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Wampler announces the Ratsbane, a mini take on a classic distortion

Are regular RATs too big for your ‘board?

Wampler's Ratsbane

Image: Wampler

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Wampler has announced the Ratsbane, a mini pedal that condenses several different RAT voices into its diminutive enclosure.

The pedal’s core circuitry is based on the 1980s ProCo RAT, with the signature distortion character that ranges from a dirty, overdriven boost to a harmonically-rich fuzz-like texture. The pedal’s knobs are the same as found on its inspiration: volume, filter and distortion. The filter control is unique to this style of distortion, and behaves slightly differently to a standard ‘tone’ control: at fully anticlockwise it opens up the full treble range of the pedal, allowing for a more cutting tone. The other way, it smooths off the high-end for a warmer sound.

Alongside these knobs are two mini-toggle switches: gain, and voice. The first allows either the ‘stock’ gain stage behaviour or one of two additional ‘turbocharged’ stages to be engaged. The voice switch engages a secondary mode that tweaks how the pedal compresses and clips, making the distortion tighter and more manageable at high gain levels.

Notably, the brand also says that the pedal’s circuit “is based on a modern, and in our opinion more harmonically complex, operational amplifier IC, but we know there are some purists out there that will want to try it with an LM308 IC, so we put our ‘engine’ in a socket to allow those adventurous DIY modders amongst you to have some fun. We don’t recommend it though and it shouldn’t be attempted by novices.”

Hear the pedal in action with Wampler’s video below.

The Ratsbane lists for $149.97. Find out more at wamplerpedals.com.

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