Proco rat pedal

[fenderiarhs]

I recently got one of these to use in front of the clean channel of my amp......Not a bad pedal but what i have experienced is a very muddy, weak not tight at all bass........ the E and A strings never sound the way they should.......Is this the way the RAT pedal sounds????

 

[butnut]

Re: Proco rat pedal

NO. I've gone through at least a dozen distortion overdrive stomps since the 70's. Original Big Muff, Fuzz Face etc....too many. My evil twin recently found a Rat box, the original without the LED in like new condition. It is, without a doubt the best overdrive tone I've ever heard. Huge tone and sustain, plenty of bite, but the controls let ya dial in your tone. Pretty simple. Turn the filter knob down for more crunch, distortion around 12:00...keep playing with it, you'll love it. Every guitar is different, my Tele-Gib settings are different from my Riviera with the P94s, minor tweaks make all the diff.
If your EA strings sound weak, turn your pickup screws counter-clockwise (under those 2 strings) to get more punch...my NEW pups needed a lot of tweaking, but all sound even now. Good luck...that is a great stomp, you'll see.

 

[Usurper666]

Re: Proco rat pedal

Funny, I had a non-led 1985 RAT and I think it sounded TERRIBLE! Muddy, fuzzy and, as the name implies, "ratty". To mushy for rhythms and didn't sound good as a clean boost either. And this was one of the "good ones" with the LM308 chip. I will say that the build quality was fantastic, I just hated the sound. Sold it and used the money for a Maxon OD-9, which is much more to my liking. Just more proof that "good tone" can be a very subjective thing.

Cheers,

CJ

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Proco rat pedal

I love my old Rat (2nd generation case style, no LED). It's really the only distortion pedal I've ever liked. My primary overdrive is just a GE7 boosting into the Marshall's input, but I keep the Rat around for special occasions.

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Proco rat pedal

I don't like the way the new Rats sound... Cn't point my finger at it... but IMO something is missing...

The old ones are Jazz/Funk players favorites- Kevin Hubenks uses one, and John Scofield is famous for using one... the weird thing is that the new Rats don't give you anything that makes you think about Scofields tone...
I suppose that in his case it's totaly about the ES-335 style guitar and the amp and not about the pedal... but still, as far as I can tell, and from what I can relate to the pedal, the new Rat versions are different then the old pedals...

 

[theodie]

Re: Proco rat pedal

The Guy who invented Fire is more or less an authority on these. I think he owns about 4-5 of them or something. I am sure he will chime in this evening.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Proco rat pedal

The Guy who invented Fire is more or less an authority on these. I think he owns about 4-5 of them or something. I am sure he will chime in this evening.

And IIRC Christian bought mine. Which I bought brand new in 87 or 88

It never did anything for me. I too found it raspy, thin, and weak in the low end. IDK if mine was one of the great ones, or what. It lasted 2 or 3 songs at a field party I played back then. I just pulled it outta the chain, cranked the gain on the 800 channel switcher and used my volume control to boost for leads.

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Proco rat pedal

And IIRC Christian bought mine. Which I bought brand new in 87 or 88
weak in the low end. leads.

Mine is the newer version (with the led) and i think it covers well its duties but definately not the low end as you say........

 

[Snottyboy]

Re: Proco rat pedal

What kind of tone are you going for?

I've got an old RAT that I really like for slightly dirty jazz-type runs. I tend to keep the gain pretty low (about 9:00) and also lately use an SFX-03 Twin Tube in front of it on low gain to really round it out (not that you have to). Crank up the amp (I use an old Vibrolux Reverb) and roll back the volume on your guitar.

I do sometimes also use it with the gain turned up as well. One thing to keep in mind about the RAT...the distortion is not a consistently even distortion like a lot of pedals...meaning you get moments when the distortion is more prevalent than others. Just a character of the RAT...like it or not.

I don't think the new RATs have the same LM308 chip that the originals do. Haven't used the newer version, but most accounts say it is nothing close to the original...something to consider.

 

[snushsnush]

Re: Proco rat pedal

i just got mine keeley modded. that was a great idea. it still does all the things that are awesome about the RAT and none of the little annoying things that i hated. it's got good low end response now and the volume is consistent (i had this weird problem where the volume would fluctuate from normal to really quiet on a daily basis). the mod is totally worth it.

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Proco rat pedal

at the moment i am building a D.Gilmour influenced pedalboard..i I have already chosen and have no problems with compression, delays, flangers, choruses but the distortion boxes to use are still a big problem.....at the moment i am thinking adding a big muff to the rat and the boss blues driver i already own.........so mainly my goal is to achieve something close to david Gilmour (well as close as someone can possibly get ........

 

[Snottyboy]

Re: Proco rat pedal

"at the moment i am thinking adding a big muff to the rat and the boss blues driver i already own.........so mainly my goal is to achieve something close to david Gilmour (well as close as someone can possibly get ........"


I would imagine that a RAT and a Big Muff used in tandem would get pretty furry. Have you tried to use the Blues Driver as a boost to the RAT?

 

[cak]

Re: Proco rat pedal

I had one of the original Rat's ("not a toy" ! as it said on the instructions) and also a second generation smaller box one. I used them with a JCM800 head that was already quite crunchy to boost it for my lead tone which worked well. Also used to DI it into my 4-track for a mellow lead tone when recording. Foolishly gave the first away years ago and sold the second.

Just bought a custom built "Siggydrive" from a guy in Germany. based on a Fulldrive 2 but smaller and with a switch for asymm mode to give Tubescreamer tones also along with the Fulldrive options (inc FM) and the seperate boost switch. It's well cute, check out "Siggydrive" on eBay as he has one listed !. Give the Rat another go too.

 

[butnut]

Re: Proco rat pedal

What kind of tone are you going for?

I've got an old RAT that I really like for slightly dirty jazz-type runs. I tend to keep the gain pretty low (about 9:00) and also lately use an SFX-03 Twin Tube in front of it on low gain to really round it out (not that you have to). Crank up the amp (I use an old Vibrolux Reverb) and roll back the volume on your guitar.

I do sometimes also use it with the gain turned up as well. One thing to keep in mind about the RAT...the distortion is not a consistently even distortion like a lot of pedals...meaning you get moments when the distortion is more prevalent than others. Just a character of the RAT...like it or not.

I don't think the new RATs have the same LM308 chip that the originals do. Haven't used the newer version, but most accounts say it is nothing close to the original...something to consider.

Good points, and yes, I do play with the guitar volume knobs a LOT more with the Rat,,,I don't really notice the distortion glitch, but I don't really crank my amp. Did'nt think there would be Rat haters...but yeah, tone is very subjective.

 

[wixedmords]

Re: Proco rat pedal

I love my old Rat (2nd generation case style, no LED). It's really the only distortion pedal I've ever liked. My primary overdrive is just a GE7 boosting into the Marshall's input, but I keep the Rat around for special occasions.

I'm pretty much inline with you Rich on the Rat and the GE7. I rarely plug into anything but directly to a tube amp, but occasionally (once a month or so) I do put either my Rat, Guv'nor, or more likely a GE7 into the chain.

My Rat is a second generation mid-80's model. It gives me some dark, saturated distortion if I need it.

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Proco rat pedal

i've been browsing through the internet to find some mods for the rat and there is indeed a bass freq problem associated with rat pedals (the newer ones......which means my ears are still working pretty much ok ) as most mods i found address the "bass frequencies" problem.....

To say the truth i prefer the rat model from my boss ME 50 pedalboard..........

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Proco rat pedal

I have a single channel (all-valve) amp.

I have several OD's - i love OD's - and two fuzz-boxes.

Seeing that my amp has only one channel, i have no distortion !
So i looked into a distortion pedal (thank you, "inter-net"), and decided to go with a Rat II ! (thinking that it will solve my dist.'-less amp problem !?

When i got it (throught the mail), I thought i bought the wrong pedal.
This thing sounded like an OD !
So, as i turned the gain knob, it went from suttle OD to a mild dist-tone, to a heavier dist. !!!
Max'ed out, it it almost like a light fuzz . . .

BOY was i happy !
All three dirt-sounds in one box !!!
OD -->Dist -->light FUZZ

Probably the best pedal that i bought !


I LOVE MY RAT !


. . . and just last week, i heard a a bloke in my city, that wants to sell his early 80's Rat (still in mint condition), needless to say, i told him i'll buy it, but now have to wait, untill he gets his next dirtbox in the mail (H&K Tubeman).

 

[myxolidian]

Re: Proco rat pedal

I used a Rat all thru the '80s. I loved it. Used it as a mild boost and to tighted up my amp's flubby low end.

But used as a distortion device thru a clean channel, I think it sounds horrible...as do all other distortion/fuzz/OD do thru the clean channel.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Proco rat pedal

I am goning to say NO...that said, if you have a new Rat it has a different chip from all the ones I have. When Pro Co made the switch from the LM 308 chip I tried one of the new ones and hated it...however the old ones are my fav dirt box ever...I never leave home without one!

 

[baritone]

Re: Proco rat pedal

I have a Keeley-modified RAT, and the bass response is constantly tight. The sound can be bassy, but it is a good strong bass. Even with the gain turned up, all notes sound out.