ProCo Turbo RAT

3 dials, very easy to use

I play this with les paul and strats, through a tech 21 trademark 60 amp. I bought this with a gift card, so it didn't cost me anything. I guess that's why I'm not too upset about not being 100% happy with this pedal. It does have an interesting sound, somewhat like a big muff, but not as fuzzy. You can get a cool rhythm sound. Now, for leads... unfortunately, I have to use another overdrive with it for leads. This pedal by itself does not have any real sustain? That broke my heart, because I wanted to love this pedal. So, for leads I kick in an overdrive pedal before the turbo rat. You'd think that with the word "turbo" on it, it would scream? Well it does not. It's more like a yell than a scream.

It's built like a tank. If I threw this pedal at someones head, it may kill them.

I've never had to use them, but I understand that they are great with customer support.

Don't misunderstand, I don't hate this pedal. I don't even dislike it. I don't love it, but I do like it. Like I said, it does get a cool rhythm sound, I just can't use it on it's own for sustaining leads. What a shame.

pretty standard, 3 knobs: Dist, filter and volume.

When I first plugged in and played, I was NOT impressed. I guess I was expecting this pedal to blow my mind; based on it's legacy and all it's hype? Then I played with it a bit and started to figure it out. To use ALL 3 knobs together is the key to figuring out this pedal, they work interactively. Learn to use the volume control on this. I know this may sound silly, but I notice a lot of people tend to keep the volume on distortion pedals at 12 o'clock. In short, the higher the volume is set on the pedal, the higher the guitar's output, the harder it will hit your amps preamp section. This pedal has A LOT of output, hence the "Turbo" moniker. When I set the volume on this pedal at about 75% and played around with the distortion and filter knobs, this beast came alive. Saturated yet clear. Awesome raw fuzz type distortion. It's like a big muff, only more defined and more "pro" sounding(?). It's a very unique sound and i love it! My 2 gripes about this pedal: 1) it has a lot of output, so when the volume on the pedal is turned up, you will get that awesome tone, but when the pedal is switched off, there is a big drop in the amps overall output. 2) changing the battery is a pain in the ass. You''ll see what i mean when you try it. So, minus 2 points, I'll give this pedal an 8.

This pedal is built like a safe! Heavy, strong casing. So far, so good.

N/A

Great tones out of this pedal. The volume thing and the battery thing not withstanding, this is indeed a great, unique sounding pedal.

Very simple to use. A volume knob and two knobs which affect the level of distortion/clarity.

The sound which can be achieved with the pedal is liable to divide some opinion. There is actually quite a nice level of clarity in terms of tone, but the general feeling one gets when using the pedal is a powerful and slightly uncontrollable distortion as opposed to the crisp, mechanic sounds favoured by more technical players. This is a pedal best suited for grungey, messy styles of rock.

I used this pedal over a period of 6 years at numerous gigs (60 or 70) without a backup. It's been subjected to a fairly large amount of abuse over this period and, eventually, it started to show some signs of its age and began randomly cutting out. I bought a replacement which has so far not given me any problems.

No opinion.

I play a brand of pixies-esque rock and this pedal suits my style of play perfectly. I don't play intricate technical guitar solos whilst using the distortion, I simply use it for grungey power chords and licks in the Joey Santiago mould. For me, it's perfect for this purpose and I wouldn't choose any other pedal, but I am fully aware that players with different requirements (more technical or melodic) may find it inadequate.

While it's obvious what the controls do I don't think it's as easy as some people make out. It does take some playing with to get the sound you want. While it sounds good at most settings, be clear about what you want it to do and keep playing with it and you'll find some great tones- its such a versatile pedal.

Doesn't take a boss power supply. its a half inch jack style one- not hard to get an adapter though.

I use this with with either a tele with alnico II single coils or a les paul with a p-90 in the neck and a very hot humbucker in the bridge. I run it mostly directly in front of the guitar and have a loada effects running after it. I run a 40w fender hot rod with celection vintage 30 12" speaker.

Its noisy at high setting but then it is a really high output pedal- you want less noise, turn it down. It's true bypass.

Great pedal. You can get a nice thick crunch tone out of it and run this right up to metally full on distortion.

It does colour your tone- there is definitely a 'rat' tone. I use it as my main lead distortion. It adds a reasonable amount of compression, which gives you great sustain and harmonics (although this may be from my tubes and the rat gives this impression as it pushes them so hard). Due to the compression it isn't a very dynamic pedal- I'd look elsewhere for bluesy overdrive (I keep a boss bluesdriver on my board for that sort of thing), although you can draw off some gain with your volume control. Also does lovely swells with the volume.
It really fattens up single coils. I love that I can turn up with my vintage tele and small tube combo and get some great tubey clean tones and then I can stick on the rat and cut through another guitarist whose using high output pickups and a massive stack. It really pushes the front of your amp and it is amazing how much volume you can generate with it.

You can get some great fuzz out of the rat- I'v AB'd it with a big muff and you can get close to the sound but the Rat is a touch grittier. Which I like but if you want silky smoothe tones it may not be for you.

It loves other effects. I sometimes use an envelope filter before, and after I can add any combination of overdrive, phase, echo, tremolo and more and it sounds great. Doesn't need any more compression though and you need to be careful of anything that sucks power from it as it won't push your amp as hard.

As for artists you can emulate with this... I used it to cover alot of radiohead, some muse (although I did need to stick an EQ after it to shape it slightly), floyd, pumpkins...

I do gig without a backup. Seems as heavily built as anything I've come across.

no idea

I think the important thing with any effect is that you get a good strong tone without effects first and then you bring effects in to create certain sounds, not to solve problems. Also I recommend trying one first as, although I do consider it more versatile than a lot of distortion pedals, it is quite disinctive and may not be what you want.

I also don't think it works that well with solid state amps, I've only used it with one a couple of times and it sounded very sterile, kinda similar to matt bellamy's early tones when he recorded straight from fuzz factory into a desk. Again, I'd try it first.

Three Knobs. It's very, very easy to use and very easy to get good sounds out of.

The Turbo Rat is a fantastic, classic distortion sound. Nearly every setting I've played on is usable and enjoyable.

I bought it because I am using a Tubescreamer and a Big Muff and wanted a distortion that would fall somewhere between the two - it does this perfectly.

I was surprised by how quickly I was dialing in Sonic Youth-esque distortion tones from it. I knew that Thurston and Kim use this pedal but for whatever reason, I hadn't expected to hear sounds like that coming from it right out of the box. That was an awesome and welcome surprise.

I've also found good Yo La Tengo and Radiohead settings - in addition to it blending perfectly into my band's original songs (which are Yo La Tengo and Sonic Youth rip offs, more or less).

PLUS, it's TRUE BYPASS!!!!!!!

For those interested, I'm using a Jap Strat with S. Duncan Rails >Boss TU-2>Modded Ibanez Tubescreamer>MXR Blue Box>Pro Co Tubro Rat>EHX Big Muff Pi>Sovtek Small Stone>Boss Digital Reverb/Delay>Fender DeVille 410

I couldn't break the Rat if I tried. The housing is super solid. I don't foresee any problems with this pedal.

I don't gig with backups. I've never had a problem with anything going out on me. Except strings. I have yet to find good strings that won't break. And I've tried a lot...

I haven't dealt with Pro Co but I've heard that they're fantastic which is part of what prompted me to go ahead and buy the Rat.

I play Post-Punk Garage Rock with surf, noise and funk influences. I can't imagine buying another distortion pedal after the Turbo Rat - it's perfect.

I've been playing for 7 or 8 years. I would definitely buy another Turbo Rat if it were stolen.

Really simple to use, didn't have to fiddle to much to get it sounding tasty, just took a few adjustments o the distortion and filter controls to get the sound I wanted!

My setup is A fender Highway one with a seymour duncan humbucking hot rail in the bridge postion. I'm just running this through a Guyatone OD2 with the drive way down for a nice crunchy/clean tone and using this as my main distortion. My amp is a VOX climax, similar to an AC30 but a bigger badder 80's version!

The pedal is a complete firecracker, blew me away when i first turned it on! It's got everything I want in a distortion pedal! I bought it after learning that Teppei from thrice uses it, which is the sort of sound I was going for, really heavy, but with note clarity and punch and not all scooped out and fuzzy! This thing does this well. I have to say that on it's own its ever so slightly thin, but with the OD2 behind it it sounds really thick and full but will still cut through the mix!

This pedal will sound great with the right gear and someone who knows their stuff using it!

I;ve only just bought this pedal (I liked it so much I wanted to review it straight away!) so no opinion here yet.

I play a lot of alternative rock, heavy stuff that I wouldnt class as metal ranging through Thrice, Jimmy eat world, Switchfoot.

I've been playing for around 10 years now and this is one of the best distortion sounds for my style I;ve played. I can;t decide whether I like this or my OD2 more! If it was lost or stolen I would definately replace it, It kicks ass!

There are three knobs. Pretty basic stuff. The "Filter" control doesn't function like a regular tone knob, so as long as you don't treat it like one you won't have a hard time dialing in wicked tone.

Set up: Mexican Strat (stock); Les Paul Standard (w/ SD "Phat Cat" P-90s); Traynor 'Custom Valve 40' (tube combo amp).

Sounds awesome with single coils through a tube amp. I was completely blown away by how versatile this pedal is; as expected, it can totally wail with all the sustain and beautiful feedback you could ever want, but it also cleans up remarkably well. It also responds excellently to the guitar's volume knob. I can get a killer Doug Martsch/Built To Spill tone (think intro to "Carry The Zero") as well as the shredding Sonic Youth tones I bought it for (Thurston Moore has used one for over 20 years, nuff said). In short, it covers overdrive, distortion and fuzz all in one tiny box.

Right now I have it set up before more Big Muff and together it's distortion heaven

I bought it two days ago but it's built like a tank. I don't think I'll be making use of their "any excuse, even abuse" warranty policy any time soon

Haven't had the need to call yet.

I'm into the whole independent rock gamut, from the mellowest to the most intense, and this pedal will find a place in every project. Extremely satisfied.

3 knobs named Distortion-Filter-Volume.
Pretty self explanatory i suppose BUT these DO NOT work in the coventional way other pedals do!They all affect tone even the volume knob and all knobs should be though of as tone 'shapers'.They all interact a lot which each other.
So its kinda tricky to learn the controls at first since they are like that BUT your rewarded with a wide array of sounds and options.

Setup : Fender standar Tels w/ Kinman pups into a Crate vintage club 30 and a few pedals.

This is the perfect distortion for me!!!It sounds like a high gain fuzz but it doesnt overide and muddy-up your sound in mud and harmonics!!!Its fuzzy but remains 'clean' and allows stacato playing and muted strings-stumming to come through.The fileter control does a good job adjusting the bass and tremble frequences and you always have thumbing lows and pleasant cutting highs.Overall it sounds mid-range-y in my ears.
The unit is very very loud,sustains very well.it sounds better in tube amps.Very good in solid staes ones but really SHINES with tubes.
If i had to name a few band sounds to describe the sound this pedal produces then i guess it would be close to say band such as early Black Sabbath,the White Stripes,Smashing Pumpkins(almost perfectly).
It will do Garage,Punk,Rock and even packs a lot of crunch n filth for Metal.

Its built like a tank and seems indestructable!!
Very heavy and sturdy made.in the inside its very tidy and very well put together.
In all a very HIGH QUALITY made pedal.

Well as i said to me,for the sound i want its just wonderfull!!!
I dont think ill buy another distortion pedal again really.
Reason i bought it is:i had (still own) a NY Big Muff.Even though i loved the 'tranzistor-y' high-gain distortion in that pedal,the amount of noise and harmonics it adds just made it impossible to use in some occasions.
The Turbo-Rat gave me all the sounds the Muff had and a few more but in a 'cleaner' more easy to control way.Its a more usefull and versatile than the Muff (although it lacks the sendless sustain the muff has)and i can also do palm muting with it.Im very very happy cause i loved that Muff-ish sound.PLUS its True-ByPass.
I also have a ProCo 'You Dirty Rat' pedal and that one is same quality but a lot more versatile (best Marshall in a box sound out there in my opinion plus Hendrix Fuzz).The Turbo Rat isnt as much,its destined for high-Gain distortion and does the job extremely well.If you want classic Rat,overdrive or more traditional fuzz sounds get another pedal.
The Turbo Rat is the epitomy of Fuzz sounding Distortion.

This pedal is actually very easy for me to get the sound I want. It's definitely not for everyone, but it only took me around 5 minutes to find "my" sound.

Thick and meaty! I have tried other distortions (Boss DS-1, Big Muff, Ibanez Smansh Box Boss OS-2) and I have to say that the Turbo Rat blows them the hell out of the water! It has a nice thick mid-rangey distortion that suits me perfectly. I keep the distortion knob set at about 12:00, the filter at around 10 or 11 (too much bass after about 12) and the volume varies depending on the situation. This thing is my holy grail of distortion pedals. I am using an Ibanez RG2EX1(basswood with "designed by EMG" pickups) and a Kustom Tube12 and this thing turns my tiny amp into a volcano. I was soooo tired of distortion pedals that had so much hype and constantly failed to deliver the goods. The Turbo Rat WILL satisfy all of your out of control distortion needs.
And note, the sound examples on ProCo's (or any other for that matter) website do NOT do this thing justice, this pedal is liquid hot magma in a tiny black box.

Built like a tank

Never had to deal with them

I lean more towards industrial/metal/experimental type stuff. Think the Deftones meet Ministry at a Jesus Lizard concert and they decide to go to the Melvins house listening to System Of A Down and Tool just happens to be there, so they all decide to go sit at Dimebag's grave and knock back some black tooth grins. I have been playing as a hobby for about 10 years and have gone through many guitars and amps in this time. I am by no means a professional musician and my exprerience with this pedal comes with a semi-shitty (or fully shitty, but at least it has a tube) amp and an inexpensive guitar, I cant wait to upgrade my amp and pickups to really see the full potential of this badass pedal. If lost I would be bummed but just replace it immediately, if stolen I would hunt the thief down and cut his nipples off. This pedal has truly rekindled my fire for this great instrument and I will be building a rig around its sound (now that I have the necessary fundage to do so) Damn, there are just not enough good things to say about this pedal. This is only my opinion and like I said before, it's not for everyone, I think it's either love it or hate it, but for certain needs it is king of the mountain.

I'm actually giving this LESS than others, because it did take me a while to learn how to use the tone knob, where to roll back the drive knob too, and how much the volume affects the output.

But that's not a "bad" thing really, I like pedals that I can explore. But for some people, it may be quite complex for a "Three Knob" pedal.

Now, here's where I think people are wrong.

First off, after about a year, this becomes possibly THE most versatile distortion pedal. I've been able to dial in fairly perfect Black Sabbath, Smashing Pumpkins, Opeth, even Dave Gilmour Fuzz Face Tones(gain from around 10 to 12 O clock depending on how much you need, usually 10.30 for solos, Filter approaching 12, volume knob up fairly loud).

People say the Turbo RAT isn't the greatest HI GAIN pedal - but it's honestly better than most. It doesn't have that rectified sound that people have come to expect from a "hi gain" pedal, and doesn't have the insane screeching that pedals like the Fuzz Factory do either. It's a more "solid", gritty sound. It takes a while to dial in a good solo sound - you can't roll the filter back too much or it'll fade into the background, can't keep it up too much or it's got too much of a piercing quality.

But it CAN do Metal. It's great for a Master of Puppets kind of Distortion. For more screechy Pantera stuff, not so much. That's what people mean when they say this isn't a great "Hi Gain" pedal. It does suck that for all it's versatility it can't step out of it's box enough to do this, but no pedal is going to be perfect. It also might sound a little "darker" and fuzzier(not necessarily in a good way for everyone) in some ways than the original Rat.

Never had any problems. Ever.

Haevn't dealth with them.

I like a lot of Alt Rock like the 'Pumpkins and Muse who have some warm fuzzy tones. I also like Post Punk and while it can do a mishmash of those styles I must admit it's not great at giving me the post punky bauhaus tones I'd love, but it's still better than most pedals, in all honesty.

Even though the pedal "seems" to have one tone, you'd be amazed as to how you can bend that tone to mimmic others.

Again, the most "notable" range of tones this can do include mostly the Pumpkins, Black Sabbath, and Dave Gilmour-ish Fuzz Face; it can also do some grittier, nastier wilder stuff; think the distortion on the bass line from Song 2(which used 2 original RATs) only nastier. So that's pretty much the exact sound set you're getting. Oldschool metal, warm alt rock, and some Vintage tones.

If you want a real messy gritty distortion, get a Fuzz Factory. If you want Pantera type stuff, you'll probably need to get a Mesa Boogie or Engl Powerball head, or a pedal that emulates their effect. If you want a smoother fuzzy distortion that's versatile, get this.

Fucking legendary pedal. You don't even "need" to do the LM chip switch, this pedal has it's "Own" sound so you don't need to emulate the older RATs for it to sound good, but you can still get pretty close.