ProCo RAT

Very easy to use. Three knobs, filter acts in reverse. Spend the time
to see all the tones this pedal can give. Mine is an Original '83
Big Box Rat.

This is the first time I've come into contact with a Rat. Have used
every other type of O/D pedal. Finally going back to straight through the amp. I play vintage Fender Tweeds, and a Marshall JMP 50w Head/Cab
This pedal is amazing. Not noisy at all. Strong clean effects. When
in Bypass does NOT effect the natural tone of the guitar through the
amp....something that put me off many classic/modern pedals. Not this
Baby. Had an MXR Dist +, Big Muff Originals...No Contest, this Blows them away. I can se why so many Top Players from Rock - Jazz use this
pedal. Jeff Beck's favorite...I see why.

Only had it a short time. Is 23 y.o. and strong as ever. These guys
put a lot of thought into this pedal. The casing, and the internal wiring & circuit board are equal to any Boutique pedal of today.
Simple & Beautifully laid out. Will not cause any problems.

N.A. Lasted this long in great condition, will last another 23 yrs
with care.

I play Classic Rock & Blues. I can see myself having a whole lotta
fun with this pedal. I have Original TS-808's but this will be a new
favourite.You know as soon as you play through a great piece of gear
that it inspires you and you don't want to stop. This pedal does that.
Its organic, not processed sounding. I think a KEY though is to play
through (as another reviewer said) QAULITY Valve amps. The fenders
take to it beautifully. That was just the Rat straight through the amp. Look forward to hooking up a compressor with it. A Great amp,
Guitar, and this pedal..... you will have a ball. Best $200 I ever
spent!!!!

It's as easy to use at any pedal can be. God. It's all analog and that's the way it always should be. I got mine used, so no manual, but who would need one for this thing?

Ah. I love saying my setup. It feels so good.

Dean Vendetta 3.0 (with DiMarzio MegaDrive and Air Norton)-->Rat-->Dano Fish/Chips EQ-->Boss CH-1-->DOD Phaser-->Marshall JCM-800 4210-->Lee Jackson 4x12 (with Celestion G12T-75's). Unfortunately, as I speak, my Marshall is being retubed, so I haven't been able to test it out yet. However, my opinion isn't just a honeymoon deal because I've used these for recording before and I knew what to expect. My experience with it was through a JCM-900 4501, and now a Fender Frontman 10.

This pedal is amazing.

3 knobs: Distortion, Filter and Volume. This pedal WILL NOT even come close to doing a clean boost. It's a distortion/fuzz, not a straight od. It can give a distorted signal boost though. The volume seems to be independent of the distortion knob which makes things really easy. The more you crank the filter knob, the muddier your tone gets and the lower your volume gets too. I'm using it with Distortion at 12:00, Filter all the way down, and volume wherever convenient. If you want to get the sound of the Rat with the filter knob maxed out, roll off your tone knob completely and you'll be there. Then you're thinking Tom Morello from Rage S/T. With tone up, you get some nice heavy/thrash sounds from it. You probably won't want more distortion than 12:00, honestly.

This pedal, gasp, is capable of generating some bad sounds, but anyone with any concept of tone or knowledge will understand how not to get these sounds, and some people would probably enjoy these sounds also. This is, in my opinion, one of the best, if not the best distortion pedals ever made. Bar none.

Well, I just bought the unit. It looks like it's in 9.5/10 condition, and it's around 20 years old. You be the judge, eh?

I hear they're alright, but I have no experience.

The best. Better than a Muff (and it can do the Muff sounds, just so you know), better than a Metal Zone (much warmer), better than any digital pedals that have been made thus far, better than Rocktron's pedals, better than any boss distortion, DOD distortion, etc.

Short of using real tubes, you can't get anything better. And in my opinion, this is better than many high priced amps' distortion channels. With the EQ ahead of it, your distortion/tone options are endless.

Dead easy to get a GREAT sound (but only if you happen to have the sound in your head to begin with!!) Lets just face the fact that some people will ALWAYS get crap sounds no matter what gear they use.
Lucky it only has 3 knobs...!
This brilliant pedal MUST be used in conjunction with a GREAT amp, and a great overdrive tone to begin with to get the best from it.
NO POINT in using this pedal with a clean amp.

I have had my Rat for close to 20 years, and I have used it with;
1/ '76 Marshall Super lead (modded by Tim Evans, Australia)
2/ Labsystems Cage 30A + 50 Boutique Hand built heads.
Many years ago I used the Ibanez Tubescreamer, but although they are ok, they are not as great as the Rat. They are slightly overrated IMO.. These Vintage/early rats will be the one to get in the future. I have always set my amps with some overdrive to begin with, and then added mild quantities of The Rat on top. The best Overdrive/Distortion unit hands down. Harmonic, singing, aggressive attack, headroom... its all there. I now own three of them.

20 years of trouble free.. My Rat is now pretty rusty, and sounds as good as ever.. I had a Rat in my rig all this time and never told anyone I was using one.Theydid ask how I got My Sound, sorry for not telling you.. I have done many gigs with this pedal From small club gigs,to crowds of 2000 3000 at large hotels, up to Concerts of 15,000- 20,000 plus.

Never needed..

This Pro co Rat is the best overdrive pedal ever, including the coveted Ibanez tubescreamer. I have tried heaps of pedals. I used to take 6 pedals home at a time from shops and try them all.
I dont have to worry 'cos I now own three of them. It suits all from singing sustained tones, to blues ( I have a WONDERFUL SRV tone with it too...) right on up to heavy rock. Buy one...

Well, it has 3 knobs: Distortion, Filter (to shape the EQ curve), and Volume. If you can't operate something this simple, seek help. I give it a 9 because it doesn't set itself for you, but then again no pedal does.

I think it sounds great, personally. Probably the best stomp box distortion I have encountered. It just sounds all around good. It can be either very trebly and midrangey, similar to old Metallica tone, or you can suck the mids out and it will sound bassy and full. It is punchy enough for palm muting, but can be quite smooth. It's not really creamy like a Big Muff, but can do a decent approximation for the money. It's a shitload better than the Double Muff, which is a similar concept (overdrive + Big Muff circuit type). This is much more versatile, and sounds great.

I use this with my Essex Les Paul copy, or some modified Fender Strats with Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridges, depending on the mood I'm in. I play it through a Sunn Model T reissue into a Marshall 1960B straight cab. My band plays heavy indie rock and this pedal is great. I use it as a boost right now. With the distortion at about 9 o'clock, the filter and volume almost cranked, it works as a great boost and adds some midrange crunch to the Sunn, which is a very bassy, dark sounding amp. I find myself using the pedal a lot. It also works great to give some grit to parts. It's like I have three channels now: one clean, one Rat overdrive, and one Sunn mega distortion. Really damn nice sounding.

I can't imagine a better pedal than the Rat to use in front of a clean amp. Bands like Pelican actually use this in front of clean vintage Model T's as their main distortion sound. I don't like it as much as the Sunn's amp distortion, but if I were going to ever use a pedal as my main distortion, this would be the one.

Well, I have the vintage Rat, so it's probably 20+ years old. I bought it used now all these years later, and it has worked fine. My guess is that these things are built to last.

Never contacted them.

Overall, a very kick ass distortion pedal. I've tried tons of pedals before: Big Muff, Double Muff, Boss DS-1, Boss Metal Zone, Zoom effects...Big Muffs are nice but have limited applications. The Double Muff is way too muddy and is like a one, maybe two trick pony at best. The DS-1 is nice but not very musical when used with other effects, and does not have much gain. The Metal Zone farts out at reasonable settings, the volume is not there at all, it just sounds like shit IMO. I won't even comment on Zoom effects...If you need a good, versatile distortion pedal the Rat is awesome, and usually pretty cheap, too. Go for it.

VERY EASY TO GET GOOD SOUNDS OUT OF THISS LITTLE BLACK TANK. SOUNDS GREAT STOCK BUT SOUND EVEN BETTER WITH THE RUETZ CLIP MOD (NO SOLDERING - THE MOD TAKES LESS THAN 2 MINUTES). THE KEY TO FINDING GOOD SOUNDS WITH THIS PEDAL IS TWEAKING THE "FILTER KNOB".

I USE THIS PEDAL WITH BOTH HUMBUCKER AND SINGLE COIL GUITARS.(EMG 81'S - DIMARZIO TONE ZONES/ FENDER CUSTOM SHOP '69 STRAT PICKUPS, STOCK '78 STRAT PICKUPS). FROM GUITAR TO PEDALBOARD: ROGER MAYER WAH, FOXROX CAPTAIN COCONUT-2(WITH ROLAND EXPRESSION PEDAL), PRO RAT,IBANEZ TS-9, MXR ZAKK WYLDE OVERDRIVE,BOSS DD6. THE PEDAL BOARD GOES TO A MORLEY TRIPPLER AMP SELECTOR. FROM THE TRIPPLER, THE SIGNAL GOES TO TWO 1980 MARSHALL JMP 2203 100 WATT HEADS HOOKED TO TWO UNKNOWN BRAND 4X12'S (MARSHALL COPYS) LOADED WITH MESA BOOGIE SPEAKERS. CAN GET JIMI TONES, IOMMI TONES, SRV TONES, ECT ECT. ALL DEPENDS ON HOW IVE GOT THE KNOBS SET.

THIS SON OF A BITCH IS THE MOST RELIABLE PEDAL I HAVE EVER OWNED. HAVE HAD IT FOREVER AND HAVE NVER ONCE CHANGED THE BATTERY! (A DOLLAR GENERAL STORE BATTERY AT THAT!) WOULD DEFANANTLY USE IT WITHOUT A BACKUP.

NEVER DEALT WITH PRO-CO. SEEING THAT MY RAT WAS MADE SOMETIME IN '84 OR '85, I DOUBT THEYD EVEN CARE ANYWAYS.

I PLAY STONER ROCK, CLASSIC ROCK, METAL,ECT. THIS PEDAL IS GREAT FOR SOME STUFF, BUT NOT REALLY GOOD FOR THE METAL STUFF I PLAY (PANTERA, SLAYER, ZAKK ECT.) BEEN PLAYIN FOR ABOUT 13 YEARS AND OWN LOTS OF SHIT. IF IT WER STOLEN OR LOST I WOULD BE VERY VEY PISSED OFF. WOULD TRY TO FIND ANOTHER OLD ONE LIKE I HAVE. (THE NEWER ONES SOUND TO BUZZY FOR MY TASTES). I LOVE THE WAY IT MAKES MY MARSHALLS JUST A LITTLE MORE DIRTY WITHOUT DESTROYING THEIR NATURAL SOUND. ONLY THING I DONT LIKE ABOUT IT IS THAT I DONT HAVE ANOTHER ONE JUST LIKE I BOUGHT THIS PEDAL FROM A FRIEND WHO USED IT WITH A SOLID STATE(YUKK) CRATE (IM GETTING SICK JUST THINKING ABOUT THE WORD CRATE) AMP. BELIEVE IT OR NOT IT MADE THAT SOLID STATE PIECE OF SHIT SOUND DECENT.I TRIED IT THROUGH MY MARSHALL AND FELL IN LOVE WITH IT. HE LATER BOUGHT ANOTHER AMP AND LIKED THE SOUND OF IT WITHOUT THE RAT. HE SAID HE WOULD TAKE 20 BUCKS FOR THE RAT AND I JUMPED ON IT. IF YOU CAN FIND AN OLDER ONE TRY IT.

Depending on the sound you are looking for, it is generally pretty easy. The filter knob is basically a high cut filter, and the real tone shaper on the RAT. The rest is self explanitory.

I use a 72 RI thinline Tele, and a Custom Strat into a modded Hot Rod Deluxe. The sound quality is fabulous, and incredibly versatile for that matter. This thing yeilds some of the warmest, smoothest sounds I have ever heard, and can get downright dirty too. As I said earlier it's all in the filter knob. I can't think of too many drive sounds this thing can't reproduce. Bring the volume down a bit and it cleans up great. Very dynamic, though I could see how some people would have a hard time getting their insturments real tone to come through. I can get a much more transparent sound through my Maxon OD 808 but thats a totally different effect anyhow. Don't get me wrong, this thing does way more than those other one trick ponies. Anything from subtle overdrive to far out muffy fuzz. This sucker is true bypass, and all analog. What more could one ask for?

The battery lasts like 150+ hours, and its enclosed in a tank. This thing effin rocks.

Never dealt with ProCo, but the HQ is a half hour away from me in good ol Kalamazoo, Mi.

I play mostly blues and jazz, but also alot of your typical rock and jam stuff. I've been playing for eight years. As far as effects go I prefer to keep it simple. I power with a Boss PSM, into a Boss CS-2, Boss Super Chorus, RAT, Maxon OD 808, to a Boss DD-6 delay. My RAT was stolen last year, and indeed I replaced it immediately. I compared this side by side to multiple distortion boxes, and the tone and versatility of this pedal came out on top over and over. Especially for the price, this is my favorite distortion/fuzz. Go get one.

Very easy to use. Wow, this pedal is dang versatile as well.

WEll, i use a bunch of stuff. Many pedals, a texas fat strat, and a 59' bassman reissue ltd. I've been using the ts-808 as well as the ts-9 pedals for distortion (not at the same time). Each of them have kind of their own sound, but they didn't really have that much drive. it's more fuzzy than driven. However, i just bought a rat and I love it. I was very used to the settings of the tubescreamers, so i set it about the same with the RAT. At first i thought it sounded a little too driven, but i didn't realize that the gain potential with this thing is much greater than either of the tubescreamers. I liked the real heavy sound but what a surprise I got... the day i went to play with my band, i found that my tubescreamers were stolen. I thought i wasn't going to have to change much of the tone i had before. But i forced myself to try and cope with the sound difference of the RAT. However I found, I could get much of the great sound for ambient leads i got with the TS's, but twisting a few knobs. And when i wanted to rock out, that beautiful tone was at my fingertips as well. I can't exactly name too many bands that i know for sure use this pedal, but i know Tom from JIMMY EAT WORLD has one.... I also have found that it sounds much like THE ANNIVERSARY with some settings. So anyways, i really like it.

seems to be built very well, but i've only owned it for a short while

haven't had to deal with proco yet.

No pedal can do everything, but each pedal should have somethings specific that it does very well. The good pedals out there have a certain sound to them that can be capitalized when used correctly. I truly have found so much of the beauty in this pedal from only using it a few times, that says a lot.

You have to spend some time experimenting with the settings. When you find one you like, WRITE IT DOWN!

1992-vintage standard Stratocaster that's been modified--one DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker in the bridge position and one volume control. I can get everything from mildly overdriven a la Malcolm Young to a chewy, chunky rhythm sound a la Skynyrd to the proverbial "Smooth, creamy" overdrive like Clapton. Crank it an you get a pretty nice metal crunch, too. Very versatile, provided you spend some time with it.

Like a rock. Built like a freakin' TANK.

Never had any issues.

I've been playing 20 years and my influences are Pete Townshend, Malcom Young and Keith Richards. That's why I play a Strat. LOL. If this were lost or stolen, I'd definitely find an earlier issue like this one used. It's too good not to have. I guess the favorite feature is that it works equally well at practice volumes all the way up to "shatter the windows across the street" volume. A nice add-on feature would be the ability to program presets, but you can do that with a small notebook or piece of paper somewhere. A great effect for everybody from the "Stevie Ray Vaughnabe" crowd to the metalhead and everything in between. Good stuff...

As mentioned before, three knobs. To tweak really good sounds, you have to play around with the filter knob for a while, very responsive thing. But in generall it's very easy to use.

I use humbucker-equipped guitars as well as ones with single coils, mostly through a peavey classic with an old marshall 4x12 box. The rat enhances the sound without sacrificing the indentity of the guitar or amp. My main guitar is a 1980 Ibanez S540 with a single coil and a humbucker, and it's very easy to get a rich, warm lead sound with both of the pickups. When played through a humbucker it delivers a huge wall of sound when cranked, it also blends really well with the distortion channel of the amp.

It seems indestructible. Solid metal casing, the switch is also a blast.

I didn't have to deal with proco so far

If you're looking for a distinctive rock sound with a pretty high amount of gain, the rat's for you. It delivers the whole package, from chunky rhythm sound to screaming leads, as long as you know how to use the filter setting. I wouldn't use it to get Dimebag or Chuck Schuldiner sounds, it's definitely more suitable for rock or blues. I instantly fell in love with this thing, now a very important part of my setup.

It dont get any simpler.

3 knobs ditotion, filter & volume.

I'm using a 1983 destroyer with screamindemon, running into a 5150II head and Marshal 1960A cab.
Putting the amp into lead with the RAT on and the sutain and sound is amazing. Who needs compression/sustain pedal when you buy the right gear the first time.

No noise what so ever.

Solid as a rock. It is an original 80's model. Although the pots do need to be replaced.

I play metal to blues, and the pedal suits both styles to me.
Been playing for 8 years.
Also own 1986 Nitro US Custom,1977 Ibanez LawSuit LesPaul, and an original 1987 Jap Fender "STRA"(metal type, flloyd rose etc...)
Compared it only with a metal zone, and DS1.

Seriously one of the best sounds i have heard from a stomp box.