ProCo Rat. Any fans??

[MTM105]

This pedal has eluded me for decades. I got one free at guitar store $$ lottery. Music Go Round Wilkes Barre, PA.

i have Tonebone HotBrit. My go to tone. The Rat is a very fine alternative. Very Gilmourish.

i like dialing in historic tones. What are some??

I’ve always yearned for Big Muff. I had the mini. Digital version on ME-50. I am unable to bond with it. Fuzz is like Solid State. Sounds interesting at first, but gets mundane. The ProCo has some fuzz, but it’s combined with Distortion.

 

Edited September 1, 2024 by MTM105

[tbonesullivan]

Really one of the classic distortion pedals, based on silicon diode clipping. I used to have a "vintage rat", which I sold years ago, as I have a boss OD-20, and the Rat emulation on that is really excellent. The "filter" is in some ways a lot more useful than the standard "tone" controls, and the design is just so simple.

I have thought about picking up one of the newer variants, like the Fat Rat, which has a bit more versatility, including as MOSFET based clipping mode. There's also the "Dirty Rat", which is a bit more raw sounding.

I also have the Radial Tonebone Hot British, and it's really a well designed pedal. I wish they still made it so I wouldn't have to worry about it going up in smoke.

I also... really don't have much love for the Vintage "Fuzz" pedals like the Big Muff, Fuzzface, etc. especially for chord work. They aren't horrible for single note stuff, but they just sound so much worse, IMHO, than the later distortion and overdrive pedal designs.

[Hackubus]

I have an 89 model.  It's a love/hate thing for me.  For only having three knobs, it's a bitch to dial in half the time.  Some days it sounds amazing when I use it, others not so much at all.  For the record, I've been trying to use it with a 71 Superlead and a 77 JMP 2204.  But those two old girls are super picky about over drives and boosts.
I haven't really given it a shot with my old Brownface Deluxe yet. 

I want to be a fan. I keep trying. 

Edited September 1, 2024 by Hackubus

[cmatthes]

I bought one new on a Guitar Safari with Serial back in 1989.  It was fantastic in front of the Silverface Twin I was playing through at the time, but when I traded that amp for a Boogie Combo, it really wasn’t great with that setup.

I traded that and a 1980 MXR Dist+ and $200 for an ‘81 Hamer Special in 2000.

[Rich_S]

My main OD/solo boost is my BB Preamp, running into a crunched-up “Marshall” (either my 18 Watter clone or more recently my Quilter Superblock UK mini-amp), but for other sounds I love my DIY paisley Rat.  Internally, it’s a clone of a typical ‘80s LM308 small box.  I use it with drive up and volume down whenever I need a big wall of distorted sound but without the volume boost that the BB gives me.  Power chords that need to sit underneath everything else.  Or, if I want a more fuzz-like singing lead sound, I might turn up the Rat’s volume on occasion, or simply boost it with the Stratoblaster (black pedal, top left).

The Rat is my all-purpose Swiss Army dirt box.  (Yes, the pedals are all wet.  It rained on yesterday’s gig.)
 

[Jimbilly]

I had one I bought new in the late 80s, it got lent out and disappeared around 20 years ago. I used it with my Ampeg vt40, I don't think I got a very good tone out of it, probably mostly my fault.  I'm not really looking to replace it, based on my recollection.

  Apparently I do own one, my friend Matt has a reissue that he says is mine, I found it at a pawn shop a couple of years ago for pretty cheap, I thought he paid me for it, but he says he didn't, the argument will continue. 

[Travis]

Never had a rat. But I had a Radial Tone Bone Hot British for a while and that was a killer pedal. 

[crunchee]

I had a '87 model once, according to the pot codes.  I never really got along with it, or any other distortion pedal for that matter.   I'm not really a pedal guy unless it's echo/reverb or something that is sonically trippy and weird.  I do like fuzzes though, probably because it reminds me of The Cramps, and a simple distortion pedal just won't do for that style of music IMO.  If I use a pedal, I like to make sure everybody knows it. 

 

Edited September 2, 2024 by crunchee

[Disturber]

20 hours ago, Hackubus said:

I have an 89 model.  It's a love/hate thing for me.  For only having three knobs, it's a bitch to dial in half the time.  Some days it sounds amazing when I use it, others not so much at all.  F 
I want to be a fan. I keep trying. 

This is what she said. I have a 1986 model. Sometimes it sounds great, sometimes I can't dial it in just right. But IT IS a great distortion in a box. For live, when I have had to play on borrowed amps, it's been a life saver.

Best dirt box to bring if you don't know what the setup on stage will look like. It works with clean amps if you need to get it dirty. And it works with overdriven amps if you need to get them meaner and tighter. Let's say you are faced playing a Hot Rod Deluxe and need to make it sound more Marshall:esque. The RAT does the job. 

I've heard/seen guys with a Strat and a Fender Princeton sound absolutely fantastic with a RAT in the chain. Very versatile pedals.

[The Shark]

My buddy Ethan Walker (RIP) had Lovekraft Effects here in Central Florida.  His Chupacabra pedal is the best Rat clone I've tried.  Three modes and very warm sounding.  They pop up every now and then on Reverb or eBay.  Ethan made clones of all the great pedals of the day.  

[MTM105]

I don’t see a whole lot of love & appreciation for what is considered to be an iconic pedal.

Tone snobs bore me with their Tube Scream and Fulldrive obsessiveness. Not a fan.

i kinda like the Rat. It plays dirty like a little slut.

[Disturber]

I think Steve Stevens had his best guitartone in the earlier days whey he used his plexi with a Rat pedal in front. Like on the two first Billy Idol albums. Killer, dirty obnoxious tone.

 

[it's me HHB]

I've used rats off and one for 30 years now, amazing dynamic tone when set correctly, I'm volume rider not a channel switch guy and the rat is a great always on pedal for me, if you remember BBD material the rat was always on even on the clean tones, just rolled back

[tommy p]

I got one when I first started playing guitar in the mid/late 80's. It was THE thing to have back then, but I never really liked it from the start. After I got my first amp that could achieve tube distortion, I put it away and never played it again. Four or five years ago I sold it on reverb for ~$450 so at least it was a good investment.

[hamersandstrats]

All you need is a Strat and a Rat.

I bought my first Rat in the early 90s for $25 used. I've had a large box reissue, the whiteface Reissue, and the dual unit (forget what is was called).  They are all good. I also had an original Big Muff (version 1) and it sounded very similar to the Rat with the filter all the way up. 

 

[gtone]

Huge fan here - love both my big box reissues ('89 & '91 IIRC), so much so that I don't leave home without one. Sounds great with my BF Bassman, my 18W and Vox clone, fair to good with my Vintage47 Ric Supreme. Pretty much on 90% of the time with distortion levels pretty low (8.5 to 11 o'clock positions), often just take it and an old EH Deluxe Memory Man on gigs. 

Warms the cockles of my heart (whatever they are, ha ha).

Edited September 15, 2024 by gtone