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November 1998 Rat Newsletter

There is something about running on that damn wheel that makes us Rats so happy.  The summer was amazing and we think we have done a pretty good job of storing supplies for the winter.

Tours and Shows:

Its all about a bunch of smaller gigs with cool bands right now.  All combined though, it is perfect.  Most of the gear is at the shop and we are rebuilding everything for next year, yet there is enough $ coming in to pay all the bills.  There are some big tours coming up and we want to have everything in clean and mean.
 

  • MxPx has a monitor system and a Rat.
  • Rancid has a monitor system and two Rats.
  • Mudhoney is touring with a Rat drumfill (dual 15"/dual 10"/2" triamped).
  • Cake has a pair of Rat Sound Medium Wedges (15"/10"/2" triamped).
  • Girls Against Boys has a Ramsa console (they are out supporting Garbage).
  • Glasshouse is doing well and some system upgrades are coming up.
Local work is going really well.  We are being pretty selective about the gigs we are taking in order to stay focused on really cleaning up the systems.

The New Rat Cube System:

Is exceeding all of our expectations.  We are waiting for a few more components to test from manufacturers.  The current configuration being tested is 60 pounds lighter, 17% smaller and just as loud as the current Rat 5 system and it sounds more like a studio monitor than any PA box I have ever heard.  Its coming up with 50hz to 21Khz +/- 2 db with no EQ!  Now we are trying to push the limits further.

Equipment:

We bought so much stuff this year as fun as it is, we had to stop.  Right now we are focusing on the shop.  We kind of ran out of room so we either had to move out or move up.

Pallet racks - 40 feet long, 12 feet high, 8 feet deep.  Rat boxes to the sky.

Forklift - Stacking boxes on the pallet racks would really suck if we did not buy a forklift.  It's a Clark electric "walk behind" style. Here is a link to a pick of the forklift.

More computer stuff - Installed a network in the tiny Rat office.  There are now two shop computers and two network cards that allow us to log our laptops into the ominous 4 station Rat Sound Intranet.  We also got a cool laser printer/fax/scanner.
 

Other Stuff:

We got some new humans to be Rats.

Ace has been working shop, shows and some regional runs for us as well as Glasshouse and Ventura Theater.  We just keep hiring more Long Beach guys.  They have all been carpooling to Rat in Smitty's green 68 Dart.

Sarah is working in the Rat office keeping us organized and we now have reached a goal of having someone in the Rat shop, everyday, even if we do not have a show or tour to prep.

Where are the Rats?

  • Brian Rat - Rancid FOH.
  • Tommy Rat - Tucson
  • Dave Rat - Rat shop and some Blink 182 mixing.
  • Karrie -  Rat Shop
  • Smitty - Rat Shop and some Save Ferris and Blink 182 gigs.
  • Jon - Dishwalla
  • George - Monitors for Rancid
  • Jim - Monitors for Offspring
  • Bryan Worthen - Monitors Stabbing Westward
  • Tommy LBC - Rat Shop and general agro.
  • Shon Hartman - Monitors for MxPx
  • Tim Davis - Rat Shop and Glasshouse
  • Dennis - Glasshouse and work outside the Rat world
  • Melinda - Rat cash control

That's all for now. Looks like everything will be busy but not hectic for the next 3 weeks or so and then late September we will get to
sweep an empty shop again.

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