Just traded my Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone Compressor for an early 90's Rat 2 with the LM308 chip and I am pretty damn impressed with it.
I have the drive at 12, filter completely clockwise (treble dialed out) and the volume maxed. It's very responsive to changes on my volume knob, so I can go from clean to overdrive and up to balls-out lead in one pedal. With the drive at noon, it is comparable to 2 TS9's stacked, but less noise and feedback. It has a bit of a more rock/distortion texture, a little grittier than a TS, but definitely a sweet pedal. Stacking the lower gain TS into it is also a super classic and awesome mix.
Its got a solid midrange like a TS as well and I think these can be had for around $100. Definitely a pedal I would suggest people check out and I am pretty picky of anything aside from a TS9, but Tea Leaf Green and Sco made me want to give one a try (I think I tried one many years ago). Also, I do enjoy a Fuzz Face, but none of them have enough mids and the Rat has a fuzz-like quality.
Definitely a worth while trade, I will need more time with it to see if I keep both TS9's and the Rat on my board (which I have now) or if I will pick between the higher-gain TS and the Rat to pair with the low-gain TS.
Just saw this post... I'm considering getting a RAT.
It's still on my board and I use it pretty often. There are a lot of iterations of the Rat and people who argue whether one version vs another makes a difference - this is the only one I have owned, so I can't comment, but I figured the Rat 2 is the best option; smaller size, still has the classic Rat rep with the LM308 and a good 20+ years of component drift. Other people argue there is more difference between any two Rat pedals than between models. Who knows...
I keep switching between keeping the drive knob at 12 and maxed; maxed is far more distortion than I need, but has an awesome Fuzz Face quality mixed into it. It has more bass than a TS and that comes out a bit more as the drive knob is turned up, so I largely use it with my bridge pickup. However it cleans up nicely and has more chime than a TS, which goes really well with my neck humbucker (if the drive is maxed, I can't get completely clean).
I also keep the Filter knob clockwise (least amount of treble).
It has plenty of mids, and a fairly similar midrange quality to a TS, so I like that about it, but ultimately a different texture and feel compared to a TS. It is a great alternative sound, but won't replace a TS with the drive maxed if you are really going for Trey's sound; listen to Tea Leaf Green's album Seeds. You can hear he usually uses the Rat, but sometimes a TS for leads.
Its also much quieter than a TS. The only issue is, at least the one I have, takes opposite polarity power compared to today's standard. Mine came with a simple adapter to put on the end of the power supply. If you find one at a good price, I would pick it up; they have been classic pedals for a while and I suspect the value of the original and Rat 2 models will continue to rise.
I have a 96 rat on ebay right now. Lm308 chip.
Not going for Trey's sound at all. Maybe I'm growing up :)
I like my TS9 for a "baseline" pedal, all settings relatively low. I want to add another pedal for blast off. A lot of players I love (Jeff Beck, Sco, Gilmour, Frisell, Andy Summers, Stephen Malkmus, Nels Cline, Jerry Cantrell) use or have used a RAT so I figure it might be nice to get one and play around with it.
A $30 MXR Classic Distortion has been good enough for me. I run the gain really low, only at 9-10 o'clock. It actually sounds pretty close to a TS9, a a/b'ed it against an Analogman TS9 Dlx and at some settings they sounded exactly the same.
Quote from: Stecks on November 30, 2012, 11:39:01 AM
Not going for Trey's sound at all. Maybe I'm growing up :)
Yup...I have noticed that trend in myself lately as well.
I have the money to buy the more interesting pedals, but I end up liking the sound of the cheaper ones better. For instance just grabbed a Cool Cat Vibe for $40 and love it. Nails the sound I wanted and has a mix knob. Ugly little pedal however. If it was in a cool black box it would look/sound like it cost $200.
My other favorite lately is an old MXR Distortion+ turned almost all the way down. Perfect tone for me. Put both my TS9s on the shelf.