mike52]

I built two Rat pedals, having never played one. I tried to basically do the same thing you are doing. I installed sockets everywhere I thought a worthwhile mod could be installed. The differences are small, but I keep going back to one pedal. I thought I'd be tinkering with these a lot, but I haven't really touched them.

But PCB boards are cheap, and Rat boards are easy to find. Wouldn't it be fun to build several and use plugs for the hardware (Like an Auditorium Test Platform) so you could swap versions into your enclosure.

 

[Big Monk]

Here's another clip for @bigmonk to sink his teeth into. This is into a completely clean blackface mind you. Gain at just below noon.

That’s sounds awesome!

 

[Big Monk]

It's gonna change your world

I hope so. I’m getting tired of finicky and temperamental vintage fuzzes.

Can’t a guy just cop the tones from Old Zep, Jeff Beck “Truth” and “Echoes” and “Time” without RF, oscillation and flippin mud?

Maybe I need a Dizzy Gnat instead of MK II/Supas and Fuzz Faces

 

[thesmokingman]

So … will the universe suffer heat death before this rat happens?

 

[benny_profane]

That's why I went back to the Rat. Full circle. Push it with a tube screamer and it really sings.

Hybrid Fuzz Face (Universal Fuzz Board)

I'm doing something a bit different here, I had already built this pedal and documented it in my Universal Fuzz Board Thread. I've been talking a lot about fuzz lately, particularly about not feeling my Germanium units. As always, @thewintersoldier gets me thinking about things. In partocular...

forum.pedalpcb.com

Hitting the Brick Wall

You guys ever get that with building pedals? I just ran into my second brick wall since I got heavily into building in late 2017. in 2019 I started really getting back into building and taking more seriously. When the pandemic hit I had nothing else to do in my free time and it became a great...

forum.pedalpcb.com

 

[Harry Klippton]

Hi, dumb question: what do y'all mean when you mention oscillation with a fuzz pedal?