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I scored a Rat 2 (a newer one made in China) in a recent cash/trade deal. I'd never owned a real Rat before the other day. The sound of this one is *okay* (sorta like a DS-1), but not as amazing as I know a Rat can sound. So of course I popped the hood and had a look inside. HORROR!!!



I also noticed that someone had clipped one end of the 47R resistor off the non-inverting input (aka, the lazy man's Reutz mod).

So I decided that I would replace all of the resistors and film/ceramic caps. Then I started to pull everything out of the case and I figured out why Keeley doesn't want to mod these. The knobs are, I believe, glued on to the shafts. I pulled two of the pot shafts completely free of the pots trying to get the knobs off. The third knob came off with some effort. So I replaced the pots as well. But of course I don't have the ones they used, so I had to jimmy up a solution that would work. It barely fits, and there is a light bit of stress on the PCB as a result, but it's not much and the board is very strong.


Busted pots:




Shot of PCB with new components (pots are now *under* the PCB instead of through):



I also didn't like the DC jack, as it's the non-barrel 1/8" looking thing (like on old wahs). So I replaced it with one of these cool small 2.1mm jacks that a McSpunkle found (Mouser part# 163-1060-EX). They are snap-in, so there is no retaining nut. As long as you drill right (7/16 seems to work a treat), they are snug as hell!!! Another bonus is that they do not have the second power lug for batteries. Fuck batteries.

And now it sounds like a mean machine!! I left the elctrolytics in (they actually weren't crappy), and also the JFET and diodes (but I flattened the diodes to the board). I added an IC socket and put an LM301 in there. The parts values were actually 99% identical to the original awesome 80s Rat circuit, and I kept things original all around.



Back of pedal showing cool small DC jack:




And here's the finished pedal with obviously non-stock knobs (and I love the LED through the "A"):

If the replacement pots were easier to get, or if they didn't just "go boom" when you tried to remove the knobs, I'd write up a how-to on the rebuild.

I must have missed this. Great work on the rebuild! Haha, I can only imagine..."let's open and fix this thing up. Shit why does everything keep breaking off!?" Need to try a rat some day.

I just scored a cheapish You Dirty Rat, so Imma fix that one up, too.

What was the difference in those? The diodes or something?

I think the only difference is that it has germanium clipping diodes. But we'll see when it gets here.

Did you end up replacing the pots with regular pots & wires, rather than mounted to the PCB?

mathias wrote:Did you end up replacing the pots with regular pots & wires, rather than mounted to the PCB?

Yes. It was a very tight fit and I had to bend the lugs out to make everything square up. But it's do-able.

Also, Smallbear is back in stock on the Rat pots, so I'd suggest just buying new ones.

How's it sound compared to other (stock-ish) RATs?

StopReferencing wrote:How's it sound compared to other (stock-ish) RATs?

I've got a You Dirty Rat (totally stock) also, and it just doesn't have the balls of the reworked Rat2. Despite the difference in clipping diodes, I really think the main thing comes down to the op amp. The OP07 they are using just doesn't cut it.

If you're in the market for a Rat, I could mod the YDR back to classic Rat specs for you at a good price.

I need a good rat in my life

I crown thee the new RAT KING

Thanks!

Wow--love the before/after shots--Fuzz is a Battlefield.

You're like Halliburton in a white hat, but with better knobs.

: D. Glad someone else used those jacks. I've used them in everything since I found them. Sooooo good.

Sweet work, too. Might do the same to my old Rat 2. It's pretty terrible.