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.

easy knots and easy use!

It's a nice pedal and produces nice sounds.
I use it mainly for blues..and use it as a boost when playing heavier musics.
It's just a wide range pedal,and can manage all the sounds you want

so far so good

dunno

nice!!!

A little tough to get a good sound out of it at first. I found it is great for blues/jazz... both for lead and chords. I really can't get a "fully saturated" sound out of it that I am satisfied with but it is "killer" for blues. It has a really sensitive range of distortion adjustment, there is some great "sweet spots" - different of course with different guitars.... I like to have all the knobs around the "11 O'Clock" position with my humbucker guitar for playing blues. This sound great for playing slow blues with a fair amount of reverb. This pedal sounds great when you really "dig in" with aggressive pick attack. It is very dynamic at filter settings that allow the highs to come through.

Great for blues, jazz.. but not so good for heavier stuff. Great for "raking" style playing, arpegios, blues chording (9ths/7ths) with just the right amount of "hair" around the notes. It is dynamic at the right settings, great with both single coil and HB equiped guit boxes. It is NOT noisey. I have used it with various amps and find it sounds great into my solid state (digital!!!) Line6 Spider on the clean setting with the reverb up about half way. Nice warmth and presence.

I bought it used so I opened it up to clean it and spray some spermwhale juice into the controls. It is built VERY well and well worth the 59 Canadian "funny money" dollars I paid!

Great customer support. I emailed them about a "wall-wart" adapter and they got back to me on the next business day. Highly recomnended.

I play most genres of music with a focus on blues, rock, jazz and heavy metal. I have played for around 30 years. I would miss the pedal if it were lost or stolen but it was a pawn shop find to add to my collection so I don't know if I'd buy a new one - (cost). As compared to my other pedals this one is more subtle in its settings (compared to Boss Metal Zone and Landmine)It is however very similar to a low wattage tube amp when cranked up. It saturated like an overdriven tube amp with a tube rectified power supply. The bass "sags" with this pedal... this is not a bass heavy pedal. It sound a lot like my Bogen tube rectified P.A. (which I use for guitar). You will not get a "scooped mids" sound out of the Turborat but it is great for blues, jazz and rock.

It is not that easy. It takes a while to find the right settings.

Great. The turbo is an overdrive, a distortion and a fuzz at the same time and sounds excellent with both single coils and humbuckers. It has a strong midrange and IN YOUR FACE
sound. Some boutique pedals may sound nicer but the Rat is a players pedal, which will cut thru mix and responds to what you do.
No menatones fulltones, xotics could convince me like the turbo rat did.

I have to mention that it is an older (Made in U.S.) version from the early nineties, it also has
the LM308 Motorola chip. I heard the new ones are not the same ... what a pity.

15 years old, no problems.

I found this little treasure in the garage. After trying it out, i sold all my expensive boutique
stuff. Just kept an old tube screamer (STL) and this one.

Fairly easy to use but some time needed with it to get the sound you're looking for.
No manual with mine (bought second hand)
Dont bother with downloading one, the presets are shithouse.

I play an epiphone firebird 7 (minibucker equiped) through the Turbo Rat and straight into a Laney VC-30 (Vox Ac30 Copy). For what i'm looking for this setup is perfect. I can just about get any distortion tone, except for maybe extreme metal, with this setup. Some say that the downside of the Turbo Rat is the lack of sustain, bvut with a half decent amp and some fiddling you won't have that problem. Occaisioally i put the rat through the effects loop for a slightly warmer tone, btu my lack of good leads restricts me there.

can't be harmed.
Also make for a good weapon if the roadies get smart.

havn't dealt with them

Playing anything from slightly overdriven blues through to hard rock and metal the Rat will just about handle it all.
From what i hear it very easy to Mod.
the only qualm is the time it take to get a good mix between the filter and distortion levels.
Craps all over Ds1, Ts9, and any marshall amp distortion.
Great product.

eh i dont really like it. i own a DKMGT(somthing rather like that) jackson with an 81 and 85 emg actives and i really dont need more distortion. but for somthing with a ton less distortion its good
BUT IT HAS TO USE DAM BATERIES (unless u buy the plug in thinger which i have yet to find)

sound quality is great with my old guitar. made a crappy starcaster sound like a strat (vox mini amp 5wat)
they always sound cool cuz u can get nice high gain or low ass gain

oh ya ive dropped this thing so many times. its fucking invincible and as long as its batery works and the cables used work it works

none

nice for other guitar styles (not metal ect)
great for guitars without bitching humbuckers
its invincible
but its fucking hard to push down the button ESPECIALLY WITHOUT SHOES

There are 3 controls that you turn either left or right for less or more wet signal. After about 5 minutes you should get the hang of how to produce the sounds you want using those three controls (Distortion, Filter, Volume). Once that happens you're ready to rock.

Someone here mentioned in an earlier review that this was a 'dirty' kind of distortion. Well I must agree, this one is thick, but not necessarily metal thick. It's more diabolical, suited for music with a totally out there edge but one not so hung up on shredding. I'd say think industrial meets shoegaze meets indie and you're around the right area.

Actually when I first played this pedal at Long&McQuade I was very impressed. The distortion provided great flow, no fizz and a real strong overall sound. It will beef-up your sound without a doubt with favourable results. I use either an Eastwood Ultra-GP or an Epiphone Custom through a JC-120 and it's immaculate, exactly what I wanted. It basically provides the distortion that my Boss GT-8 is lacking.

I've had no problems with it thus far, and there's been a lot of stomping going on.

Haven't utilized the service

I am in a shoegaze band and this is exactly what I was looking for. A lot of my guitar heroes used the ProCo Rat or RatII, although I must say that when I tried out the Rat pedal it sounded a lot more thin and tinny compared to the Turbo, that is waht I liked about it so much, it really helps carry the sound without sounding too thrash-heavy. It's thick yet, but in a real groovin way. It's perfect for any sound that utilizes a lot of effects and for music that is pure sound focused.

I've been playing off and on for 11 years now, or 8 years of actually sticking with it. I'm no Steve Vai or John Petrucci or any of those lads, but I can play one hell of a melody and I focus a lot on effects. This little Rat fit right in to the sound.

I'd like to be critical of it, I really would, but as far as it goes right now, I love it! It's better than the DS-1 MS-1 or any Boss Distortion pedals (though I do dig em) and is right on par in sound quality with a Tube-Screamer, even though that one is for overdrive. They both sound great.

I don't think the sound will be for everybody but if you like something a bit different this is the one for you.

The general layout is simple:

It only has the 3 knobs BUT they are very sensitive.
It takes a while to get what you are looking for, but after tweeking it for a while you will be very happy.

The Turbo Rat does come with a manual but it is very limited.

I love this pedal!
I've been playing for 22 years, mostly classic hard rock;
ac/dc, zz-top, james gang, etc. I'm able to hit it all with the aid of this pedal.
My setup is Heavily modded strat or a vintage gibson sg ->wah->
boss tu2->voodoo labs microvibe->turbo rat->vintage ts9->mxr dynacomp
->Marshall 1/2 stack

Keep in mind it's actually a fuzz with a major attitude that makes it believe it's a true distortion pedal.
Depending on how much time is spent with it will depend on what it'll do for ya. Also cleans up wonderful when you roll off the guitars volume knob...very nice!

It's a brick shithouse man! you aint gonna kill it.
More Solid than most pedals out there. Like the proco ad states "made to withstand the abuse of the road!"

Awesome!!! Very nice people.
I was corrosponding with them about some mods and they are open to all suggestions.

Awesome pedal, but I won't recomend it because then you will have MY sound! But really it is great.
Ive played with dozens of distortion pedals from Boss, ibanez, MXR, electro-harmonics, and DOD ...None of them are even close.
If you really want that late 70's to early 80's killer hard rock tone,
then this is the holy-grail! (NOTE: when i mention 80's i am not talking about foofy queer warrent type garbage..I mean the the deep purple and ted nugent type stuff)

Pretty easy to use. Gain, tone and volume knobs. Tone works in the reverse of what you might expect eg. turning clockwise makes the tone darker.

I'm using this on bass. I find that the pedal tends to kill your tone, and put its own 'rat tone' on everything you play. The distortion is ugly, angular and very slightly syth like. If you want a pedal that preserves your tone and touch, avoid this pedal. If you want a pedal that jumps through the mix and adds nasty, angular fuzz to your bass, like I do, then I strongly recommend it. Minimal bass drop out and true bypass make this pedal very usable for bass. It wont be for everyone, but if you like the kind of tone this pedal was conceived for, there are few better at this price.

Gigged with it many times. Hasn't broken yet.

dont know

Something of a niche product, especially on bass, yet it makes no pretences about what it is supposed to do, and it does it very well.

Very easy pedal to come to grips with. It can be a little tricky in a live setting to get the right sound to sit in or cut through the mix, as desired.

I am using a Bartolini MMX/MMC equipped dual-humbucker Epiphone Ripper predominantly. That runs into a bunch of other pedals into a Trace Elliot head and custom 4x10 with Eminence Beta 10s.

Sound quality is great, true bypass is an absolute delight, no tone suckage. On some settings it can get really noisy, but isn't that the charm of this pedal. It ranges from downright nasty to fairly smooth, but not nearly as smooth as an old Russian Big Muff. It does destroy some bottom end in your signal, but that can be compensated for by adjusting the volume.

I have been chasing one of these for nigh-on five years. I was easily influenced by Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, and I believe the sound I have is the closest I would want to get to her sound. This thing is colourful, and will give you a certain sound, but I find it doesn't bleach all your tones. I wanted ANGRY, and I got MEGA PISSED OFF! :)

Rock solid. I am using it without a backup, and on battery no less. I will power it as soon as I reqire my board.

No dealings with ProCo yet. I got a free cable in the box, which I am using from effects board to amp because my other cable died. Bonus!

I play progressive pop/rock style music, with its fair share of dynamics and experimental tendencies. I like big stand-out bass tones and this thing just adds another colour to the pallette.

If it were stolen, I would buy another. Only gripe is a slight lack of bottom end, but that's no huge loss in the end.

Ok its a stompbox, there are 3 controls which are placed at the top, not too far apart, not too close, turn easily but not too slippery.
Switch is ok, wear shoes though! hurts bare foot.
The tricky bit is the battery, the screw on mine was well tight!!! and I had to pull the lid a bit to get it off. Overall easy to use.
I got no manual, didnt really need one.

Ok so Im using a 2002 Fender Mexican Standard Stratocaster (sss)--> Jim Dunlop GCB-95 Cry Baby wah-->PROCO TURBO RAT--> mid. 90's Peavey Express 112 Transtube series. I bought this basically because I wanted Nick Zinners sound (guitarist of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) hmm.... i have been playing it for 30mins now and so far i cannot achieve this! I wanted a deep bassy riff machine with good sustain and will make that "chunk" sound when I mute the strings at the 1st fret and smack the strings with my pick. Not found that so far either....It seems to me that this pedal is good for a sharp, vintage sounding rythem sound...I tryed soloing with this and there seemed to be not alot of sustain!!! Mind you, I have only been playing 30mins...
The filter knob is a bit useless, from 1/2 way (12 oclock) to the left (7 oclockish) you get a sharp tone, very sharp on bridge coil, okayyish on neck coil... anything greater than 1/2way (12 oclock) you get toneless (the guy in the shop said it sounds like a big muff, idiot)
The distortion knob is ok, although when it is maxed out, it doesn't seem to be as distorted as my amp distortion (which I thought was quite week) perhaps its that filter knob again.
I think choice of amp(s) (use 2 I would) makes a big difference to this pedal, I used a Vox tube amp instore and it sounded "ok" solidstate, It sounds like one of the effects off my crappy Zoom 505mkII which I don't even use anyomore.
This was my first ever distortion effect (I've been using amp effects for nearly 5 years!) so far Im a little unsure, Definately need to spend more time with it!!!!

This thing seems nice at sturdy, metal (feels like coated zinc) bottom and sides, hard plastic front top and back. Hardass plastic feet, nice and grippy. Switch not loose, knobs not loose.
Generally feels like a mini tank!
I would gig without a backup, mainly because I can't afford to buy backup stuff!
nah, no need for a backup, if you did ever need a backup, you bought a dud!
Gave a 9, switch is the most vunerable part...

Not had to yet, I don't think I ever will so I cant really say...

I've been playing for 5 years and I've heard some pretty shitty effects through high school and college!!! (too many wannabies!)This sounds like it may well be one of those effects...
I play every thing really, so ill give you a little list...
Funk: not good at all
Blues: could get some rythem tones no solo
Hendrix: yes if you like a challenge when it comes to solos
Yeah Yeah Yeahs style: not really, need more bass annd sustain!
Pop punk: get a compressor and a Tom Delonge Strat. You would be a wannabie then.
REAL Punk: yeah, actually, could use it for that trebley crash of noise
Santana: no way
Use it for chords, thats ok
If it were stolen I would not buy a new one, I would try something else.
I compared this to a RAT vintage, Boss DS1, Boss SD1
RAT vintage is the same but less distortion. The Turbo sounded better (have no idea how to describe it) than the Boss pedals, although, they were pluged into a Roland Cube30 (great demo amp that, fools)
I really do think that if I had the chance to spend more time with this and the other pedals in the store with the same amp, i would of walked away happier (I hate music shop people, there always unhappy to help)
hmmm.... i dont know, i just dont know.... Im gonna have to buy more pedals!!! this one might be ok in a few weeks time, Im a total newbie to the world of stompboxes really!
The fact that it was only #50 compared to the rrp of #89 made me buy this thing.

please email me if you have any comments!

3 knobs and a switch. pretty easy. no stupid names(like DOD, manufacturer of the worst pedals around imo, has a tendency to do with distortion pedals) for the knobs. distortion and volume speak for themselves, the filter seems to act like a tone knob. careful with the volume knob as it is quite sensitive and this thing can add a lot of volume. (which is what some people want)

never read the manual, if it even came with one. i honestly don't remember.(i have something against manuals in general. i prefer automatics, but i live in Yurop nowadays so am condemned to driving manuals. ha!)

varying setups depending on what i'm playing and which band/collective but most-used setup: yahama pacifica (2x single coil + humbucker at bridge)> Trat > boss CH1 or ibanez cs9 > ehx holygrail > dunlop wah > amp supplied by venue or rehearsal-space (is usually tube amp, thank god) back where i used to live before moving to yurp i had a crappy peavey bandit (120 112 or some similar number, forgot it over the years, could look it up at peavey website, but too lazy) at home. now i got a free 20W mini-amp (VMI "the animal" had never heard of the brand) from a friend here but i hate it so much i play nothing but my acoustic at home now. but enough about my shitty setups.

for what i usually play this pedal is perfect. i mostly play post-rock, surfy-punk, powerchord connect-the-dots punk and noisy minimalism. the rat (along with holy grail) especially suits my 1-string dick dale-imitating surfpunk. got this pedal initially becuz sonic youth also use it and i used to be pretty crazy about them. i also use it for some bluesy stuff and even occasionally for some unorthodox reggae, but it clearly does not work nearly as well for that as for the aforementioned "heavier" types of music.

a very sweet pedal, with a wide range, can come pretty close to a relatively "clear" overdrive-sound, which sounds decent, but really shines in the fuzzy distortion.
it's massive gain turned up together with my humbuckers can be a feedback machine, but powerchords still come out very well even then.(blues chords forget it) this is avoidable by changing my standard setting to less volume and distortion, but like i said before this pedal is at it's best with the heavier distortion. also i find it sounds best through my singlecoil pickups.
and the bypass works perfectly.

i recently lost this pedal though and am now usually borrowing a boss metalzone. up untill i lost it and had to use the metalzone i had no idea how much i would miss this pedal. (bit of an unfair comparison, the metalzone is a different sort of distortion and not my taste at all) however, i always thought it was better than another bandmember's boss od2 and ds2 (he recently also bought a rat, vintage rat however, to replace his bosses after having borrowed my Trat)

mine never broke....because i lost the it!!!! in the 6 years up to that i had no complaints whatsoever though. in fact i found it so reliable i also ordered my new cables from proco(previous cables were lost) unfortunately i also lost those cables with my Trat.
hopefully one day i'll stop losing.
am busy with looking for a cheap 2nd hand one, because i'm having a hard time getting by without this baby, might even buy a new one soon because i can't see myself playing upcomming gigs without this pedal. and i use it at gigs without backup, mainly because i don't have money for a backup though. i always put in new (1 euro)batteries for a gig though. couldn't use adaptor because pedal was odered from gringo-land and that does not go very well with this goddamn 220V shit in yurp. batteries do last a long time though, so it's no real problem.
so reliable and exterememly sturdy. when the apocalypse comes, i hope to have my giant Trat-duplicate bunker ready.

i ordered it on the internet and never dealt with them since, simlpy because there was no need to whatsoever.

overall great pedal. suits my needs and was not too expensive. great low-end sounds. i see a lot of people recommend a equalizer to make the high end frequencies come out more, but i like it for it's rather dark sound. that's all a matter of taste though. it would be nice if it would sound a little fuller/warmer at lower distortion settings though, so no 10. but i don't know of any other (affordable) distortion pedal i'd rather have than this one. beats all the other distortions i've tried out or heard over the years (boss, most ibanez and certainly dod distortions, even bigmuff imo) once again, this could be a matter of taste though. but there are lots of people with bad taste out there (and they're using dod, did i allready mention how much dod sucks?)

i lost it and am now desperately seeking another one, will even buy it new again if i have to in spite of small budget. was planning to add a delay pedal to my equipment, but that'll just have to be postponed. can't live without my rat.

well, it isnt hard. you press the silver button to turn it on. and you have 3 knobs distortion, filter, volume. its easy to get a good sound. but its hard to get a quiet sound. this is a very loud pedal. there isnt a manual for mine but you can view one on the procosound.com website.

im currently using the rat with a boss ds-1 and an electro harmonix small clone. theres an electro harmonix bigg muff coming soon too. im using a squier strat. the proco rat makes the boss ds-1 look like a baby. sound wise. i always loved the tone i got out of my ds-1. its very scratchy. the rat blows it away. tit has a heavy bass sound. it wasnt what i expected. i expected a loud ds-1. an intence scratchy sound. but i got something so much better. the ds-1 is a strong pedal but sounds very weak if you compare it with a rat. i cant get the sound of kurt cobain. a turbo rat wasnt my first choise. i wanted a rat 2. but i could get this #20 cheaper. my pedals are top of the range. its the only thing ill go all out on. clothes, jewelry, games? no. if i can make good sounding music, then that will make my day. this pedal has made my year. this pedal is loud. this pedal is amazing.

its a little tank! i havent giged with it yet. i dont use backups for gigs because i cant aford them. my rat i think will do well live. rats look like there more reliable than boss pedals. i can depend on it with out backups. acording to all the other reviews, they last for years and years.

no need to contact them, and i hope there never is.

i play indie, punk, grunge, anything realy, but this pedal suits all. i wouldnt try jazz or blues with it. but you never know. iv been playing for 4 years and iv never come across a distortion pedal as incredable than this. its amazing that when they say its like a distortion youv never heard before. because it is. i love everything about it, i cant find any flaws. it helps me writer and play music. if your looking for a good distortion pedal, this is the one to get. its not exactly the cheapest pedal in store, but its the best. i 110% recomend it.

it's pretty straitfoward, battery change seems easy

ok, i play bass and returned this pedal after like a month. i dont know how this works out for guitar but IMO this is a p.o.s. the distortion is almost synth-like, sounds like a robot farting. and when i tried to back it into overdrive it still sounded unnatural, only with horrid string noise over the top. not the "good" kind (if you are into that). depspite this string-noise, it still sounded dull and smothered no matter how much i tweaked the filter or settings on my amp. i dont know, i guess im not a rat person.

i think i either got a dud, or it dosnt agree with me bass.

this thing could survive a holocaust and will probably outlive the human race, very solid, no problem eceltronics-wise

contacted them, they are helpful people

considering the repution proco rats have, they must get better than this.

Simple.

I run a '62 RI Tele into a VOX AC30 via a Boss TU2 tuner, the Turbo Rat, and a Visual Sound Liquid Chorus and Echo pedal.

I originally got the turbo rat because I loved the way it sounded on a Peavey Classic 50. It provided a great, thick distortion when layered over the top of the Classic 50's dirty channel.

My new Vox, however, is an entirely different beast and I have had trouble with finding a good spot for the Turbo Rat. The Rat is a distortion pedal that is designed to have its own sound in addition to whatever sound your amp and guitar produce. When the rat is engaged, the character of the Vox entirely vanishes. To a certain extent, this is not a bad thing as it allows me to dial in a fierce heavey sound (but definitely not metal). However, the low-end of the rat is pretty loose (not great for palm-muting) and the low-end of the Vox is a little loose too as a result of its tube rectifier. Thus, while it sounds huge, low string notes get a little mushy. I also have had an immense amount of trouble sorting out where to place the filter. As i shave off the high end via the filter, it also takes away some of the crunchiness of the sound. Perhaps this is somewhat the fault of the Vox being a bright but warm and rich amp while the Rat without the filter is a bright but unrefined pedal. The combination of the Vox and the Rat means that the highs of the vox come off in harsh instead of smooth. When the filter is used to compensate, the warmth and crunch of the vox is lost as well.

Had it for a year and have never worried. I've never known a rat to die.

N/A

I know my Sound Quality section came off pretty harsh. But that is because I consider this pedal a poor fit for the AC30. I only use it when I need heavy distortion and even then, the looseness of the low end bothers me. On the other hand, the rat worked great on the Classic 50. I have also used the rat with a Fender Deluxe 1x12. On these two amps (which have pretty piercing highs and the lack of a particurly musical overdrive channel), the Rat excelled and the filter worked. When coupled with the warmth and smoothness on my Vox, the Rat destroys my tone. So, basically I'm in the market for an OD pedal that will sit better with my vox. I think that I may even be able to keep the rat for some situations if I use an EQ to try and make it fit-in frequency wise with my Tele and the Vox. I think this is a solid pedal to have, especially if you want to add some distortion to Fenders or Peaveys. But if you've got a particularly warm and responsive amp, the Rat will destroy those characteristics. I'm keeping it as a back-up. Plus, you never know, one day I may find a useful place for it with the Vox. But we'll see. I think a numbered rating is too hard on this one, since I love it and hate it at the same time. hopefully this review will help anyone who wants to get High gain sounds out of a Vox or similar amp go the EQ pedal or boost pedal route instead of buying a Turbo Rat.

Really simple. Only thing that confused me at first was that you need to turn the 'filter' knob the opposite way to what you'd expect.

I use an Ibanez Iceman & Laney GH100S amp. Other effects are Marshall BB2, DOD Flanger & a modified Jim Dunlop Crybaby.

I only bought the Rat because it was really cheap & has direct bypass. I was going to use it as a kill-switch. However, after about 30 mins of experimenting I realised how awesome the gain is & it is now my main overdrive. Reallty thick sound with plenty of top end & string clarity.

The rat was beaten to hell & back when I bought it but it works perfectly. Its unbelievably robust.

Not had to deal with them.

I'm using it for Extreme Metal & would buy another at full retail price if I lost it. its got more gain than most people will need & a big volume boost. I have 5 distortion effects including a USA Big Muff & the Turbo Rat is the best & most flexible of all.