I acquired a Roger Mayer Voodoo-1 pedal yesterday,in a trade for some things I was no longer using. Anyway,I haven't had a chance to use it at home yet,or to have done much advance scouting. Have any of you guys used one of these before,& maybe have any tips? Also,on a completely different topic,I saw that there is a new movie called "Shadow Of The Vampire" about the making of the old film "Nosferatu". The premise is that Max Schreck,the actor who played the vampire,was in fact a vampire,& crew members went missing. I'd like to see that one.

hey dave, i read somewhere that the voodoo 1 has the same chip as the pro co rat! ,my wife rented shadow of the vampire a couple days ago. very slow movie. watched about half of it. max schreck was creepy looking. kinda like my inlaws in L.a.

lol. Be sure to have some garlic with you next time you go visiting them. My girlfriend wants to see that movie,so I guess it's in my future. I'm not too surprised to hear that the Voodoo-1 would have something in common with the Rat,after trying it out the other night. Tone-wise & gain-wise it seems to be in the Rat ballpark,so I was instantly comfortable with it. It has more of a traditional tone control than the Rat,& it has the twin outputs to drive two amps,or FX chains or whatever. I'll definitely be able to use this thing.

Would you say the Voodoo-1 sounds similar to the vintage rat?Also,would you say the Roger Mayer is a cleaner, more musical pedal than the rat or around the same lines?

Hi, I haven't done an A/B test of the RAT & the Voodoo-1 yet. I'm at work right now,but look for the results of my highly scientific comparison within the next couple of days. I'll try to test as many variables as I can,such as single coil to humbucker,Marshall to Fender amps etc. I'll also try to use it in conjunction with different pedals that I have,such as the Sparkle Drive,Maxon OD808,TS9 RI & whatever else I can find.

Well,I tried them head to head last night. I used my Hamer Phantom GT with a '57 Classic+ Gibson bridge humbucker,a 100 watt master volume JMP Marshall set for medium gain,& a modified Fender Bandmaster,for high gain. The two pedals,Vintage RAT & RM Voodoo-1,are obviously made with some of the same components,from the general tone similarities. The RM seems to be quieter & more smooth & refined. The RAT has WAY more volume on tap however. I was surprised at how raunchy of an overdrive tone I could get from the RAT with the gain knob down low & the volume knob at maximum. Maybe not a clean boost,but quite a boost nonetheless. I tried the RAT into the RM,& when both were on,it was a glorious noise. I think the RM comes closer to the tone in my head,so if I could only use one or the other I guess I'd go with the RM,but they are both right up my alley. If anyone would like me to report on any other variables such as the single coil to humbucker,or how these pedals sound with a Hotcake etc. please let me know. I'll do my best.

Thanks for the shoot out! How about the Voodoo-1 vs. the vintage rat ran with the Maxon OD-808 with your Fralinized Strat through the Marshall.Which compliments the Maxon better for 70's classic rock?

I'll try to do that comparison & post my results within the next couple of days. I'm at work at the moment,but will have the next couple of days off for important stuff like comparing pedals. I should also have a review of Shadow of The Vampire before too long as well. The g/f is interested in that one,but didn't want to see Hannibal,so I missed out on that one.

Here's what I found out about the RAT,the Voodoo-1,& the Maxon OD808 RI,using a maple neck Strat with Fralin Blues Specials,into a master volume 100 watt JMP Marshall,set to medium to higher gain. The output level of the Voodoo-1 seems to be more compatible with the Maxon. The Rat causes feedback at all but the lowest settings,when played into the Maxon. The Voodoo-1 merely adds to the tone. the Maxon sounded good when played into the RAT,but not really any better than when played into the Voodoo-1. I am on record as being a fan of the RAT,but I'd have to say that the Voodoo-1 seems to be a better match for the Maxon OD808. I'm starting to really like this Voodoo-1 pedal. It does sound great when played with the RAT. The RAT has a very wide volume range. I hope that helps you Stratfink.

Thanks again for doing a comparison of the two pedals.I really appreciate it.

You're welcome. It helps me learn my own gear better actually,so I certainly don't mind. I saw that movie,& I got the impression that the vampire was not the real monster. The director who made the deal with the vampire was far more sinister,to sacrifice his cast for the good of the film. It's not quite that cut & dried,but that's the short version of the review.

You're using a bandmaster as a high gain amp?! What does it sound like? Rectifier, Soldano, Marshall? How is it modified? Sorry to change the topic, but I'm intrigued. Does it still have a good clean? How about its headroom?

Hi DMT,bear in mind that I'm definitely no tech. The fellow who did the modification is Mike Mularevich of M-Troniks in Mesa AZ. The mod was done in the early 80's,prior to the introduction of the Recto amps. He told me that it's basically like playing one channel of the preamp into the next channel. The trem circuit was deleted in favor of a midrange & a master volume. One of the bass controls was also changed to a midrange control. It is footswitchable to deactivate one of the channels,so it does sound pretty clean & Fendery in the normal mode. It's one channel of a Fender amp after all. When it's in its high gain mode it is very smooth,not harsh at all. I'm using 5881's. In a way it's kind of like an early Mesa Boogie. I used to own a MKIII & they were two different amps altogether. The only amps I've heard that are like mine are other ones that Mike has done. I usually get compliments on the tone of the amp. I wish I knew more technical data on the amp for you. I can say that as I've improved as a player,I've come to better appreciate what a great little amp I've had all along. I usually run it with Greenback speakers. I hope that answers your question.

Thanks. There's a blackface Bandmaster around here that I've been considering. More food for thought.

I've owned both pedal. IMO, they are totally different sounds.
The Voodoo-1 produces, at low gain levels,
a deep, tubey tone. This is why guys like Henderson and Landau will run their Tube Screamers INTO a Voodoo-1. To fatten the tone and add a rich tube-like tone. The Ratt
doesn't do this nearly as well, IMO.

The Roger Mayer pedal that's closest to the Ratt, and was even advertised as such, is the Mongoose (get it?)
The Mongoose is closer to a Ratt, IMO.

I'd agree with you there Carl. When I did my little test the other day I did notice that the Maxon into the Voodoo-1 had more body to it. Almost any combination that I tried with the Maxon & the Voodoo-1 sounded good. As for the similarities between the Rat & the Voodoo-1,my impression was along the lines of "If you like the Rat,you'll probably like the voodoo-1." There are some rather obvious differences in the ways they behave,such as the massive volume of the Rat compared to the Voodoo-1,& the Voodoo-1's smoother overall character. I'll definitely take the advice about running TS type pedals into the Voodoo-1 to give them more body. I had a TS9 back in the early 80's but it was stolen. I've purchased a RI TS9,the Maxon OD808,& a Sparkle Drive,only to find that I actually prefer more of a Hotcake type of sound. Perhaps this Voodoo-1 will help me utilize what I already own,in a wiser fashion. I'm always open to suggestions from the people on this board. You guys always treat each other with respect & try to be as helpful as possible. I like that.

Just an update about the vampire movie part of this post. I watched the English language version of Nosferatu tonight & noticed that at the very end of the film,after the vampire met his demise,that the phrase "shadow of the vampire" was used. "At that moment....the stifling shadow of the vampire vanished..." It was nice to know that that much care was used in selecting the title for the new film. Nothing gear related to report at this moment.