YARs: what’s the Rat for a Musophobe?

[VanWhy]

It's ok not to like some pedals. It sounds like you and I have the same reaction to Rats. The Katzenkönig is pretty good. Not a pedal I would use a lot but it is fun.

Does PPCB have a Katzenkoenig? I thought so but can't find it.

 

[Betty Wont]

Does PPCB have a Katzenkoenig? I thought so but can't find it.

I don't believe there is one. The Rullywow PrincessRawr is a good one in the states.

 

[Harry Klippton]

Does PPCB have a Katzenkoenig? I thought so but can't find it.

Aion Poseidon

 

[mdc]

FWIW the katzenkonig is a very cool pedal but it doesn't really sound anything like a rat, and is a lot more like a tone bender than a rat on the inside. It's also really noisy if that sort of thing bothers you.

A rat is what it is and it's fine to not like them. They're perfect pedals (imo) and (imo) every mod that goes beyond a diode toggle just makes them (imo) sound worse.

If you want a rat w/ more EQ, try the idiotbox blower box which is (iirc) a rat with a baxandall tone stack.

 

[Betty Wont]

Aion Poseidon

But Aion layouts suck and I just can't get over the stupid daughterboards. Bad for wiring and really bad for future reparability.

FWIW the katzenkonig is a very cool pedal but it doesn't really sound anything like a rat, and is a lot more like a tone bender than a rat on the inside. It's also really noisy if that sort of thing bothers you.

This^^!! It is one of the noisiest pedals I've ever heard.

 

[Laundryroom David]

But Aion layouts suck and I just can't get over the stupid daughterboards. Bad for wiring and really bad for future reparability.

This^^!! It is one of the noisiest pedals I've ever heard.

Yeah, it is tremendously noisy. Fun but easily the highest noise floor of any circuit I’ve ever tried.

 

[music6000]

FWIW the katzenkonig is a very cool pedal but it doesn't really sound anything like a rat, and is a lot more like a tone bender than a rat on the inside. It's also really noisy if that sort of thing bothers you.

A rat is what it is and it's fine to not like them. They're perfect pedals (imo) and (imo) every mod that goes beyond a diode toggle just makes them (imo) sound worse.

If you want a rat w/ more EQ, try the idiotbox blower box which is (iirc) a rat with a baxandall tone stack.

 

[HamishR]

When I first built a Katzenkönig (on vero) I thought it was a modified Muff!

 

[Feral Feline]

... I also question if people actually "like" something when they hit like....
...

Maybe they just like the art work, but not the circuit.
Maybe they hit like because the builder overcame adversity trouble-shooting the build, but they could care less about Fuzz.
Maybe if they'd seen the post an hour earlier when in a better mood they would have hit "" instead of "".
Maybe they only liked it because the side-jacks of the build prevented them from hitting "".
Maybe they like it for reasons only known to them.
Maybe, like, you know, I'm like, overthinkering, like this whole like you know "like" thing.

So he was like "blah blah blah" and then she was totally like "uh-huh" and so I was like... like... like whateverrrr.​

FWIW
I didn't like your Dingo-Rat build, I LOVED IT!
And the build report was pretty cool, too.
Have you tried the LM308 in it yet?





@Bricksnbeatles
Maybe just build a LM308 circuit that's not a Rat, the Roger Mayer Mongoose or Voodoo (build the Voodoo Bass, IMO).
Chuck's messed about with it, there's some info in the Boneyard about it.


Or Drolo's Giant HogWeed. A mashup that includes FoxxToneMachine octave-UP and octave-DOWN from Joe Davisson’s Shocktave then pumped through Roger Mayer's Mongoose.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

Definitely gonna give this a go at some point. I generally really like the stuff idiotbox does. I know the blower box is more of a bass pedal— I haven’t really thought about it before, but I may very well like rat type circuits on bass, but I’ve only ever played guitars thru em.

FWIW
I didn't like your Dingo-Rat build, I LOVED IT!
And the build report was pretty cool, too.
Have you tried the LM308 in it yet?

Ditto on that. That build was killer— first time a rat really piqued my interest, and it made me check out some demos, which prompted the thread.

Maybe just build a LM308 circuit that's not a Rat, the Roger Mayer Mongoose or Voodoo (build the Voodoo Bass, IMO).
Chuck's messed about with it, there's some info in the Boneyard about it.


Or Drolo's Giant HogWeed. A mashup that includes FoxxToneMachine octave-UP and octave-DOWN from Joe Davisson’s Shocktave then pumped through Roger Mayer's Mongoose.

Drolo stuff is rad, and octaves are always a good time. I’ll have to look up some vids of that, but the FTM has one of the gnarliest octaves in such a great way. I’ll check out Chuck’s threads on the circuits above too.

Philosophical question— since the rat is such a basic circuit, is it still a rat if you take only the clipping stage and replace the filter with a different EQ of some sort? I could see it convincingly argued either way

 

[Feral Feline]

Hell yeah it is.
My 2¢.
If you stick a GB-7 before or after a Rat and molest the Rat's tone with exaggerated EQ curves, is it still a Rat?

Here's 4¢:
Replace the filter with a 3-band EQ. I've got an older GuitarPCB Rat PCB and Barry's TwEQ — I was thinking of combining them at one time. Now I'm thinking of it again.


I never liked the Rat 'til I built my Filigree Siberian Hamster (on BYOC's 1590A board), and it's the only Rat I've completed so far — so take anything I say with a proverbial grain of salt. Some thoughts...

Nota Bene, if you're after a Rat, the Reutz mod changes the character of the Rat or so I've read. Softens it. Well, who cares, if it sounds good it is good, but some people don't like the Reutz mod.

Bass
Rats on bass tend to lose a lot of low end, or so sayeth nearly all bass players. Chuck has some mods in the Boneyard to counter that, which I would like to try. For my Sib-Hamster build, I went with Gord Trantner's bass mods. Subsequently got to play my DB through the Hamster at a gig and it was glorious.

I've heard nothing but good things on TalkBass 'bout the Blower Box, so that's on my build list. Also highly revered by many bass players is the Dunwich VoltThrower, which is now available in a variety of DIY formats. I'm partially finished populating my ELS (Effects Layouts' Storyboardest) version, the Pepperbox. Fuzzonaut just posted a build with a clean blend and so I may have to do so as well.


I'd say, break out the breadboard and get the core rat circuit down on it and then start tweaking it:
Dingo/VFE (soft clipping on a Rat? Okaydokay!)
Blowerbox
VoltThrower
etc...

 

[Laundryroom David]

but some people don't like the Reutz mod.

Guilty. I very much dislike it. But I won’t judge anyone who does like it.

Much.

 

[DGWVI]

Definitely gonna give this a go at some point. I generally really like the stuff idiotbox does. I know the blower box is more of a bass pedal— I haven’t really thought about it before, but I may very well like rat type circuits on bass, but I’ve only ever played guitars thru em.


Philosophical question— since the rat is such a basic circuit, is it still a rat if you take only the clipping stage and replace the filter with a different EQ of some sort? I could see it convincingly argued either way

I always run the Filter fully counter-clockwise, so in my eyes- yes. The filter on the rat isn't like the tone pot on a muff or tube screamer, it doesn't really add or detract any character- just cuts the highs

Not exactly the same as the Blower Box, but the Cattle Driver on PPCB is basically a soft-clipped Rat with two band EQ. The EQ is set up differently than the IdiotBox, but it's full of great sounds, and would be easy enough to mod to be closer to a typical Rat

If you're wanting a brighter, trashier kinda garage rock type feel, I think the Irrlicht, while actually being a modified Dist+, is awesome. It replaced the lower gain Rat on my board for my clangy drive tones