VST3AU

Hot Rodents

€9.90

Hot Rodents is a tight, toothy op-amp distortion for players who want nasty bite, thick sustain, and a filter control that can slice or darken the whole rig in seconds. Inspired by the classic RAT distortion sounds, it puts the hard-cutting silicon voice and the louder, more open LED-clipped Turbo flavor into one plugin. Basic mode gives you the compressed snarl, midrange grind, and sharp attack that defined countless punk, indie, noise-rock, and heavy alternative guitar tones. Turbo mode opens the circuit up with more output, more headroom before clipping, and a bigger, rougher wall of distortion. The model follows the circuit from the LM308-style op-amp gain stage into diode shunt clipping, the passive reverse Filter control, and the JFET-style output buffer. The op-amp's limited bandwidth and slew behavior are part of the voice, giving the top end its familiar worn edge instead of sterile digital fizz. Run it low as a mean boost, set it in the middle for classic rodent bite, or push Turbo mode into a louder, more open distortion wall that sits somewhere between distortion and fuzz.

RAT is a trademark of its respective owners. Hot Rodents is an independently developed product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or licensed by any related trademark owner. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

“Tight teeth, reverse

filter, two

clipping moods”

Inside the Rodent Circuit

LM308-Style Bite

The gain stage captures the bandwidth and slew limits that give this circuit family its rounded, aggressive top end. The result stays pointed and vocal without turning brittle or fizzy.

Basic and Turbo Clipping

Basic mode uses silicon-style hard clipping for tight, compressed grind. Turbo mode raises the clipping threshold with LED-style clipping for a louder, more open response that pushes toward fuzzier authority.

Schematic parameters

What do the knobs actually do?

Drive

VR1

Sets the gain before clipping. Low settings work as a snarling boost; higher settings drive the circuit into thick, compressed op-amp distortion.

Filter

VR2

The classic reverse tone control: turn it up for a darker, smoother sound, or back it down for more bite, cut, and top-end attack.

Volume

VR3

Controls final output level, with enough range to sit at unity or slam the next amp stage hard.

Mode

SW1

Switches between Basic silicon-style clipping and Turbo LED-style clipping. Basic is tighter and more compressed; Turbo is louder, more open, and more ragged.