Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Blue Colander's Grimrobe Cascaded Dual Gain Stage Super-Rat is a fantastic sounding multi-textural Distortion
This is my first Blue Colander pedal - which is an instant top-tier hit for me - being one of my all-time favourite extended range Rat Distortions - it sounds really phenomenal in so many different ways.
The first stage core OpAmp is the current most popular one for contemporary Rats - the OP07, while the secondary More stage consists of an LM386 OpAmp
The core Rat consists of Volume, High, Low and Distortion controls - with added Limit Hard Clipping, and Comp Soft Clipping Silicon / Off / LED options.
You then have 3 controls specifically for the aptly named ’MORE’ Gain Stage - which includes More (-Distortion 2), Harmonics, and Voice. The More stage is not independent - it’s an additional stage that comes on top of the core Rat Distortion.
Controls - OP07 RAT } Volume, Distortion, Limit Hard Clipping : Silicon / Off / LEDs, Comp Soft Clipping : Silicon / Off / LEDs, Right-hand Footswitch; LM386 MORE } More (Distortion), Harmonics : 9 o’c is Octave Fuzz / 10 o’c is Octave Distortion / 11 o’c is Overblown / 12 o’c is Regular Distortion, Voice : Full Range Boost / Lower Gain + Bass Cut / Balanced Upper Midrange Focus, More Left Hand Footswitch.
So with the Limit Hard Clipping 3-way set to Silicon you get the Classic Rat voicing - that as mentioned - you adjust with Volume, High, and Low Distortion controls. So at a minimum it’s an exceptional sounding Rat Distortion. While the More Gain Stage adds all kinds of interesting further Tones and Textures.
The Harmonics control is a - 4-position Rotary - which counter clockwise takes you from Regular Core Distortion, through Overblown, Octave Distortion, and onto Octave Fuzz.
For my core RAT settings I have Volume @ 2 o'c, High @ 3 o'c, Low @ Noon, Distortion @ 2 o'c, and both clippings on the middle Off position.
Then for the MORE settings I really like Harmonics at either 12 o'c by default - or the Octave Fuzz @ 9 o'c - while all options sound superb. The Voicing switch is the Mids-Forward Right-hand setting - and the More dial is @ 2 o'c. That really ramps up the core RAT voicing nicely - with some tight Octave Fuzz textures added into the mix at peak prowess. While the Harmonics are mostly default set to Noon for me - which just doubles down and massively enriches the core RAT voicing.
This is such a clever circuit - all combinations seem to sound great - and there are so many different permutations for sounds and textures via the 2-Band EQ, the Hard and Soft Clipping Options, and all of the different MORE Harmonics and Voicing options.
This is a powerhouse showcase for distortion shaping - and is overall such a clever circuit - relatively simple to comprehend and dial in - but fairly vast in its possibilities - this truly is such a beautifully textured distortion. It's not quite the King of Rats - that honour is still reserved for the Drunk Beaver Heavy Bat - with its 12 controls and dual footswitches. While the Grimrobe has its own kind of magic - and runs the Heavy Bat very close - both are easily top & special tier - I'm very happy to have then both onboard.
The Grimrobe Cascaded Dual Gain Stage Super-Rat is available for just €210 from the Blue Colander Webstore, and is £195 at Joe's Pedals in the UK - from whence I acquired mine! And incredibly there's at least one of those still in stock - which is a minor miracle - these all deserved to be snatched up on sight!
Demos
