Wayback machine voyagers return with beautiful, re-energized, and super-sounding relics from the hidden corners of Orange's vaults.
A collaboration between IdiotBox Effects and grindcore outfit Dead Neanderthals yields an interesting take on the classic RAT recipe.
Handy blend control. Even raging settings have ample bass. Sludge and dBs for days.
“Dry” signal muddier and less distinct than bypassed signal. Little nuance past the first third of the distortion trimpot’s throw. Two screwdrivers necessary for dialing tones.
$119
Utech Records Rat Licker
utechrecords.com
Designed by IdiotBox Effects’ Matt Shea in collaboration with Utech Records duo Dead Neanderthals, the Rat Licker is driven by LM308 and TL072 chips and aims to expand on the classic Pro Co RAT recipe by pairing the usual distortion, filter, and volume controls (here they’re internal trimpots) with an external wet-dry blend knob. A fourth trimpot boosts the input signal.
Tested with an Eastwood baritone, a Les Paul, a Jazzmaster, and a Mustang PJ bass variously driving a Vibrolux Reverb, a Vibro Champ, and a Fender Rumble 200 bass combo, the Licker’s sonics proved of a piece with its thorn-bramble artwork. The distortion trimmer piles on shockingly aggressive, thick grind almost immediately past minimum, while taking the filter control much past full counterclockwise (where there’s ample treble and mid content for more straight-ahead rock, punk, or indie applications) balloons your signal with domineering corpulence—especially if you’re not using your bridge pickup.
Recorded with an Eastwood Sidejack Baritone DLX’s Curtis Novak JMWR neck pickup into the Rat Licker, a Gamechanger Audio Light reverb, an Ibanez Analog Delay Mini, and a ’76 Fender Vibrolux Reverb miked with a Royer R-121. Audient iD44 interface into GarageBand with no EQ-ing, compression, or effects.
- 0:00-0:17 — Rat Licker bypassed
- 0:18-0:36 — Rat Licker engaged with distortion trimpot 1/4 turn up from full counterclockwise, filter and direct trimmers completely counterclockwise, volume trimmer at noon, and blend at 25 percent.
- 0:39-0:58 — Same trimmer settings with blend at 50 percent.
- 1:00-end — Same trimmer settings with blend at 100-percent wet.
The volume trimpot ups the dBs in tandem with higher blend settings and can absolutely bombard your amp when both are maxed—a big plus if your amp gets meaner as it’s pushed. Blend capabilities may disappoint some players, as—even at minimum blend—the “direct” signal not only lacks a fair amount of the treble and high-mid content from the source signal, but is also slightly muddied by extra low-mids. However, if droning, bludgeoning, rafters-rattling mayhem is your bag, the Licker can work its filth in many useful directions. Perhaps best of all, if you’re either a bassist or play in dropped tunings, you’ll love that even massively distorted settings maintain their low end quite admirably.
Need an affordable distortion pedal? Look no further.
We live in the golden age of boutique pedals that are loaded with advanced features—many of which were nearly unthinkable a decade or so ago. But there’s something that will always be valuable about a rock-solid dirt box that won’t break your wallet. Here’s a collection of old classics and newly designed stomps that cost less than an average concert ticket.
JHS Series 3 Overdrive
This OD is part of the company’s Series 3 line which offers affordable stomps with simple control setups. Along with volume and drive controls, it offers a body knob that tweaks the EQ and a gain switch that moves between more saturated and crunchier sounds.
$99 street
Nobels ODR-Mini
Thanks to an extremely dedicated following among Nashville session cats, the other green stomp is now offered in a downsized setup. It can run up to 18V for increased headroom and sports glow-in-the-dark knobs for those extremely dark stages.
$79 street
TC Electronic MojoMojo
This all-analog distortion offers classic, vintage-inspired tones with a familiar control setup of volume, gain, bass, and treble. The real secret sauce is in the voice switch, which allows you to move between a more natural sound and a bass cut.
$59 street
Boss DS-1
Since 1978, the DS-1 has been a go-to for generations of guitarists. It offers a scooped sound that can take you from grunge to shred and has been affordable for decades.
$58 street
EarthQuaker Devices Plumes
Although loosely based on a classic circuit, EQD has replaced the 4558 IC with a JFET op-amp for a more mid-focused sound. In addition to the standard controls, the toggle switch moves between two different clipping options or no clipping at all for a wide-open clean boost.
$99 street
Electro-Harmonix East River Drive
A JRC4558 IC-loaded circuit that creates the classic symmetrical overdrive sound, this is an all-analog affair that is true bypass, housed in a rock-solid chassis, and can run on a 9-volt battery—which is included.
$77 street
Fender Hammerstone Overdrive
One of the newest entries on this list is a retro-looking stomp that offers some interesting features under the hood. The original circuit allows you to control the mids before the gain stage, plus there’s an internal trim pot to wrangle the high end.
$79 street
Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini
One of the most popular stompboxes of all time has been shrunk down to a mini-sized wonder. With an oversized drive knob and two smaller tone and level controls, this green monster aims to cop all the classic midrange tones of the original.
$79 street
Pro Co Rat 2
Is it a fuzz? Or a distortion? Or an overdrive? Well, thanks to the famous filter control, you can blur the lines between all the different flavors of dirt. It offers a totally analog signal path, glow-in-the-dark graphics, and the trademark heavy-duty enclosure.
$79 street
MXR Distortion+
There’s no mistaking that shade of yellow. This dead-simple setup offers output and distortion controls along with a vintage-sounding germanium clipping circuit that does everything in its power to blur the line between overdrive and fuzz.
$89 street