ProCo Vintage RAT

No manual with mine. Only 3 nobs,so it's pretty easy to work with

I mainly use a Marshall MG30DFX + Fender Std Fat Strat w/ Floyd with this and it sounds awesome. I needed to make my clean a little bit more dirty, and this suited that well. I play mostly rock, pop, and punk, and it was easy to find my desired setup.

This box is pretty heavy and it's big. The switch actually requires you to stomp on it to change channels which I think is a good thing. The only problem I have right now is i'm using a multi-voltage DC adaptor with it. It requires from what I last recall positive polarity with 6.5V or something. I set that up on my DC adaptor, but for some reason I have to wait a few minutes for it to start working. I'm guessing it's because my DC adaptor is a piece of crap, but I don't know. I may just get batteries and see if it works better with that. But when it works, it works absolutely wonderful.

never dealth with the company. I had never heard of them until I asked zzsounds what kinda distortion box I should buy for <insert genre>

Like I've said, I play mostly punk, pop, AND alternative rock. So this suits me well. I've been playing for about a year and a half. I've used this on my little brother's 10W amp, and it makes it sound so much better. If you got < 30W amp, make sure you get this pedal because it makes your amp sound like a >30W. If it were lost or stolen, I'd definitely buy it again. Like I said before, the only gripe I have is the thing with the DC adaptor. I really don't know why it does it, but I'm patient so I usually can wait till the box powers up. It makes everything sound so much crisper. If you don't own a JCM2000 stack or a Mesa boogie, then get this with ur amp. It rocks.

awesome pedal...get every distortion you want out of it. no need for a manual.

EH Qtron+ =>
Boss Compression/Sustainer=>
Ibanez Turbo Tube Screamer=>
ProCo Vintage Rat =>
EB Volume Pedal=>
Boss Noise Suppresor =>
Line6 DD5 =>
Line 6 DL4=>
into my Mesa Boogie Maverick (Dual Rect.)

Rat can be noisy with Gain at full blast...Still great though.

Yes and no. I gigged it hard for about 6 months until the volume Potentiometer stopped working properly. Still...See below...

The volume pot stopped working like it should after 6 months and I sent it in under warranty. It was prompty replaced and the shipped back with no delay. I was super impressed with their expiditing of warranty repair. They didn;t communicate much, but they got the job done.

It's well worth the money, for the functions. A little bit more height than most pedals I own, but still not a big deal.

Very easy, three knobs. Volume, Filter, & Distortion.

The sound is very jagged and sharp. It rips through almost any music. I have setup going Fender Strat > Boss Octave > Rat > homemade speaker ripper distortion(Death by Audio) > Vox wah > Fender Twin Reverb w/ Marshall 4/12" cab. Mostly just use the rat pedal for distortion, and hit the speaker ripper pedal for awesome sonic blasts. The filter knob is in the middle for deep lows and soaring highs. The distortion allows me to manipulate feedback like no other pedal can.

The only thing I dislike about this pedal is that the battery seems to slide around in the box. I'm afraid that this will tear the wires. Other than that, it's very reliable and has never needed to be serviced in the ten years I've owned it.

Never needed support

This pedal makes my other pedals sound better. I also have an old Big Muff and love that fuzz sound, but it makes every other pedal sound like mud in my setup. For metal, punk, shoegazer and pyschodelic rock, this pedal is highly recommended.

Simple really, three knobs, Distortion, Tone, Volume.
Would benefit from LED to let you know if it is on or off, but the True bypass it has is probably more use.
Has an unusual DC adaptor connector, which makes it harder to integrate into a pedalboard setup. I just use batteries, and in three odd months of regular use, haven't yet changed it.

Using a LP thru Teese RMC-3, Boss OD-1, Dallas-Rangemaster clone, to Either Laney VC50, or Homebuilt '59 Bassmann.
I guess the problem is that it is very hard to describe tone! The RAT goes from very little, to over the top gain, and has a lot of volume boost on tap. I like it set loud, but with the gain set, so things are just "chiming" or breaking up. With too much gain, you lose definition, and the original tone of your setup is swallowed. I tend to keep the treble cut at around 12:00, as otherwise the RAT is a bit shrill for my liking.

Metal Case
Well mounted battery.
Pots are soldered directly to PCB, which may make it more susceptable to breakage.
I gig without a backup, because at the end of the day, all you should need is guitar, lead, amp.

Bought Second Hand

In all honesty, I am still trying to find the perfect high gain sound. The RAT is useful, but doesn't quite capture my imagination. It is hard to describe, but it is hard to find the right balance between to shrill, and too dull. It sound better cranked - that is for sure - but there is so much volume boost on tap that it then means you can't equalise your amp's volume with the pedal on and off. It is a good Pedal, but to my taste lacks something.

Fairly easy to use, simple three knob operation as are most of your conventional od/fuzz/dist units

My main guitar is a Les Paul Standard, and I play thru a hiwatt head and a 2x12 cab. The effect is not noisy at lower volumes, but in louder situations it can start feeding back, which can be a good thing. I don't think this pedal can be used to emulate any one artists sound, and I say that in a good way, lots of other pedals may come an go but this will stay with me. It can do a fair immitation of almost any dirty sound from a little overdrive to thick fuzzy tones. Somewhere in between their is where it sounds best to me.

I think it's reliable, besides, it isn't that expensive to worry about.

Great pedal, will cover a lot of range. It's inexpensive, and the battery lasts forever, which is always a plus.

Just three knobs, easy to find the right sound.

I own a Gibson SG Standard -> MT-2 Metalzone -> Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble -> ProCo Vintage Rat -> Marshall AVT275. This is perfect for fuzz. It's not noisy at all and it can give a HUGE volume boost if needed. Very versitile fuzz too, it can match the sound of the Smashing Pumpkins perfectly or any other early 90's artist. This is a great pedal for fuzz, but don't try to play metal or anything with it because it's not meant for that.

Made out of steel, seems indestructible...

Haven't dealt with them before.

This is a great pedal and any serious guitar player should own it. I love its fuzz deeply and wish i had bought this sooner. As stated above, it is perfect for most early nineties artists, but should not be used for heavy metal. If it was stolen, I would definitly buy a new one.

Three knobs is all it takes- matter of fact its all it should ever take- volume, tone and distortion. The knobs are interactive. Very good volume boost.

Sounds like a modified germanium fuzz thats capable of going from fairly clean to fairly heavy. Nice wide range of distortion, and the tone knob has a wide range of tones available also. Gets too bassy when the distortion is all the way up- youll need to lower the tone knob as you max out the distortion. Nice pedal. Not noisy.

Built well, all metal construction- The Rat is built better than a Danelectro pedal.

Probably fine support- its made in the USA!

Cool pedal. I play blues and rock- Strats and Pauls into tube amps. The Rat is a nice distortion/fuzz pedal. The Rat is better than the MXR Distortion + but is not as good as the Roger Mayer Spitfire. Other stuff I own includes an Austone Millenium Overdrive and Austone Fuzz Nutz, Maxon OD-808, Maxon OD-820, Zinky True Grit (great overdrive in boost mode!), Barber Tone Pump, Roger Mayer Axis Fuxx, Banzai Cold Fusion, Wells 5:00 Shadow, Fulltone Soulbender, MJM Britbender (two knob model), Blues Pearl Blue Balls and Blue Screamer overdrive pedals, and the Boss SD-1 and BD-2 overdrives.

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This is a follow up to a review I did almost a year ago. My setup and gear has changed and I'm now running the ProCo Rat thru a Blues Junior w/Les Paul Special. Before I was running thru a Strat and my Rivera and it sounded great...but thru a LP it sounds quite amazing. Very solid tone, and rolling back the tone knobs on the guitar creates a wide variety of usable tones. This pedal continues to amaze me - best 50 bucks I've ever spent.

No problems yet - and its a used model too.

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You can pick this guy up used and it'll be the best 50 bucks you've ever spent. I did some home recordings thru the Rat and a delay pedal only (thru the Blues Jr and LP Special) and sent them to my friend who uses a Peavey 5150. His response: "How did you get your guitar to sing like that?"

No manual, however one is not needed. Just three knobs, all labeled. It took me about thirty seconds to get the sound I was looking for.

It has a great, what I call clear heavy distortion. With the highest levels of distortion your guitar/amp tone can still shine through. I use it with my SG and Marshall amp for my heavy distortion in my indie rock band. It gets all the noise I need, but with great tone.

I'd definately use it without a backup. This thing is built with solid construction. You can run it over and it would still work. My only concern is that the knobs stick up and could be moved accidentally by my foot if mot careful. I just taped them to my setting.

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I play indie rock, and it's perfect for the fuzziness I need for Built to Spill meets Mosest Mouse and Sonic Youth. I've been playing for ten years this is the best distortion unit I've ever used. I'd definately replace it if it were stolen. I'd recommend it over a fuzzface or big muff even. You should try one out for yourself. It only took me two minutes to know I needed it.

This is the large box Rat without the led.
Easy to use- three knobs for distortion, tone and volume.

Great sound. This pedal is better than my Blue Pearl Blue Balls, and this Vintage Rat is better than all of the other Rat models also. This large box no led Vintage Rat is the winner.

Built like a tank.

Dunno.

Great pedal at a great price. Dont expect any pedal to turn you into a musician if you cant play the guitar to begin with- these pedals are for pro players, not little whinning kids who are better off with a ten dollar Danelectro toy.