ProCo RAT 2

This is my review for the ProCo Rat 2!
I bought this about a half a year ago and also bought an adapter.
Unfortunately I toasted my first Rat before I had even struck a note.
This was beacuse that DAMN! adapter thing is mini-tele and not the usual "barrel-kind". After crying very much beacuse I couldn't get the warranty to work here in Sweden I bought another one.
Other than that I think it's very easy to dial in what you want.
Just use your ears (that's what they're there for) and think: "Hmm? a little bit to muddy" and the turn the filter knob counter-clockwise.

I've tried a lot of pedals lately and what I've learnt is that there is nothing that beats this badass rodent. It has gain enough to satisfy like 10 metalheads at the same time. What I love about it is that it can smooth rock, and then with the filter at the brightest and gain maxed, you get Wolfmother sounds and then you turn this and that and get like Arctic Monkeys (their singer used to play these).
It has a very broad range of sounds.
My chain is: Hagstrom Swede(reissue) or Fender Classic Player 50's Strat-> Ibanez LU-20 Tuner->RAT-> Laney LC30.
Honestly I had a bit of problem dialing in good smooth sounds for the Strat (recently bought it) but now I've found the sweetness.
Put filter at 12 o'clock and then you can play around with the gain somewhere between 7 o'clock and 12.
It has a very full sound when dialed in right, but you can also get the thin sound if wanted.
It can do it all. Kinda.

Of course I can depend on it. It's made like a bunker.

I emailed ProCo about my warranty of the toasted Rat.
I guy there emailed back the same week and said that he was sorry and he would forward me to a guy that handled the Europe region.
But I haven't got an email from him.
So that's sad. But I'm happy with my working and half-working-half-dead rat.

This is one of the best distorsion pedals out there.
Very versatile and smooth.
If someone stole I would buy a deucetone maybe (double rat) or some of their other products.
Go buy one if you want the best!
I've played for almost 3 years (n00b).
GO BUY IT NOW! STOP READING!
RUUUUUUN!

Three knobs, Volume, Filter and Gain/Distortion. The filter actually is very interactive. The sonic footprint of this pedal is HUGE, do yourself a favor and spend some time moving the knobs just a little bit at a time. If you dial in at 9 o'clock then noon then 3 o'clock your going to miss a lot, be patient. She gets a 9 because some patience is needed with such touchy knobs.

The Rat is very versatile and I think that poor reviews may result from a lack of dialing in all the capable settings. The knobs are very touchy...there's a serious difference from the first tick to the third, from the third to the fifth, etc. The rat offers searing gain that is more like a fuzzy distortion than anything else at higher settings, but this thing IMO really shines at or below that third tick. You get a great throaty lead tone around the third tick (a pretty heavy metal sound around noon)...my favorite setting is dialing in just enough gain to add some 'hair' to chords when you dig in. This creates a wonderful fat tone with great touch sensativity. I think many folks just cant handle having that gain knob just off the line when this pedal offers so much gain, but alas to each their own, but the rat really shines at low gain levels. Where it lacks is at mid-higher gains, power chords could be a little tighter to my ears. Not a huge deal, but it doesn't get a ten. It is worth noting too, that I did some mods...just the ruetz mod, this was pretty cool and helped tighten the bass and power chords a bit, and takes away a large portion of the fuzzy gain. It may be useful to some, I ended up soldering it back up as at the lower gain levels (again where I think this thing shines) I think the sound got a little to thin and maybe lost some warmth. Try it both ways and decide, but I prefer mine stock.

A good design in terms of durability. I don't have a back up, a few tube screamers are near if need be, but that hasn't happened yet. I have had my Rat for nearly 5 years now...I take a long time to make decisions, I guess. The battery compartment is easy to open, but sometime things seem a little cramped, but not a real issue if you put the battery in right.

No Ideas, I am in Michigan and would like to think a trip to KZOO might get me some results but who knows?

As I've said, I have taken years to make up my mind about my RAT, it is a winner. I play a LP Studio thru a DRRI and the Rat works better with the amp than several of my tube screamers. I own several MI Audio pedals and they are solid as well, but I always come back to the rat. At under $100, this thing does very well compared to much more expensive units. If it were stolen, I'd grab another (I'm currently using a MI Audio Blue Boy to push the rat when I need more gain than my fav setting affords) but I'd like to simply add another Rat so I can have my two favorite settings dialed in and ready to go! I fooled myself into some of the hype surrounding boutique pedals and while they have their merrits, the rat beats most I've tried in many areas. The RAT plays much nicer with other effects than any other distortion units I've tried! It has a beutiful valve-like sound to it at low gain and is so fluid in dialing up a little more gain...or it can go over the top if need be. This pedal covers tons of sonic territory from Jazz warmth (think Scofield) to 80's metal, grunge, etc. If you are in need of a 'go-to' pedal for subtle gain-crazy sustained fuzz, chances are there's a setting on the rat for you. Remember to take some time dialing in your settings. Enjoy!

very easy to use.3 knobs, distortion,filter,volume.

Oh yeah,this is THE BOMB.you can get that QOTSA tone just right , as well as anything indie.nails hard rock especially well.Extremely verstile,trust me , this is the bomb.I run this through an eastwood GP with a SIB!fatdrive,an old rockerverb orange amp, a budda-bud wah and a boss SD-1.Sounds 10 times better than my my boss.plus my all valve fatdrive gives a more tubey sound.sweet!

a tank.'nuff said.

never dealt with 'em.

benn playing bit over 6 years.I play hard rock primarily, but also play blues and slide.if stolen or lost id buy 3 more.beats a big muff or any boss.i simply love it,and you will too.

This pedal is easy to use, having only three knobs, but I think this may vary from user to user depending on use because the sound can vary drastically when these three knobs are turned.

I use a Gibson Les Paul Studio, a Marshall 50W Valvestate combo and an array of good quality FX pedals.

I think this pedal is a must for any player. It provides some really smooth distortion tones along with tight crunch tones, all without background noise. I've owned it for over a year and I'm still finding new tones. Through the clean channel, this pedal can sound like the overdrive channel of my Marshall if set right, which in effect provides me with a third channel and I suspect that other amp users will be able to obtain a Marshall sound too. When I drop the distortion and filter knobs to almost zero and turn the volume up to about three oclock, I swear it sounds like I'm playing through a different amp (perhaps a Fender) - it sharpens and boosts the tone of my Les Paul to really give me the sound of the 60's.

It's built like a tank. I doubt there's a pedal as strong as this. It doesn't need a backup. I bought it second hand and it's never let me down.

No need.

I've been a hobby player for over 20 years, playing everything from 60's pop to 80's heavy metal. I use this pedal a lot to provide different tones. It's definately one of the best distortion pedals I've owned. I find it good for providing a smooth rock style lead and also for obtaining a sharp 60's tone - yeah, completely different, I know, but true. I have two minor complaints. Firstly, in my opinion the treble very quickly drops away on the filter knob. Secondly, and much more importantly, this thing doesn't take a standard Boss power supply connection which is really annoying, although the battery does last quite a long time if you remember to pull the input lead out when not in use. I would have given this a score of ten but for the power supply connection - it's the only pedal I power by battery. If someone stole this thing, I could only hope that they drop it on their toes (it would really hurt) and, of course, I'd buy another.

Quite easy to use [3 knobs], even though it took me a while to find the perfect sound for my taste. This was not because of the bad controls, but due to the mass of sounds you can product with just a single pedal.

The sound is awesome! exactly what i was expecting from it when i bought it! When i chose the rat i had in mind sounds from blur, slowdive, radiohead and general alternative/indie rock stuff. even though i play Shoegaze/Post-Rock. I use it among with an Epiphone guitar, a Randall amp. I prefer it than my Big Muff (moderated). The only setting is getting kind of chaotic is when the volume and distortion are full, and the filter is totally off. but why on earth should someone use this setting?

i own it for about a year and it's flawless

fortunatelly i never had any problem with the pedal itself. when i tried to register it though, i made a mistake, i send an email to the company and they replied to me the same day. so it's a 10 from me

I play guitar for 6 years, and for my preferences i can have no complain. from dreampop to punk, i'm fine with it. i would recommend it to everyone who's not playing metal (it not a "shallow" stompbox).

Very easy to use. Some distortion pedals have about 6 controls on them to dial in your sound, the RAT only has 3. Despite the lack of complex controls, I've found it easy to quickly locate whatever sound I have in mind.

One of the great things about this pedal is the combination of simplicity (see above) with versatility.

I can get a nice and mildly dirty sound that is just slightly edgy when you brush the strings but then breaks up more when you play a bit harder, to a crunchy scooped sound, a scooped heavy distortion, in-your-face aggressive distortion, a smooth very sustained tone....

I've definitely been impressed by the variety of sound you can get out of it and the quality of each.

No problems with unwanted noise.

When I got mine it was 2nd hand off e-bay, but it looked reasonably well-looked after.

Although not up to Boss standards, it does seem pretty damn solid. There's doesn't appear to be a lot that can go wrong with this design. The casing is basically like a brick, no problems there.

About 3 months after getting mine there was a small problem with one of the jacks that prove easy to fix - again, I can't vouch for how long the previous owner had it for.

Never had to deal with them.

I've spent a while trying to find the right distortion pedal: I like rock music generally, Radiohead, Nirvana, Pixies, Pink Floyd, etc.

My first distortion pedal was a Boss DS1, which is good for massive feedback distortion, but I found pretty terrible for any kind of light distortion. I then had a Danelectro, which was okay for light distortion but not very good for the head-crunching stuff.

Then got a Marshall Jackhammer pedal: That could create wide variety of tones and sounded quite good - but it would take a lot of effort to find the right sound due to having 6 different dials on it, and also a slightly dubious construction.

I've been well chuffed with the RAT2. It combines the simplicity of the Boss DS1 with the variety of sound that I had with the Jackhammer, only it sounds better.

This has to be the best distortion i have ever used!! I play Ska/Punk stuff through a Fender twin, and have never been satisfied with my distortion. (the fender distortion is worse than useless!) I can get a great punky warm distortion from the pedal! It came with no manual (display model) but it really doesn't matter! So easy to use! If u you play about with it for a few mins, i think anyone could get a sound they'd like! I'm finally happy with my sound!!!

Pretty straightforward....the filter control has to be played with to get the tone you want, but it's nice since you can change it for different tones.

Hands down this is the best distortion unit that I've ever used. I replaced an MXR Distortion+ that I've been using for decades with it. I've tried a few others but always stuck with the MXR until now. I use a Strat through a Prosonic combo. The Rat 2 is very dynamic to pick attack and is quiet during the moments that you're not playing. I find myself barely using the Prosonic's gain channel at all now. That together with the Rat I can get controlled feedback at a very low volume.

I'm pretty tuff on equipment. I believe that I could pick up this pedal and use it for self defense if I had to and it would work fine afterwards. It's made to step on, without a doubt.

I'm certainly impressed with the warranty and heard that they'll take care of prolems long after that as well.

Gotta give a 10 here. I play everything from Albert Collins to Jeff Beck. I'd certainly replace this if it were lost.

Facilissimo da usare, ha solo tre manopole: distorsione, filter (tono) e volume.

Il Rat ?? un gran pedale. Ha una timbrica tutta sua e particolare e posso dire che veramente o lo si ama o lo si odia. Possiede un suono ???trasparente??? che non copre la chitarra e, cosa che poi ho trovato fondamentale, suona veramente naturale sia con gli amplificatori solid state che con i valvolari, arricchisce infatti in entrambi i casi le sonorit?? del vostro ampli. Il RAT lo uso con una Epiphone Goth Explorer equipaggiata con un DiMarzio X2N al ponte e con un ampli H&K Blue Edition 60R a casa mentre, in sala prove, con un Marshall JCM 900. La pasta del suono ?? in entrambi i casi decisamente sempre ricca di armoniche e calda. Il RAT inoltre ?? molto versatile negli usi: il distorsore se usato fino ad 1/3 si mantiene su livelli di overdrive naturale, fino a 2/3 invece produce una bella distorsione ricca, mentre dai 2/3 in poi la pasta del suono diventa molto meno definita e pi?? selvaggia e dalle timbriche con accenti fuzz. Principalmente uso questo pedale per suonare raw blackmetal e, per questo genere musicale, trovo che il RAT sia eccezionale, imbattibile. Insomma per capirci, visto il genere che suono, preferisco di pi?? suonare con una distorsione grezza e sporca piuttosto che con una pi?? propriamente metal e pesante: se dobbiamo infatti arrivare a quest???ultime sonorit?? il RAT da solo pu?? arrivare a suonare metal anni 80 e non di pi??. Per finire posso dire che il ProCo RAT ha anche un'altra bella funzione: ?? ottimo se usato come boost (d?? una gran bella botta di volume all???ampli) e inoltre ?? divertente se usato a met?? con la distorsione dell???ampli perch?? permette di RATtizzarne il suono senza essere troppo ???invadente???. Ultima cosa: questo gran pedale ?? totalmente true-bypass.

Sinceramente non riesco a vedere punti deboli, lo uso da anni e funziona alla perfezione. Mi sembra veramente ottimo il consumo (9v), la batteria infatti dura sempre a lungo.

A conti fatti questo pedale lo comprerei e lo ricomprerei ancora e ancora. Suona bene, suona naturale, v?? alla grande sia con gli ampli a transistor che con i valvolari, non mi ha mai dato problemi, ?? versatile nelle sue funzioni. Insomma fa tutto e bene.

This pedal is easy to use but to get a lot of different tones out of it you of course need to work the distortion and filter knobs. The filter know is especially powerful in changing the tone. There was no manual but there's info all over the net.

I wanted Peter Buck's distorted tone for chording. I read he used the Rat & Big Muff. I also didn't want a Tube Screamer --it's switch didn't look too sound. With the filter set at 4 the chords are gritty and natural sounding. I want I didn't know that this pedal gives you singing sustain for leads. I esp. like the filter on 8 or 9 for warm sustained leads. This pedal is a litle noisy. I'm using with a Carvin amp mostly. So now I want another one so I can have the rhythm tone & lead tone (I wasn't aware of the Deucetone when I got this).

I just got this yesterday but it looks and feels like a tank. I especially like the switch. I just can't deal with boss & zoom crappy switching anymore. I like solid simplicity.

I play alt, pop, 60s rock and some jazz & country. I'm looking forward to comparing this pedal with my buddy's TS9. The Rat COULD BE BETTER. I repeat The Rat COULD BE better than a TS9. If the Rat & TS9 where cell mates in prison, I suspect the TS9 would be the bitch. The Rat would tattoo it's ugly logo on TS9's butt and write OWNED underneath it. BTW, all pedal comparisons should be done using prison metaphors.
I'm digging the sustain & warm lead tones and it will cut through. You can fill a lot of space with power chords but it doesn't have to be in a metal style.
I would get another one --I'm having so much fun using it.
I would change the thumbscrew for a flip battery compartment and loose the mini jack for a the boss style power plug.
I'm getting another one.