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.

3 knobs (distortion, filter, volume), pretty basic. The filter knob has a bit of a learning curve as it there's nothing out there like it. If you have the distortion set fairly low, a low filter setting will give you a harsher sort of static fuzz, whereas a high filter setting will give a really smooth sounding breakup (extremely high settings will give you an near-jazz warmth. It basically changes the character of the distortion of the know through out its range, giving you an incredible range of sounds. Once you get the filter down, the pedal is at your every whim.

Usual live setup:
Guitar: Ibanez Jet King 2 Custom (GFS Dream 90 pickups)
Pedals: Rat > Dyna Comp > (other distortion pedals) > EHX Small Stone > EHX Hog > Yamaha Magicstomp II > Boss Volume Pedal > Line 6 Echo Park
Amp: Vox AC30 & an old Fender 85

My pedal about 5 years old, I've had it for over 3. The sound quality is amazing, it does anything and everything. My favorite part of this pedal is that' incredibly transparent, your guitar's character always comes through. I like it with all my guitars, but with my mahogany guitar loaded with P-90s (GFS Dream 90 pickups), that's my end all favorite guitar sound.

My favorite settings keep the distortion knob anywhere from 9:30 to 12:00. The filter (depending on where the distortion knob is) is anywhere from 10:00 to 2:00. I get a nice, dynamic breakup that goes anywhere from a smooth overdrive to a decided crunch depending on how loud I'm playing. It gets fuzzier & heavier with increased distortion settings. All of the distortion can be tempered with the filter knob to suit whatever you want.

Cons: It adds a bit of noise (as one might expect from a distortion pedal), nothing terrible, but it's something to consider (I recently got a EHX Hum Debugger and it completely eliminates the noise, I highly recommend this pedal too). It also takes out a little low end, which really irks some people, but I compensate with a little EQ work so it's not an issue.

It's never give me any grief. If I step on the switch, it engages everytime. It's one of only three pedals that's never given me any trouble whatsoever. Outstanding reliability.

I emailed ProCo a few years with some questions about my pedal (asking how to figure out the age of my pedal, along with a few other random questions). I emailed them in the morning and I got a response back in a few hours. Very nice.

Never tried them for repair work or anything like that though.

This is the only pedal I will give a ten to. It perfectly suits my style of play & helps me whenever I try to venture for a new sound. It's grown with my level of play and the minutest twists of the 3 knobs keeps it in tune with what I'm looking for.

I listen to bands like Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Do Make Say Think, Jim Hall, Mono, Death Cab for Cutie, and lots of post-rock & jazz. My sound is kind of centered around what you'll hear from all these influences.

I have a pedalboard the size of a bass guitar case and keep 15 regulars on it. That being said, the Rat is #1 and if I had to abandon all my pedals save for one, I'd keep the rat everytime. It's the best pedal in my arsenal, period.

Three knobs, EASY.

This is the new Made in China Proco Rat. I have owned many Rats over the years, and this one disgusts me. I own a vintage Rat with the original LM308N metal can chip, and it sounds fantastic. I thought I would order a new Rat to go with it. What I got was a made in China piece of junk. The new pedal sounds nothing like the original. The new pedal is too fuzzy, flabby, and harsh sounding. The newer Rats from just a couple of years ago dont even sound this bad. Some people may like this sound, but to me it just sounds like a cheap fuzz pedal. If you like it, great, but if your looking for the classic RAT tone, this isnt it.

The RAT pedals of the past were very reliable. The new Chinese versions have different circuit boards, and the switch is now mounted directly to the circuit board (was hand wired to the board in the past). Hard to say if the reliability will be the same, Im not keeping the pedal long enough to find out.

I use my vintage Rat for classic rock and fusion style music. The new one is unusable to me. Its just too fuzzy and harsh, where my old one is tighter and more focused with a nice smooth sound. I hate it when American made products get outsourced overseas. I guess Im old fashioned. For the record, Im not opposed to foreign made products if the quality is high. In this case, I feel that the new Chines made Rats are inferior in sound quality. This is the basis of my review.

Easy to use, just 3 pots:
- Distortion
- Filter (reversed tone control)
- Volume

I kind of re-discovered this pedal. I bought it a few years ago but always found it a little too muddy sounding with my Flying V ('57 PAF's).
Last year I bought a SG Special Faded (490 Humbuckers) and now I like it much more. It has great rhytm crunch (distortion at 08:00 - 09:00) and nice leads (distortion at 10:00 - 11:00).
Distortion settings past 11:00 get a bit fuzzy. Great for Black Sabbath stuff though.
Filter is a high-frequency roll-off tone control. Very nice.

I like the way the pots, switch and pc board are mounted to the chassis. Looks very very sturdy. Much better then those MXR and EHX boxes.
It's a brick. Brick's last forever.

Nah, I live in Europe. Don't expect much..

I play guitar for almost 35 years now. I've had dozens of distortion, overdrive and fuzz boxes. Sold all of them except this little heavy RAT.
If it was stolen I would check out that new 'ProCo Solo' before buying a new RAT.

no one can be that stupid to dont check this out ?!!!

Waph wushh !! Clean sounds ? forget it ! This meaty puppy works only
for Smashing Pumkins, Kyuss or QOTSA sounds. When you are in the blues
or jazz mood ? Al Di Meola, Hendrix, Clapton.....
You dont get happy, also when you try Metallica sounds..no not realy ! Oh and its shines only with tube power, Tranies will kill the sound.
So for what I have buy it, its great, but not a allround Fuzz/Distortion/overdrive Box, so 7 points for that.
Works nice ( interresting ) as lead booster. ( 8 points ).
I need this for alternative, psychedelic "grunge" attacks and yeah its great here ! 10 points !!
But I also have a Big Muff USA for different altern...psy...sounds.
And a Fulltone 69 Fuzz for live - allround - sounds.


My Live set up ; Fender Strat, Gibson Studio Paula and only sometimes my Petrucci Signature Music Man Baby....
This goes in a 50 Watt Marshall Plexi with 2 x 2x12 Cabs. or in the almigthy Mesa Lonestar 2x12.
Effects are ; EHX Holier Grail, Boss dd 3, Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe, Maxon TS9, Fultone 69 Fuzz and a Cry Baby classic.
and the Amp chanel switcher.

good solid metal box, all the knops are well done. OK !
Have it 3 years, no problems.

???????

I play since 18 years anything that is coming near my ears.
Mostly I need the RAT for Studio works or just at Band sessions practise things. At playing live, I like to have a simple rig so I dont use the RAT that much ther !
But all in all, its different from that Tubescreamer/Rectifier hype sounds, so it open up the horizon a littel bit more.
And at this price, its more than OK. But that is me, I only can say test one out, when you get tired from........

Easy to use. 3 knobs. Volume, Filter, Distortion. Only the filter know would give you any confusion.

This is definately one of the better sounding distortion pedals out there.

The distortion range can go from light overdrive to insane screaming distortion (frankly, anything past 65% on the distortion knob is useless to me).

The filter knob is very interesting. I have a hard time defining what it does, though I think increasingly removes upper mids. At 0-33%, this pedal sounds more like a DS-1...that is, it is bright and gnarly and in your face - great for punk and alternative. From 33-66% the distortion is more Marshall-y. It becomes a bit darker, but still has nice grinding upper mids. This is the AC-DC/Black Sabbath area. From 66-100% on the filter, the sound becomes a dark fuzz. Here is sounds pretty cool with a wah, but you aren't going to get chord clarity here.

Overall, the sound is great, but my only complaint is that the pedal has a synth-like harshness in the upper frequencies which I notice from time to time. This is minor though, and the overall tone is great.

I use mine in front of my Vox AC30CC2

I think this thing would surive a nuclear blast.

5 year no-questions-asked warranty!

Answered my emails next business day.

Very good pedal for everything from punk to blues to 70's and 80's rock. It isn't going to do metal, but it covers more other rock bases.

I use it to make my AC30 sound like a Marshall (when need be).

Like any good pedal, this takes some tweaking. I don't believe there is any pedal out there that sounds like magic by simply plugging it in and playing. It's all about how you tweak your pedal and how you tweak your amp; the two will work together so that the sum is greater than the parts. I don't believe that you need a manual for this 3-knob pedal, unless you're looking for the suggested pre-sets. If that's the case, then the manuals are available for download at the ProCo Sound website. I find it more fun to use my ears and find the sweet spots that work for me personally.

It's really a 10 for me, but nothing is perfect and this doesn't work with anything and everything, but then what does? What truly impressed me about the Rat2 is that, when I put it in front of my Marshall JCM800 Lead Series and found the magic setting for me, it was amazing. It kept my guitar tone intact and works excellently with my pick-ups (Seymour Duncan Custom in the bridge and EMG SA-1 in the neck position). Each pick-up retained it's dinstinct characteristics, with the SDC having a more saturated, dense tone and the EMG cleaning up a bit and having a sweet, hollow sound, almost like it had a very light cocked wah on it. The Marshall was gain maxed out, volume high, but master volume keeping things in control. When I step on the Rat, the Marshall still sounds 100% Marshall, but has a thicker sound, with more saturation, but not too much fuzz (just a little hair to the tone). The thing that amazed me further was that, even with the Marshall on high gain and the Rat engaged, I could back of the volume on the guitar and the sound would clean up for a nice bluesy tone with a little break-up. WOW! Generally, distortions don't do this well at all, and that job's usually delegated to the realm of overdrives.<p>

I'm a HUGE fan of BOSS pedals, but they're distortions suck. I tried the Metal Zone, which had the exact opposite effect of most amps and pedals; when I first turn it on I think it sounds amazing, but after about 15 minutes--without touching a single knob--the sound goes to crap and all the tweaking in the world can't save it. It's like the pedal's circuitry warms up and the tone goes to hell. Very processed and transistory. Same with the BOSS HM-2 pedal; very bassy and transistory. Really kills the sound of a good tube amp and is absolutely a wreck when used with any SS amp. The BOSS DS-1 is a bit better than the other two but doesn't have the 3-dimensional quality of the Rat2 and, when you turn it down, it's basically the same gain and saturation at a lower volume. It doesn't clean up well at all for a bluesier vibe, and I like to back off and hit the chorus and echo for some Gilmouresque vibes.<p>

You can also use the Rat2 with the amp just at the very edge of clipping, where it's getting that nice bluesy growl on its own, then hit the Rat to thicken it up and push it into a nice hard rock zone for crunch rhythms and grooves and sweet soloing. Of course, there's noise and feedback with everything maxed, but then "Diming" everything is a very silly way to go if you want TONE. Sometimes I max the gain on the Marshall, but the Rat's distortion is at about 11:00 (40-45%), with the volume at about 1:00 (60%), and the filter at about 11:00 (almost exact match with the distortion knob). But that can change when the gain on the Marshall is backed off. Also, the EQ's on the Marshall aren't "Dimed," but set for a sweet tone that works for what I play.<p>

I haven't tried it with my Vox yet, but I expect pleasing results since this pedal is very versatile and surprisingly transparent when used properly. I just like to thicken the drive or gain that's already present and add a little more saturation. You can get the chainsaw/buzzsaw/jar of bees sounds if you're not careful, like with many pedals. And there are vintage fuzz sounds to be had in there. Excellent 80's metal--American, British, and European--abounds, as well as 70's and stoner rock/metal. I don't think modern hi-gain nu metal or thrash players would get as much use out of this pedal, but then I don't play in those styles, so I can't really be the judge of that. Perhaps they're in there as well.

Built like shit brickhouse. Heavier and more durable than a BOSS even, and BOSS pedals are like little bricks. This is more like a Sherman Tank. I would depend on it and gig without a backup because it's not a very temperamental or cheaply built pedal. I see them on Ebay and online surviving from the 80's in excellent condition, but then some people seem to feel the need to jump on their pedals, set them on fire in some sort of freaky homage to Jimi, or think that you turn them on by repeatedly throwing them at a brick wall. Some people treat their equipment well and some abuse it. If you treat this well, there's no reason you shouldn't have it for a few decades.

No idea; haven't had to use it.

I play a mix of 70's hard rock a la Thin Lizzy, Queen, and Cheap Trick, as well as 80's-to-present European-influenced hard rock. This pedal plays very nicely with a Marshall and I don't see why it wouldn't be compatible with many other makes and models. Like anything, you really need to play with good equipment. Nothing will make a piece of crap sound like gold. I've been playing for 20 years, so I know what I like by know as far as tone and equipment goes. At least, I know what works for me. I own a ton of other gear that won't really matter to YOU. If the pedal was lost or stolen, I would immediately buy another. In fact, I plan to buy a back-up just in case of such an incident.<p>

The aspects of this pedal that I love are the fact that it's very transparent with my Marshall, really thickening the gain and adding some pleasant saturation. The string dynamics are great. Muting works excellently. It really tightens up the sound without killing it. And it's very responsive to the input volume from my guitar, which I really love. There are a wide variety of tones to be found in this pedal. What I really dislike is that it doesn't take a standard power supply and the Rat power supplies aren't too readily found, though they're out there. It runs off of a 9v battery as well, but everything on my pedalboard is supplied via power. I'm looking around for the adapters for my Voodoo Lab power supply, which may feed the pedal, which would be ideal. <p>

I didn't really compare this to anything else, but just picked it up while browsing at a local instrument shop. It was used and I'd heard nothing but great things about Rat. Since I've primarily been using a BOSS OD-1 (have several!), but wanted higher gain sounds without losing the sound of my amp, I didn't know exactly what I wanted for a distortion. I can compare it to other distortions I've owned and it blows them all out of the water. The BOSS DS-1 is a really nice distortion, which many people seem to pick on needlessly (sounds great with a great set-up), but the BOSS MT-2 and HM-2 both sucked horribly. Those were my first distortions a few years back and they actually scared me away from distortions in general, relying instead upon my trusty OD-1's. I also tried the Carl Martin PlexiTone, which was really sweet by itself, but it didn't integrate itself into my complete set-up for the results I was looking for. It was a little more thick and "mushy" than what I needed. I need glassy sound where the strings are very distinct and separate, and cleans up with the volume knob. I bought the Rat and just tossed it in a box because I'm a gearhound that does stuff like that on a whim, thinking that some day I'll get bored and try it on for size. I recently pulled it out and was ecstatic with the results. This was what I really was looking for all along. I'll keep my DS-1 because I'm a BOSS fan in general and I like to keep some of their better models, but the MT-2 and HM-2 are long gone. Here's the gain I was looking for. Very impressed.

ez to use 3 knob pedal. battery opener too is easy, like your mom. only thing not real easy is getting a good sound there is more bad sounds than good sounds in this pedal...

not bad sound quality about just right really if you find the right set-up, Im using deville 212 and telecaster and it sounds better on my valve amp rather than on my little solid-state amp i had a chance to compare to big muff side by side and your moms muff had a more big feedback distortion sound but the rat had a more crispity crunch but yet a little on the lifeless side to say the least...but I can see why this is a great pedal because its more metal than I thought when I bought it but yet still an overdrive kind of feel

no reason not to give a 10 here, its built well and does well on batterys...like your mom's dildo...

Just wanted to try the rat 2 to be honest when I bought it, I got rid of my uber metal and metal zone for this at the pawn shop and I dont regret it because I didnt use those pedals much anyway and im still searching for a good sound to go with my set-up and im still not sure if this pedal is it but its alot closer than other pedals ive tried and owned... I found a good sound out of this thing at distortion just a little under 12:00 and filter all the way off :)

You have to tweak it well to reach the sound you want ! This is fairly easy to use

I'm using a Fender Fat strat USA, a Jackson King-V2 with with Boss tuner, noise supressor, DS1, Proco Rat2, Mxr 10 band EQ, Boss delay, chorus... plugged in a Tech21 Trademark 60 amp.

This stompbox is very versatile, a bit fuzzy, no noise ! Great for Rock overdrive and Old Black Sabbath tone. The one you should have to sound like David Gilmour. The lead sound with this jewel is incredible, great sustain and tone !!! For the blues... I prefer the Ibanez Ts9 or the Boss DS-1 too and for a solo boost (my DS-1 is my weapon for solo boosts !), but for all the rest I prefer the Rat !!
So, for a great rock tone, fuzzy tone, Hendrix-like, Gilmour-like, Iommi-like, Brian May-like tone this is the pedal you need !!!

For my rock, pop & jazz fusion concerts I will ! with my Ds-1 for solo boosts !

I've been playing for 10 years now. I play rock, heavy metal, blues, jazz, pop, progressive music ! and I will use it for Rock, Jazz, pop, old heavy metal (Black Sabbath) and maybe progressive (like Yes, old Genesis) ! ... SO that's a great ratio !

I own several other distortion/overdrive pedals and The Rat2, along with the Boss DS-1 are my favorites !!! I would definitively buy another one if something happen...


Goods: *no noise
*versatile
*great range of distortion
*fairly great price

Cons: *Cannot purchase in Canada (except on internet)...
*Miss a little bit of volume output
*Bit too fuzzy sounding sometimes

3 knobs - no problem

Using it with a various guitars through Marshall DSL head + Cab. I was looking for a subtle warm o/d tone I could switch in on the clean channel. This will do fine. The most important feature of any pedal IMO besides its effect quality is that it be true by-pass. Ideally it will have an indicator led aslo. This pedal meets those criteria.

I was very disapointed that when I got it, the unit was malfuctioning, The indicator LED was on all the time, irrespective of whether the effect is actually on or off.
Rather than go through the hassle of return shipping it (cost & time), I had a look to see if I could fix it. The underside component legs were poorly trimmed. One leg was left so long that it was shoring against the units casing, causing the led problem. That was easily fixed as it turned out. The PCB is obviously "stuffed" by hand as small volume production runs etc would make automation uneconomic. Don't be mislead into thinking that "Handmade in the USA" implies that you will get a boutique pedal made by a craftsman. If the hands are careless, the quality will be bad. This unit escaped any meaningful level of QC and functional test.

I sent this feedback to the ProCo website and directly to their management. I haven't heard back yet. ProCo have a very good reputation but my first experience with their quality was negative. If the unit I bought is representative of the quality ProCo are shipping now, it won't be long before that reputation will suffer.
If this unit was a 1-off maverick, they should say so.

I'm giving them a 1 on this category until they respond to my complaint at which point I will revise the rating accordingly - hopefully upwards.

Classic rock - warms up the clean channel on the amp allowing me effectively a 3rd channel. I don't find that it enhances the gain channel on the Marshall.

Playing 28 years. I use good equipment
Guitars: Gibson Les Paul / a de-Claptonated Fender Eric Clapton Strat, a Deluxe Nashville Tele, and a modified Ernie ball Silhouette guitar
Amps
Marshall JCM2000 head / Mesa-Boogie Studio preamp + 50/50 rack

Effects
TC Electronic GMajor, Various Boss pedals / a modified true-bypass + led Morley Power Wah / Ibanez TS pedals,

Celestion V30 speakers.

Lost or stolen ? its not a key part of my setup yet so I would probably take it on the chin.

I like true bypass + LED. When the effect is off, I like that it is not draining tone.

The quality problem is of concern to me though.

Overall rating because of the quality and lack of response from ProCo. Will revise when/if I get a response.

Three controls, distortion, filter and volume. 10 minutes and you will have your sound. Its very simple to use. But it is really a great pedal.
It has a rock solid on/off switch.

The quality of the sound depends on the amp you play. It delivers everything from light cruch sonds to heavy distortion. The heavy distortion fits all players who like those 80's hard rock sound. like me!
But now to the amps- I played it with a Peavey 112 Bandit as i tried it at the store- with the rat this cheap amp rocked!!! at home i played it with my trace elliot hybrid and it was not so good-it sounded a little bit muddy. I actaully bought it to boost my marshall dsl 50 head. But i will sell the head again because it sucks. I saved much money for this amp and as i finally got it i began to reallize that it sucked. Iam really disappointed from marshall- i think ill get a peavey or engl amp soon- and the rat will boost it to the max!

I would always trust it and play it without a backup!
It is build like a tank-rock solid construction!
Handmade in the USA!

hmm not deald with it yet- but they say that proco gives a five year warranty!- sounds good for me- originall text on the box: "Five year warranty- any excuse, even abuse" nice statement!

I play 80's and 90's hardrock/metal, everything from acdc, whitesnake (early and new- the rat fits both!), iron maiden, dio, accept, winger etc. to van halen and it sounds really good!
i would allways buy a new one if it was stolen!
i love the ease of use and the great sound that it delivers! I tried a lot of distortion/booster pedals, from boss DS-1 over DOD250 and malmsteen signature to line 6 dist pedals, but nothing had that great "rat" sound! its really amazing!
Try it if you are disappointed from everything else!

Very easy to dial in all sorts of distortion types.

My setup is an easy one..... Fender JV Strat into RAT 2 into Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue. This pedal is no louder in the noise department than any other distortion pedal that I have used. Actually for the amount of gain that you can dial in, it is relatively quiet, even through my Strat single coils. This is one heck of a distortion pedal....My guitar sounds very full through this pedal, a very fulfilling sound! Almost Marshall like. This pedal has a very 70's Rock vibe to it, it give me a very authentic classic rock sound. I can also dial in a bluesy sound by rolling the dials to the left, but I usually leave that job for my amp alone since it has the blues sound covered 10 fold! One thing that I have noticed is that you might loose some tone on the deeper (bass) end of the spectrum running through this amp. I usually compensate for that by turning the bass knob up on the amp a bit!

This pedal feels very study under foot. Proco keeps building these like tanks. I would definitely gig without a backup!

Have not dealt with them yet.

I have been playing guitar for about 20 years, and this pedal is definitely a must have for any rock musician. I bought this pedal after going to every music store in the MD area and trying all sorts of pedals. For the price you can't get any better!!!

This thing is pretty easy to get a good sound out of once you get comfortable with the filter knob. I usually set it around 2-3 o clock. Distortion and volume knobs are pretty self-explainatory.

My setup consists of Gibson Les Paul (or epiphone sg) -> Boss SD-1 -> Rat 2 -> Ampeg V-50H 50 watt all tube head -> Vintage 30 loaded 4x12 cab. I can get anything from a good crunch with the distortion set around 10-11 o clock to a strong metal tone with it set around 12-2 o clock. The SD-1 is used as a solo boost and compliments this pedal very well. My Boss Metal Zone cant compare to the Rat 2. The Rat sounds so much fuller. The Metal Zone is very thin.

Think early Metallica or Soundgarden-type grunge with this pedal.

Seems very reliable. Bought it used and works like its brand new. I would and have gigged without a backup with no worries (as long as it has good batteries).

I havent dealt with the company, but i live 3 mins away from where they are made (kalamazoo, MI). If something happened, I would get it repaired or buy a new one.

I play somewhat grungy-hard rock. This pedal is definitely the richest sounding overdrive/distortion i have ever used. I have been playing for a few years. Also own a Boss DS-1 which is no match for this (but still a good distortion for the price and I use it on occasion). This pedal sounds great in front of a tube amp and doesnt make it sound like its a solid-state amp (like a metal zone or DS-1).

Here?s what you do: Play muted chord and adjust the distortion knob to where muted chord behaves the way you like. Then turn the filter knob to where excessive fizz is removed but the sound still retains clarity. Turn the volume knob where the overall level is in right relation to clean (RAT turned off) signal. That?s it! That?s your RAT. Don?t like it? Piss off then, and go hug your greasy sounding Engl.

I subtract one point from rating because of the weird ac adaptor input jack. Maybe that?s more common in the US, but we don?t have adaptors with such plugs here in Europe. So until I find this RPS-1 device, I?m stuck with using batteries, which I don?t like using. Luckily you can change battery on the fly because of the thumb screw on the backplate.

I should also point out that you must always unplug your RAT when not in use. The faint glow of the led indicates it eats batteries whenever an instrument cable is plugged into the input.

I?ve been searching for a not-so-smooth sounding old-school metal distortion. I got interested in RAT after someone rumored it was the secret of the two earliest Metallica albums (which are at the other end of spectrum than later Metallica, remember that). Many reviewers here are raving how well it suits alternative / grunge / whatever messy hair, worn jeans shit etc. style. But I guess (in addition to rumours that every unit has slightly individual sound) RAT lets YOUR style and feel shine through, because for me, as a metalhead, this thing is metal as fuck! (Drink beer, wear a bulletbelt, and despise the society!)

The distortion wasn?t exactly how I imagined it would be, but it definitely reminds me of days when metal was still dangerous and feared, and uncommercial. It?s so inspiring, so dynamic, so alive! It makes me wanna give horns up and gnarl "Eviiillll BlaackMetaaaall!!" And what?s most amazing is the chord definition despite of uncompromised attitude of the tone. I thought that?s an impossible equation! High-stringed, even disharmonic chords cut through note-by-note with determined aggression. And still the tone never gets tiring to ears, not even after hours of playing, maybe because the sound kind of "breathes". And when I move to lower strings I realise just how deep the distortion digs in (no, not like in Stockholm Sunlight Studio death metal). Playing with humbucker (like I do) can produce massive power chords. You can even play doom metal by maxing the distortion knob, but I like to keep it in 2 o?clock where muted chords don?t get out of control. I guess you could play also punk through RAT with a single coil, but definitely not with a humbucker. Turning the distortion lower than 12 o?clock for more held-back overdrive doesn?t sound too bad but the low end seems to be completely lost down there. Keep in mind that I used RAT straight from guitar and straight into a very clean sounding combo. There?s not much "creamy smoothness" here, and I do NOT WANT any!

Solos sound good and well defined, but not exactly pretty. You?ll need something more liquid sounding distortion for that.

Did I forget to mention the admirably low level of noise signal, for a high gain analogue stomp box? Well it?s quieter that some other pedals praised as dead quiet. But then again, the sustain is not that long (although it?s long enough for my needs).

Many reviewers have said their RAT has never failed even throughout many years. According to the ProCo website the electronics are cemented with epoxy (the strongest adhesive there is), so that should indicate something...

What would I ask them? "What was the black magical voodoo rite spell you charged the RATs with?" Ok, seriously, I did need to take look at their website, which was highly informative, and I soon found every piece of info I needed, including the downloadable manual.

The best sounding distortion box I have played so far. And the best quality/price ratio than with anything I own. Apparently suitable for a wide arrange of styles (but not for something slick and modern, so commercial nu-metal puppets, step aside). I personally would never use it for blues or something like that, there are a lot more suitable and smoother pedals out there for that, but if this is the pedal you want for blues I don?t judge you.

My RAT relies on my playing, but with every note delivered with biting aggressive fuck-you attitude. It?s very close to score a full 10 rating, but it?s not the end-of-all distortion boxes. Though probably nothing is and nothing will be.

It took me a week to figure this thing out.
First of all, get an AC adapter. As everyone mentioned, this pedal need special AC adapters. RAT needs AC adapters for Electro Harmonix.
Unless you're using AC adapter, use brand new battery with this. I first thought this pedal was a piece of crap. Controls didn't work. No matter what, it sounded fuzzy, and boomy and lower strings sounded horroble. It's just because my battery had no life left, but the LED was on, so I didn't know the battery was dying until I changed them.
I finally got AC adapter for this and now everything works great. Now cotrols actuary work, and I can get sound I want.

My setup, Tokai LS-70"GOLD TOP"(2hums) > RAT2 > Hughes & Kettner Edition Tube.
Most of the time, my RAT2 is set like this, DISTORTION: 9~10 o'clock FILTER: 3 o'clock VOLUME: 2~3 o'clock.
On my setup its not noisy at all. It sounds classic high gain. If I turn the volume down on my guitar, it gets crunchy. It sounds so juicy.
If you turn down the FILTER knob sound get bit trebly for my tatse but it sounds like cranked fender amp.
Pretty much you can get any sounds you want.

This thing is like a tank.

Never contacted them.

For the money I paid. I didn't know I could get such nice sound. It's amazing. This thing is reliable too.
If stolen I would get this pedal again.
I would've given it a 10 if it had a normal jack for AC adapaters.

I can hear you all shouting..8!!! but it only has three knobs and they are clearly marked!...

But the reason behind my below easy rating, is down to the power supply to this otherwise simple device.

When I got it out of the box, my first disapointment was brought about by the fact that the mains supply was non standard (it only takes a centre positive jack type connector, not the kind that you can plug into a BOSS pedal, and NOT the type that powers all my other pedals) So now I have a nice neat and tidy custom perdal board with integral power and cabling, and 1 dirty great cheap and nasty power adapter sticking out like a turd on a cheese board.

As far as the pedal controls go, if you can't get your head around them take it back to shop and get a refund.

Ok my setup is as follows without listing all of my effects..

70's reissue Fender Strat (EMG SA and Active Boost) -> Rat 2 -> Fender Blues DeVille 4x10

I have the distortion set at around 2 o Clock, the filter is set to 12 0 Clock and the volume is set to 12 o Clock.

Firstly I would like to say to all those people that slated this pedal, saying that they could not get a good sound, and it all sounds fuzzy, well either you have a faulty unit or you need to re-evaluate the settings for the rest of your rig, as from the minute I turned this thing on, all I had was pure calsssic tones.

I have had tones that range from SVR to Vai and everything else in between, and I know that a lot people out there are maybe not that experienced when it comes to equipment or tone, and you will have to take my word for it, but I have been playing for around 18 years, everything from cheezy rock, Country and Blues. I am currently in a successful Pink Floyd tribute band, and I am always getting comments from fans telling me how accurate my sound is, so I do know a thing or two about tone and equipment.

Subsequently I have given this section 8 as you can always add to the mix and get better sounds, like stepping on a TS9 as well as the Rat 2 and getting other tones equally as good. But straight out of the box it is amazing!

Have not had it long, but it is built like Sherman Tank and in it's spare time it acts as an axle stand while I change a tyre on my car.

Have not dealt with them, but the general perception is very high.

Overall I would give this pedal an 8, I dont like to see people throwing 10's at everything cos they have found their sound of the day, if you give something a 10, you are saying that it is perfect, and I would not say that it is perfect, but if you are looking for a versatile distortion pedal that gives you classic tones worthy of AC DC, Thin Lizzy, Gary Moore etc on one hand then by lowering the mids and boosting the treble you can get Iron Maidon, Malmsteen etc, then this pedal really is the one to get. You only have to look at the pro users of this pedal to see its pedigree.

Just a final note, as no amateur/semi pro musician has an infinate amount of money, or an infinate amount of storage space, getting the sound you want with the equipment and space you currently have is a life long challenge, you just have to break the sound you are looking for down in to its basic components.

Era (what era was the sound most prominant)
Equipment (what equipment was used in that era)
Artists (what artists had this sound or elements of the sound)

From these tips you can research and build any sound you are looking for (within reason), sometimes you cannot have the sound you want because you just don't have the right gear, so you have to compromise.

Have fun.

I love this pedal. It takes a little patience to get your sound, but when you find it, you know it.

I'm using it with an Epi Les Paul and a Hughes and Kettner Edition Blue 60. It sounds great.

This pedal is a tank. Seriously. I can't kill it. I've used it for 15 years without a backup. The only work I've ever had to do to it was replacing the battery connector.

Never dealt with 'em. Never needed to.

I play blues, metal, rock, metallic blues-rock... The Rat2 covers it all.
I've been playing about 17 years, had the Rat for 15 of those years, and have used it on everything from a Bentley Series 10 to a Fender Strat to a Les Paul. I've used Crate, Ibanez, Fender and the H&K amps. This pedal has been the only constant in my setup. It always sounds great.
My only complaint is that there's no way to save your settings. My pedal has notches all around the knobs from experimenting.
If my Rat was stolen, I'd hunt down the person who took it and beat them with it. Or I'd scour Ebay for another one.
I've tried lots of other distortion/fuzz/overdrives, and I can't beat the Rat2. I can't even match it.

To get good sounds from this pedal (IMHO) you need to crank the "volume" knob, NOT the "distortion" knob. This seems a bit backwards, but once you get past that you are off and rolling.

I had a peavey backstage plus followed by a peavey renoun 400. Back in the 80's all the poor kids got peaveys to start out on and they sounded like crap. No distortion pedal on the planet could save them, except one. A friend/mentor told me that he had heard they were good...well I was desparate for a good sound so I ordered one without even hearing it first! Pretty dumb eh? Well I lucked out becuase the rat turned my peavey into a monster!
Distortion knob - 9 to 10 o'clock
Filter knob - 12 to 2 o'clock
Volume knob - Full blast!
Anything that can turn junk into nirvana gets a 10 in my book.
I suppose it's hard to say that the rat doesn't color your sound, how else would the peavey suddenly sound good? But...in comparason to other distortion pedals this is definitely one of the cleanest I've ever heard.

I've never seen a more dependable pedal, this thing will roll over other pedals like a monster truck. Mine has survived several drops and a fall from the top of a staircase.

Never used it, but you won't need it with this pedal.

All I played back then was metallica...and I only had a chance to play it through a peavey amp before IT WAS STOLEN. I suppose I shouldn't give it a 10 under such limited uses. That and the fact that so many pedals today give you 5 billion knobs + make coffee for you makes this pedal seem a bit limited.
I have a digitech 2101 now so I don't need the rat anyway, but if I suddenly found myself broke and with another peavey amp, I'd buy a rat 2 in a hearbeat.

Too easy I think. 3 knobs, Drive/Tone/Level traditional configuration in overdrive/distortion stomp boxes.

I use to have a reissue TS-9 that I modded myself to TS-808. I just wanted more balls and more Hard Rock attitude. So I traded it with the RAT II. What a change!!! The TS-9 is one of the greatest overdrives around (if not the best), but the RAT II is the sound I?ve been dreaming of since I was 5 and heard "Appetite for destruction", period.

You can call it overdrive, you can call it distortion, you can call it fuzz or whatever you like, it?s just a wonderfull blem of the 3.

I use it with:
Epiphone Les Paul Custom/Fender Stratocaster 68?reissue - Crybaby - Boss Flanger BF-2 (made in japan) - Rocktron Short Timer Digital Delay all feeding my 64?Fender Tremolux Head with 65?2x12 Fender Cabinet.

The combination of the Les Paul, 59?Seymour Duncan Bridge pickup, the RAT II and my amp set up is just wonderfull. Sounds just like I want and you know it?s hard to be that satisfied in guitar tone matters.

It can be used as a blunt weapon. Very strong and heavy, just like the tone he provides to your guitar.
It only fails when it runs out of power.

Don?t know. When I got it, I checked Procosounds web site and e-mailed them with the serial number asking for a date or something and there never was a reply.

To me, simply the best. I?ve owned lots of OD/DIST/FUZZ stomp boxes and the RAT II is the only one that makes me 100% happy with my tone.
Go get one!! There?s is no genre, style or setting the RAT II cannot make wonderfully.

three knobs and a button. dial in to your favorite sounds.

i use this on the clean channel of a classic 30. this thing sings out. can get andything to a fuzzy sound to a light bluesy overdrive. makes a bit noise because i use single coils. overall wonderful tone, will never be replaced by anything else.

have had it long enough to say.

never dealt with

wonderful as a primary blues guitarist its good, but this thing can rock to heavy stuff, alternative emo etc.

Plug it in and turn the knobs. There are a few less-usable tones in there, but finding your sweet spot is much easier than finding your girlfriend's... uh sorry.

My signal chain: Gibson Les Paul(s)->Fulltone Fulldrive->RatII->Boss DD5 Delay->Korg Tuner->Orange AD30->2x12 cab w/ Eminence Wizards.

The RatII is just what I was looking for! Which was something with more bottom end and balls than the Fulldrive. The Fulldrive is good for TS-9 overdrive type work, but I needed something to give that last bit of oomph. The Rat is very good at this. I use it with the Drive set a little over the middle, tone @ 3 o'clock (the tone knob is reverse of normal), and volume set to need.

Additionally, I can get tones very very close to what the Fulldrive does at the lower drive settings on the Rat. The Fulldrive is a swell pedal, but for versatility I'd almost take two Rats.

The new Rat's have true (as in TRUE) bypass, which is what every pedal should be.

"5 year warranty. Any excuse, even abuse." This is written on the box it came in! I'd say they're pretty confident in their product, and that makes me pretty confident.

Use this pedal for anything from TS9 sounds to near Big Muff Fuzzzz. I'm not saying it re-creates those sounds to perfection. It has its own sound and it's a good sound for a wide range of gain/compression. I'd be willing to go on tour with only a fleet of the various Rat pedals for my dirt work.

3 knobs. Volume, filter, distortion. Filter is just a reverse tone knob. I actually think the filter knob is more affective than the tone knobs on my Boss pedals. On most Boss distortion/overdrive pedals, I have to put tone at 0 to get a normal sound. On the Rat, the filter knob sounds great wherever it is put and can you a variety of sounds. Very easy to get a good sound. It has a different power unit it needs. This made me buy a single unit to power this one instead of using my 5-way daisy-chain. However, I like that the reissues have the LED light. Very useful.

Epiphone Les Paul Standard - Vox V848 - Pro Co. Rat II - Ibanez TS9 - Boss BD2 - Boss DD5 - MXR Micro Amp - Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (tube 1x12 40 watts).

Not noisy at all which is amazing because of the high gain this pedal can attain. One word: VERSATILE!!! This unit gets cleaner than my Tube Screamer and Blues Driver and gets much dirtier as well. With distortion at 0, this pedal sounds like it's not even on. However, with a tiny turn, you hear a little bit of gain. Sounds like a Fender Twin from the 50's. With a little more twist of the knob, it now sounds like an overdriven tube amp, and then turns into a Marshall stack. This continues to get incrase gain until about half way when it hits fuzz. This could be used for distortion, overdrive, solos, or even clean boosts! Can go from Hendrix to Queen to AC/DC to sounds of today as well. This is the best sounding distortion/overdrive pedal I've ever heard. Because of the sound, price, reliability, and versatility, nothing even touches it.

This is the sturdiest pedal I've ever seen. This pedal is made of heavy metal and can produce the sound as well. Very reliable. I would definetly not have a backup. Try to break it. I dare you.

Great for any style of music. I could even use this for jazz or blues if I wanted. Sounds best for classic rock. Been playing for 4 years. This unit is my favorite pedal on my whole. Not to mention, it was the cheapest pedal to buy as well. It it were stolen, I'd throw my Tube Screamer at the robber running of with it, and then beat him with the Rat. But if the robber got away, I'd definetly buy another it a heartbeat. I love the sound, versatilty, price, and quality of this pedal. The things I've found that I don't like is that it needs to attain more volume when the distortion is at 0. However, when the distortion is turned a little bit, it's fine. I also don't like the rubber stoppers on the bottom. If you don't own a pedalboard or don't velcro your pedals to your board, this is a great feature. However, it is very heard to velcro with the big rubber stoppers. But with a little cardboard and duct tape, this problem is easily fixed. My favorite feature is the versatility. Goes from clean to fuzz with the turn of a dial. This unit slotters my Boss DS-1, which I sold thanks to this pedal. Perfect for making music. This pedal can do everything I need in a distortion/overdrive pedal. If only they'd make a Rat rack unit with 10 or so editable slots. Then I could create save the many sounds this unit is capable of making into one unit where I could then change settings with the stomp of a button. This is by far the best distortion pedal on the market. Buy it if you want your Fender tube amp to sound like a Marshall stack. Then turn the Rat off to have the famous Fender tube amp clean sounds again. Perfect unit.

A distortion pedal is really a no-brainer for most of the guitar-playing population and the RAT2 is no different. As previously mentioned the "reverse-taper" tone pot (or filter sweep) can throw you off if you just put your hands on the pedal. Everything else is clearly marked and self explanatory.

Korean PRS -> Crybaby Wah ->BOSS SD-1->RAT2->BOSS CE-1->DIGIDELAY->HRDx 1x12 40w tuber

This is my most recent setup for gigging live, and i must say that I am truly happy with the sound. The RAT can go anywhere from that marshally crunchy sound to a ultra-thick fuzz-type distortion. It is extrememly receptive to pick attack, in fact all the strings ring out on the RAT even with lots of distortion. The harder you dig in, the better it responds.

I would classify the RAT2 as a combo fuzz/distortion. You can easily get an AC/DC sound or even a Foo Fighters type of grrrrrowl. The trick on this bad boy is to use the filter-tone sweep to extract your sound.

Some example settings
HARD ROCK CRUNCH
dist=9 o'clock
Tone=11 o'clock
volume=2 o'clock

ALTERNATIVE GRUNGE RIPS
dist=2 o'clock
tone= 12 o'clock
volume=1-2 o'clock

I can relate to those who feel that the rat may have not very good sustain. I have found that it is short of a "high-gain" type of sound, but more of a texture for your rig (that is a good thing). I force feed my rat2 with a fairly neutral setting on my boss sd-1. With the rat2 in a HARD ROCK CRUNCH type setting fed with the sd-1 in front this thing can really rip (great high-gain slash or zakk type of tone).

TRUE BYPASS = yummmy (especially for those with good sounding tubers)

The effect always is right on - i modded my rat to accept the boss style power plug as well as installed a bright blue led in the 'a'

Basically it is a very versatile distortion. It is truly not a 1-trick pony.

So far, so good. This particular RAT2 was made in the 80's so its got plenty of love marks on it. It seems that the crappy input jacks eventually fell apart (especially the plastic part) so i had to replace both. This can be expected with 20+years of use!

I do depend on this bad boy for a bunch of my tones playing live.
You would have to be either a newb or a idiot to not have a strategic backup if you are playing live. I have my boss gt-6 (digital harshness) and another amp always nearby just incase something went kaBOOM!

When the battery starts to die, it makes this really great squealing noise that can be adjusted with the dist knobs (its as if the op-amp gets stuck in one stage!) But dying batteries can be replaced.

oh yeah, forget about where the battery cover is..its gone!

so neg points for battery cover and the input jacks

Never dealt with them so NO OPINION!

I play a mix of classic rock, 60's rock, 70's rock, 80's rock, and 90's rock. Throw in some alternative rock in there too! My fav bands are Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. I have been playing 16+ years.

I think that this RAT2 distortion is perhaps the versatile dist pedal i have been looking for. It is not only noise, but adds a distinct texture to your sound. The tweakablility is great on this unit, and can be adapted to many different styles.

I really enjoy how i can hear every single string ring out (when playing a barre chord). Paired up with the SD-1 its a true monster! The SD-1 alone can provide a decent rock crunch on top of the clean channel of my HRDx. But together with the rat2 is a real treat.

I chose the rat2 after seeing it in a used music store, and trying it out. I was getting tired of the digital staleness of my boss gt-6 (which i gave pretty high marks to in a previous review when i thought it rocked) but now am migrating back to a simpler/more toneful setup. The soundguys are happy not dealing with harsh patch changes anymore, and I can concentrate on playing instead of programming patches. I feel like im 15 again and have my first dist pedal! Seriously, the Rat2 is a very versatile pedal and can be suitable for all styles EXCEPT extremely heavy metal. The rat2's "buzzsaw" dist is only achieved with the filter knob twisted to the left somewhat..and even then it is better than the MT2 by a long shot. The MT2 will never get that classic rock crunch or that alternative fuzz but the RAT2 does it and asks to be ridden hard.

Well it is a very versitel distortion/overdrive. Not very hard to get a good tone from it.

Well I play an Epi LP, threw a Rat2, GE-7, Small Clone, and a volume pedal to a Peavey classic 30. The Rat sounds pretty swell by itslef, but I use the GE-7 to help it alittle bit. It is just so versitile.

This is used by a ton of artists. Sonic Youth, Nirvana, mewithoutYou, and alot-alot more.

I give it a 10. Built like a little tank. I have droped it alot, but this little thing keeps on kicking.

I would gig without a back up. But I might pick up a EHX Big Muff, for other tones. But my Rat is the major sound box in my effects rig. I'd only use my amps distortion with my Rat to acompany it.

N/A

Oh I play punk,emo,rock,and indie. Like I said, this thing is just so versitle, it handels all thoose like a machine.

I've been playing for 5 years.


If it was stolen, you bet I'd get another one.I just love it's over all versatility. I rember the day I bought it. It was between the Big Muff and the Rat2.. And I fell in love with the Rat.



Hey it glows in the dark. How much cooler can it get?

3 knobs... Distortion, Filter, and Volume.... perhaps the simplest of pedals made

84' JV Strat/ Gibson SG> Boss Super Overdrive> Rat> Boss DD3> Ampeg Reverberocket 212 reissue with EL34 power tubes.

This just may be God's gift to guitar. The Rat is one of the most unique and versitle distortion pedals i've ever owned. From bright and jangly to oversaturated and doomy, this pedal can do it all. With my strat and the distortion at about 11 o'clock i can get some of the greatest jangly guitar sound ever out of it. It cut through and keeps the brights on while keeping a decent amount of saturation. The sound is very similar to alot of Swerevdrivers jangly guitar tones... And that said, when you crank this box of glory out you can achive some of the thickest heaviest guitar tones i've ever heard, especialy when i team it up with my SG. Its the perfect stoner metal guitar pedal... total doom very very Melvins esq.

this baby has been ticking for almost 10 years now with out a single problem. Id imagine i could try and smash the housing but i doubt i get anywhere... its built like a tank

never needed any

I've been playing in Noise rock, Space Rock and Stoner Metal bands for almost 10 years and this pedal has become the cornerstone of my guitar sound. It goes from a beautiful jangle to utter doom in just a half sweep the the knob but keeps the shining character of the guitars tone every step of the way. If i ever lost/broke this pedal i would have to find another quickly... im considering buying a second one perhaps a Turbo Rat... then i'll have duel Rats .... yippy

Pretty much straight forward. The "Filter" knob threw me off a little and made it difficult for me to figure out a good tone...which I guess is what this is supposed to do. It reminded me a little more of leaving a wah on and trying to find one good tone to set it at...*knocks a couple points off here*...otherwise good.

Well, I was using this with a strat that I modified with a Seymour Duncan classic stack and hotrails. I also had a generic tele rhythm pickup at the neck. This (with the rest of my rig, which I rarely used at the same time as the RAT 2, so I won't go into details here), fed my '74 Fender Twin Reverb.

All I can say is wow...and not all in a good way. This pedal is hot and nasty. When it comes to distortion, I tend to use my Big Muff as a standard to compare other pedals. The RAT 2 was much brighter, biting, and aggressive/harsh. I had a difficult time getting it to work for the smoother, creamier sound I was going for. Plus, with hot pickups and a ridiculously loud amp, I found myself with little control over noise & feedback.

At the same time, I am fully aware that this pedal is not supposed to be "nice" at all. In fact, it's supposed to offer an aggressive rock distorion...so it's doing what it's supposed to...so I can't take off too many points. The pedal does it's job, but I just can't hire it.

Dependable? Yes. Gig without a backup? Yes...if I ever had the desire to incorporate it into my gigging rig.

Never had to deal with 'em.

I was using this for modern rock, a la Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters. It probably could have worked well for any of those, but I didn't like it enough to want to make it work. I gave it to a very happy man who in turn gave me an MXR Flanger that I proceeded to never use. (Fool am I.) Anyway, I'm just glad it's going to someone who will actually use it.

The Rat 2 is an awesome distortion pedal that is simple to use. There are three knobs, not hard to find a good sound.

Currently I am playing a Gibson Les Paul or Fender Standard Strat------Rat 2-------Carvin Bel Air tube amp. This Rat is not noisy at all. You can get a wide range of sounds with this pedal.

This thing is HEAVY. It's built like a tank. Solid, period.

N/A

I play stuff like Clutch, Fu Manchu, Kyuss, Black Label Society, Alice In Chains, Audioslave, etc. It is good for all of these. I have been playing for nearly 20 years and have used many distortion pedals. This sounds less "processed" than the Metal Zone I used to have. More of a natural distortion sound. If it was lost or stolen I would buy another one. I would like to try the Deucetone. I like the fact that it is very durable and that it puts out great sound. Buy one today!

Only 3 knobs makes it very easy to use, but you do need to tweek the settings a bit to get the desired effect. Little tweaks on each knob seem to affect the other settings....but its analog and very easy.

I use: Gibson Les Paul Classic -> Boss BD-2 -> Rat -> Boss Delay -> Peavey classiv 50. The Rat is a very good pedal if you want great crunch and sustain. It is not processed sounding like the Boss and Digitech metal or Rock pedals. I am not sure why I am reading a lot of people say that they lose bass with this pedal, but I think it actually has a little too much bass when the distortion is cranked up. I am, however, using a Les Paul with very heavy strings which may be why I think it may have too much bass. This pedal sounds best when used for crunchy chunky sounds with the distorition at around 10:00 and the volume at around 1:00. I seem to get the most clarity and true note definition at these settings. This is vey different than most distortion devices where you crank up the distortion setting. I give it an 8 because I am picky, but I do love it and use it all the time.

Can you say Sherman Tank.

No Idea...No Problems.

I own a number of distortion/overdrive pedals. Every year, I buy at least one new one and DON'T sell them. There are only a few distortion pedals that I haven't liked. Each one is good for a different tone. This one is great for "real" sounding distortion that is chunky. The one drawback to make this pedal better is the distortion control. I never go past 12:00 because it seems to mud up the sound a bit. They should make the control a little more transparant in the upper distortion range. By the way, for all you nuts who claim the original is the best blah blah blah. Technology has come a long way in 30 years and I owned one of the originals in the 80's and sold it....which is why I don't sell anymore, but this pedal is as good as the original. It may sound a bit different, but it has strenghts on the orignal as well as weeknesses.

This review is for a new Rat 2. It is simple to use with only 3 knobs (Distortion, Filter, and Volume) but tricky to get a good sound out of because the knobs are interactive. Meaning you can't set one knob and leave it there - once you adjust one knob, you have to adjust the others to compensate. The good thing about this is that there is a wide variety of sounds you can get with it. The downside is that most of these sounds are awful and you have to tweak until you find a good sound.

Other than that, it works like pretty much any other stompbox.

I am using this with a MIM Strat with Lace Sensors and either a Behringer GX210 combo amp or V-Amp Pro. I bought it to replace the weak gain channel on the combo amp, so I am using this purely on the clean channel. Just like any distortion pedal, the noise level increases when it is switched on but I didn't notice any more noise than other distortion pedals.

I would characterize the Rat 2 as a "fuzz-distortion" pedal rather than a pure distortion pedal like the Boss DS-1. If the DS-1 is more "gritty", the Rat is more "buzzy." I'd say overall it sounds warmer and less processed than the DS-1. By turning the distortion up and tweaking the filter knob, you can also get a smoother, bassy Big Muff/Marshall-type distortion.

On the minus side, even though there are lots of good sounds in this pedal, it's really easy to get a nasty, 'angry bees in a glass jar' type sound. I usually tweak the knobs whenever I switch pickups to avoid this. Also when I plugged the Rat into the amp's 'high input', I got the angry bees sound no matter what, so I keep it plugged into the 'lo input' for a smoother sound.

Another two pluses are the true-bypass and the low battery consumption. This pedal has low power requirements, so you don't need any special AC adapter, and it's rated for 250 hours on one 9V battery. These were the main reasons I went with the Rat over the Big Muff.

This seems to be a high quality, made-in-USA pedal with a thick metal body. I've had it for less than a week but I haven't noticed any issues.

The only design change I'd recommend is the battery compartment. I prefer the battery compartments on Boss and Ibanez pedals, which are easy to get to and secure, but on the Rat it's a plastic clip on the underside of the battery door. The wires connecting the battery connector seemed to be thin and easy to break by accident. Not the worst design I've seen but could be better.

Haven't dealt with ProCo regarding the Rat, yet.

I play rock, mostly from the 90's. I've been playing electric guitar for about 5 years. This Rat fits what I was looking for, for the most part. I'd like to play the Vintage Rat sometime and compare it to this one, to see if the distortion is any smoother. I may end up buying a Big Muff as well to complement the Rat.

As I mentioned above, the only real changes I'd make is to the battery compartment and to use lower gauge wires for the connector. Other than that, this is a good product for the price.

Easy as hell! Very comprehensive controls and very radical changes in sound when engaged! This thing is a jewel despite its name!! Can't get a bad sound out of it unless you turn the dist knob past two o clock and have the low pass maxed (but that gives the foo fighters tone so works for some people i think it s a little muddy)

This thing is RAW!!my rigg:Fender mustang '73-> telegun custom 'overdive cream' ->ehx small clone->phase90->rat2->dunlop crybaby->ehx deluxe memory man->fender blues Jr tube amp. The sound is so great! I heard about this effect and when I tried it I was blown away! It transform my fender to an aggressive EVH -approved Marshall!!(In a good way) The effect has nice tight low end pronounced mids and nice trebble it is ARTICULATE! makes your pickups speak their character through and through:neck pickup -fantastic growl and bluesy bends, bridge pickup crunchy rhythm ,harmonic mayhem a real screamer,I never thought my mustang could rock like this until i heard her with this pedal (i mostly play surf and clean stuff) The effect is not noisy and cleans up nicely when you back the volume but it's mainly distortion i don t use it for OD, for fuzz work i use my re issue ehx big muff.The great thing about it is also that the filter does a radical tone shaping job! A definatelly ROCKING pedal!! Mine is a really old one with the silver thumb screw ,i got it on ebay and was used in the eighties by the swiss Punk band Kleenex/Liliput. This thing has MOJO!!

It's been used for many years and live shows and doesn't have a scratch!! I opened it up and it's so well constructed I was amazed!! It puts to shame some of my ehx effects (although i love those babys!!)

Never dealt with them and don't think i will

This thing rocks!! It helps me play and cut through the band mix and it s also very versatile and fun!(i play blues and surf and I find myself doing poser stuff sometimes with this pedal just for the kicks i get)Rhythm crunch is raw and in your face!Check it out and get a used old one (best bang for the buck value) Here in greece the price rages up to 110 euros!(that s almost 140 USD!!)

Received it defective.

This is an update of my earliar review. I found out my pro co rat 2 was broken because one of the other reviewers said his was. So i asked pro co, they responded quite quickly. They told me they'd get the number for the uk distributer and email me back with it. I waited for 3 months... no reply. So when i actually remembered about it after 3 months i emailed them again. They gave me the number. The number didnt work. I emailed them saying the number didnt work. They emailed me back saying it does. Now im stuck with a useless #65 peice of metal.

Three knobs, very easy.

Perfect 10, but thats for me. Others have not liked the sound, we all have our particular tastes.

I have had it for a while with only one probelm, see customer support.

As I said above, I did have a probelm. But before saying this, I have to say that bought this pedal new about seventeen years ago. In that time I have dragged, dropped, and used this thing everywhere. The abuse that it has taken, any other effect pedal would have fallen apart. But get this, something did fry, I sent it back, they fixed it for free, no questons, paid for return shipping, they also included free candy in the box. My point is, this thing is made like a tank, but, if you happen to have a probelm, pro co's customer service is like dealing with a small buisness. You should have no probelm at all.

This is a really great pedal, a classic, but it is not for everyone. Think Brown sound, think classic rock. Metal guys who like a manicured hard sound may not like it, but, the Indie guys will love this. The best thing about it is its pretty consistant; also, you can pick a used one up pretty cheap. You can get one used for thirty to fifty dollars. So what do you have to louse, try it.

It is really easy to use, and easy to dial in a good sound. If you think 3 knobs can't be that hard to use, pick up a ds-1.

Glow in the dark logo and controls. Neat when on stage (I "set and forget", so just need to know if it is on or off). There is a red light in the "A" that indicates if it is on or off (at least in mine-someone in another review mentioned not being able to tell if his was engaged-not sure if his was faulty, or if ProCo stopped this feature(mine is the original version)) .

As said, "Filter" seems to be opposite on the high end roll off-far left is extreme treble, far right (clockwise) rolls the highs off.

I bought this pedal when it FIRST came out (mine has to be like 15 years old now). I was a kid then, and just wanted a distortion pedal, and got this because it was metal and black. But now...

My current set up is simple. I'm using the RAT as a gain boost for my JCM900 Marshall half stack (guitar-wah-RAT2-Marshall-reverb/delay in the loop). It really adds some nice over the edge sound without getting too muddy or noisey. It also really thickens up the notes, all while retaining the clarity. Can get nuts and muddy if you start maxing everything out. I run mine: Dist=9 oclock, Filter all the way (5oclock), Volume=3 oclock.

Complete bypass, so no tone coloring at all when it is not on. It will even bypass without a battery in it (also very good if your battery goes dead live). Battery life is EXTREMELY long.

I'm knocking off 1 point for this rating because I'd like to back off the treble just a little bit more, but the Filter is already maxed. This pedal could be a life-saver if you have a bass heavy amp, by but the JCM900's are notorious for obscene amounts of treble, so it is probably more the amp's fault than the RAT...

As I said earlier, this pedal is close to 15 years old. Normal wear and tear-I wore the footswitch out, and had my local tech replace it. My input jack wore out in the back- literally. The jack itself didn't go bad, but the threads of the jack just seemed to wear out, causing the nut to fall off. I took it apart, fed the jack through a little more to get the nut on it, and good as new. This thing will outlive me. I'll be using it (probably with the same battery) after the metal shell disentegrates, and I'm left with 2 cords running into the chip itself!

Honestly, I can't remember if I ever contacted them. If I did, it was probably before the internet existed! (the funny thing is, that is a true statement)

This is an intergral part of my sound. It actually makes my old Marshall sound "like it is supposed to". Without this pedal, I'd probably get rid of the Marshall. It is that good. I've owed this pedal almost as long as I've been playing (been playing 17 years), so it is a part of me. It is totally dependable and does exactly what I want and expect it to do. If it were stolen (no way I'd "loose" it), I'd definitely buy a new one, and just hope to god that ProCo changed NOTHING from its original produciton specs!!

like everyone said, you must be a complete idiot if you cant handle a rat 2. it easier than playing punkrock.

it's great. i use it trough a marshall JCM 800 with a humbucked fender strat. it rocks asses.

i guess that this is my biggest problem... while i was coming back from a gig, i was unloading the truck and didin't notice my rat falling out of it. it cause the truck to ran over it. i actually ordered a new one today.
hey, i wouldn't survive that either, give the rat a break right?

haven't spoken to them yet...

it's awesome. it's one of the best sounding pedals to use on a marshall JCM800. you do have to play it loud to get the ultimate sound, but that's what guitarists are for right. if you want to hear it on my recordings check out www.cluelessweb.com for free samples.

your a moron if you can't figure it out. it's the same as any other dist. only the filter takes place of the traditional tone control witch is basicly the same but works "backwards" and controls the highs not the mids like my ds-1

great with high output humbuckers i have the filter all the way down for more of a fuzzy crunch. very warm plenty of gain but very quiet playing through a fender cyclone->ds-1->rat 2->rogue chorus (don't underestimate cheap pedals)->morley pro series II-> crate cr-IIr great aic sound great for garage grunge

can't tell hasn't broke yet probably as tough as my '80 AMC eagle stationwagon

would be an 11 but only goes to 10

na

This is a update to my review below.
I emailed ProCo and got an answer within 24 hrs:
It sounds like your Rat is defective. We had a run of bad pots that have
since been replaced. I am in contact with our export agent to decide what
the best course of action would be.
I realize that a product made here is a service problem for a dealer over
there but, it disappoints me to here how unhelpful they were for you. I am
truly sorry for your trouble. We will come up with a solution for your
problem.

I think its really great they react so quick and accurat, try that with Boss!

This is a update to my review below.
I emailed ProCo and got an answer within 24 hrs:
It sounds like your Rat is defective. We had a run of bad pots that have
since been replaced. I am in contact with our export agent to decide what
the best course of action would be.
I realize that a product made here is a service problem for a dealer over
there but, it disappoints me to here how unhelpful they were for you. I am
truly sorry for your trouble. We will come up with a solution for your
problem.

I think its really great they react so quick and accurat. In every production enviroment things go wrong, but it show great class to immediatly admit this and react so prompt to a overseas customer.

Thumbs up for ProCo!

As Easy as any other pedal, no surprises or innovations here.

Gibsons Les Paul Classic, Marshall 8100 100V stack.
I don't know if its broke or something but its useless.
After the 9 o'clock position the distortion does not add any distortion. If I turn it back to the lowest position (7'o clock) it won't make any sound at all. The filter must be turned all the way left, otherwise the sound gets to dark to be used for anything.

Really well build

na

I play in an rock coverband. I need sounds from Radiohead to Metallica. I've been playing for 25 years.

I must have a bad apple considering all the positive reviews below.
I anyone has suggestions on how to make it work (haven't opened it yet) please let me know.

Its very simple, 3 knobs, 3 uses for each. 1 switch.

i use an ibanez sz520qm through a carlsbr 100watt solidstate amp. I had to say i was really disapointed with the distortion from the RAT2. all i got back was a fuzz, not a distortion, id call it a crunch. it was no different to the 'cruch' channel on my amp. so really i wasted money on something i already had. It was 100% identical to the crunch except the added fuzz.

This thing is build like a tank, it is really heavy. But it gets a 7 because if the distortion is turned anything past 1 o'clock then the sound of it is really jumpy & basicly unusable. So you cant go past 2 o clock on the distortion on it.

havnt had anything to need support for.

I mostly play a punk rock / metal most of the time. this pedal wasnt what i was looking for. it is more of an indy/jazz funk blues kinda thing. What i wanted was a crisp overdrive, not a fuzzy crunch. It is good for different types of music, but not mine. So i give it a 7

Three knobs: distortion (where you choose the amount of gain), filter (this applies to the high frequiencies of the sound), and volume. Though the concept of filter is somewhat not so easy to understand -since the more filter, the less high frequencies- it's pretty easy to get a good sound from the rat.

The rat is a great sounding pedal. The gain knob is very versatile, you can get a sweet crunch sound with the gain at 9 o'clock and turn it up to a fuzzy big muff-alike sound. You must always turn the filter knob according to the gain knob (the more gain, less filter) or at least that's how I use it :)

I'm using the rat with my jazzmaster and it respects the sweet sound of my guitar reasoneably well.

Wow, it seems like a tank. One of the heaviest pedals I've ever saw.

Never dealt with them

I've been playing in bands since I was 13, now I am 22. My guitar sound is very similar to bands like Radiohead, Luna, The Cure... so I need a box that can give me a big amount of different distorstions. The rat does them all.

The RAT is, in my opinion, the best overdrive/distortion pedal out there. Because of one word = versatility. Seems like you have a VOX v810, a DS-1 and a Big Muff in the same box. A great deal.

One DISAPOINTING thing about the rat is the ausence of a led... sometimes you are using a light light crunch and if you aren't hearing your guitar too well, or if you are a singer/guitarrist -wich is my case- you can certainly know if you are with the rat on or off.

Another BAD thing is that the switch isn't very accesible. Again, being a singer/guitarrist doesn't help with this. I wish the swith button was like a Boss, where you can turn the pedal on with your eyes closed.

Anyway, the RAT is helping me a lot. One of the most reliable distorsion boxes ou there. Believe me :)

its all been said...

i blew my amp so right now im playing an american strat through other effects into a 10W Ibanez ss.

Not any more noisy than other analog dists. True Bypass so no sound when off.

it sounds great through my little amp, so i cant wait to get my Hot Rod Deluxe

i had a big muff but sold it as after buying my RAT, i had no need for it. I think the RAT sounds much much, better than the big muff. it can be very similar to it at some settings, except on the RAT you're not drowned in fuzziness.

Not reeally for you if you only want to play metal, but if you're like me and play metal occasionaly its fine. I play more alt. rock and blues.

it's been used by numerous artists, the most famous being Graham Coxon of blur, and Kurt Cobain used one on the recording of nevermind.

I think the protection could beat that of boss!

would use without a backup, and havent had one problem with it. Wish i could say the same for those EHX pedals....

Go get it, you wont be dissapointed.

Sounds very powerfull and natural

Well, usually od/dist pedals deserve words such as "only morons can't use it", "stop playin' if you can't get a good sound of it" and so on. IMHO, that's not the case of RAT, which has a very strong interplay between the knobs, so I needed a little twiddling to go for the sounds I'm after.

Rig:
1994 40th Anniversary American Strat>Vox Valvetone>TS9>RAT2>EHX russian Small Stone>EHX Electric Mistress (very old, green writings, read my review on HC!)>EHX Deluxe Memory Man>Boss TU2>Music Man 212 HD One-Thirty.
It's very versatile ("filter" changes the sounds from this to that) but quite extreme at the same time: note that it has a very high-end character, which makes it closer to a fuzz rather than to an overdrive.
I learned to depend on it somehow, but I would never use it as my only od/dist pedal: when you tweak the filter knob, at a first glance it may seem similar to a crunch, but I also have a TS9 reissue that blows the RAT away for that.
It's great to make the overall band sound dirtier: doesn't have the best sustain you'd need, but I don't, given the purposes I bought it for.

Bought it used, had it for one year, so far so good.
I got my scooter stolen a few hours after I bought it (police found it one week later), but it shouldn't be important if you're planning to buy a pedal.

Never dealt with ProCo.

When I bought my TS9, I was considering to sell the RAT.
Glad I didn't, it's giving a kind of garage touch to my band's style (www.phidgeband.com ) which I'm loving.
There's always a new song you're writing, and you have to keep your options open: my band's recent stuff wouldn't be what it is without my RAT.
Forget about bluesy and creamy tones, this thing is rough and I like it like this.

It didn`t take long to dail in some tones with this pedal. Only three knobs and the less knobs the better!

Wow , I`am really surprised at how good this pedal sounds . I had been reading over at the Keeley website about their mods for this pedal and I was expecting to send it to them right away , but not now . For only having three knobs you can get quite a few sounds out of this baby , I used it today through my Peavey Classic 20 amp(hooked up to a 2x12 cab) and Warmoth custom Strat with a single humbucker and cranking up the filter control gets a nice warm grainy overdrive , kind of like a tubescreamer with more gain . It was also a little bass bommy at that setting so I put my MXR 6 band Eq with to tame the bass a little.

Put wheels on it and it would look like a toy tank , seems very durable.

Never dealt with them probably never will.

I`ve also got the Tone Bone Hot British pedal and dare I say I like the Rat better. Don`t get me wrong the Tone Bone is a great pedal but it`s got a lot of bells and whistles and can be annoying trying to find a sound. With the Rat you go from the heavy scooped tones to the nice warm overdriven tones with the turn of the filter knob. Also,this pedal has a lot of gain and I haven`t dailed in any metal tones but this pedal could do it.

pretty easy to use. only three knobs. volume, distortion, and filter. no manual. dont need one though.

first off, i give it a 10 cos it sounds great and its only $65. That's how i rate a lot of things, based on cost. I'm sure i could get some effects builder to build me the perfect pedal, but i dont think its fair to rate that and this on the same scale.

the sound is great. i've always been a fan of the fuzzy distortion sound. i've had two big muffs. the russian one sounded great, but it fell apart on my. i had the USA one but it sounded too thin and too tame. now i have this rat and a double muff. this thing sounds a lot better for distortion than the double muff. the double muff does overdrive very well though.

I dont like high gain, so its at a moderate setting. i have three drive pedals, this (for moderate distortion), the double muff (for fuzzy overdrive), and a maxon od808 for a light overdrive. this thing does its job great. i can nail Oasis' early tone from Definitely Maybe.

A lot of people say this thing lacks low end, maybe its because i use a Les Paul and everyone else is using a strat or something, but i find this to get muddy, real easy.

for the reason i got it, and because of its insanely cheap price, i give it a 10.

seems like a brick.

i actually play jazz, blues, and british influenced rock mostly, but this thing still gets a lot of use. especially when i cover songs. my own songs generally dont require much gain at all. if it were stolen, i'd definitely buy a new one. didnt cost that much. i LOVE the true bypass. my god, i wish every pedal came with it. i've owned about +20 dist/od/fuzz pedals and i think only 3 had true bypass. that's stupid. i'd rather pay a little extra money for a pedal if they'd all just put true bypass in. i use this a lot for lead, i like how it sustains for a long time, but doesnt have to sound too saturated. I also like its natural sound, definitely doesnt sound digital at all.

could be better. i would like to see a special edition rat that spreads the first 1/4 turn on the distortion knob over the whole range. nothing above that is useful to me

great! one of the most characteristic pedals i know. i have the currennt rat (from Musician's friend, March 2004), and it sounds similar to the one i had in high school. i think everyone should try a rat at least once to see if they can't get a distinctive, useful sound out of it. i go into a single-ended class A small tube amp with this, which is ideal for this pedal. it is definitely made to interface directly with the front end of a very responsive tube amp.

i had one before that i eventually sold after years of use. rock solid.

good old rat. it's got that mean, pissed-off sound, but it's smooth somehow. i don't know - sonic paradox. sounds good with all my guitars/amps, from strat to archtop. some of my OD pedals sound good with a little gain boost betwen the guitar and the pedal - rat doesn't. i set mine up so that i can just make out extended chords at full volume, so if i go beyond that, it's just noise.

There is no manual and it's self explanitory BUT it can take a while to dial in the sound you're looking for. Three knobs Distortion, Filter and Volume.

Setup: American Tele-->Rat2-->Ibanez Chorus-->Traynor YCV40 amplifier.
As you can see I have a simple rig. This pedal is the best. Mine is not noisy at all. I can get three types of distortion with my setup. I've got the amp's overdrive channel by itself, the Rat by itself and the Rat with the amp's overdrive channel. I set the distortion at 9 or 10 o'clock, the filter at 3 o'clock and the volume at 2 o'clock. The distortion on the Rat is incredible! It definitely gives strong mids. Harmonics are out of this world and the sustain goes on forever. It's true that it doesn't take away from the natural sound of your guitar. This pedal is perfect for blues, rock, and hard rock. It can be used for metal, or shred stuff but I would say that it's probably not ideal. What I like about this pedal is that it doesn't make bad playing good. Although I'm always tempted, I stay away from effects that completely alter my sound. That's because I would hate knowing that if my pedal busted I wouldn't be able to perform. The Rat is great because it makes good music sound great. I love using it with the overdrive channel of my amp for solos. It adds awesome fullness and sustain that can't be beat and it makes the solo better. But again, if I didn't have it, I would still be able to play, it just wouldn't sound as good. I bought this pedal because I'm in a cover band that plays late 70s and 80s stuff (not hair music). Stuff like the Eagles, Tom Petty, Bryan Adams, Joe Walsh, SRV Kiss David Lee Roth etc. These bands all have different sounds and it would be great to have a separate rig for each song but that's impossible. The Rat allows my tone to sound awesome and cover a lot of different types of music. I give this pedal a 10 if it's going to be used for blues, rock, and hard rock.

It's built like a tank. I wouldn't go so far to say it's bullet proof or I can hide under it during Armageddon but it's built as good as they come. I'm giving it a 9 because when I purchased it from a guy on ebay it worked, but the LED stayed lit all the time, even when the cables weren't plugged in. More on this in Customer Support.

As I just mentioned the LED status indicator stayed lit all the time. It worked fine, it's just that the battery would die relatively quickly if I didn't remove it after I was done using it. I emailed the company and they got back to me fairly quickly. I explained that I didn't buy it new and I didn't know how old it was. They told me to mail it back to good ol Kalamazoo MI and they would repair it. I sent it out and had it back in two weeks. I only paid to ship it there. They repaired it for free and shipped it back to me for free. They are awesome. If you live in the USA this is another great reason to buy American products. Imagine having to ship it back to Korea, or Taiwan? ProCo is the best!

I've been playing for 20 years and I've had a few distortion pedals. This is by far the best. Others tried to emulate tube amp overdrive. Usually they didn't sound that great and I already have a tube amp. Others were too fuzzy. Others were too over the top sounding. I wish I could describe the RAT's sound. It's smooth and tight and heavier than natural tube overdrive but not fuzzy. It's just a fantasic pedal. Again, tube overdrive is great but this is different and is a great compliment to tube overdrive, whether it's used with or without the amps natural overdrive. If you play rock, blues, or hard rock you HAVE to try this pedal. The sustain is unbelievable and so are the harmonics. You have to take some time to tweak it. My recommendation is to set the distortion lower than you think it should be. I would definitely get it again if it were lost or stolen. I often think of getting another one to add to my chain using different settings. This is the best distortion pedal.

Really easy. Three controls : distortion, filter (an anticlock-wise tone control ) and volume.It has got a visible led (I think I will change it with a blue one) and fluorescent graphic which allow you to set it even in dark situation, very cool!

My sound signal path is : Telecaster USA->CryBaby GCB95->Boss CS-3-> Boss SD-1->PROCO RAT II->gnaff II (I micro amp I built myself)->EH PolyChorus (I mod to truebypass)->, Boss DD3, Akai Headrush, JCM800 4210.
This pedal is really cool. I was looking for a dist to avoid to use my Jcm Boost channel (which has the bleed-through problem) and I think I've found it! Rat sounds very similar to my JCM800 (even if a bit more mid-ranged)and in the clean channel I can obtain an hi-gain distortion without loosing definition. I often play 5-6 strings chords and they sound great with all the controls flat. Rat has long sustain so it's great for alternative/indie stuff.
A cool thing is it's TRUEBYPASS and has a LED STATUS.
I gave it 9 since feeded with my sd-1 it loses a bit of definition and then since you can't use the (unmodified) rat like a booster : no sound with dist at 0(however buy a booster if you want to have one)...

Just bought but I trust it since It's built like a tank and It's one of the heavyest pedal I've ever hold in hand.

Who knows?

I play grunge/alternative with a bit of indie rock and It's really the sound I was looking for. If you are looking for a bit more of distortion maybe you can try the TURBO RAT but somebody says It's less definited than RAT II.
If you've a JCM800 and love its sound buy a RAT II at once!!!
But If you need an extra-versatile dist pedal maybe RAT II won't be the good choise...

Plug and play action. Instrument cable goes in input slot. and amp cable goes in output slot. It came with a manual but you don't really need it unless you are a child in need of "parental guidance"

I play this after a dunlop crybaby wah and in front of a Boss Flanger (BF-2). I use an AXL "Johnson" Stratocaster and a 20 W amp for recording on my pc. The main reason I got this because I was trying to get the perfect modern day Ernie Isley (from The Isley Brothers)sound. I discovered that the ProCo Rat 2 was one of the pedals he uses now days.The ProCo Rat 2 makes my Boss DS-1 Distortion sound like a pindrop. This is the best distortion pedal ever made. Pluck any note on your guitar and count how long you can hold a note with a boss distortion. (probably like 5 or6 sec). Then try and hold a note with a ProCo rat distortion 2. It sustains the note for like 10 sec or more. Tons of sustain. Gotta like it. The Distortion knob can go from a clean soft distortion to a wild and heavy distortion when turned all the way to the right. Like most people say, the Filter button is like a reverse tone . You would think to get a mellow tone you would have to turn the know to the left. Totally oposite. But that is cool though because it has a wide range of tones. And of course the volume can go to whisper to yell. Awesome. It has a tiny buzz but nothing too harsh. When used in conjuction with a Boss Bf-2 flanger and a Dunlop Crybaby wah, you nail Ernie Isley's modern sound. His sound (if you don't know him that good) can be heard mostly in the Isley Brother's 2001 release "Eternal". He solos in over half of the 14 songs on the cd.

I can definately depend on it. I use it all the time. I use an adapter instead of a 9V battery with it, so I doubt I would need a backup when gigging.

Never Dealt with em. Thats a good thing.

I play soul, a R&B and a little rock. sometimes gospel. The ProCo rat 2 is better off used for Rock and soloing. I would definately buy another if stolen. I actually never payed for this. I traded my Boss Octave 2 for it. But I would definately pay for another if I lost it if I can find another person to trade with. The main thing that caught me was the long sustain. Holds your note long without a compression/sustain pedal. I would only suggest getting a compression/sustain pedal if you want your note to hold superlong like 20 seconds or so. the ProCo Rat 2 holds a note for like 10 secs or more by itself. I use this in all of the recordings I do on my computer. Like I said I chose this because I found out that my favorite guitarist, Ernie Isley, from the Isley Brothers uses one in his current effects setup along with a Dunlop Rotovibe, DUnlop Crybaby, Boss Bf-2 flanger and Roger Mayer Octavia. If you get all of those pedals you nail his sound on the head and more.

I love the simplicity of this product's layout and the clear aim that this box is not for EQ'ing, or attempting to be a preamp, or all-in-one gizmo. Getting good sounds, the ones I want of course, is a breeze thanks to the quality smooth graduated pots... from a touch of gain with a little push on the pick [slight break-up] to the chainsaw massacre. (Really, you don't need the manual... it's honest in its presentation of what the knobs are called.)

I've had this for about 2 years and recently compared it to a Maxon OD-9 for a month and was relieved to find that my old Rat 2 is even more transparent, and without that "compression-like" tone. [hey, PROCO makes quality DI boxes, there you go on why] and offered better graduated gain [from the lowest settings on both] than the Maxon, which is a great box, but much more expensive. This made me happy since I didn't have to spend [implusively] on another effects gizmo.

Compared to the bassy, mid-cut flavor of BOSS Blues Driver, the Maxon is definitely better to my taste. And, of course, the Rat 2...

Finally, I prefer transparent signal/sound from a gain/distortion pedal, and would rather have an Amp that could project the overall tone, color, and mood of the guitar. My set-up, especially, the Fat Boost and Rat 2 help me much in achieving that Bluesy-Rock feel I'm feeling, with the potential to go off the deep-end and soar into solo heaven (still without having the Rat 2 color my sound.)


Okay my set-up. The guitar and amp factor is crucial in the make or break on this subjective catagory of "sound quality". Here it goes, but let me warn you... PRS Custom 22 3/P-90's and Gibson Firebird V (Reissue) > [BOSS Tuner] > RAT 2 > EQ > Fulltone Fat Boost > Chorus > Volume Pedal > OK, a mediocre, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (no mods: 40Watt/12" factory spkr)
Well... that's why I got the Fat Boost.

Why "9"? I can't wait to put it through a better amp.

Definitely, the best quality coating, materials and design I've seen in the effects box catagory. Hey Mil Spec... what else?!

No relations.

My style of music: Blues, Classic Rock, a lil' ole fake the Jazz stuff, "Amazing Grace" and whatever it can think of in the closet.
Playing weekly about 10 years.
Overall a great box... that's why I got and still hold on to it.

A cinch to use, although the Filter works like a reverse tone control as everyone has said.

In the past, I've owned a Turbo RAT and borrowed and old RAT (small box type, like this one) so I knew what to expect- although now I've got decent gear and an ear for tone rather than putting everything on 10.

My main guitars are hopped-up Squiers, a Double Fat Tele Deluxe (ridiculous name, great LP tone) and an old Korean Strat with the stock pickups replaced with Mighty Mites. Amp-wise, it's a Marshall DSL50 head with a 1936 2x12 cabinet. Tonewise, I guess I favour sounds along lines of the Pixies, the Breeders, Pavement, Superchunk.

The thing that struck me straight away was the amount of gain squeezed into the Distortion control from 0 to 4ish, after which, it seems to make very little difference. Same deal with the volume dial to be honest. I'm not sure if every RAT I've owned/tried has been like this and I've only just noticed, or if this new version is a whole new beast. Maybe my pickups are just super hot..... but I dont think so!

A/B'd against a few other distortion pedals (Marshall and Boss), it definately sounds a lot "fuller" and geniune, even the trebley end of the Filter dial sounds rich.

There's a general good rock rhythm tone in the first 15% of the Distortion dial, pushing it further makes for some Foo Fighters/Smashing Pumpkins esque riffery. Although the heavily overdriven sounds are a little more extreme than I'd use as a main distortion sound, it could definately work within the right context.
However, the high gain sounds are great. for leads, very organic.

Sounds "nice" with single coils or humbuckers with the right settings. I preferred it with singlecoils since the prominent midrange and low end really makes the distortion jump out at you compared to the surfy clean sounds.

If I can find some way of tweaking the pots inside to make the range a little more spread out, it'd get a 9 methinks.

Great sounds, just a little too hard to get.

Although this one is brand new, my experience with RATs in the past has been trouble free. Don't see why this one should be any different.

I'd deal with the place I bought it from, rather than phoning up ProCo in Michigan..

I like to have a load of guitar sounds available, I generally go for a smoother more classic tone, despite the "alternative" music I play.
I wanted something a little more agressive, and I got it! Pretty much does what I wanted, maybe not quiiiite as flexible as I'd hoped, but I'll live.

three controls - not difficult at all/

ESSENTIAL INFO - this pedal really performs best when used with a heavily overdriven marshall. supercrisp,crunchy distortion with piles of tone. awesome"the ONLY distortion pedal i havetried,andi havetried a few!!! that can handle a marshall. no wonder theMELVINSand ENTOMBED use them!!!

damn right.

the ONLY distortion pedal which enhances heavyily overdriven el34 powered amps. an absolute classic.

Only 3 pots and no manual (why waste the paper?) so it's as easy to use as any other dist peadal in that respect. However, it does take some tweaking to get the right sound. The gain control makes no difference past 9 o'clock, regardless of your guitar's volume, so most of the adjusting you'll need happens in quite a narrow range. it does get very loud with the gain cranked, so expect a bit of a volume jump!

The setup i'm currently using is a '77 ibanez artist (with humbucker pickups)>seiko tuner>RAT 2 or ehx US big muff pi>Boss ce-3 chorus>ehx russian small stone>boss bf-34 flanger>marshall DSL 401 tube combo. i originally bought the rat as a harmonic dist pedal instead of the big muff for some songs due to the latter's poor passive bypass (it sucks out the high end when switched off). It is possible to get a really muff-like fuzz with the agin high and the filter at around 8 o'clock to bring in more high-end 'sizzle'. for a more tubey sound, turn the filter clockwise a little and make sure the gain isn't too high or it'll turn to muddy sludge. It really improves your sustain though.

When i first plugged the rat in, i turned all the controls to the midday position and ended up with a really loud sound with little treble, which surprised me a little. By itself, this pedal produces a tone with plenty of mids and bottom end, but you can get a really wide range of sounds by messing with your amp's eq. You can get a really mild, purring distortion as well with the gain low and the filter high. oh yeah, it can give some really wicked feedback!

The boys and girls at proco really put a lot of thought into this. everything about its construction says 'reliable', from the solid click of the on/off switch to the large, sturdy knobs. The thickness of the metal around the battery hatch (easily accesible by a rubber-headed screw) would probably stop a rifle pellet. If you stomped on and kicked it around the stage/rehearsal room your foot would break first. like its namesake, the rat is a tough little beast. I doubt i'd need a backup.

not needed to use the warranty card, but that build quality makes it less likely to break than a boss, which really is saying something.

For the 90s alternnative stuff that i play, this pedal works quite well, with a surprisingly wide range of sounds for a simple dirt box. If it got stolen or lost, i'd be very annoyed and save up for another one. However, the volume pot could do with being of a different spec to make a gradual change in gain across the full range, instead of all of the sounds being concentrated in a few mm of travel. The best feature is probably the filter knob, which can make it sound like a fuzz or overdrive. overall, good sounding and ruggedly built box of noise that could be used for a variety of guitar styles.

easy-3 knobs

I had had a Rat in the early 90s and sold it. I though this would be a replacement but the sound was weak to my ears now. Not much bass response and an overall thin sound.

nearly indestructible

Obviously many years had passed between owning my first RAT (which was the large box one) and buying this one, so I don't know if my hearing has changed or if this one was worse. I was going to sell it but tried the Keeley three way mod instead. Robert replaced the newer chip being used with an old 308, and did the 3 way mod. The pedal is now much, much better- more low end, cool tubelike options, and also the RAT sound is there that I had in my memeory.

Very easy. No manual. Its all been said before. Getting a good sound from it is pretty difficult at first though...

When I first got it, I thought it sounded like trash. Harsh, raspy, fuzzy ect. Its very easy to get the shittiest sound ever out of a RAT. Simply turn the filter knob all the way down, and the gain knob all the way up: shit city. However, the RAT does some really great sounds too. I think it works best as an overdrive being pushed by another overdrive. I recommend starting with the Filter knob at just a bit past 1 oclock, to avoid harsh/muddy sounds. With the gain knob at 11 oclock, WHAT A SOUND! Even better, use a tubescreamer-type pedal before it (Gain: 2 oclock, Tone: 12 oclock), and it sounds great. Not alot of bass, but a great sound none the less. To hear a soundclip of the stock RAT, you can go to my srtist page at http://artists.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Scott_Steele/. Thats a pretty good representation of the RAT. One thing that struck me about the RAT, is that it cleans up very well.

Solid. Better than a BOSS. However, time will tell.

Never dealt with them.

I think it works great for alot of things, and pretty badly for others. It can even cop a good blues tone if your nice to it. Great for a mild fuzz tone too. Think Radiohead Pablo Honey/The Bends era. You get the picture. Go and try one out, first.

Simple to operate...Not really sure what the filter knob is doing but it seems to mainly attenuate the highs. Prefers less volume from my guitar...otherwise it sounds really bad. It is hard to adjust because there is only a few usable settings for me.

Okay sound if you can dial in the right sound. It may be that my setup just doesn't suit it or that I don't like it's sound, but it didn't offer me very many usable sounds. There is way too much distortion on tap and anything over 9 o'clock on the distortion dial causes it to sound harsh and sound like a big splat of sound. I am using it into a slightly overdrive Marshall, but even when I set it up for a very clean sound it still made no difference. There were definitely some nice tones in the first part of the distortion dial, but they were still kind of thin tones without much bottom end. Kind of nice for brightening up a neck humbucker. I have used or owned Reverend Drivetrain, Big Muff, Boss DS-1, DS-2 and OD-3 (currently my fav dirtbox...I love it's sound), Tubescreamer. And now the Rat 2 - I was hoping to add some high gain options but it just doesn't work for me. It is going up for sale. Also another annoying note about the gain is there isn't much difference between the distotion knob setting between 9 o'clock and full on. It is kind of like an on/off switch. I have tried 2 of these pedals because the first one I got had problems. Both had the same sound so I don't think it is my particular one. The pedal may react differently with a Fender tube amp or a solid state amp, but it just farts out with my Marshalls.

Okay maybe? Didn't have it very long. But first one I got had issues with the switch. Can of crappy for a straight from the box brand new pedal.

N/A - sent it back to retailer for replacement.

For some styles this may work. But for me - it just doesn't happen. I could only find a couple somewhat useful tones and that means it ain't going on my pedal board. I like to keep pedals to minimum and that means pedal board realestate is at a premium and this pedal won't be living there. Just my opinion...this pedal may work fine for some, but with a rig similar to mine (marshall 800, marshall 900; american strats, SGs, boss od-3,ce-5,TU-2) - you may want to beware.

easy...
I have mine with countour filter added ... It makes it little more complicated but not more then other

but it's little hard to get good palm mute sound so everybody thinks it's not capable of palm muting...so i suppose it's little hard to use it, although I haven't got trouble..

my setup...customized Jagmaster->marshall ed-1 compressor->marshall shredmaster->customized RAT2->superfuzz

my RAT is customised..It have contour filter added...I must say that a contour filter makes it ever better then original...I thought it is impossibile...:)

It's RAT...great unique sound...capable of power chord music such as punk or grunge...great for heavier palm mute music as Melvins (Buzz uses it), great for bluesish music...

ok...never set gain below 3 o'clock because It losses clearity...3 o'clock is highest for good palm mute sound

when gain set to high It gives rich warm sound...for one guitar bands it's like having two guitars with other distortion pedals (like boss DS2)..great for powerchords!!!
palm muting sound is not typical...this is not heavy metal pedal!!!you must be aware of that...but who needs heavy metal sound for heavy music? go and listen to Melvins ( they use RAT) and say they are not heavy...:)

when gain set to low it gives great...and i mean GREAT!!! (my english is not very good..:)) almost clean sound...we say filthy sound..:) greath for alternative clean guitar...

greath setup would be two RATs one after other...first one with gain set to low and second with gain set to high...then you would have all sounds you need for alternative rock with just pushing switches with your feet on stage..

It loves single coile, it loves hambucker, it loves bridge pickups, it loves neck pickups...I LOVE IT!!!..:)

you're kidding?
metall brick!!metall switch!!

?

I play alternative rock as you already read, and this is (besides shredmaster) my favourite pedal.
this is a MUST HAVE pedal for all alternative souls out there...I think that a band who would play Metallica on RAT would be wery interesting...It would almost be a new genre..:) Ratallica...:)

3 knobs, Distortion, Filter, and Volume. Then you stomp it, doesn't get much easier. Finding your sound will take some time, but that's true with most boxes, and the tone hunt leaves you satisfied in the end.

I run a ESP Ron Wood Signature into a Vintage Reissue 59' Bassman 410 combo. I needed a fuzzbox to cure the lack of dirt on the amp. I use it with my Fulltone Ultimate Octave, and EHX Deluxe Memory Man. As soon as you plug it in you will ffind out it is definitely not true bypass, it can hiss to the extreme, but I found that if you manipulate bothe the volume on the box and the volume on your amp, you can get it to manageable levels while still retaining high volumes and great tone. I usually have it at Distortion at 9 o'clock, Filter at 12 o'clock, and Volume at 2 o'clock. It works really well for me. A good example of how it is at this setting is the guitar from Led Zeppelin's 'You Shook Me', but not quite as smooth. What i do like about this box is that you can get high gain crunch at just about any distortion setting, depending on your attack level, but it you maintain a softer attack it will sound ringing and clean at the lower levels. Any point beyond 12 o'clock on the distortion is all fuzz, no more gain, just straight thick and mind numbing fuzz, its awesome. The filter control is extremely sweepable, it can go from razor sharp and raspy to smooth and thick.

Damn well bulletproof. Solid, and silent i might add, switching and the LED dims out when the battery is low, this thing is a cast iron tank, probably the reason its heavy as hell.

Never dealt with ProCo

I love this little box, although you may want something behind it like an octave or an orverdrive/fuzz, because on its own it doesn't seem to have that singing solo quality, but with my Ultimate Octave with a little buit of fuzz and the octave on, this thing will wail like a dinosaur in heat. Truly a great distortion that compliments your original tone and appreciates the nuances of pick attack.

All 3 knobs are very interactive and sensitive, a small turn of the knob can yeild a deal of difference in the sound. When i first got it, it only took me awhile to get a good sound, but to get my ultimate Great Sound, it took me a year! =) I bought it used, it came with a box but din come with the manual.

i had the RAT for one whole year bringing it through several gigs (big and small) as my main distortion using it through a number of different amps at different volumes and different guitars. The Rat sounded good in all the occasions. At home for practice, i used it through a Johnson Standard 30 watt amp and a Yahama EG-303 guitar, cheap setup as u can see, but it can produce stunning tones if u spend time tweaking it right. i had good and bad times with my Rat, but most of the time i am satisfied with the sound. i used a EQ to shape the tone before, it sounds good, but i felt it was kinda lame so i sold the EQ when i had financial troubles and i never regretted it since. in the end i spend more time tweaking than playing, by hook or by crook to get the sound that i am satisfied with. i went tweaking the amp's eq for a long time. initially i max the treble and bass and medium mids in my amp and wow, i had that 'Radiohead' crunch in 'Creep' (minus the renowned echo ;p) but it was still only a good sound to me, so i went to fiddle with the stock pickups in my guitar. In the end my setup went -> amp with lots of treb and mids, but medium bass..i adjusted the height of my pickup the same way, cos i realise lots of bass can make the low notes on the guitar sound muddy..i had turn the 'filter' knob almost 3 o'clock to minimize the noise to zero and distortion on less than 2 o'clock, too much gain u'll lose the crunch and bite. Now i have a very strong crunch, sounds like X Japan (still my favourite band after 4 yrs..they're the MOST influencial rock band in Japan / as stated in last week's issue of TIME magazine)..i use the Rat in a chain of DD-3 and Crybaby, trust me these 2 pedals never sucked my tone. i'm very puzzled too cos its suppose to suck my tone, i had several Boss pedals and it all sucked my tone, the vox wah i had before is the worst sucker. i try to keep my setup minimal, i hate having lots of pedals, so at one time i sold all my pedals (about 7 of them simultaneously) and kept the Rat. i was having much more fun with just only one pedal. at one time i played Luna Sea covers alot and i can mimick that sound real well with my setup. But now, i dun play covers anymore so i finally got my own sound, although seemingly similar to X Japan, almost like a Les Paul into a Marshall. But the sound quality still lacked a mojo (im really picky about the tone), i know i would have sound better with a better amp and guitar of cos (-_-)" but that's gonne be lots of money, so for now the Rat is really a good investment

Never had a single problem with it for the past year, surviving thru several gigs, definitely dependable.

none

i play a variety of hard rock, rock, blues, and even pop songs! ;p the Rat served well for all the applications. i've been playing electric guitar for more than 3 yrs and messing with effects for about 15 mths, this is the best valued pedal that i have owned and it stayed on my board for the longest time. If it were ever lost, i would not replace it immediately, i would try other pedals (WHEN i have the $$), those dual OD pedals are giving me serious GAS..especially the bronto jr...i almost modded my Rat pedal, im glad i didn't, the stock Rat pedal sounds really good, a mod is not mandatory but u decide urself, but pls spend more time on tweaking everything u have there, the end result is very rewarding.

Easy to use. 3 knobs. distortion, filter and volume. I worked some different sounds out of it in about 15 minutes.

Setup-
Mexican strat-->Boss PSM-5-->RAT2-->arion phaser-->Rocktek chorus->Marshall Valvestate vs100R.
No noise at all
Sunds great can go from overdrive crunch to distortion to fuzz.
way better than my marshalls distortion.
I like to play smashing pumpkins but im in a punk band and this pedal can do it all.
sounds great with my other effects too.

Looks like a brick and is super heavy. Total metal construction.

NA

Id say this pedal can do loads of different sounds. If you dont want a particular type of distrotion go for this. Ive been playing 4 years
Itll be way better than you amps distortion well unless you have a jcm 900 or something.

takes a bit to find a sound but once u got it ur good. only thing i would say is tricky is filter...but once u understand it's a piece of cake

i use it in line with an Epiphone black beauty with 57' classics Plus in the bridge and middle position and a 57' classic in the neck position. it's in line w/ a boss ge7, holy grail reverb, boss tu2, and a DL4. i play it through a musicman hd130 head and a fender ge412 cab. play this thing in this set up and it sounds good. but u can get an increadible sound out if it with a little bit of money. i bought a voodoo labs pedal power 2, and it has a sag effect on it. it lowers the power from 9 volts to as low as u want it, i have it on about 4 volts. this makes this pedal growl. it takes away the nasal sound of the pedal and puts some balls into it. i generally play with the neck pick up, yes i did say neck pickup for distortion it gives u a lower more powerful distortion and a very smooth solo. but if u get this pedal definately get a voodoo labs pedal power 2 power supply or just constantly replace the battery with dead batteries. it sounds immaculate. honestly forget other artists, it sounds very unique and powerful.

it's built like a tank, i'll buy another when i have the money...it'll prolly be a vintage one though.

i've emailed the company about a problem i was having and they never replied to me...a little sore about that in general the pedal doesn't need service but that doesn't mean u don't have to provide any.

i play brit, classic and modern rock, this pedal is awesome for it. when it was running on batteries it was only good for rhythm guitar but now it's good for anything. i have my tone at 11 o'clock, filter at 11, and volume around 2 but that's just because i play in a loud band. this pedal is key to my tone, i love every ounce of fuzz i get out of it. tube screamers are good, turbo tube screamers are better, shread masters are increadible, but rats truly rock. i love it.

Piss easy...but it might take some time to get the sound you want.

I use Japanese Fender Strat with only one humbucker (bridge). I love the sound of Chris Chaney from The Living End, high-gain overdrive. He uses Gretch and two Ibanez Tubescreamers, but RAT does the job. Distortion better be staying around 9 o'clock that gives a beautiful tone. I might buy Ibanez TS-7 to get along with this and it's gonna be awesome.

It sucks it requires hex wrench to change the battery...well a good thing is this doesn't eat much energy.
Body's a sort of big, but it doesn't frust me. Easy to stomp.

Haven't dealt yet.

My songs vary from Punk to Grunge. RAT suits mostly all of my stuff and I'm satisfied. Alternatives (for me) were Marshall GV-2 and Ibanez TS-7. Both of them are pretty cool too...and I might still get TS-7 to add some more color to the RAT sound.

It's a simple, logical layout; three knobs and a footswitch. Pretty standard layout, except that the tone control works in reverse. Using your ears, this is pretty easy to figure out.
I got mine used with no manual and had it working in about 12 seconds.

I'm not playing much electric guitar at the moment, actually, but still use the thing around the house. In my last band, which was sort of a "grainbelt rock" outfit, I used an old Electra/Westone solidbody that looked sort of like a strat with a bridge humbucker (with coil tap) and a tele neck pickup in the neck humbucker hole. This went to a DOD bi-fet preamp (for solo boost), the Rat, a BBE DI-10 active DI (see my review on it--it was a valuable addition to the Rat) and a stereo reverb unit that fed two old Valco tweed 1x10 combos.
I did not find the Rat to be noisy at all--for a distortion pedal.
The Rat, used alone, has a hi-end fizz I'm not crazy about, in the sense that it sounds like an effect. That's fine if you use distortion in an effect/on-off sort of way. I like it to be on in varying degrees all the time, varying the dirt level by how hard I play or whether I use hard picking vs. soft fingertip playing.
That was sort of redundant.
When I tried running the Rat through the speaker-emulation function of my DI-10, I was thrilled. The fizz was gone, and it sounded quite amp-like. Sort of like an early JCM 900 on a lower gain setting with the enhanced mid peak moved a little lower in frequency, which is a good thing in my opinion. With the gain at about 10 o'clock, you could get it to clean up quite a bit or blast away--I'd use the coil-tapped humbucker and neck pickup together and play soft to get cleanish sounds, or switch to the full-on humbucker and play harder to get crunch. Hitting the boost pedal before the Rat made it go nuts; sort of like Gary Louris' lead tone on The Jayhawks' "Tomorrow the Green Grass," only tighter and a little less chaotic. It would really sing and sustain, with a sort of unpredictable overtone thing going on that I loved. More precise players might not like that, but I guess I'm actually talking about a combination of pedals at this point. The Rat alone is competent at a variety of medium to high gain rock sounds. The guy I bought it from used it with an SG for sort of a Bob Mould-meets-Dave Grohl thing, and in my opinion should have kept it because the Metal Zone he replaced it with sounded harsher and less organic.
The only drawbacks I can think of are subjective. It doesn't do the scooped-mid sound, but I hate that sound and like mids. I whack the strings pretty hard and don't seem to have trouble with mids blurring my note definition. And while I don't care for the fizz, I could get by with it alone and still have some fun. It just sounds less subtle and organic by itself. Running it through a small tube amp makes this drawback manageable, and some players might like the fizz anyway. I'll give it an 8, since I prefer it in conjuntion with the other pedals I mentioned.

You could use it as a chock for a Caterpillar D-8 (not that those tend to roll off on you) and still gig with it. I can't imagine a tougher housing. You might be able to break off a pot shaft if you clamped it in a vise, but it's tough. I used it for a couple years without a backup and worried not one bit about it.

Never had to deal with them.

I answered a lot of this elsewhere in this review--sorry. I thought that this pedal goes a long way toward sounding like an actual distorted tube amp (well, one that is set for preamp distortion more than power tube distortion). Slam its front end with a boosted signal, and it gets all loose and juicy like a small tube amp. I think that's ideal. It always retains its mids and its basic character, except when you crank its gain, and that's a few galaxies away from the type of distortion I like. It doesn't make all guitars sound the same like some pedals do. In particular, I like the middiness of the Boss SD-1, but every Boss distortion pedal I've tried does some sort of artificial-sounding thing to the mids (to my ear at least). The Rat sounds familiar, like a medium-to-high-gain tube amp. I wish it incorporated the BBE speaker emulating circuit, but I don't mind having the two in front of me onstage.
It's definitely a good one to try if you are shopping for distortion pedals. It's pretty versatile, and deeper than it looks...the knobs are interactive. I guess I'd like to add that with any pedal, you should try combinations of other pedals with it to see how they interact. You might find a combo that really makes you happy. Oh! Hey! I forgot to add that yet another cool aspect of the Rat and BBE DI-10 is that you can get great recorded distortion tones straight to Pro Tools! Add a little reverb, and it's pretty amp-like. This would probably work with other speaker-emulating DIs too, like the H & K Redbox.

This thing is fairly easy to use. I don't think it came with any instructions, but then, I never had any questions.

I run an Epiphone Demon FX (a truly awesome cheap guitar)-->Danelectro Black Coffee (for psycho-fuzz)-->ProCo RAT 2-->EHX Bass Balls-->EHX Doctor Q-->Danelectro Backtalk Reverse Delay-->Crate MX120R 2x12 120W Solid State Amp.

I play a mix of Sabbath style dark stoner rock, Pumpkins influenced stargazer rock and insane psychedelic art-noise. This pedal fits in just great. I can set it on a very low distortion setting and make my guitar growl just a little, to add some color to my clean sound. My favorite, though, is the way that this thing can do the Big Muff sound better than the Big Muff!! Crank both the distortion and the filter knobs all the way to the right, strum a dropped-d power chord and you will get the most insane wall of super-creamy fuzz/noise that has ever turned a crowd's mind inside out. Leads on this setting are amazingly responsive to your picking, and have that famous Big Muff ultra-creamy fuzz sound. Very quiet when engaged, except at the highest gain settings, and totally transparent when turned off due to the true bypass. I wish more stompbox makers would bother to make a true bypass switch, it would be worth the slight price hike. I love this little box! The absolute best you can get for the price, one of the best to have for any price.

This question makes me laugh. If I got in a fight with my RAT, I might survive, but I wouldn't win. It is a bulletproof little beast. I've never thought twice about gigging with no backup.

I don't expect I'll ever have to speak to these people, so whether or not they exist is kind of a moot point. I have no idea.

I've been playing guitar and bass for 3 years now, and I'm in the unfortunate position of being both a gear junkie and a poor college student. I have to make gear choices where my money counts, and when I use Harmony Central and eBay together, that becomes more possible. The RAT is the ultimate example of a killer effect at a very reasonable price. It is an excellent musical tool, and I think that most rock guitarists could use this in their rig.

very easy to use. whip it out of the box plug it in and play with the knobs and 3-way.

This mod had the capacitors switched to give it a more bassy tone. I use it on a washburn rb2002 bass with a digitech xp 100 whammy wah and a kustom kba 100 bass amp. The distortion is nice and crisp. If your a Tool fan go to www.roberkeeley.com and order one. It sounds exactly like justins pedal. The 3 way switch allows me to choose the classic rat style, a mighty mouse or volume boost, and lastly a phat rat mode to give it a tube type sound.

built like a rock!

i emailed Robert the same day I had it because there was a problem (or so i thought). I had an email within an hour of sending the email. He told me how to get the pedal working. If it didnt work all i would have to do is ship it. He would pay for all expenses. Whats best of all is a life time warranty...

this thing is perfect for my needs. it does everything i expected and more. If This pedal were stolen i would buy it again.

Easy. If you cant figure it out kill yourself and your family right now.

My set up is Ibanez Gax70/Gibson sg/57' Fender Strat>Rat2>Jimi Hendrix wah>Crate GLX 212

Effects are overall excellent. Nothing incredibly new or creative, just excellent distortion with a fairly good variety.

Out of the pedals I've used nothing beats it

Built tough, never will need a backup, wouldn't use anything else anyway.

I play a little bit of everything: Classic Rock, Rockabilly, Alternative, Punk, Country, Metal (not often), Ska, Rock n' roll. I've been playing 5 years, and I've used a big muff (extreme fuzz), Heavy metal zone (annoying buzz), and a ds-1 (ugh). If it were stolen i would try to get a r2du, which is two in one.

Come on how the hell could 3 knobs be hard. Distortion, Tone, Volume. I found it easy as hell to get a great sound out of it and its so veritile. No manual is needed.

I use different gear alot of the time, but it sounds great through anything. I use it in my bedroom through a practise peavey 158 rage and the sound is good. But put it through a Marshall DFX half stack and then it really comes to life. The distortion is not that strong and metal tones are no where to be found. Great for grunge, Rock and the classic rock tones are great. I can get a great Sabbath tone out of it and can get a Muse tone from it also.

If you can break this you can break anything.

overall, great for rock playing. Distortion is not strong and some may say slightly weak but if your into classic rock its a must have. Grunge playing such as Nirvana, Foo fighters and even muse tones can be used from it. Dont waste your money on a Boss DS1 get this its quality. So easy to use great for messing around on, and it looks cool.

Take it out of the box,plug it in.Mess around with the knobs for a bit and thats it! Can't get much easier than that.

I use a Vox Valvetronoix amp with lots of effects and the Rat2 cuts right through and delivers a great distorted tone without that "muddy" sound that commonly happens when you use lots of effects.Gives a great "Brit" sound (like an old Hiwatt) thats very unique from other distortion boxes.

Been using it for a couple of months with no signs of slowing down.

I play mostly indie/Alternative music and the Rat2 compliments the music perfectly. I've also been playing for 17 years and have tried almost every popular distortion box under the sun and the Rat2 is a definite keeper. If it was stolen or damaged I would by another one without thinking twice about it.

Three knobs: distortion, filter, volume. Once you understand how the filter works (turn clockwise: more bass, more compression, less treble // turn counter-clockwise: exactly the opposite, you get a thinner, fuzzy high-end sound), you need no more than 3 minutes to get a great sound out of it.

I don't use this stompbow all the time, but when I do my setup is as follows:
Ibanez Blazer > ProCo Rat II > Boss Flanger > Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 100 W Head > Marshall 1960A 4x12 Cabinet.
I'm overall satisfied with the overdrive channel on my amp, but if I want a dirtier, noisier sound I use this stompbox on the clean channel! You can do quite a lot with this baby (from light crunch to ultra-dirt and everything inbetween), but my favourite setting is:
distortion: 12 o'clock, filter: 3 o'clock, volume: 2 o'clock. This sounds a lot like that mid-heavy Smashing Pumpkins guitarsound on "Siamese dream". Don't exaggerate with the amount of distortion, cause beyond 2 o'clock it will make your sound mushy. You get the best sounds between 9 - 1.
The Rat can get quite noisy if you turn up your amp. Well okay... what distortionpedal doesn't?!?

BUILT LIKE A BRICK!

I play all kinds of music, mainly 80's wave (Killing Joke, Joy Division, The Cure) and 'alternative' rock & noisy indie stuff.
I've been playing for more than 10 years and right now I'm in a band that's heavily influenced by bands such as Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and the like. I usually use my amp's distortion (nothing's sweeter than tube distortion), but certain songs just need some extra dirt and beef so... RAT-time!!!!!!
I've played several other distortionpedals over the past years, but none suited my taste: Boss Metal Zone (very nasal sounding, irritating buzz), Boss Heavy Metal (duh), Boss Turbo Overdrive (too damn weak), Boss Turbo Distortion (turbo? what a joke! weak shit!), DOD Trash Master (pretty okay sounding, but unreliable), Ibanez Tubescreamer (not bad, but too thin sounding).
Then a friend of mine introduced me to the RAT... I borrowed it from him for a few days, then I phoned him to ask how much bucks he wanted for that pedal, because he wasn't going to get it back!!!!

Extremely easy to use . The best setting from left to right is 2 O'Clock, 10 O'Clock, 2 O' Clock . YOu ca use this as either an overdirve or a distortion pedal.

This is a Marshall JCM 800 stuffed into a little black box. This is THE MOST IMPORTANT INFO I CAN GIVE you ---USE an AC adapter not a battery and don't use a 9V adapter like it calls for, the tone that way is harsh, thin, and weak. USE an ADAPTER WITH THESE EXACT SPECS and you will get a cranked Marshall JCM 800 tone out of it , ,it will be much smoother more powerful and less harsh and it has never put any excess wear on my pedal. 120 VAC, 60Hz, 5W, 10VDC, 150 mA . I never realized the beauty of this pedal until I used this particular adapter it makes a HUGE difference. You can get a superb woman tone out of it or a great Classic rock type of tone. Don' go looking for metal in here you won't find it . This pedal has tremendous sustain and it it so damn smooth. I love to use it with a Chandler Tube Driver and or Chorus and Reverb depending on what I play , this is the only distortion unit I have tried that actually responds well to any pedal that you try it with and I have tried just about the entire market. I know David Gilmour of Pink Floyd uses this pedal and it will give you a similar tone but remember these pros have so much other gear that you won't find their tone in a little magic box. I do highly recommed searching out a Chandler Tube Driver to use with this pedal, forget about the Tubescreamer it totally lacks compared to the Tube Driver even the older TubeScreamers don't measure up. The RAT 2 works well with single coils or Humbuckers and it works well with all effects especially WAH, Chorus, Phase, Delay ,Reverb, Overdrive .etc... I currently use it with a Hiwatt Custom 50 AP combo SA112, but I have also used it with Mesa Boogie Rectoverb, Tremoverb, and Single Recto 50 with superb results.

This pedal is extremely reliable and is good enough to gig without a backup but they are cheap enough to have a backup . Face it no matter how good a piece of gear is you don't want to get caught with your pants down on stage.

Never dealt with them.

I have been using this pedal for almost 4 years now . I have put it up against every other distortion pedal that you can think of and I must admit this is the ONLY distortion pedal that I can NEVER let go of. I A+B'd it with a Fulltone Distortion Pro, MXR Distortion +, Boss BD-2,DS-1, MZ-2, MT-2, EH Big Muff (all models), Tube Screamer just to name a few . It came out on top every time . It is quite important to use the adapter that I specified above , that is the reason I wrote this review to help out the players that don't know. I just stumbled upon it myself and would never have thought to try it. This pedal is also as durable or more so than an MXR pedal . It is one of the most solid well built pedals I have ever seen . The price is dirt cheap . I do not recommemd buying a new one even though the new ones are true bypass. Go to ebay and look for a RAT 2 with the Glowing LED but with the silver thumb screw instead of the hex screw on the battery cover . There are 3 versions of this particular model RAT 2. You have the 1st version with the painted logo and no glow, the 2nd version which is the one I speak of above to get and the 3rd version is the current production model which is not made as well as the older ones. I have had them all . They have gotten more cheaply made over the years but even the new ones are decent. I would search out another the very same day if anything ever happened to mine . I can't say enough good about this pedal , no it's not perfect but it is one of the best . It's priced extremely fair, has superb tone and durability . Go try it . It even puts boutique pedals to shame.

Even when I just bought new equipment and was still a neophyte with the who setup thing, I could still get the sound I wanted out of the rat II. Manual is useless... It has three knobs... the only things you should know I just recently learned from a true master... the Rat works better with a half dead battery, and its a + charge... thats important if you have a power pedal of some sort.

My set is:
Sundown head with marshall cabinet.
1981 Ibanez AS-50 semi hollow body
Electro-harmonex octave multiplexor
Danecho

This thing sounds awesome anyway you try and use it. Its good as a booster if you wanna use your amps distortion, or completely dependable as your main distortion. You can get real meaty sounds out of it as well as harsh stuff. It's fabulous for getting feedback (though I do have a semi-hollow body) if you're into that sort of thing. I could get the sounds of my favorite band (Smashing Pumpkins) with relative ease. It sounds pretty good with the octave box... you can make some funky sounds with that. Single notes, however can occasionally lose their integrity in this thing, but overall this rat kicks ass.

It's solid... I would definitely use it without a backup.

didnt need them.

I play a weird combination of rock, ambient and prog. The rat is very versatile in its sound, especially for a rhythm guitarist. If you're a main lead guitarist for generic rock, you may wanna look elsewhere, cos you may have trouble with feedback, and it may sound too dirty. If you're into shredding solos, feedback, and pumpkinesque fury this is a great pedal to go for.

If it were stolen I'd definitely buy it again.

I think its more versatile than the Big muff and much more professional than the boss metal zone... those are the only two distortion pedals I've had experience with.

VERY EASY TO USE. THE FILTER KNOB WORKS LIKE A TONE IN REVERSE. WIDE RANGE OF DISTORTION SOUNDS, BUT PROBABLY BEST SUITED TO HIGH GAIN.

I PLAY LES PAUL THRU THE RAT INTO AN ORANGE 100 HEAD AND AMPEG 4X12 BASS CAB. THIS IS THE MASTER OF ALL PEDALS, JUST THE GREATEST DISTORTION I HAVE EVER HEARD. REALLY WARM AND TUBE-LIKE, WITH LOADS OF SUPER FAT, MID/BASS-Y GAIN . I PLAY OLD SKOOL CROSSOVER PUNK/THRASH, AND THIS PEDAL IS JUST THE MONSTER I NEED. VERY LOUD TOO (MUCH LOUDER THAN MY BIG MUFF!!).COMPARED TO MY OTHER DISTORTIONS:::
FATTER/LOUDER/LESS COMPRESSED THAN A DS-1 OR SD-1
FAR MORE GAIN THAN A TUBESCREAMER (BUT SIMILIAR TUBE-LIKE TONE)
MORE "FOCUSSED" AND CONSISTANT, AND FATTER THAN A BIG MUFF
WAY MORE BASS AND MID THAN MXR

AWESOME!!

12 YEARS OF PUNK ROCK FURY HASNT TROUBLED THIS TANK ONE BIT

WHO KNOWS....DO PRO CO EVEN NEED IT??

I BOUGHT A BACK UP RECENTLY, BUT KNOW I'LL NEVER NEED IT. THIS IS JUST A TONE LOVERS DREAM. THICK, HEAVY, "REAL" DISTORTION WHICH SOUNDS UNBELIEVBLE WITH A MARSHALL!! ONE LOUD SON OF A BITCH. THE ONLY PEDAL I'LL EVER USE

Fairly simple, it has millions of good sounds in it. The Main complaint I have is of the "Filter" knob. I wish It just said Tone, it would be easier to understand for retarded people like me. After I figured out that it was the same thing it was awesome.

Amazing. I use a Gibson Les Paul Special SL (Humbucker model) or a Fender Nashville Tele Deluxe through a Trace Elliot EQ into a Crybaby into the Rat and into my Vintage Fender bandmaster which goes into a Peavey Roadready 4x12 cab. What really makes this pedal shine is an EQ in front of it. Even without an EQ though, this thing sounds very good. Very marshallesqe. Especially through a big all tube fender of some sort.

Its been great so far, Ive had it over a year, i have gigged without a back up.

Its great, itll do really any type of music you could want. Id highly suggest it to anyone who wants to get a GOOD distortion pedal because their amp's distortion sucks or lacks it. This is one of the few pedals that really sounds how it should.

Just by looking at it you can tell it's very simple and easy to use. The filter control is a bit different but it only takes a couple of twist to hear what it does. The manual is decent but since the pedal is so straitforward there isn't much it can say that youi don't already know.

I am running an Epiphone Casino and Epiphone Les Paul through the Rat2 into a Vox Cambridge Reverb Twin. The sound is quite different from any other pedal I've ever played, very different from my Marshall Guv'nor. It's more of a fuzzy type distortion than a killer crunch, perfect for retro rock like Superdrag or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The range of the distortion is fairly wide, from breaking up nicely to full on rock distortion. I like the fact that it can go from more vintage like The Strokes to modern like Foo Fighters. Overall it sounds very good for what I use it for.

It seems very reliable and the fact that it glows in the dark is very nice too. I would definately gig with no backup for this pedal.

Never dealt with them.

For rock n' roll and some modern rock the Rat2 is very good. By far the best distortion I've ever played not to mention the fact that it's cheaper than most of the other pedals on the market. I keep this pedal plugged in all the time.

this is very easy to use, just turn the three knobs and you're off. the filter is used to reduce the high frequencies, but i find it sounds heaviest with all the highs in there. weird. anyway, it's super versatile, covering everything from mild ts9 style grit to huge, huge distortion.

i play custom sg >rat > boss phr -1 > danelectro flanger > boss dd3 > carlsbro 50 top/ hand built 2 x12. the rat is super-quiet when off, and super-loud when on! compliments all my other pedals, even makes the cheapo dano flanger sound cool! i love heavy sounds like sabbath/metallica/black flag/entombed/fu manchu, and this pedal covers it all. awesome.

have you seen it? a tank.

an undoubted 10. i love the sound or this pedal, it is just so heavy. it sounds "real", not in any way processed. really warm, thick fat distortion. one question - given the insane levels of gain on this pedal, why did pro co make a turbo rat?????

it is hard to get a bad sound out of this pedal

I play a 73' guild bluesbird through ernie ball volume pedal,rat,klon overdrive,66' pro reverb or princeton. I loved the way this pedal sounded, then I had robert keely mod it with a three way switch witch gives it 2 other voicings that are more transparent clear sounding and I love it even more, I especially like that it has true bypass

very solid looking exept when keely sent it back the toggle switch got smashed and I had to send it back to be replaced

I play worship music. It can be quite heavy sounding but that's ok for worship. I have been playing 7 years. I also own a taylor 814ce and california blonde amp. I would replace it in a heartbeat if it were stolen. It replaced my midrangy ts9 which was ok but I like the rat better

It took me awhile to get the sound just right. It has a Distortion, Filter, and Volume knob, but I prefer the Distortion, Bass, Treble, Volume set-up better. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's not my personal preference.

The sound is actually pretty good. It's very cleaned up compared to my DOD Grunge FX69-B. You can achieve really light distortion and really thick distortion. However, the distortion gets way to muddy and bassy to be used past halfway. Up until there, though, it's great. It can get you some great bluesy sounds and also a great retro-rock sound (think White Stripes). Unfortunately, it isn't that good for heavier stuff like Metallica. I guess it's all right for Nirvana-ish stuff, but I still prefer my Grunge for Nirvana.

I've only had it for a week. Seems like a reliable pedal, but I don't really jump on my pedals either.

No trouble.

I mostly play a little bit of everything, but my biggest influences are Nirvana, the Smashing Pumpkins, Metallica, Alice In Chains, Black Sabbath, and Jimi Hendrix. I've been playing for about a year. I play a Squier Double Fat Strat into a Danelectro Cool Cat chorus into a DOD Grunge FX69-B into the RAT into an Ibanez Troubadour 25w Solid-State practice amp.

Basically, I still plan on using my Grunge for my main line of distortion for the loud, heavy stuff I play, but I'm going to be using the RAT for solo boosts, light distortion (in softer songs), and occasionally retro-rock types of songs. If it was stolen or lost, I would probably buy another one, but it's not really my dream pedal or anything, so I'd probably look around first.

Great pedal though, great deal.

This is actually an update-I think I reviewed the RAT 2 a while ago but now I've had it for a year I thought I'd update my submission. Once you have found the 'sweet spot' this pedal is the business. Careful with the volume though!

My rig is-Big Apple Strat----Cry Baby-RAT-Boss Digital Metalizer-Boss Super Phaser-Digitech RP2000 Loop Station------Sonus Black Badge(into Sonus 1x12 and Marshall 4x12 straightback).

Initially I had some issues with the Rat. It's infamous harmonic clipping really pissed me off as I'm a humbucker man through and through. My guitar came with a Pearly Gates Plus in the bridge, but it's important for me to get a really good clean sound so I changed it for a custom custom. Voila! No clipping! The Rat is one of the best distortions I've had, and indeed my personal favourite. I would use it for everything if I could, but sometimes it's a little impractical.

The ideal situation for the Rat is to have a pickup that has lots of mid but not too much bass on account of the fact that this where all the clipping comes from. If you have a strat with hot rails for example this thing can burn people at a distance. I managed to give someone a migraine at a practice because he wasn't used to the beef. 10.

this is the only problem area-the switch clicks a bit now i've had it for a while. It may just need tightened. The casing is indeed bombproof.

never dealt with ProCo-I bought a Turbo Rat second hand and even though someone nearly filled it with beer it still works. Can't imagine I'll be contacting them anytime soon.

I couldn't live without this pedal. I've honed it's sound into an art form. would also be great for anyone into Entombed, as you can get that sound out of it perfectly.

All you need is beef-Beef is all you need.

Pretty basic need to get to grips with the filter but has plenty of boost if needed

I've got tons of boxes (Big Muff, MXR distort, Bluesdriver) as well as Marshall JMP-1 pre-ap. I use the RAT for my main heavy distorted rhythm stuff as well as in combination with a compressor for mental feedback. The way I have it set up sounds a bit tinny at low volumes but when you crank the power amp (Marshall valve monoblock) it comes to life and sounds great in the context of the band. I would always want this in my set up as it is essentially a brilliant all-rounder

Yeah

For rock / punk this pedal is great as it isn't smooth but evil when you want it to be.

This pedal is fairly easy to use, although first thoughts for me were turn the gain up, however I found that when the gain was low, it was easy to achive some very desirable sounds.

I was using this with a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue, and I use a custom built guitar with Kent Armstrong P-90s. The pedal is fairly quiet with a little hum, however I am using powerful single coils so hum is bound to be increased. When using low gain I was able to achieve a very desirable overdriven type sound that reacted very strongly to the sensitivity of my playing. This suits my style of acoustic rock music very well. When playing harder it sounded more like distortion, and when playing quiet it gave a very crunchy crisp sound, very nice for playing chords. It's achieves fairly good sound with my Les Paul, but I don't think it works as well with humbuckers. I would give it a 7 for sound with the Gibson. I would give it a 10 for tone but the hum lets it down a slightly so it has to be a 9. This pedal is well worth getting.

It is built extremely well and has never failed on me yet. I would definately use it at a gig without a backup, however I don't feel I've owned the pedal long enough to be able to rate it in this category.

Never dealt with the company.

This is a perfect match for my style of music. I would not be able to play in my band without this pedal. It has been extremely difficult to find a sound that I like and suits my style of playing. Most pedals are too thin, don't work well with low gains, or are just generally poor in sound quality. This pedal is officially a "distortion" pedal, however I think with the gain high enough to be classed as "distortion", it sounds terrible. With the gain low, the overdriven sound obtained is absolutely fantastic. It has everything I want.

like most three knob pedals this is dead easy, just turn them until you find what you are after. my only advice - this pedal is SERIOUSLY high gain!!

i play a custom gordon-smith SG (englands finest handbuilt!) >rat2> ross phaser> '69 carlsbro 50 top tube amp. this is the quietest distortion ive used - i mean quiet when off - thanks to the bypass. it's a huge advantage which i've only realised through using the rat. step on it and sweet jesus is this baby LOUD!! i swore by the boss ds-1 for years, but after using this once i've never looked back. the rat is very versatile, and could coax almost any overdriven sound - from mild tubescreamer-ish grit right through to big muff-esque wall of noise. i use it for super thick sabbath/soundgarden type stuff, and find that the midrangy sound of the rat fattens my tone so much. it sings too, and doesnt cut my sustain in any way. i use it with an old ross phaser and the pedals sound great together, the rat really fills out the phaser. i cant imagine a better distortion pedal!

solid as a rock, mine was bought used so i dont know how old it is, but its built like a tank and is showing little wear.

no idea, sorry!! hopefully i'll never need to find out. by the look of this pedal it seems unlikely!

i play heavy sabbathy rock, kind of metal if the '80s hadnt happened! i've been playing around 5 years and i'm a sad gear geek, i have a box jammed with pedals. i've used just about every "classic" distortion (big muff, ts9, ds-1, sd-1, arbiter fuzz) and this is jut the best by far. i loved the ds-1 for years, but it's actually quite thin and scooped compared to the rat. the rat is just so heavy, thick, clear and solid sounding. it's the perfect pedal for me, i love it so much that i've reduced my pedal chain from about 6 to just this and the phaser, i love it' sound so much. hit a bar-chord and im in heaven!! if i lost this pedal i'd replace it the next day!

First of all, this is a modded RAT. Modded by Josh Z, or for the HC Effects forum users, nirvanas silence. Three original knobs, and a three position toggle to switch between a RAT 2, Big Boost, and Turbo Rat. This guy's work is great.

After the mod, the Rat model isn't as muddy. It has a lot of cut in it. The turbo rat sounds great, but the volume drops a little. No problem, just raise the knob a bit. Big boost is cool. Think of an overdrive that can do a little more than just drive the amp a little harder.

Definately.

Never contacted ProCo, but Josh Z is a great guy. Nice, friendly, good prices.

If you play anything that needs distortion, just get a RAT... and if you can have Josh mod it, it will sound awesome.

Not hard at all. Give it a few hours.

I really love this pedal. I've had it for 2 years now. Does really well at getting a range of sound from clearer bluse overdrive type with gain down to sort of newer big muff's sound with gain all the way up.

no problems at all

I have to say after all my time using it it would be my last pedal to go if I had to sell them. I've owned 4 or 5 distortion overdrive pedals and this one kicks them all out the window. I owned bigg muff and boss and all that stuff this one is the best.

Easy to use. 3 knobs, distortion, filter, volume. Filter works as a tone control but reverse direction to other tone controls. Glow in dark graphics & on/off led.

I use mine for bass. Playing soundgear SR400. A Digitech compressor/sustainer in front of it for increased sustain. Twin peavey minx amps. The rat2 doesnt have as long a sustain as some other distortion pedals. But useing comp/sustainer in front of it makes that a mute point. Excellent crunchy distortion that smooths out some with filter control set to lower for less treble. Even then notes dont go blurry. Easy to get harmonics for wicked bell tones & seagull voice calls. Had used a Marshall Jackhammer pedal before getting the Rat. Likes the Rat2 better for bass guitar anyway. Lol.

Very reliable. Built to be virtually indestructable. Only reliabiity problem one might ever run into I think is if got careless & didnt have a spare battery available. Has very good battery life. But like any battery powered device, it does eventually need battery replaced. Notices that tone etc change that occurs when battery is starting to go weak isnt as bad as with some other distortion pedals.

Only customer interaction I've had with ProCo is thru visiting their website. Has had no technical help needs etc with the Rat.

I play a variety of Death/Thrash/Black Metal along with Techno & Electronica type stuff. Some Goth. Also likes prog rock. Rat does very well with these to my ears. Finding a distortion pedal that also works great for bass can be hard. Most either blurr the notes too much or give overly thin or overly bassy (no difinition) to the sound. Rat works great. Would replace it if lost or stolen. Getting great tone is required for me to play well. But its a subjective thing. To me the Rat inspires rather then hinders or limits. Does reccomend a Digitech "Main squeeze" or other compressor/sustainer in front of it. This helps the sustain and adjusting the sustainers level can help increase tone qaulity when useing an active bass. Lol. The Marshall Jackhammer didnt like me turning up the Ibanez SR400's onboard bass control. Rat doesnt mind.

3 knobs:

Distortion: Controls the amount of gain. Turn it to 2 o'clock u get the chunky mild overdrive sound, turn it down further u get growling distortion sounds.

Filter: Controls the amount of bass. Turn the filter down, ur sound gets muddy and bassy which would be overpowering ur amp.

Volume: Controls the volume.

How easy can this be? And it's superbly easy to get a great sound out of it. Few seconds is what it takes to go into distortion heaven :)

I use it with a 30 watt amp and single coil guitar. Yes, the RAT is terribly noisy, but i live with using two single coils together, so the noise is gone. The is no word in this world that can describe the sound quality of this RAT, why? Because it is tooooo wonderful! Although i've only played it for two days, but i have already packed my Metal Zone, Guv'Nor and multifx back into their box nicely ready for sale. The only pedal left is my Boss GE-7 equalizer. So u can see how much impact this RAT has made on me. It's great for rhythm, gives the crunchy and growling sound. It's pristine for solos, gives u a very nice sustaining singing smooth sound. What can i say, if i can choose, i would only use RAT by itself and only the RAT, i don't want to have any other pedals. I want to give this 100 out of 10 anyday.

Tough black case. Much bigger and heavier than my Boss. Best thing is the switch dosen't click.

If someone tries to steal it, i will let him die in the most terrible way he could never imagined and snatch my RAT back. I have bought 5 stompboxes and a multifx and to tell the truth i have never been so happy until i got this RAT, it made me smiling satisfyingly everytime i turn it on and jam away. Anyway, I was really quite happy with my multifx processor, but when i got this RAT, it killed my love with my multifx and became my newly love. I just sold it yesterday to a friend, well, i miss my multifx a bit, but from now on i will only buy pedals that suit this RAT and stay away from any pedal that will kill the sweet lovely tone of my RAT.

I recommend anyone who wants a distortion to go for RAT. Any rats will also do, i think they all sound quite the same. I have extensively used a Metal Zone (i have one), DS-1 (i always use it when jamming during the time i did not have any pedals), Jackhammer (always tested for hours it at a friendly guitar shop), Guv'Nor Plus (i have one) and this RAT totally blows them out of the universe.

I'm loss for words how to describe the greatness of this RAT, don't read anymore, go and buy one now if u can find it. Btw, before i wrote this review, i have never read any reviews below about this RAT. It's all original work =p

Let me be up-front about why I wanted a RAT2 - Jeff Beck, that's why. I have used a number of distortion/fuzz boxes over the past twenty years or so, but the RAT is by far and away the most versatile. There are two reasons for reaching this conclusion: i) that Filter sweep, and ii) it plays in a touch-sensitive way. Using guitar volume controls and delicacy of touch, the RAT colours your sound in a way that can vary between the subtle and the brain-melting. More often than not the level of distortion set is about 9:00 [ie not a lot] but it is more than enough to push my Hiwatt DR103 into fully overdriven sound palettes without losing its intrinsic character. With either a Les Paul Standard or a Strat (H/S/S configuration) as its driver, the RAT adds to the power and punch of either instrument but lets the inherent tonal quality come through. I bought my RAT 2 back in 1987. It is built like a brick outhouse and came with a two-sided advice note that passed as a manual. The best way to use these things is to play with them and see just what they will and won't do. I'm still finding interesting sounds [noises?]. It seems to be a pretty quiet stomp-box even by contemporary standards. It is the only guranteed link in the signal chain from guitar to amp. I can praise it no more highly.

I put my Les Paul Gold Top (with Seymour Duncan PAF neck and JB bridge p/u's) or my WD-based Strat (2 x ceramic single coils and tappable Kent Armstrong alnico humbucker) into a Hiwatt DR103 and 4x12 cab. Invariably the RAT2 is in the signal chain. With the Hiwatt preamp wide open the guitar volume controls can change the amp's distortion levels [I picked that up from Pete Townshend - a freely acknowledged hero of mine]. Put the RAT in and that rule still applies. No mush! No rasping. It beefs up your sound but not at the expense of sweetness or, more importantly, touch. In normal use the distortion level seldom goes beyond the 9:00 position, filter between 1:00 and 4:00 and level about 1:00-2:00. That is usually enough to push the all-valve Hiwatt into creamy overdrive regardless whether it's a Strat single coil or one or both JB coils providing the input. With both Les Paul p/u's on together in phase the RAT thickens the sound; out of phase and the RAT emphasises the hollowness and the attack. Same applies to the seven p/u options on my Strat. The RAT enhances what is there without imposing its own character OVER the basic sounds. Now that is what a good distortion stompbox should be all about. And to answer your question: NO! I can't sound like El Becko, but I have found sounds that I like and other players have positivley commented on. Clearly the RAT needs to drive a quality amp that will respond to its subtlety and nuances to get the best out of it.

Dependable to the nth degree!!! Solid, virtually indestructable armoured casing. A footswitch capable of taking an elephant stomping on it. I use the RAT without backup - apart from spare batteries and that's it.

Never had reason to contact ProCo. Product quality is so good there has never been cause.

There should be enough clues already as to what music I play. It's blues based. Names like Beck, Townshend and Hiwatt should let you from where I'm coming. The RAT 2 is simply superb. On one occassion when I was forced in an emergency to DI into our PA the RAT gave me a usable sound. If God forbid I lost my RAT there would be no hesitation in getting another. Forget the opposition. There is no way in which the RAT gets in the way of my playing. It adds immeasurably to my sound, but never dominates it. One doesn't usually associate the words subtle and responsive to distortion units, but in the case of the RAT2 they are well-deserved accolades. Maybe I have over-extolled its virtues, but to my ears the RAT - Hiwatt combination is the last word in classic guitar sounds. Put 'em together, twiddle a few knobs and off you go!!

Piece of cake! Plug in & turn knobs!
No manual, but you really don't need one.

Sound quality at lower volumes is weak. But, this pedal NEEDS to be CRANKED to get it's true tone capabilities. Pretty quiet pedal. Althought, there are better pedals out there, I have to agree, for the money, this pedal can't be beat!

I use the following gear:
Fender American Deluxe Strats, 80's Kramer Baretta, Jap Strat, Laney GH50L head, Marshall 4x12, Tubescreamer, ProCo RAT II, Mesa V-Twin pedal, Vox Wah, MXR Phase 90, EH Holy Grail Reverb pedal, and various other pedals & rackmount gear.

Since I bought my Laney GH50L, I really havn't had much need for a distortion pedal. :) The Laney's distortion is brutal! Gets a perfect Eddie Van Halen "brown sound", progressive metal style distortions with ease. So, I use my RAT pedal less these days. I also think that this pedal works better with a humbucker pickup. I tend to love my single-coil's these days.

Anyway, This pedal can get a miriad of tones, but I would say to get an idea of what it sounds like, picture AC/DC (For Those About To Rock), 70's hard rock...etc Use it in conjunction with a nice 1/2 stack, and you can achieve some nice rockin' crunch.

Dependable? Hell yeah! Best built pedal on the planet, next to my Mesa V-Twin preamp pedal.

Never dealt with them.

Overall rating, I'd give it a 6-8. Simply because it's NOT a killer "heavy metal" style distortion box, it's more like a hard-hitting fuzzbox. Which (to be honest) is what I hate about this pedal....Along with all these other "boutique" distortion pedals! Seems like every distortion pedal nowadays is a glorified fuzzbox! Dammit, make something else! I think the world has enough fuzzboxes.

On the other hand however, when used with a good amp, and a tubescreamer, you CAN acheive some killer hard rock tone, without any problems!

So, overall, it's a VERY GOOD PEDAL, truly WORTH the money, but it's NOT a really great pedal for heavy metal or progressive metal, unless used in conjunction with your amp's distortion. Has incredible amounts of gain, and you can really get a variety of sounds & harmonics from it. But, it's not for the 80's metal / progressive metal guitarist. (like me) Although it CAN be used to get SOME heavy metal tones & crunch, it's more suited for heavy rock, 70's classic rock, and similar music.

So, although not my favorite distortion pedal, I DO like it better than most distortion pedals out there, built WAY better, and it's really the worth the money. I use it, and it's a great pedal for heavy rock.

3 knobs hardly need to have a degree in astro physics to work out how to get some good sounds.The filter as you probably know by now is like a tone knob only you get more treble anti clock wise and more bass clockwise, so it's viseversa than a normal tone knob.

I play a gibson les paul into the clean channel on a hughes and Ketner 100w amp.I use a few different distortion boxes seperatley off course but I tend to use this as my main distoreion.I also use it along with a Dunlop Crybaby ,Boss Chorus esemble and a Boss EQ 20 equaliser.The distortion out of this is a little like a boss DS-1 which I also own.But the Rat2 hasn't as vaste a tone range ,but it always sounds good nomatter where you have the filter knob.Where as the DS-1 gets way to trebley past 3 o'clock.I also own a Boss Metal-Zone and a Zoom tri-Metal. which are also two very good,extreme, high gain pedals.But I can even get a great metal sound out of the Rat2 when I use my Equaliser with lowewred mids and raised bass and treble(any body out there who wants good tone do your shelf a favur and stop buying loads os distortion boxes looking for perfect tone get an equaliser and make a distortion pedal like a Rat, DS-1 fit to play any distorted music be it blues or metal).The rat can also sound a little bit like a Marshall Jcm 800 when the filter is at 3 o'cl;ock and the distortion is about 1 to 2 o'clock.One of my other favourite settings is to set the filter at 9 o'clock and then the distortion at2 o'clock.Also if you alter the distortion level with this setting putting it between 9 to 1 o'clock depending it gives a killer crunchy blues tone if you lower the concentrated mids,slightly higher the outer mids,boost the realy high treble not to much and slightly boost the bass with an equaliser .

It's built better than a Boss and we all know what Boss pedals are like

Never needed it.

I play stuff from hard driven blues to Metal.Mostly hard rock this a piece of art for my scenario.If I had to go and play a gig and only have 2 pedals with me they would be the Rat2 and the Boss Eq20.I think equalisers are so important to tone they make a great effect better.What else can I say if my musical sound for hard rock was a table the Rat2 would be the Wood made to use it and the Boss Eq20 would be the food on top of it to set it off .

As with a lot of distortion pedals you'll be constantly tweeking the knobs searching for sounds, which may or may not be a successful past-time. Once you realise the limitations of the various knobs - ie distortion is less defined past approx. 2 o'clock, and filter sounds best around 12 o'clock, then you'll no doubt get sounds you like - after a while.

I am using this on the clean channel of a 100W Marshall Valvestate combo, using a Gibson Les Paul Studio. Even tho this is a solid state amp, cranking the clean channel to ten and then cutting the volume using the distortion pedal yields useful and convincing results. The Rat can be quite noisy, and higher volumes may result in feedback, yet the noise is not that great, certainly not noticeable when playing. After much fiddling, I've found that the Rat's distortion is very unique - it has a grindy, squashy, crunchy texture regardless of settings. This is a very pleasant sounding pedal, but I for one don't think it's amazingly versatile. Having said that the Rat is on all the time in my setup, and it is set with distortion and filter about 12 o'clock, volume set to taste. This gives me a pleasingly crunchy sound, kind of like a Marshall on steroids. Good for Tool sounds, in fact dropping the D and then playing some chunky chords has become a favourite occupation of mine, cos it sounds so good with the Rat! If you like Tool then this is a cool pedal to own, although if you are looking for 'cleaner' gain sounds, like real Marshall distortion I don't think they're are lurking within the Rat. Still, for the unique sound it produces, it is highly rated.

It's is built to last - probably the toughest pedal I've ever seen. Although annoyingly the 9V adaptor socket is of a different size so I can't daisy chain it with my Boss pedals, yet battery life is amazing so this isn't too much of a problem. I don't know if this is regular, but my pedal makes a pop when the switch is pressed, which is really annoying.

For fuzzy, grindy, crunchy, meaty sounds the Rat is a great box. I may try it with EQ behind it to see if I can clean the sound up, as the tonal control provided is hardly great. The Rat is my main distortion box at the moment, with a Boss OD-3 in front for leads. There is a pay-off between dialing in a nice, defined, articulate crunch and having a good amount of gain for leads, which is why this is necessary. Still, I am very happy with it indeed, and reccommend to anyone who wants a solid crunch in their tonal pallette.

These are quite easy to use, but stomp boxes usually aren't too complex.

I've used this with a Marshall 8080, and straight through a 4 track mixing console. Its really damn noisy, not a very nice sounding distortion. Just sounds like a mess. Its comparible to Nirvana, or the foo fighters... typical grunge type stuff

Its a solid iron box. Try and break it, probably can't.

Overall I don't get what the big buzz is about these things. They sound like crap. Wouldn't get one again. If you want a good distortion channel buy an amp that has one. Distortion Pedals won't get you what you truly want, all they do is mess with the nice input sound that your guitar is supposed to put into the amp.

I found the Rat to be very simple to use but it took me at least an hour to get a really good sound out of it.

My setup is the following:
Gibson Les Paul
Boss Noise Suppressor Ns-2
Effect loop of NS-2
Send:
Rat 2
DOD Equalizer
Original MXR phase 9
Return to Ns-2
Line 6 Delay Modeler
out to Fender Bassman Silverface 100 watt tube head
power soak
Fender 4x12 cabinet

This pedal isn't very noisy to me. There is absolutely no noise when I use it with the Ns-2. When I use the Rat 2 I tend to keep the filter knob past 12:00 otherwise the sound starts to sound thin and fuzzy. When the distortion knob is past 12:00 it also starts to lose character. I really don't need alot of drive from the rat becuase I crank my amp to ten and it already pretty overdriven. I really like how thick it sounds. It somehow achieves this sound without having too much bass. Most distortion pedals I have tried always a extremely bass heavy. I give it a 9 because I know for a fact that the original (not the reissue) is better. Also there are better pedals out there. Fulltone fulldrive 2.

This thing is built like a tank. Very solid.

Nver dealt with them.

I play new wave rock. Very experimental. Almost along the lines of Rage and At the Drive In. I have been playing for 4 years and have spent thousands of dollars on gear and have tryed several things. If this pedal was stolen I would go on ebay and buy the original. Thats what I recommend doing from the start. Other than the original this is the best distortion device out there. Usually I prefere an overdrive over dist. but in this case not. I used to own a Tubescreamer but found it way too thin compared to this. It is so thick can hardly believe it. Sounds like Jimmy Eat World Bleed American. And its under 100 dollars! Make sure u use it with a tbe amp though. Solid-state equals crap.

Very easy to use. Has 3 knobs - distortion, filter and volume. Didn't come with a manual, and you don't need one.

My guitars are an Ibanez AS80 and Washburn Nuno (but I'm seriously considering getting a strat) through a Peavey Delta Blues 210 amp. My effects are: Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive -> RAT2 -> MXR Dynacomp -> Danelectro Cool Cat Chorus -> Arion stage tuner. The RAT2 is good, but is a little noisy. But I like it for what it is. When I want to get a little crunchy, I use the RAT. But if I could only have one overdrive pedal, it would definitely be the Sparkle Drive. It is much more versatile than the RAT. I'm giving the RAT a 7 here because when you turn it on, it alters your tone and takes away bottom end (which the Voodoo Lab does not). But the RAT is fine to get that crunch.
I listen to Jeff Golub, Chuck Loeb, Larry Carlton, and a few others.

Don't have a clue. I haven't had it for long. But it seems very well built.

Again, don't have a clue.

I play mainly light jazz and blues. The RAT is good when I want a more raunchy blues tone (although it bugs me that it kills the tone a little). I've been playing for about 37 years and am EXTREMELY picky about what I use. I think the RAT is limited in what you can do with it. And I would recommend checking out the Sparkle Drive. If it were lost or stolen, I would not replace it. It's fine now that I have it, but I wouldn't get it again.

Three knobs- fairly easy to use and to intuitively dial in various tones and levels of distortion. The "filter" knob may make you smile (or curse depending on your disposition), turn it counterclockwise and the treble tone is enhanced, clockwise the bass. Wide variety of settings on that knob and volume and distortion.What manual? It doesn't really ned one in my opinion, but they make great bathroom reading and I miss the one I didn't get with the Rat 2.

I use it in conjunction with a Carl Martin Chorus and a Boss Compression / Sustainer. I love the tone of this pedal, and differ with previous posts that claim it can't be used for blues. Set the distortion at "9 o'clock" and get a nice overdrive. At 12 o' clock it's breaking up well, at 3 o'clock the thing is smoking. Now understand, I'm a blues / classic rock player from the old school, and use my guitar volume knob in conjunction with the knobs on the box, in conjunction with the knobs on the amp. It all interacts, you know? My amps are a Fender Hot Rod Deville (the Rat 2 has much better overdrive and distortion than the amp's overdrive channels IMHO) and a Fender Deluxe RI. Bottom line- I dialed in tones and levels that were good for me with little to no hassel- I like the pedal. A lot. It could be quieter, but I play single coil guitars (G&L Legacy, G&L ASAT) and am used to the minimal buzz or hum.

I haven't had it very long. But man, the thing is built like a bomb shelter. My friggin car should be built so well. When and if the pedal dies you can use it for an anchor for a small boat. Seriously, it's heavy duty, no "roody poo" BS! I've got back up (somewhat) in my larger amp- I'd gig, and do gig, without backup.

Haven't had to deal with them. They're in Michigan, so assumably easiere to contact than someone, say, in China or Korea?

Good for blues and rock in my opinion. i was looking for a good overdrive / distortion that would work well with my other boxes and at moderate volumes. This does it. These questions crack me up : "Does it help make music or get in the way" ? If it got in the way it would be history!