Mid-Teenage pedal crisis

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Sun Apr 04, 2010 6:43 pm

shae wrote:
I sold all my gear and started buying up about 18 months ago. I started by replacing my RAT with an older one. It was a world of difference as far as I was concerned. I was already familiar with the pedal. Trick with the RAT is to not turn the distortion knob all the way up. Use your filter and tone knob on your guitar carefully. And now days, I mostly use it as a boost anyway. I picked up a Vexter BOR a couple years prior so I took the plunge on a hand painted one. Again, given that I was a little familiar, and HP ones are identical to the Vexters, I was pretty happy to keep on purchasing. Next came the two 'left field' pedals. AD900 was bought off a friend and replaced what was first a DD-3 then OceanFX Vintage Echo (two built in one). First time I stepped foot in true 'vintage' land. And holy crap. I loved what it did to my tone, it isn't transparent by any means and the UFO sounds are FAT. I tried a lot of analog delays since then (Big box Memory Man, DM-2/3, Memory Boy, etc) and nothing comes 'thumpingly' close.

I don't use my RAT as much anymore (playing a lot of melodic stuff lately) and if I do it's as a boost due to the SHO being on all the time. Makes me sound like I have AlNiCo speakers. Bit more depth and less bite. Anyway I've never used settings off the internerds and since buying the vintage RAT (this was before the RAT craze I've noticed on a lot of the forums) I just gave up listening to people. I was being told to get OCDs, Timmys, BYOCs, etc etc........

And just so everyone is clear. World of difference between vintage RAT and newer reissues. Sound wise maybe similar but the way the knobs work, etc makes the vintage ones more appealing to me for adjusting on the fly as well as more 'sweet spots' than my RI one (I ab'd them for 6 months before selling, my RI was an early one too).

less_cunning · Post by **less_cunning** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 3:47 am

cobascis wrote:I'm going through with the reduction..

I wasn't really happy with my FX tone throughout practice. The SP Aenima is cool, but it is to sqealy and hard to adjust for my tastes. I've already had a craigslist bite for it. There is an Dwarfcraft Eau Claire thunder on offset which I'm looking at.

Any of you guys have an eau claire, I think rob has one. From what I've seen it seems versatile from tame to rawr.

i wish i had the cash i'd take the SP-AE off yr handz but i'm mega-broke & i have other pedals i need ahead in line.

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:15 am

Yo Pens, you have a whiteface correct?

What do you think about it? I'm looking at buying this one.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 12:26 pm

cobascis wrote:Yo Pens, you have a whiteface correct?

What do you think about it? I'm looking at buying this one.

That's a late 70's/early 80's, correct? That should be perfect. I have an '86, it remains my main dirt pedal for the last 13 years. I've tried other dirt pedals and tried to replace it, but it always ends up back on my pedal board.

Before saying "DO IT", how much is that one going to run you? Don't pay an insane amount, though the good LM308 ones are running close to $200 on ebay.

As said before, keep the Dist knob backed off, the sweet spots are all in the 9-2 o'clock ranges.

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 7:39 pm

Its an 85 for 200$. I can work the guy down to 180$ or so.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 7:49 pm

cobascis wrote:Its an 85 for 200$. I can work the guy down to 180$ or so.

Try for $180.

Fucking fuck I should build a few more Rats with these LM308/LM318 chips I still have lying around and sell them for $80.

Though I think I'd rather just make another one with a Big Muff tone stack on it instead.

Chicago Mike · Post by **Chicago Mike** » Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:16 am

Will wrote:I don't know that the difference between vintage/new Rats amounts to much more than mojo.

To my ears, I can say there is a big difference. I've had an old vintage rat and it really had almost fuzz like qualities. You could dial it down and get some awesome overdrives too.

I've had a couple newer models and flipped them quickly. They were much more abrasive and scooped compared to the old one I had.

Regarding the DLS, I've got one of Mike's and man it really is the best light - mid overdrive/distortion pedal I've owned. You won't get the grind of the rat but it's quite pleasing to the ears/mix.