ProCo Rat 2

Different from any distortion you've ever heard. Its smooth distortion puts extra punch in your work and makes sound cut through with authority and power. It has glow-in-the-dark luminescent control graphics and new LED status indicator for easy use on dark stages. Steel enclosure has a 'no tools" battery compartment. True bypass mode utilizes passive switching of both input and output to eliminate the loss of power and clarity caused by other devices.

Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price: $65.50

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User Reviews of the ProCo Rat 2

Submitted by Fabio from A Coruña (10 points) on Oct 13, 2008
I like this pedal but not too much because there is not variation in the distortion pot and if you want a distintive distor effect this is not your pedal.Radiohead,Sonic Youth,Blur and more and more groups use it...
Good Points: Rat sounds with body,puch and is a reliable company
Bad Points: It too common
Price Paid: US$40.00
Purchased At: Friend
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Submitted by AULOS from Hereford Uk (488 points) on Sep 28, 2008
This is a little beauty. I borrowed it from my local music shop and went back and payed for it the same day. I use a tube amp which has a nice classic sound but when it comes down to the riffs I needed that extra top end. This is it. The true bypass helps in my ridiculous chain of effects, and the 5 year warranty slogan of "Any Excuse, Even Abuse" is exactly what I need. As for sounds, it is an excellent feedbacker. It has a lush scratchy sound, and it gets nice and loud. It works well with certain wah's too, especially Budda!
Good Points: True Bypass. Glow in the dark! Ultra bright red LED. Long battery life. Built stronger than any pedal I have ever used. I would throw is out my 2nd story window with confidence! (but its too pretty).
Bad Points: I had to buy the headphone jack style PSU attachment. In the UK they are kinda expensive, other than that this is stunning.
Price Paid: US$80.00
Purchased At: Nick Fisher Music GB
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Submitted by sclr from Portland, OR (220 points) on Feb 21, 2008
great nasty distortion. it has such a distinctive sound. like others have said paired with more pedals definitely suits this vermin.
Good Points: very distinctive crusty sound. low pass filter. hesher classic. solid
Bad Points: lake the previous reviewer said there are lots of variation on this pedal. different chips etc. do some investigating before you buy.
Price Paid: US$30.00
Purchased At: reverb music
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Submitted by series_ from Portland, OR (184 points) on Jan 4, 2006
This pedal is a lot of fun. You have to be careful which one you buy though. They are ALL slightly different in sound. They all sound very scooped no matter where you set the filter knob, but you can get great growling lows and the nastiest highs. Also there a plenty of mods to these to found on-line. The simplest involves simply snipping one wire on the output resistors - which gives you a totally fucked, almost Ampeg Scrambler, sound. To where it sounds as if the tones are eating themselves. My advice is don't just buy anyone. Play with a bunch and see which one you like the sound on.
Good Points:
Bad Points:
Price Paid: US$50.00
Purchased At: Friend Of Mine
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Submitted by kinetic turtle from Oakland, CA (166 points) on Aug 21, 2005
I'm actally a fan of this pedal - it gives a good volume boost, but as mentioned below, it's not a pedal to rely on for your distortion needs - all the distortion tone coloring in this pedal really is catered to guitar players.
Good Points: Heavy-ass construction. Great volume boost.
Bad Points: Obnoxious as FUCK battery compartment, and mxr type power supply jack Not a very distinctive distortion for noise
Price Paid: US$80.00
Purchased At: work
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Submitted by Patrick from Washington, DC (8 points) on May 17, 2005
after reading over some other reviews, i would tend to agree with those that peg this as an over-rated distrotion pedal. i bought it as a potential distortion-maker in my set-up, but i really didn't dig on the overall crunch and sound. BUT THEN, determined not to give up on it, the RAT II is an impeccable overdrive pedal. Filter at 10, Volume at 8, Distrotion around 1 or 2 (or to taste). In what turned out to be the potential final moments of this pedal (as far as my ownership of it), I stumbled across a serious benefit of this pedal and I would knee-cap anyone who tried to snake it from me.
Good Points: Great, thick, crunchy, warm overdrive... compact, easy to manage... doesn't require a Phd to operate.
Bad Points: the actual distortion capacity of this pedal is slightly a let down... but again, try it for its overdrive ability.
Price Paid: US$75.00
Purchased At: special order
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Submitted by fran from Nottingham (68 points) on Feb 26, 2005
The RAT as far as i'm concerned is an over-rated distortion. It's quite nasty sounding and the filter(tone) is quite limited, having said that its got more range than say the DS-1. The sounds i got out of this pedal reminded me of the distortion sound you got on old nasty solid state amps from the eighties. it's not subtle or tonefull.
Good Points: Built to withstand a nuclear war, looks cool on the pedalboard, well under Ž£100
Bad Points: Nasty tone-less sound, battery access could be better, silly-type adapter needed(why dont all effects use a same universal size, life would be much easier)
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: second hand
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Submitted by Sparkle Girl from Seattle, WA (14 points) on Aug 10, 2004
This was my first pedal and I still have it almost 16yrs later. Truly built like a tank and still gives a unique distortion sound you grow to love.
Good Points: The guy who sold it to me owned two. One of which had been run over by a truck and still worked. If you get mad at people iat shows makes a nice weapon. My favorite trick yrs ago in my dorm, play with and ebow and the rat. Sounded like I was playing a jet engine.
Bad Points: Distortion is unique. Try it before buying (someone you know has a Rat, trust me). You'll know if it is right for your style.
Price Paid: US$85.00
Purchased At: yrs ago at music store
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Submitted by Mike from Rochester, NY (310 points) on Jan 23, 2004
Can't say I'm fully impressed witht his pedal. I borrowed this from my guitar-playing brother and chained it with my DOD effects. It shines a bit when used with other distortions but didn't blow me over by itself. I could see if this were modded (see the last review) it would have a lot more potential. Overall, I had a mediocre experience using it.
Good Points: built like a tank, LED indicator light located in the 'A', glow in the dark panel for stage/low-light situations, heavy-duty stomp switch
Bad Points: battery compartment a bit of a pain to access, ho-hum distortion by itself
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: borrowed from brother
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Submitted by D. from Richmond, TX (12 points) on Nov 16, 2003
Tim w/ Effector 13 graciously modded mine to include a theremin eye (to modulate self-oscillation), and two switches: one activates the theremin eye, and the other sorta remains a mystery. Very cool, natheless. By itself, it's a fine tone generator, but does not allow guitar signal through. Put another distortion in front of it (I used another Rat), and it is dis-tor-she-own sit-TAY! Therein, all manner of fuzz can be obtained. Space does not permit to list all of them. Just Heavenly. BUY FROM EFFECTOR 13! BUY FROM EFFECTOR 13!
Good Points: With another distortion in front, the sky's the limit in terms of fuzz sounds. I can only more than one in front. Tim with Effector 13 is a great guy making great stuff, PLEASE BUY IT!
Bad Points: Needs a boost in front; otherwise, none.
Price Paid: US$15.00
Purchased At: EFFECTOR 13
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Submitted by dave from Redwood City, CA (74 points) on Aug 28, 2003
A pretty impressive little stompbox. Adds quite an ugly boost to even the quietest of signals. The distortion itself isn't all that great, but in combination with a second distortion pedal like a boss metal zone or a dod death metal it's just down right sinister. Sweep the filter to the left for a more static tone or for more deep tones sweep the filter to the right.
Good Points: It's good and loud, and built like a bomb shelter. The LED feature is nice as well although it's easy to tell if it's on or off.
Bad Points: The little "easy access" battery feature is a bitch to unscrew and the adaptor output is odd.
Price Paid: US$59.00
Purchased At: ebay.com
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Submitted by John from Glagsow (30 points) on Jan 23, 2003
Without this pedal, I would find it hard to make music. Its completely unreasonable sounds allow me to bring the beef wherever neccessary. Can give a decent clean boost also. put vocals through this to summon the dark lord! Up against my other drivers(of which there are many)this is the one that I use when I need to cause bone weakening explosions and brain bleeding volume. Can't wait to get hold of the new Rat!
Good Points: Sturdy like a tax form, sounds like a car crash, looks great, makes other pedals sound like lettuce. Use for war!
Bad Points: The switch can get a bit clicky after prolonged use, but it just needs cleaned now again.
Price Paid: US$45.00
Purchased At: Coda Music(England)
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Submitted by D/A A/D from Halifax (410 points) on Sep 10, 2002
Ok... Great grinding distortion, right up in the squarewave sanctom... But also you can use the filter as a high/low pass filter (just turn the distortion all the way down....) Also noisey as all hell like a army of shorted patch cables, so great as a sound source... I would have to say that it is one of the best distortions ever... Put a DOD death metal after it and your in busness, also sounds freakin awsome on bass...
Good Points: Sturdy as all hell... Sounds awsome, cheep...
Bad Points: uses a 1/8 power jack and is negitive ground (+9v)
Price Paid: US$40.00
Purchased At: Digital World
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Submitted by Gus from San Francisco, CA (282 points) on Mar 16, 2002
It's loud. Very loud. With a harsh clipping distortion that almost ends up in square wave fuzz territory, but not quite. A very aggressive sound to be sure. It has a tendency to overload the hell out of whatever pedal it is in front of, adding even more clipping to the mix. This effect is most pronounced when it is fed into a modulation type effect, or a delay. And as others have stated, the filter knob is closer to a band pass filter than it is to a standard tone knob. Not a very resonant filter, but a filter none the less. An outstanding way to generate a lot of gain.
Good Points: Loud, sizzling distortion. Filter knob can add subtle sweeps. Cheap and common.
Bad Points: I can think of nothing wrong with this pedal.
Price Paid: US$45.00
Purchased At: Black Market Guitars
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Submitted by gr-eh? from Detroit, MI (398 points) on Mar 2, 2002
this is a great distortion pedal. built like a tank with three simple knobs, wide enough to be comfortable using. often use it as a sound source with the volume cranked and a cable just hanging out of it to generate a nasty, tweakable buzz. the range of control on this thing is really wide, so you can get a mean crunch or a loud, simple crackle. i don't own one right now but had one at the house for a long while and now that it is gone, i plan to purchase one with quickness - i've realized just how useful and harsh this thing is.
Good Points: sturdy as hell, great sound and wide range of adjustments. works well as or directly on a source or in a loop.
Bad Points: i've yet to find any.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: Friend owns it
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Submitted by Ben from United States (250 points) on Jan 18, 2002
A great pedal for noise. This distortion pedal clips like crazy, and the filter knob is very different from a usual 'tone' knob. Works very well in a self-oscillating chain -- often a very important part of my set up. The boost is significant -- it's a very loud pedal -- and the distortion is brittle and harsh sounding.
Good Points: No signal level drop -- can load up a chain with this in it. Clips easily, great filter control, and harsh raspy distortion. Built to take abuse.
Bad Points: Sounds pretty bad with a guitar plugged into it.
Price Paid: US$60.00
Purchased At:
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