Grateful Dead Music Forum

I'm loving my new Rat 2 (the one with the on/off LED).

Folks usually think of this pedal as a blistering distortion box. But the next time you get your hands on one from a friend or in a store, try this and report your findings:

- Crank the volume full on
- Slightly up the distortion until the output is just above unity gain
- Set the filter to taste around 2 o'clock

You may be surprised by what you hear.

Peter Buck of R.E.M. used one of these with great results. It is a very, very versatile distortion!

Having had more time now to play around with this bad boy of a pedal, here's my second tip for maximizing its value for Jerry tone. If you normally run a preamp pedal (Doozy Boost, Pegasus Boost, etc.) before your drive pedals, for the Rat, add one after it. That's because the former way, the Rat just gets nastier, but the latter way, the Rat's basic tone is preserved while combining with the boost to goose your amp in a most toneful way.

May I also add, in this pedal by Mu-Tron, one of the included circuits ("Slacker") is the Rat. I think this represents additional, independent confirmation of its value for Jerry tone!

>> Stompbox fans from both camps will get a kick out of the Boston 3 from Beigel’s newer pedal-building concern, Mu-FX. Born of a collaborative effort with software specialist/working musician Rand Anderson and longtime Beigel design partner Richard Lingenberg, it's a cool amalgamation of Alembic Strat-o-Blaster-, Orange Squeezer-, and RAT-inspired circuits in an all-in-one drive that reflects the spirit of inspired recombination that defined Mu-Tron effects, from the Volume-Wah to the Bi-Phase. https://www.premierguitar.com/gear/mu-f ... n-3-review

Jon S. wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 10:09 am May I also add, in this pedal by Mu-Tron, one of the included circuits ("Blacker") is the Rat. I think this represents additional, independent confirmation of its value for Jerry tone!

"Slacker", not Blacker.

I guess I need to wear my reading glasses now even when looking at internet pictures.

Corrected.

I remember I really like this setting for bass back in the day though i never used it for guitar I think. Makes sense that it gets Jerry from what I remember it did for bass.

Also the rat isnt far from the distortion plus circuit-wise. The you-dirty-rat has germanium diodes like it too. It may be able to server double-duty for jerry tones. That is if it is bearable through a JBL