Pro Co Rat 2

iceman79

New member
Can anyone tell me if these are quality boxes and if they have a good tone?
Do they work well w/a bridge position Invader pup?
 
Re: Pro Co Rat 2

No, they're not any good anymore. ProCo has cut back on quality and increased prices. Your best bet is to look for a old, used model with the LM308 IC or get Keeley to mod a new one.
 
Re: Pro Co Rat 2

mrid said:
No, they're not any good anymore. ProCo has cut back on quality and increased prices. Your best bet is to look for a old, used model with the LM308 IC or get Keeley to mod a new one.


For real??? When did they change chips??? That sucks!
 
Re: Pro Co Rat 2

the guy who invented fire said:
For real??? When did they change chips??? That sucks!

Not sure...within the past few years, I think. They also sent out bunch of units with screwy pots within the past couple of years.
 
Re: Pro Co Rat 2

Decided to buy the used RAT 2 that's been sitting in a case for weeks at a local vintage gear shop. And let me say this thing brings out the best from the Invader I installed a few days ago. I love it! Btw, I'm running my Epi Explorer thru a POD 2.0 on "rectified" setting. I actually like the RAT a little bit more than my MXR Wylde or my TS-9 reissue.
 
Re: Pro Co Rat 2

mrid said:
No, they're not any good anymore. ProCo has cut back on quality and increased prices. Your best bet is to look for a old, used model with the LM308 IC or get Keeley to mod a new one.
+1! I own one and i'm getting rid of it
 
Re: Pro Co Rat 2

After playing around some more w/the rat I can say that it only sounds good thru my epi explorer which has an invader in the bridge. I couldn't get a tone I liked thru my epi JR w/screamin' demon.
 
Re: Pro Co Rat 2

I bought a brand new one recently and was not impressed. I made the mistake of buying it (on Ebay) before trying it. I went on the positive reviews I had read on the pedal. I found that it was thin sounding and nasaly, it removed a lot of bass from my signal. I have sent it to Robert Keeley in the hopes that his mod will turn it into something useable for me.
 
Re: Pro Co Rat 2

the guy who invented fire said:
That sucks...I have always love the sounds of Rats...I'm glad all mine are older!

+1 ... mine has a LM-308AN, and the conductive plastic mil-spec pots, built like a tank, and about as powerful as one also. The newer ones aren't bad, still good, but they don't sound like the older one for sure.
 
Re: Pro Co Rat 2

Peterku said:
How does the Rat compare to the DS-1?

It doesn't really, very different in feel ... the DS-1 is more open sounding and fuzzier ... more metallic sounding ... it sounds like a distortion. The Rat sounds like an overdrive pushed way to far with some of the distorion harmonics, but still with more natural warmth.The Rat sounds to me to be more centered towards the lower mids, much more like a real amp. Of course the tone controls on both work very differently. The DS-1 is a generic all purpose distortion, even BOSS markets it that way (it should almost say ACME Distortion), it's not bad (even the new stock ones), and might not be exactly what you want, but it works well in any given situation for dialing in a tone to get you pretty close to what you need. The Rat is a bit more specialized in what it does, and with the wrong amp, you might not be able to dramatically alter the tone to get what you need. The DS-1 is a *clean* sounding distortion,and the Rat is a more midrange based overdrive on steroids, with a bit of trashy distortion mixed in on top.
One last thing, the Rat seems to be able to do both ovedrive and distortion duites fairly well, and thickens the tone up as the distortion is increased; the DS-1 seems to do the distortion duty better than the overdrive stuff, and the DS-1 never seems to cause the tone to fatten up as the distortion is increased. Good or bad? You decide, that's the way it sounds to me, bear in mind though, that a bright amp, vs. a darker warmer amp will accent and attenuate certainly qualities in any overdrive/distortion/fuzz unit.
 
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