Proco Rat 2 Distortion Reviews

Great dist!

Had it for a few days and liked it very much. I let it go because there's no space on my board, but will definitely put one back when I decide to rearrange my pedalboard. It's a classic!

Makes specific but cool sound from the past

Still need some time to check all possibilities of this pedal, but it sounds pretty cool, it's hard to explain exactly what sound it makes, but it's not classic rock distortion it's something else, so I suggest to watch some videos or listen audio samples first.

Pros:

- good quality of materials

- unique sound

Cons:

- there is no battery inside, so you probably need to buy one if you do not have charging adaptor

Amazing pedal

I’ve got this pedal for over 4 months now and I keep using it whenever I play. It’s one of the best pedal you can find in this price range, it’s easy and simple to handle and the overall quality is great! Highly recommended!!

Un grand classique

Considérée comme une des meilleures distorsions par Josh the JHS. Cest un très bon outil. Le premier tiers de la course gain donne un overdrive, puis le deuxième tiers donne une distoprtion de rock classique, puis le dernier tiers donne une fuzz très plaisante. On peut jouer de tout avec. Aussi a tester avec un compresseur juste avant la Rat. Cela done un duper rendu pour le palm muting.

An absolute classic

From slight distortion to a crunchy fuzz, this pedal is a classic for a reason. I would absolutely recommend it.

Legend for a reason

Probably the last distortion I'll ever need. This just does it right. A wide spectrum of possibilities through the knobs, and they all sound great to my ears.

Some shoddy point-to-point soldering of the foot switch resulting in unstable status and volume until I took it to the work bench to sort it out. Guess this would be covered by warranty, but I just couldn't bear the thought of separating from this pedal for any length of time.

Great Distortion - great price

Great Distortion - great price

Chef's kiss

Ah yes, the RAT. The pedal that everyone on YouTube loves to hate... What did you cork-sniffers expect??

In reality it's fast to dial-in, and in my experience audiences actually like the sound...

Everybody should have one! (or two?)

I didn't believe it is a no.1 sales rank in distortion pedals. I got one and now I feel ashamed!

These days everybody (including myself) is looking for some "supernatural" gear, but sometimes the standard solution is the best. And that is the case with RAT. Everybody should have one of these, or even two for stereo application.

Sound great, wide range of distortion control, wide range of tone control, simple to operate, feels sturdy, has been on the market for decades, inexpensive.

Tried it with guitar in front of an amp. Loved it.

I haven't tried yet, but i believe it would work well with bass guitar, synths and I believe it also could work with drum machines.

Epic classic must have distortion.

Well built, very easy to use and just perfect.

What a beast!

First off, I play this pedal with my main amp, a 2017 Vox AC15C1. If you look around on YouTube you might see my demo/review of it. It's another highly requested pedal by my viewers and I wasn't too sure what I was getting into with this thing.

It does the subtle drive brilliantly, does nasty mid-drive tones and even gets fuzzy if you need it too (although I suggest using an EQ/comp in front of it for that).

The housing is the best out of all my pedals, sort of feels like you could drive over it with a tank and it would be fine. The footswitch is sturdy and road worthy, the buttons feel like quality stuff as well.

For the price, it is hard to beat. It's a classic for a reason. Just get one, thank me later.

Tested with:

- Vox AC15C1

- Vox AC4

- 1966 Gibson GA-15RVT

There's a reason this is a classic

There's really no sound quite like it. It has a remarkable range for a distortion and I've even been having fun with it on the bass (the filter knob helps a lot there) with a sub-octaver and an envelope filter in front to create some insane synth-y bass sounds.

Noisy in a good way. I love this pedal.

Great inspiring pedal

It can provide a large range of distortions, from OD to Fuzz.

The secret, aside from its circuit of course, I believe is its filter (central pot) which acts beautifully on the frequencies, always giving organic, harmonically rich and very musical sounds.

A very versatile and genuinely convincing pedal.

Sturdy and reliable

This is a classic distortion pedal. It is easy to use and very well made. I wasn't able, however, to get the best sound from it. I'm not sure if the problem was with my single coils or otherwise. Anyway, it is a good distortion pedal.

the definitive hard-clipper and benchmark for heavy distortion pedals

Unlike overdrives which used soft-clipping diodes, like the Tube Screamer, the Rat employed two symmetrical diodes to ground after the gain stage, resulting in a hard, square-wave clip. However, that’s not the end of the RAT’s tone story; it’s actually a little weirder than that.

The Rat has found a home on countless guitarists’ pedalboards, from shredders like Nuno Bettencourt to a who’s-who of grunge and shoegaze. Most notably, Rivers Cuomo from Weezer is a fan, and all the members of Nirvana are known to have used a RAT - although admittedly, Dave Grohl with his later band Foo Fighters - while shoegazers like Neil Halstead of Slowdive and Mark Gardener of Ride are also owners.

Distortion:

The distortion pot controls voltage gain, and thus the amount of clipping. On paper, it can deliver a whopping 67dB of gain, but in practice due to the slew characteristics of the LM308 op-amp, this number will not be reached. Despite the RAT shining at higher gain settings, it’s also a surprisingly solid low-gain drive, particularly for boosting dirty amps, and has a fantastic mid-bump.

Filter:

The filter, or tone control, is a simple low-pass filter. With the bass pulled back, the signal will be closer to a square-wave, while with it fully open, the response will look almost triangle-wave shaped. Obviously, the EQ settings on your amp will also have a significant effect on the overall timbre and EQ profile of the distortion.

Volume:

Unlike some other pedals, changing the output volume will not alter the tone, thanks to a JFET buffer between the two circuit blocks. The output block is a simple 100K pot blending signal to ground.

The search is over. Duh.

I've tried so many distortion pedals trying to find my favorite tone, and I'm not sure why I thought that a classic Rat 2 wouldn't be a good idea. Dialed in the right way - this thing is perfect, especially when paired with a solid transparent overdrive pedal. Super wide range of distortion and fuzz tones if needed, but I use the distortion on pretty light for some great texture and drive. I considered getting a "clone" version of the Rat 2 because the pedal is pretty friggin' heavy (weight-wise), but I love the look of this thing and it's legit built like a tank, so I'm keeping it as-is :)

Amazing pedal

Amazing distortion that when cranked enters into fuzz territory. All the tones along the way are also very usable.

Really good for metal and not only

Truly enjoying this one. It has quite a big range. Using filter knob you can make it either scream or have a dark fuzzy tone.

Personally, really like the metallic sound.

Classic rock tones!

Very classic distortion pedal, super versatile going from a mild overdrive to a crazy ''fuzzy'' distortion.