This pedal’s full name is the Acid Pig LM308 Distortion Unit. The LM308 is a type of op amp (the integrated circuit that provides gain in most overdrive/distortion circuits). For crunchaholics, the LM308 connotes one particular pedal: the original ProCo Rat. Later Rat revisions featured different op amps along with other circuit changes. But for many fans of this potent and popular circuit, real Rats employ LM308s.
The Acid Pig is an excellent Rat reproduction, but it’s also more than just a clone. Like a number of current boutique Rat replicas, it expands the circuit’s range with modifications that can alter the distortion’s character and intensity. This is a retro Rat with improved range.
Rat on!
The Acid Pig resides in a standard 125B enclosure with top-mounted jacks. Internal construction is immaculate: Wires are neatly routed, soldering is flawless, and the PCB is secured to the housing via the Pig’s two switches. Either a 9-volt battery or a standard power supply (not included) can power the Pig.
The pedal’s three pots—gain, tone, and level—mirror the Rat. So do the tones when the switches are set to mimic the original circuit. (More on that in a moment.) The Pig sounds as good as any Rat I’ve heard. If you dig the Rat sound, you won’t be disappointed.
That sound is, for better or worse, strongly linked to ’80s hard rock, but you don’t have to love Ratt to love the Rat. Harder-edged than a Screamer and more tightly focused than a ’60s-style transistor-based fuzz, the core distortion sound lends itself to any aggressive guitar style requiring loud, bright distortion and strong note attack. The tone control is a simple treble roll-off, but it’s perfectly voiced to emphasize pick attack and dial in the right amount of edge. There’s massive gain range. The pedal can get insanely loud, yet it retains its essential character at modest output settings that don’t bludgeon your preamp—a great recipe for tight, chunky hard rock chords.
In fact, many modern metal and hard rock players will probably relate to the Pig. Even though the circuit that inspires it was created long before the drop-tuning and 7-string crazes, it kills on low-tuned strings. Drop-D sounds great. Baritone guitars in B or A sound great. Heck, even low-tuned bass guitars can sound great (though bassists are likely to long for a midrange tone control and a wet/dry blend).
On the other hand, the circuit is probably not a great choice for fans of warm/smooth distortion, or for players who like to sculpt tone via their guitars’ volume knobs. Rolling back a guitar’s volume a touch slims down the crunch, but you can’t really clean up the tone that way. Low guitar volume settings produce dark, tentative tones. The Pig prefers to rawk.
Ratings
Pros:
Excellent vintage Rat tones. Cool alternate sounds via diode switching.
Cons:
The tight, bright distortion doesn’t suit all styles.
Tones:
Playability/Ease of Use:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street:
$160
Acid Age Electronics
Acid Pig
Do or Diode
The Pig’s two switches provide four variations on the classic Rat tone by jiggering with the diode configuration. (Like Screamers, Rats generate distortion via a pair of diodes, though they’re inserted at a different point in the circuit, hence the Rat’s harder/edgier sound. In fact, the Rat’s circuit is surprisingly similar to that of the Boss DS-1.)
One of the three-way switch’s settings replicates the original Rat configuration (silicon diodes). Another mixes silicon with an LED, yielding even louder and tighter tones. A third option removes the diodes from the circuit altogether, generating distortion exclusively within the op amp. Diodes suck volume as they distort, so bypassing them triggers a hefty level boost. This setting has less character, but man, is it loud!
A second switch selects between overdrive and distortion modes. As you’d expect, the overdrive setting softens the Pig’s bite, though it’s still plenty aggressive. The switch provides attractive variations in both silicon and silicon/LED modes, though it has no effect when the diodes are bypassed.
The Verdict
The Acid Pig delivers stellar Rat-style distortion plus several cool and useful sonic variations. It costs nearly twice as much as a new Rat (which are now quite affordable but made overseas,) but it offers far more tones and comes packed with the coveted LM308 component that many Ratheads swear by. If you seek quality dirt, but find retro-style transistor fuzz too squishy and Screamers too tame, Acid Age Electronics may have built your perfect pigpen.
Gibson originally launched the EB-6 model with the intention of serving consumers looking for a “tic-tac” bass sound.
The Gibson EB-6 was announced in 1959 and came into the world in 1960, not with a dual-horn body but with that of an elegant ES-335. They looked stately, with a thin, semi-hollow body, f-holes, and a sunburst finish. Our pick for this Vintage Vault column is one such first-year model, in about as original condition as you’re able to find today. “Why?” you may be asking. Well, read on....
When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye. The real competition were the Danelectro 6-string basses that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and were suddenly being used on lots of hit records by the likes of Elvis, Patsy Cline, and other household names. Danos like the UB-2 (introduced in ’56), the Longhorn 4623 (’58), and the Shorthorn 3612 (’58) were the earliest attempts any company made at a 6-string bass in this style: not quite a standard electric bass, not quite a guitar, nor, for that matter, quite like a baritone guitar.
The only change this vintage EB-6 features is a replacement set of Kluson tuners.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
Gibson, Fender, and others during this era would in fact call these basses “baritone guitars,” to add to our confusion today. But these vintage “baritones” were all tuned one octave below a standard guitar, with scale lengths around 30", while most modern baritones are tuned B-to-B or A-to-A and have scale lengths between 26" and 30".)
At the time, those Danelectros were instrumental to what was called the “tic-tac” bass sound of Nashville records produced by Chet Atkins, or the “click-bass” tones made out west by producer Lee Hazlewood. Gibson wanted something for this market, and the EB-6 was born.
“When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye.”
The 30.5" scale 1960 EB-6 has a single humbucking pickup, a volume knob, a tone knob, and a small, push-button “Tone Selector Switch” that engages a treble circuit for an instant tic-tac sound. (Without engaging that switch, you get a bass-heavy tone so deep that cowboy chords will sound like a muddy mess.)
The EB-6, for better or for worse, did not unseat the Danelectros, and a November 1959 price list from Gibson hints at why: The EB-6 retailed for $340, compared to Dano price tags that ranged from $85 to $150. Only a few dozen EB-6 basses were shipped in 1960, and only 67 total are known to have been built before Gibson changed the shape to the SG style in 1962.
Most players who come across an EB-6 today think it was a response to the Fender Bass VI, but the former actually beat the latter to the market by a full year.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
It’s sad that so few were built. Sure, it was a high-end model made to achieve the novelty tic-tac sound of cheaper instruments, but in its full-voiced glory, the EB-6 has a huge potential of tones. It would sound great in our contemporary guitar era where more players are exploring baritone ranges, and where so many people got back into the Bass VI after seeing the Beatles play one in the 2021 documentary, Get Back.
It’s sadder, still, how many original-era EB-6s have been parted out in the decades since. Remember earlier when I wrote that our Vintage Vaultpick was about as original as you could find? That’s because the model’s single humbucker is a PAF, its Kluson tuners are double-line, and its knobs are identical to those on Les Paul ’Bursts. So as people repaired broken ’Bursts, converted other LPs to ’Bursts, or otherwise sought to give other Gibsons a “Golden Era” sound and look ... they often stripped these forgotten EB-6 basses for parts.
This original EB-6 is up for sale now from Reverb seller Emerald City Guitars for a $16,950 asking price at the time of writing. The only thing that isn’t original about it is a replacement set of Kluson tuners, not because its originals were stolen but just to help preserve them. (They will be included in the case.)
With so few surviving 335-style EB-6 basses, Reverb doesn’t have a ton of sales data to compare prices to. Ten years ago, a lucky buyer found a nearly original 1960 EB-6 for about $7,000. But Emerald City’s $16,950 asking price is closer to more recent examples and asking prices.
Sources: Prices on Gibson Instruments, November 1, 1959, Tony Bacon’s “Danelectro’s UB-2 and the Early Days of 6-String Basses” Reverb News article, Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, Tom Wheeler’s American Guitars: An Illustrated History, Reverb listings and Price Guide sales data.
Billy Gibbons is an undisputable guitar force whose feel, tone, and all-around vibe make him the highest level of hero. But that’s not to say he hasn’t made some odd choices in his career, like when ZZ Top re-recorded parts of their classic albums for CD release. And fans will argue which era of the band’s career is best. Some of us love drum machines and synths and others don’t, but we all love Billy.
This episode is sponsored by Magnatone
Originally released in the 1980s, the Victory has long been a cult favorite among guitarists for its distinctive double cutaway design and excellent upper-fret access. These new models feature flexible electronics, enhanced body contours, improved weight and balance, and an Explorer headstock shape.
A Cult Classic Made Modern
The new Victory features refined body contours, improved weight and balance, and an updated headstock shape based on the popular Gibson Explorer.
Effortless Playing
With a fast-playing SlimTaper neck profile and ebony fretboard with a compound radius, the Victory delivers low action without fret buzz everywhere on the fretboard.
Flexible Electronics
The two 80s Tribute humbucker pickups are wired to push/pull master volume and tone controls for coil splitting and inner/outer coil selection when the coils are split.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Gibson Victory Figured Top Electric Guitar - Iguana Burst
