Proco Rat 2 Distortion 5-stars Reviews

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.

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.

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.

After one year.. no problems!

I had seen a lot of reviews before I bought the ProCo RAT but still was amazed by the sound of it. Love the distortion and the different sounds you can pull out of this pedal. Love it!

Perfect for Fuzz or Distortion

If you're making punk, grunge, noise, or anything dirty this is perfect. If you want a subtle pedal, this is not for you.

Amazing little thing

This little guy is amazing. I does exactly what I need it to do and nothing more. The only thing I don't like is that the paint was not perfect (it has some scratches), but that's not a big of an issue.

Super!

I was curious about this pedal and I am quite surprised about how it sounds! Very nice, thick distortion, it reminds me of a Marshall somehow. Satisfied!

Rock like a tank

Hard to say something new on it with soo many good reviews already written.

I can only confirm that this pedal is awesome, well built, and it deverse the hype on it.

It's also cheap for such a good famous pedals. Other brands would probably sell it much expensive.

The only things you have to take care about is if you want to put it on a pedal board cause it requiers to take off the screw that hold the battery plate.

So i let it "punish" out of my pedal board. Not an issue btw

Very Good distortion pedal!!

A different distortion

I really like this distortion because it has something really different to other distortions. The volume knob goes to really loud volumes which is great, I use that for solo's just kick the volume knob way up.

If you need only one pedal ...

This is the most agile overdrive/distortion on the market.

Great adaptability, great power ... everything ...

the best

classic sauce of a dirty tone. you should hear it first, than you can judge other famous distortion/fuzz pedals. you will recognize it from every good song. built like it will last for ever and seems basic like a door bell button. just a little heavier and more square than other pedals. price is not cheap nor expensive. a tube amp about to break is a very good starting point. no cons for me.

I used it for Bass and for Guitar.

For Bass: It can produce a really heavy sound that fits in genres like hardcore punk, death metal, black metal and generally in extreme heavy music.

For Guitar: It can produce the classic second wave black metal tremolo picking tone.

It has a metallic build so you are not worried that it will break.

Excellent distortion, a classic, well worth the money

The Rat is a legend, a classic since the 70s. This is a Rat 2 (made since the 80s).

I use it on guitar, drums, synth.

It covers a range of distortion sounds and can even get a little fuzzy.

Built like a tank, surprisingly heavy.

I never used a vintage model so I can't compare, but this is my favourite distortion pedal (out of 15 in my collection).

Some people may prefer to splash out on a modded version instead.

And many companies have made competing products, inspired by this classic, in varying degrees.

Finally, there are a few related Proco pedals like the Turbo Rat, You Dirty Rat, Fatrat...