ProCo BRAT

Its got 3 knobs. Full marks here -- I dont think anything else can be said for a 3 knob pedal. Simple

I got this pedal used, and dirt cheap. The only allowance I can give that may put this pedal in better light is that it may be somewhat defective or damaged -- because this pedal made me reconsider the very intention of 'distorting' a guitar sound. THIS PEDAL MAKES A RACKET, AND DOES NOTHING ELSE. I use a peavey bandit -- yeah, a sub-standard amp, but one I can currently afford. Ive used a few pedals in the past, and had to weigh pros and cons of tone control, cleanliness of signal vs losing guitar distinction and other criteria, but this pedal did just one thing -- make my guitar signal one big noisy mess. Unbelievable how bad it was. I couldnt find (from fiddling with my amp, pedal, and guitar settings) any way for the Brat to stop ruining my sound with huge, noisy, distorted signal. An absolute bust.

I didt use it for long, but it looks fairly well constructed.

Never called them to tell them what a piece of garbage this thing is.

Maybe someone could find someway to turn this noise into something techno or radioheadish. Beats me. No guitar sound left, just distorted noise. Guess ill save my money and go back to amp generated distortion, or buy an expensive Ibanez Tube King. Now THATS a great pedal.....

Distortion box..extremely straightforward. Level, tone, drive. Input/output. Battery in the bottom..there you have it.

I have a Cort Strat copy, and a Squier Strat; both run straight from the distortion to the amp - sometimes throwing in a Dunlop Original Crybaby after the distortion..and I run to a Crate amp with 2 eights. The sound with the distortion turned all the way up, or very close is just fine..but if you try turning the drive down too much the sound is affected very negatively..begins to sound hollow and lifeless - and useless for that matter. In other words, its full on distortion here, or turn it off. One very pissy thing about it (although perhaps not surprising since I bought it used..in a hock shop..and lo and behold; payed too much..) is that a couple months after I started using it; it developed a buzzing sound that always remained with the distortion on. I gave it away to a friend after I got tired of the incessant buzzing sound; and bought an Ibanez Soundtank Black Noise distortion - a MUCH better pedal..but not fantastic mind you..

Seems pretty solid on the outside..overall construction (until you dig deeper) seems just fine. But the battery cover, to begin with, is rather annoying to take off and change batteries with..somewhat impractical. The internal components look very cheap and the wires appeared as if they could come loose from their solder joints at any given moment. Also, the footswitch seemed flimsy..and well, plastic..and sometimes would not come on, even with a damn good strong STOMP on it..didnt seem to eat batteries very badly; but who the hell cares if its a box of shit..?

Used..but for how much I paid for it I wish I couldve gotten some damn customer service.

I play whatever the hell pops into my head; be it Willy Nelson, Led Zeppelin, Rage Against the Machine, Scooby Doo, or fricken Britney Spears, if I take a notion!! (which I wont..goddamnit..) I prefer Tool, Foo Fighters, The Beatles; and now A Perfect Circle - but not necessarily all to play. Ive been playing almost 8 years now. I own a Memphis Les Paul copy..Cort Strat copy..Fender Squier Strat..Fender Value Pack acoustic - DG-6..??..Yamaha classical..an older Crate (great fricken amp!!) with 2 eights, chorus and reverb and crap..a Fender Frontman practice with 1 eight, an Ibanez Soundtank Black Noise BN-5..??..and bla bla bla. If this stompbox was stolen or lost from me I would pat that generous soul on the back and give them a cookie. Especially considering the fact that I just gave it away anyhow!! I would never buy this, or likely any other ProCo product again in my life..and I certainly would think twice about buying something like this in a hock shop again..sweet god..! I originally bought it as just my first distortion box, cause I always wanted one - and this was the cheapest damn thing I could find that sounded halfway decent in the store; or anywhere. Anything I wish it had? I wish it didnt SUCK..and in lieu of that; I wish I hadnt bought it in the first place and wasted all that precious money for a glorified window smasher..and im not talking about a Marshall Stack either people. Thats my lot for now...viddy well oh me brothers.

Like the vast majority of distortion pedals, this is EXTREMELY easy to use. One small footswitch. Three delicious realtime knobs: VOLUME, TONE, and DISTORTION. And though the ProCo bunch have attributed these knobs with tone description labels which are a bit silly, they don't kowtow to the mentality of trendoid terminology which the DOD kids seem to worship. See for yourself. In short, you're a retard if you can't figure out how to use this.

Running clean through it, there is no interference or noise at all; just perfect. The distortion is just fine; the pedal is LOUD as hell like its' ProCo bretheren, and when you max the tone and the distortion out, it gets uncontrollable as hell-there are some fascinating, unique tones to be found here. I can't say with true certainty if it would be good for punk or metal, but I imagine it would be usable for either in a pinch. For industrial artists-some later Einstuerzende Neubauten or Broken-era Nine Inch Nails can be fairly well replicated with the right settings on this box. Noise artists take note: all ProCo pedals are ideal for any aspiring noise guitarist, but this is exceptional. Terriffic controlled feedback and wild tones. I still prefer the Turbo RAT to all others, but this is still an excellent pedal. It sounds great with my cheap equipment, and that's saying a lot.

As far as I know, this is ProCo's first venture into using plastics for a cheaper unit-the BRAT is built with hybrid materials of tough metal and high-grade plastics, and believe me-it's tough. ProCo's pedals are tougher than even BOSS's offerings, and this is no exception. Gigging without backup is never a problem with this unit-it's entirely reliable. It only takes 9-volt batteries (no adapter support), but never mind that, because it's a slower suck (no pun intended) than any other distortion box that I've seen, especially with its' sheer volume.

I bought this used, and it didn't have a battery cover or work quite right (I think it came from an abusive home). Sent it to ProCo; one month later, recieved it back in perfect condition with a nice letter and bubble gum. ProCo have a great reputation for quality products and great customer service, and they proved it again with me. Good people; their cables are also an industry standard, and all I'll ever use.

I hear it goes new for $25, and though I got it for $10 less used, I'd buy it new in a snap. It's got a very unique sound for being another of a million distortion pedals. Be warned though: it's not for everyone, and like all other ProCo pedals, I know many who either love or despise the sound of this thing. It's great for noise, especially Zeni Geva stuff. I just love the big, loud, obnoxious sounds you can coax out of it; it works WITH me for everything I try to do in improv, unlike BOSS's wussy, weak distortions. I wouldn't change a thing with it!

2 holes, 3 knobs - Your basic distortion box.

I was looking for a replacement for my RAT, and this was so cheap I went for it, but it doesn't have the same big tough sound as the RAT. Nothing wrong with it, but it's just another distortion box. The tone knob really didn't do much on my setup (Les Paul/Fender Twin - pretty loud), and I got a lot of feedback (the ugly squealing type, not the fun type, though I got that too). It doesn't have that great interactive feel a RAT gives, and the sound just seemed more generic.

The case is a hot pink bullet-proof tank, and the knobs seem pretty good. Not so sure about the plastic footswitch. It doesn't feel very tough, but I'd have to stomp it a bunch to be sure. ProCo is usually pretty good in the reliability department, so maybe it's fine.

N/A

It's not a bad deal for $25, but I doubt if I'll use it very often. If you want a RAT, buy a RAT, not this. The BRAT is probably as good as it gets in this price range, though. It won't hurt you none.

Distortion/overdrive pedals usually have three or four knobs (except for a few Boss pedals with EQ and all that). The Michiganders at ProCo did us all a favor and labelled their three knobs with usable information -- unlike some pedals which use arcane trendoid words which confuse everyone. Volume raises and lowers volume, tone adjusts tone, and distortion adjust distortion. Geddit? There is an on/off footswitch. There is no manual -- and no need for one.

Like many pedals, depends on the setup. Through solid-state amps I'm not crazy about it, through tubes it sounds fantastic. This may say more about the amps than the Brat, but there it is. Switching is silent unless you have pre-gain set extrememly high on a big solid-state amp, in which case there is a slight click. The range of distortions is sort of comparable to a Boss OD pedal but slightly edgier at the upper end. You can get a nice range from fuzz to classic metal, harmonics are good and with a Les Paul sustain is interminable. Speed metal etc are not happening with the Brat, really (though that's how they market it). You can get punk and grunge tones also.

Lack of an AC plug is annoying, but battery consumption is the most forgiving of any distortion pedal I've seen. The case is solid steel, knobs are plastic but protected by raised lips. The plastic battery holder seems potentially vulnerable, but also easy to fix.

No idea. Their cables are the best value out there, though, and they're in Kalamazoo, which has to be good.

My own view is that distortion pedals are something of a scam -- do you actually think the 50 pedals out there are all that different? I don't. Something like a Metal Zone is a different animal, but for a classic 3-knob overdrive box you can't do much better, especially at the price (about the same as an AC adapter from Boss).

I don't think pedals come any simpler than this. Its just volume, tone and distortion, and a microscopic foot switch. Its made a tank armor so beating it senseless to get it to turn on wont harm it.

Sound quality is alright. At high volumes it gets really sloppy though. I have a POS Samick 10w and the volume is normally at 10 on both the amo and the pedal.

Only problem i had was the conection jack on the side came loose and i didnt get any sound. All it took was some pliers to tighten it. If the pedal is that important to you than you can just buy a second one as a backup.

They have customer support?

This pedal is ok for just goofing around or practicing. I wouldnt buy it if you're looking for a Pumpkins sound because it lacks the sustain. Other than that its a well built pedal, and doesnt inhale batteries.

It Couldnt Be Simpler To use, It Has 3 Knobs, volume, tone, distortion. Mine Doesnt Have And on/Off Switch, so i have to keep unhooking the 9V. but who cares, I Hate The Small Little Round Switch To Put The Distortion On Though

Sounds Pretty Good, Just Get All The Settings Right On ur amp And The Pedal, Try Different Combinations For What Style You Play, Its A Punk Rock/Grunge Pedal Though

Yeah You Can Depend On It, Its Pretty Solid

Don't Even Know how To Get In Contact With Them Since I Got It There A Trade (:

Its A Good Pedal, It Was My First One, I Don't Know If I Would Ever Get A Another One, I Like To Try Different Things, Its A Good Pedal Though

EZ2USE. I use it with the tone turned down for a GOOD tube sound, and MAXIMUM gain. Sounds OK at home. Sounds GREAT live, with my band. I can't figure out why it's better with the band, though. This pedal is currently being distributed by Guita Center for $29, marked as a "Roadkill" distortion pedal. Inside, the guts are the same. This is a better pedal that ANY DOD box and better than MOST Boss boxes.

This is my main distortion between a clean amp, using stratocasters with Lace sensors, humbuckers and single coils.

The input jacks needed tightening when I first got it. This caused intermittant footswitch action. All is okay now.

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Classic rock, slide guitar.

Well its got three knobs and an off/on switch, so it's not that hard to use. The knobs are: Volume Less/More, Tone Mush/Crunch and distortion less/more

Its a distortion unit that does gain distortion which it does well however as with all gain units have used there is always a hiss when you are not playing but it is still on. You can get some good punk/grunge/metal out of this but I think The distortion is a bit too brutal to be used for softer rock/blues

When I first opend the bos there was a loud cracking sound and a small black plasic ring fell out, however the unit still worked perfectly, I think they did that on purpose to give me a fright. The unit is made out of metal (PINK) and looks preaty sturdy I would go to a gig without a backup

Never Contacted

I would definetly buy it again because it was cheap and does exactly what it says on the box ie, Extream Distortion. This unforunetly limits its sound capabilitys/flexablity but hell if I wants something mellow I would have bought a phaser

They don't come much easier. Plug it in, switch it on, turn it up. There's a volume, a tone and a distortion level. Cool huh?

I don't know about "pristine sound quality" but it sounds unreal. Make sure you turn all 3 knobs on full if you want the best sounding crunch. To get the most out of it, you absolutely HAVE to have your guitar's volume on full!!! Otherwise it's a dull growl, as opposed to the wild screaming wall of sound you can get.

Yeah. Unreal. A big problem i have with amps and guitars and pedals is the input jack becomes loose after being pulled in and out a million times a day. It ain't so with this one. Oh yeah, the only downfall with the pedal is that there is no 9V input jack. But who cares, it isn't that hard to rig one up, and i can afford the batteries.

Now the thing i love about this is that you get such an unreal sound from such a cheap pedal. Wow. I was looking in the store at the Metal Zone ($220) but i figured after playing this that it had nearly as much grunt, but was lacking a few features. I gave it a 10 because of the price.