Lower-gain Rat alternative?

[marqueemoon]

I just re-read the OP. Am I understanding correctly that they are keeping the filter control fully counterclockwise at all times?

The filter control is key to managing the fizzy, shrill stuff. A Rat will never be transparent, but what I will usually do is dial in the gain and volume I want, then click the Rat on and off and adjust the filter control until the transition from clean to dirty feels right.

IMO the lower the gain the more at least a little filter is needed to keep things from sounding too thin.

The bass suck is real, but many dirt pedals do that. Either live or in the studio, if an amp is being miced very often a high pass filter is being applied. Putting the high pass before the amp by building it into a pedal changes how the amp responds. That interaction is part of the signature sound. The extreme example of this would be the classic Rangemaster circuit.
The treble booster I have (an Earthquaker Bows) has treble boost and full range boost modes, and they are WILDLY different.

I love experimenting with dirt pedals, but I’ve gone back to the Rat over and over because unlike many dirt pedals it works reliably in a live mix.

[GilmourD]

For anybody thinking about getting something with rodent vibes, all I have to say is... DAMN!

[budda12ax7]

Moer rat clone pedal....has some different settings.

[Shadoweclipse13]

For anybody thinking about getting something with rodent vibes, all I have to say is... DAMN!

What have you compared it to? I'm always looking for the perfect RAT-type.

[GilmourD]

For anybody thinking about getting something with rodent vibes, all I have to say is... DAMN!

What have you compared it to? I'm always looking for the perfect RAT-type.

Sadly, I haven't had anything to compare to personally, but my understanding is that it's a Rat circuit with the biggest difference being an eight-position rotary switch for selecting clipping diodes. It sounds amazeballs, regardless.

[Shadoweclipse13]

For anybody thinking about getting something with rodent vibes, all I have to say is... DAMN!

What have you compared it to? I'm always looking for the perfect RAT-type.

Sadly, I haven't had anything to compare to personally, but my understanding is that it's a Rat circuit with the biggest difference being an eight-position rotary switch for selecting clipping diodes. It sounds amazeballs, regardless.

That's awesome! I didn't know about the clipping options. That alone would be worth it

[John]

What have you compared it to? I'm always looking for the perfect RAT-type.

Sadly, I haven't had anything to compare to personally, but my understanding is that it's a Rat circuit with the biggest difference being an eight-position rotary switch for selecting clipping diodes. It sounds amazeballs, regardless.

That's awesome! I didn't know about the clipping options. That alone would be worth it

I had a 1312 for a couple of years and I think it's an incredible pedal. I ended up selling it to HNB because I generally liked to stick with the Turbo Rat setting and I already had a Turbo Rat clone. There's a lot of fantastic sounds in there though! I very highly recommend it, and a good portion of the profits are donated to charities I am happy to support.

[HNB]

My favorite RAT style pedal (and my number one distortion pedal period) is a Black Mass 1312 also. I have a pink one. The clipping options make it SO useful because you can rotate through different sounds until you hit one you like and use the three other knobs to tweak it to your liking. As someone with actual buckets of effect pedals, this is my favorite RAT also.

Controls:

Level: Controls overall output level
Filter: Turn clockwise for more treble
Gain: Controls the amount of drive/distortion
Clip: 8 Way rotary switch for selecting clipping diodes. Rotating clockwise, starting at “noon,” clipping options include:
•Vintage Germanium
•Red LEDs
•Silicon
•Asymmetrical MOSFET
•Silicon/Ge
•MOSFET
•Asymmetrical Silicon
•Quad Silicon

Power:
•Standard 2.1mm center negative power only.
•9V DC Only (can run at 18V if you change the dipswitch settings inside)
•Do not run at higher voltages, or use the wrong dipswitch settings.
•Current Draw: <100 mA
•Use an isolated power supply. Daisy chains will often work fine but can introduce unwanted noise.

[blacktiger]

I’m far from an expert when it comes to Rats, but the Joyo Splinter offers switches for fat/stock and mosfet/stock options, and it’s cheap AF. As a Rat novice, videos I’ve seen comparing it to an actual Rat were pretty convincing. I mostly use it on lower gain settings just to get a bit of thickness to my sound. It also sounds great on higher gain settings paired with a pedal that lets you boost your mids a bit. My platonic ideal for guitar sounds is pretty much Adam Franklin, and this gets me in that ballpark.

[marqueemoon]

My platonic ideal for guitar sounds is pretty much Adam Franklin, and this gets me in that ballpark.

This is a good example to go with. A Jazzmaster with the wrong dirt sound can get really hashy and shrill. Adam manages to push the limits of this, but not too far, and the sound of the instrument still comes through.