Proco's Rats.... nothing like they used to be?

[Maximusgordon 2.0]

I have been checkin out Ebay looking for an old Rat. I tried one of the Rat 2's and thought it was horrible, but the old ones seem nice to me. Anyways, i may very well simply end up buying an old one, but first i wanna find out more about the Vintage Rat reissue. Used and old gear can be great but there can be complications and annoyances too. So id prefer just get a lightly used reissue rather than a real old one. But, are those Vintage Rats good? Are they REALLY reissues of the originals and have that classic quality sound? Or are they more like the new Rat 2's? I know there are those of you who only think that vintage stuff is the way to go and that reissues are never the same (Maxon reissue 0D-808 isnt like Ibanez 808, Gibson Historic reissue isnt like old on etc.) but PRACTICALY speaking are they as quality as the old ones? Thanks....

 

[Lewguitar]

After Robert S. bragged up his big box, mid 80's Ratt I found one just like it and bought it. Really smooth and fun! Reminds me just a little of a Big Muff but nicer and less noisey and hissy and out of control. Compared to the newer reissue Ratts, I think mine is alot smoother and less...ratty! I didn't compare them side by side tho. Lew

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

After Robert S. bragged up his big box, mid 80's Ratt I found one just like it and bought it. Really smooth and fun! Reminds me just a little of a Big Muff but nicer and less noisey and hissy and out of control. Compared to the newer reissue Ratts, I think mine is alot smoother and less...ratty! I didn't compare them side by side tho. Lew

I don't know what happened with the newer Rat pedals,but the original Vintage rat was great...I think Jeff Beck used one a bit,but I'm not positive?

John

 

[Gearjoneser]

Here's what happened with the new Pro Co. Rats...

Some manufacturing blunder allowed the newer Rat's to be made with a cheaper chip than the one the old one's had.
In addition to this major blunder, they also installed audio taper
pots instead of the linear taper pots. The sweep pot IS one
of the major aspects of the Rat tone, so having the wrong pot
just KILLED it. Pro Co Shipped pallets and pallets of Rats to
America before realizing they sounded like sh!t. All of the distributors who paid thousands for the new Rats are all demanding their money back. This blunder will cost Pro Co
a LOT of money. You MUST buy the old ones. Preferably the
small ones. They sound great with humbuckers on Marshalls.

 

[mrid]

Here's what happened with the new Pro Co. Rats...

Some manufacturing blunder allowed the newer Rat's to be made with a cheaper chip than the one the old one's had.
In addition to this major blunder, they also installed audio taper
pots instead of the linear taper pots. The sweep pot IS one
of the major aspects of the Rat tone, so having the wrong pot
just KILLED it. Pro Co Shipped pallets and pallets of Rats to
America before realizing they sounded like sh!t. All of the distributors who paid thousands for the new Rats are all demanding their money back. This blunder will cost Pro Co
a LOT of money. You MUST buy the old ones. Preferably the
small ones. They sound great with humbuckers on Marshalls.

I can understand about the pot issue, but how could the chip swap be a blunder? It seems to me that ProCo is cutting costs and raising prices.

 

[Maximusgordon 2.0]

If this mistake happened recently, then does that mean that Rats from even 2 years ago are fine? And is there a difference in the reissue and the Rat 2? Other than the size?

 

[Gearjoneser]

I don't know when it happened exactly, but they substituted
the chip and pots, then made thousands of pedals.
It boggles my mind that someone didn't play the thing before they made them all and realized something was wrong.

This mistake may cost Pro Co hundreds of thousands of dollars,
but for now, they're pretending like nothing happened, so all
the distributors don't start suing them and asking for their money back. We're talking thousands of pedals that are already shipped!

 

[Lee_M.]

The Vintage Rat is a sweet pedal. I haven't bought a new one in probably 4-5 years, but from what I can see, that pedal has remained unchanged.

I also have a RAT 2 that sounds like a POS. I couldn't understand what was happening when I first bought it about 5 years ago. I then A/B'd it to the Vintage Rat and realized that something was wrong with the chip. Go figure.

If I were you, I would order 2-3 Vintage Rats from Musician's Friend and try them out. Once satisfied, return the ones that sound the worst.