ProCo Rat modding

[thrill74]

Has anyone modded their Rat for less bottom end? I love the character of my Rat but the flubbiness and farting when used with my Les Paul is too much. Overwhelming. Is their a value mod that will substantially decrease the flub? When I hit a chord the signal drops and then comes back.

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: ProCo Rat modding

That characteristic of the Rat lead to me getting rid of mine several years before learning that modifying pedals was a thing. Stupid pre-internet days

[thrill74]

Re: ProCo Rat modding

Ha! Yeah that was pretty easy then. “This pedal sucks” and trade it or chuck it. Other than the flub, this pedal is pretty nice.

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: ProCo Rat modding

Weird thing is, I hear all sorts of people demoing Rats, and never hear that flubby dropout. Mine was whatever version was available new in 1998. Maybe it had something to do with that particular generation.

[thrill74]

Re: ProCo Rat modding

That’s what I was thinking too. I just ordered a current version and with my Strat it’s fabulous. When I plug my Les Paul in the first time I hit the open low E it slammed the circuit so hard it practically disappeared and then dissolved back. I have to change out my strings and maybe I can get a clip up tonight on YouTube.

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: ProCo Rat modding

Try turning down the gain. You have to set it differently for different output pickups.

Also if you use heavy strings, the low strings tend to sound like bass strings.

Back before I sold my Rat it never sounded too bassy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blille]

ProCo Rat modding

Fun fact, the mods I have (from Wampler) are to mostly ADD bass lol

[thrill74]

Re: ProCo Rat modding

Lol! Thanks. I’ll get new strings on and play with the pickup height a bit too.

[Dave Locher]

Re: ProCo Rat modding

Yeah, I just got rid of one because it cut too much low end. (The mod chart above would have come in really handy a couple weeks ago!)

Anyway, start with the gain off and turn it up until it sounds good to you. I am guessing it will be lower than where you have it set now. At high gain settings they do weird fuzz-like things.

[thrill74]

Re: ProCo Rat modding

The max gain setting seems to be the culprit. I have my pickups set at about 5/16 or so, I changed to 10-46’s in standard tuning and it took away the low E flub. When I struck the B and E I had this fantastic signal overload reminiscent of an old style fuzz unit. I’m guessing the Rat is sensitive to what hits it’s input?

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: ProCo Rat modding

Back when I had a Rat, I was gain on 12 guy, so I'm sure that's the problem I was having, too.

[Dave Locher]

Re: ProCo Rat modding

The max gain setting seems to be the culprit. I have my pickups set at about 5/16 or so, I changed to 10-46’s in standard tuning and it took away the low E flub. When I struck the B and E I had this fantastic signal overload reminiscent of an old style fuzz unit. I’m guessing the Rat is sensitive to what hits it’s input?

Yes. Seriously, crank the volume and start with the gain at zero. Turn it up slowly while you play and you will probably be surprised how soon you can stop turning up the gain because it stops getting better at some point. After that you just add fuzz-like chaos, including the weird dip you first described.

[Aceman]

Re: ProCo Rat modding

How are you using the Rat? For distortion into clean, or juicing an overdriven amp? Much like a DS-1, it is really made for juicing the amp, not straight distortion.