Featuring the legendary LM308 chip, how will this take on the RAT circuit stand up to my beloved clones?
Cost: $200 from Munnymanpedals.com
Overview
Munnyman Pedals is a small pedal company who, funnily enough, was one of the first contacts I ever made on Instagram. Based out of Dallas, Texas, Munnyman has mostly dealt in fuzzes, overdrives, and distortion pedals, like this Panchito LM308. Unlike the more hyped Rat pedals to hit the market (Ratsbane, DRV, and Packrat) the Panchito is not looking to add flexibility or versatility to the circuit. It is instead a true recreation, with everything from overdrive to fuzz onboard as most Rat fans know. What I’ll be looking for here is how versatile the gain section is, and how it sounds in comparison to the other Rat pedals in my collection. Specifically, for the $200 price tag I would hope it compares favorably to my Pro Co Rat2 or Wampler Ratsbane.
Review & Opinion
The Panchito LM308 is a nice sounding pedal any way you slice it. With classic RAT distortion tones that are not hard to coax out of the pedal. I will say, it didn’t feel quite as versatile as a Pro Co RAT2 or the Wampler Ratsbane in terms of the gain control. It didn’t get quite as fuzzy with my Stanford Crossroad as I might have wanted. Likewise, the overdriven tones don’t go quite as low gain either. So while I do miss the flexibility, I take solace in how good the more straight up the middle distortion tones are. Munnyman Pedals definitely nailed the raw, uncompressed feeling of the RAT circuit.
As it stands now, I think this pedal is best suited for players who want a high quality distortion pedal but won’t be asking it to do too much else. It has very sensitive volume and filter controls which help widen the tonal spectrum you can reach, but it won’t be much more than what it sounds like in my demo.
Conclusion & Final Score: 7 out of 10
Overall I’m very pleased with the sounds that come out of the Munnyman Pedals Panchito LM308. It’s very much worthy of the space it occupies on any pedal board. The distortion tones are rich, open sounding, and have a ton of texture. It does feel a little bit like you are paying for the scarcity of the LM308 chip, which very well may be worth it for some guitar players. However for me, I would probably stick with the RAT options I already own. It earns its above average score for the quality of sound it does posses, the small footprint it takes up on a pedalboard, and the user friendliness.
The Panchito even got some time to hang out on my band board!
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