Pro Co RAT2 Distortion Pedal

by Pro Co

Product Features

• Used on thousands of recordings for the last 3 decades
• Excels at arena rock rhythm tones and soaring leads
• Famous built like tank steel chassis
• Any excuse even abuse warranty

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4 x 3.5 x 2.5 inches ; 1.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002MSQVQ
• Item model number: RAT2
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #639 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #1 in Musical Instruments > Instrument Accessories > Guitar & Bass Accessories > Effects > Electric Guitar Effects > Single Effects > Distortion & Overdrive

Product Description

Pro Co Rat2 the standard that all other distortion devices are measured against. Heard on thousands of recordings, it has helped define the sound of the past three decad's most influential bands. The beauty of the RAT2 lies in its versatility. Used as a primary distortion, it excels at arena rock rhythm and soaring leads. Do you have an amp with too much headroom for the gig? The RAT2 nails that sweet spot where a tube amp goes from sparkly to clean, to warm overdrive. Turn it to the right to roll off brittle high-end frequencies. Having trouble cutting through the mix? Turn the filter down and allow the natural brightness of your instrument to shine through. distortion and Volume controls dial in the perfect amount of gain while keeping the level consistent with your clean tone. The Pro Co Rat2 is backed by our "any excuse even abuse" lifetime warranty. .

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Design Doesn't Need Updates--the Rat still Rocks, March 13, 2008

By 

BassMan (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

I got my first RAT way the heck back in 1984 when I was 14. I actually won it as a door prize at a Seattle Music Grand reopening party where I went to buy my first electric guitar (an Arbor les paul gold-top copy). I used that pedal for 26 years before finally loaning it to a guitarist who claims to have lost it (yeah right buddy). This model here is the same as the one I got way back then, and it sounds fantastic. The other reviewer here is right, it sounds and operates a bit like a Big Muff Pi, but without some of the wilder harmonics that the Big Muff manages. For hard rock and Metal, it's incredible. You can also dial in smoother tones with really good sustain for a great tone on a blues solo. This thing is virtually indestructible. Besides being a great guitar pedal, it's also a really good bass distortion because you can dial back the treble tone and push the fundamental frequencies of the bass harder. Over the years I've also tried the wider-bodied version of the rat, and tested some of the newer rat models. I realize Proco wants to make other models to appeal to customers they aren't yet reaching, but really, this is the best pedal they've ever made, and if they ever quit producing it, it would be a crying shame. Since losing my original, I've bought another, and I still love this pedal 24 years after first playing with it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great pedal for sustain and fuzz!, December 27, 2011

By 

unwired goose - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pro Co RAT2 Distortion Pedal (Electronics)

I was actually surprised at how much I liked this pedal. Of course, before buying, I took advantage of Guitar Center's "try anything" attitude, and checked it
out on my setup (gibson explorer/fender american standard stratocaster on vox ac30 tube amp) at GC. I heard about this pedal at a workshop with the Supertramp
guitarist Carl Verheyen as he was going through his "mini" pedalboard. I loved the tone that he was getting, and heard the words "Proco RAT2 distortion pedal" followed by the word
"modified" and then "no longer making the mod kits". To my dismay, I couldn't find the modded RAT2 pedal on ebay, craigslist, or from a standard retailer. On my quest to find a
distortion pedal that gave me versatility and a certain "lyricalness, with lots of sustain, but kind of fat and buttery, but still able to obtain a good bluesy crunch", so I said to the guy
at the Guitar Center pedal counter. I got a strange look back from him and he said, "Why don't you try this thing, it's got a really unique sound" and he pulled out the rat. I loved it.
Following my experience with the rat, I played through a T-rex Yellow Drive, a Box Of Rock, and a Swollen Pickle, but I didn't really like any of them that much. Don't get me wrong, they're
great pedals, but they didn't have the tone I was looking for. So I returned them to the counter, still exhilarated by the sound of the glorious Proco RAT2 pedal.

I picked it up for around $80 off of Guitar Center (I owe them for all the guitars I've tried out there), and took it home.
I haven't been disappointed :)

If you cut the tone (turn up the filter knob to about 3:00) and turn up the distortion knob to around 5:00 (volume at 12:00) then you'll get a really fat and buttery tone thats great for long wails and
attempting to make your guitar sound kind of like a vocalist. It also does a great Santana sound, something I've been seeking for a while.
You can also get a decent crunch sound, but you have to turn the distortion wayyyy down to around 8:00.

Before I conclude this review, let me say this-
Don't buy this pedal after reading about how awesome I thought it was,
go to a music store or something and try it out for yourself.
If you really want to save $2, then come back to Amazon and buy it.
Otherwise, just pick it up where you tried it- you owe them, knowing how many times you've probably reaped the benefits of their large library of instruments.

So yeah
That's my review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Versatile, one-of-a-kind pedal, April 26, 2011

By 

Matt G. - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pro Co RAT2 Distortion Pedal (Electronics)

The ProCo Rat 2 is the quintessential distortion pedal for grungy punk rock and is still widely-used today by punks and rockers of all stripes. The Rat 2 comes in a near-indestructible steel casing with heavy-duty knobs and switch. I've been using this pedal (not this exact one, had to buy it again after selling it years back during lean times) for years without incident. The pedal itself couldn't be easier to use with a Volume knob, Distortion knob and a Filter knob. You can dial in many, many different tones (check out some Youtube review vids for audio examples) and with just a little tweaking, the tone will change drastically. The Rat 2 can achieve a nice fuzz-like distortion, warm blues, trebly-high metal tones and many others. For this reason, I really recommend spending some time with this pedal to get it dialed-in exactly how you'd like it and to familiarize yourself with its tonal range and possibilities.

If you're thinking about purchasing this grunge box, a few notes: the Rat 2 does have a red LED (the original RATs did not) under the "A" so you can see when it's engaged, it is true-bypass, and most importantly, the plug for the power adapter is not the standard Boss-style plug (spacing the technical name), it's a 3.5mm (1/8" in.) plug. The power adapter plug can be an issue if you're using a daisy chain or power supply, but many of those will come with a 3.5mm adapter (most likely for this very pedal), or you can pick up an RPS-1 power supply. If you're sticking with batteries, getting to the battery case is no-tools-required, so no un-screwing four screws off the bottom of the case like a lot of other boutique models.

I highly recommend picking up this pedal for its versatility and tone. My personal favorite use for the Rat 2 is tossing a Boss BD-2 in front of it and running it into my Vox AC30.