Members bcc5025 Posted July 23, 2008 Members Share Posted July 23, 2008 Just a quick versus question for everyone. I've listened to some sound clips on the Tube Zone on YouTube and I gotta say that I'm pretty unimpressed. It gets great reviews by everyone, so maybe it's the video that doesn't do it justice. So here we go: how would the TZ compare to my Rat II? (or any other rat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Faldoe Posted July 23, 2008 Members Share Posted July 23, 2008 I'd say the video doesn't do it justice. I was on a mission for a long time to get my friend to sell my his 80's small box rat - the one with the reverse writing - "Rat" in Black with White behind it. Sounded awesome but was lacking. After a lot of A/bing I keep the TZ and sold the rat. The Tube Zone is VERY versatile: A lot of gain on tap, a lot of tonal options. I'd say try and play a Tube Zone in person...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rdm Posted July 23, 2008 Members Share Posted July 23, 2008 They're 2 different animals. The TZ is highly tweakable and very versatile. Great mild OD to full on Boogie type distortion with very tight bottom end. The Rat can't compete. TZ wins everytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dr.Picklebottom Posted July 23, 2008 Members Share Posted July 23, 2008 ive owned the newer (more knobs) version of the tubezone and played a turbo rat. i wasnt really into the rat but definitely could see why people like it. i bought the tubezone for the kid in me that still occasionally likes to play heavy stuff. the tubezone had TONS of tones available. the problem being that none of them sounded all that good. all the knobs are really frustrating and after spending a lot of time tweaking i never really found a tone better than what i could get from the metal muff after 5 secs of tone tweaking. i hated the tubezone with the gain backed off. it sounded muffled and flat. almost like someone was playing a metal distortion with the gain inexplicably turned down. the rat and tubezone sound absolutely nothing alike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IvIark Posted July 23, 2008 Members Share Posted July 23, 2008 I was exactly the same with the Tube Zone when I first got it, after lots of tweaking I just couldn't find a tone I was completely happy with. But then I messed with the presence trimmer and things improved tenfold. Basically I found that with any sort of presence at all I didn't like the tone, presence backed off and it was great. Funnily enough I found exactly the same thing with the Crunchbox too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bhsbhswarp Posted July 23, 2008 Members Share Posted July 23, 2008 i had the same thing with the cb too,after messing with the trim pot it absolutly came alive.i think the tube zone is the same,it has to be tweaked to what you putting it through,and is there for that purpose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ungarn Posted July 24, 2008 Members Share Posted July 24, 2008 Totally different...TZ is boogie type overdrive, lots of tweaking, and can sound bad unlike the Crunchbox which is more Marshall and impossible to get a bad sound out of. RAT is more "organic", less compressed sounding, blurs the line between fuzz-distortion-overdrive, and will just put a smile on your face! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gtrwiz Posted July 24, 2008 Members Share Posted July 24, 2008 RAT, FTW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members booher Posted July 24, 2008 Members Share Posted July 24, 2008 They're 2 different animals. There's a reason why I cut the rest of that post out. The RAT is very versatile. You just have to know what you're after. You need to know how the filter knob and distortion knobs work inside and out to get sounds that you'd like. That being said, the RAT can't cover ground the TZ can. THAT being said, if you don't want to sit and fiddle with knobs every time you change songs, or in between songs in a live setting, the RAT is VERY good at a lot of things. I love the way it can do the low gain grit, I think it can give my OCD V4 a very good run for its money on the right setting, and a lot of people love the fuzzy high gain thing it does (not quite my thing with this pedal) at maxed gain settings. So the TZ is pricier than a RAT with a LM308 "modded" in it, but it can also do a very good low gain sound to high gain sound and anywhere in between. But I think that the RAT is a hell of a lot more straight-forward than the TZ is. After being a TZ V3 owner and a RAT owner (small box 80s, non-led), I've kept my RAT. The TZ is long gone. I spent WAY too much time trying to tweak all 6 settings on the TZ plus the internal presence trimmer compared to what I've come to know on my small box RAT. In my eyes, the RAT is just better at what it does than the TZ can cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members machine gunner Posted July 24, 2008 Members Share Posted July 24, 2008 I love the way it can do the low gain grit, I think it can give my OCD V4 a very good run for its money on the right settingI agree and have both also. The Rat is REALLY underrated for the low gain grit which I just love Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CiceroTJones Posted July 24, 2008 Members Share Posted July 24, 2008 Two different animals. It's what sound you're looking for, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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