For those who don't know, Biyang also ghost-builds guitar pedals for other companies. All the Guitar Fetish pedals? Yep, those are built by Biyang. The high end Akai pedals that go for $150? Those are just rebranded Biyang pedals. They have the exact same components and wiring that the original Biyang pedals do. Only the Akai pedals cost three times as much.
Biyang also makes pedals for Cordovox. In fact, they don't even change the look or model names for them. They just put Cordovox instead of Biyang on the pedal. So you can see my point, in that, Biyang is a dang good company, and you might be playing one of their pedals and not know it.
For the last year I had been reading up on the Rat Pro Co pedal. It's famous for that 80's metal sound. But it has many uses. I mean, Blur's well known song, "Song 2" is a perfect example of the Rat Pro Co. So it's not like the Rat is only designed for hair metal.
Biyang is known for using specs of other manufacturer's pedals, building with high end German parts, and coming out with a clone version of those pedals. I was really interested in their version of the Rat. Well, lo and behold, they have the "Biyang Mouse DS-8."
Unfortunately, unlike a lot of their other pedals, I hadn't heard good things about this one. I guess it was so poorly liked, they took it off the market. This made things a bit rough for me since I couldn't find one available in the states. But then, I got to thinking. Remember what I said about them building pedals for other manufactures?
Biyang made two versions of their pedals for themselves. The Tonefancier series was encased in a chrome housing. They would then make a second, more colorful version of that pedal. So I started looking around.
I found a new-oldstock Biyang Distortion pedal on Reverb.com. I thought to myself, "That's got to be the same pedal as the "Mouse." I read up on the description, and it was the same as the Mouse. So I pulled the trigger, and bought one.
But I also had a plan. You see, in my research I came across a guitar forum user named "11 Gauge." Note: That refers to a wire size, not a shotgun. He talked about the Mouse, and how it was virtually the same as a Rat except for one thing. They had installed a 56K ohm resistor where they should have installed a 560 ohm resistor. Here's his photo:
So when my Biyang Distortion pedal arrived I tested I immediately tested it out. I had to agree with the reviews. It just wasn't that great sounding.
So I took it apart, and checked the circuit. Guess what? It was exactly the same as the Mouse. Exactly. Also, it had the same flaw as the Mouse. It had that stupid 56K ohm resistor instead of a 560 ohm resistor.
Long story short, I bought a pack of 10 resistors so I could use one. I took my sweet time, and changed out the incorrect resistor as per 11 Gauge's instructions.
I tested it out on the bench, and I have to say I noticed a few things. First up, it had a lot more usable gain. You could get that super crunchy gain if you wanted, but you could also get a slight breakup if that was the sound you were after. The other thing I noticed was the three way switch was more effective.
It has three modes: (from top to bottom) Normal, Bright, Warm. I always kept it on Bright. The other two settings just cut the volume. I didn't really notice any difference in sound on Normal or Warm. Once I changed the resistor I did notice a bit of difference to the sound. It still dropped the volume, but it wasn't as bad as it was.
I'll be honest, if I knew more about electronics I would just take the three way switch out. I don't think it adds anything. Honestly, I think it takes away more than it gives. But that's just my thoughts.
I haven't had a chance to play around with it as much as I would like, but I was happy with the sound when I did play it. I'm looking forward to hearing how it sounds with single coils, vintage humbuckers, hot pickups, and active pickups. Again, like I tell other players, "Just have fun with it." And that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to have fun with it.
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