Customer Reviews

Pro Co RAT2 Distortion Pedal

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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

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.

This is the chinese version of the ProCo Rat. The build quality is quite the same as previews versions. However the original RAT featured the LM308 chip which has been now replaced in this version of the RAT. Also, if you have seen some of the most recent versions of the American made RAT, the knobs and logo used to glow in the dark but that's not happening either anymore, of course, that's not big deal, but it used to be really handy because you can see your pedal better while playing in the dark. I found the sound to be a lot different from the vintage versions. I ended up selling this pedal on craigslist and upgraded to an older one for a few more bucks on Ebay.

The first thing I noticed about this unit was it's heft. All metal. Nice. So I unscrew the battery holder easily. It was only finger tight. I had to look for the 9 volt battery clip as it was tucked up under. At first I wondered, hey, where does the battery go, but the battery compartment cover has retaining clips to hold the battery, so that's where it went. I plugged in the battery and secured the compartment. When I pressed the switch, there was no sign of anything happening. I recalled seeing that a power indicator would illuminate. But then I thought, hey, maybe it needs cords attached. So I connected a cord to the output. Nothing. Then a cord to the input. Voila. The unit only operates with a cord connected to the input. A red light appears in the center of the A in RAT. I am using this pedal as a preamp to my talkbox. I'm running it through one side of a stereo amp. It works great. Glad I bought it. And at such a good price with free shipping. Thanks Amazon.

I've owned over 3 dozen dirt boxes over the years, and I just love the Rat. It makes my tube halfstack sing, and my practice amp sound like a big amp.

Its great as a stand alone distortion, running on a clean amp. It can get everything from that perfect bluesy grit to roaring sludge (just max out the distortion and use your neck pickup on an LP to sound EXACTLY like King Buzzo of the Melvins) and everything inbetween.

It can also be used to boost an overdriven amp into better sounding territory. Case in point, my buddy has an old Peavy stack from the 70's in his garage. Its a solid state head on top of a vertical cab of two 14" speakers. On its own, you can use the gain and distortion knobs present on the amp to get a decent sound, but with his Les Paul it still sounded oddly dark. We put the Rat in front of it and with some fiddling got that perfect AC/DC style overdrive out of it.

I think the main reason I love the Rat so much is not only the great tone and its sheer indestructability, but the filter knob. Normal tone knobs allow you to focus more on bass or treble, but usually if you boost one, you cut the other. The filter is more of a high end roll off, you can darken or brighten your tone accordingly, but when you DO go brighter, you still have the same bottom end. It doesn't CUT the bass out. So even with a more treble heavy sound, you still have a fuller rounder tone, it doesn't thin out so much.

Its really an excellent pedal. I've heard that some claim you have to get an older one with the LM308 chip to really get "the sound" but that's a myth. Look on a few guitar forums or on youtube for plenty of tests and testimony showing the fact that the new ones do indeed sound the same as the old ones. A Rat is a Rat, whether they're coming from China or the USA.

p.s. Mine is from 2010 and the face still glows in the dark. So I dunno what that other guy was complaining about.

Actually I'm basic learner in guitar and not really sure the sound quility. But only based on my empression, it's great!

I love the shape as well. the name "rat" is perfect on it.

The Rat is exactly what I thought it was...... A kick ass distortion unit....I also use a Herida Zendrive and they both complement each other... One clean overdrive the other a hard driving distortion ........ This vendor also got it to me in an expiditious manner at a great price. Great transaction !!!!!!!!!!

The Rat has been used by everyone from David Gilmour to Dave Grohl to give you a grasp of its range. It does everything from light crunch, to Marshall-style thick rhythms, to all out face-melting distortion.

Rich harmonics, near infinite sustain, and a mid-range push that will cut through a mix like no other distortion pedal.

This pedal has not left my board since the day I bought it. The fact that it's built like a tank ensures it's going to be around a long time after my playing days are over.

Purchased this for my sons 18th birthday, he loves it. Great quality, made well, works well. Thanks Really appreciate it. And the price was actually better on Amazon then the other stores I looked at so thank you again!!!