The incredible Ibanez L.A. METAL!!!

[czech-one-2]

OK, this might be the coolest discovery I've made since I began tinkering with pedals. Everyone knows what a turd of a pedal the Ibanez LA Metal was,and with no clipping diodes and a harsh,unpleasant tone it was about as far from a metal pedal as one could possibly get.The great news is it is built on the same PCB's as the 10 series FAT CAT,the Ibanez version of the RAT!
A post by an analog-guru from Austria by the name of Gottfried brought this to my attention.
Heres a schematic with the LA METAL / FAT CAT differences.
http://http://www.dirk-hendrik.com/temp/ibanez_fatcat_la_metal.pdf
Just add your diodes of choice in the approriate location and change a resistor and a few caps and you have one mean,vintage RAT! [I also changed the chip to the RAT's LM308N,and changed the compensation cap to 30pf like a RAT]
My LA Metal cost me a whopping $30.00 with shipping on ebay.
A/b'd with a RAT 2 ,You Dirty RAT and RAT clone the LA Metal [post FAT CAT mod]was the clear winner,with alot more available gain than a RAT, but also an outstanding barely breaking up low gain tone with loads of volume on tap.
I guess you can tell I'm happy!

 

[czech-one-2]

quick step -by- step :

1] Remove :
C6- [1800pf compensation cap!]
C12- 10uf
C16- 4.7uf
C20 [its on the 2nd pcb,attached to the pots]

2] Remove R20 and install a 1K resistor

3] C20 change for a .0033 cap,[if its too bright you might want to leave the stock
.0068 cap]
4] C12 install a 3.3 uf electrolytic [I used a 4.7 uf tantalum]
5] C14 add a 4.7 uf electrolytic
6] C16 add a 10uf electrolytic
7] C6 leave empty, or add a 10pf - 33 pf cap if changing the IC to an LM308N
8] C10 -.1uf, change to 1uf
9] remove the 1 meg resistor that is in the D-5 spot on the LA Metal, and add a pair of silicone diodes to D5 / D6 with opposing orientation. [The diodes are also on the second PCB thats attached to the pots]
10] remove and socket the stock chip, install an LM308N.

If its still to bright there is a .039 cap on the smaller pcb that tames the tone control,[the FAT CAT uses a .022 here] I used a .047 and the tone control is perfect,and usable throughout most of its range.
Thats it, you now own an Ibanez FAT CAT,only with the RAT approved LM308N chip!

Now, people may still laugh when they see an L.A. metal on your board, but hearing this thing will shut em up!

 

[Pinball_Wizard]

Here's some food for thought:
http://www.harmonycentral.com/products/115456
http://www.harmonycentral.com/products/116898
Two sides to every story. Lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w7wmhHTkts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0xxXD6uIfs&feature=related

Nice find to boot.

 

[czech-one-2]

Yeah, those reviews are all over the map! I'd say that first youtube video of the LM7 was pretty accurate,really a thin,un-inspiring tone to say the least.But the second one doesn't do the FAT CAT justice IMHO. It does give you a good feel for the amount of gain available though.Thanks for posting! I'm liking this pedal more every day now. With its top mounted jacks it takes up the same real estate as an MXR box,and post FAT CAT mod it really does sound like a good RAT, that goes to 11 or 12! Theres a couple notches higher gain available than any RAT I've played.
And for some reason,it hits my triangle Big Muff clone like no other pedal in my arsenal,really makes it sing!
Stock, its also extremely noisey, and even modded it was pretty noisy for me.So I
went a bit further by upgrading all the caps on mine with tantalum and metal film.
If .011 or another more knowledgable member has time,I'd like to know if there are a few key resistors that would benefit from changing them to metal film to help quiet it down further. But its acceptable now,and only noticable with the gain at 85% to full up.
Its staying on my board,and I'm selling some RATs.

L.A. METAL RULES