Proco Rat II

black aspirin · January 12, 2014, 01:51:01 PM

Is the modern Rat II worth picking up? I want a good distortion pedal, but notice that the vintage Rats are priced much higher...are they truly that much better?

Any other suggestions on a good distortion pedal to run into my Laney tube amp are welcome. I want to be able to get some good sludge tones, for sure.

Instant Dan · January 12, 2014, 02:09:00 PM

They're not bad honestly. My personal idea would be to pick-up a Rat2 clone on ebay with the LM308 op-amp chip and get the newer one to compare.

When I compared the two, the LM308 won out but not by much.

The big box reissue one is my favorite.

black aspirin · January 12, 2014, 02:20:44 PM

Shit, I just saw a little demo of the Zvex Box of Metal on YouTube. Sounded amazing, has a gate feature, and tons of adjustments. May go that route, but I'll have to check out a few more options first.

everdrone · January 12, 2014, 04:17:36 PM

I have one. it was great, but then I got the keeley mod for it and now it slays! the keeley mod gives you options of one diode, two diodes, or three diodes. one diode sounds the best to my ears. two diodes is the original rat.

everdrone · January 12, 2014, 04:18:45 PM

Quote from: black aspirin on January 12, 2014, 02:20:44 PM
Shit, I just saw a little demo of the Zvex Box of Metal on YouTube. Sounded amazing, has a gate feature, and tons of adjustments. May go that route, but I'll have to check out a few more options first.

I wish the rat had a built in noisegate, but I have a decimator so its no issue. the zvex seems cool on the youtube demos but too much gain from a pedal for me.

xayk · January 12, 2014, 06:53:07 PM

I love Rats. I'm not a technical expert, but if memory serves, the LM308 has a very poor slew rate which helps to give it a unique sound vs. other opamps at similar distortion levels. There's no guarantee your/mine ear can tell the difference, bit hey. Rats also incorporates a high-pass filter that changes as the distortion level changes, and you'll get that no matter what chip it has and helps to define it's sound.

I think Turbo Rats use the LM308's but use LED's instead of silicon diodes, fwiw - a little buzzier, but I see them pop up for sale at reasonable prices quite a bit. LM308's are also pretty inexpensive if you're thinking DIY (or a new Rat to swap the chip.) I've built a few and have a 'modular' Rat I'm futzing with on my build desk riiiight now. Rats rule.

Discö Rice · January 12, 2014, 09:04:36 PM

If you're still unsure, get one of these:

I have one, which I got cheap, and it's amazing. It has the Clean Rat, Dirty Rat, Turbo Rat, and Vintage Rat all in that box. You can switch between them or cascade one into the other, or have different tones running out to two different amps. Totally analog, and it probably weighs as much as your guitar, but the tones, man - every one of them useful. I get a surprising amount of joy from the Clean Rat. It's great as a volume boost with the distortion down, but there are a lot of cool tones to be found by turning up the dist. knob. I like it for anything between "a little gritty" and "AC/DC.

The other tones you're most likely familiar with, and they are 100% true to the original designs.

VOLVO))) · January 12, 2014, 10:23:33 PM

HI GABE

I love Rats, too.

mortlock · January 12, 2014, 10:58:19 PM

ive never played through a rat. im kind of itching for a new pedal. how would it sound with a bass?? im looking for lots of distortion and feedback. I want something that can get real noisy.

black aspirin · January 12, 2014, 11:17:46 PM

For now, I bought a used (but in great condition) Zvex Box of Metal off eBay. I'm excited to have the gate feature, and it seems like it has tons of adjustment and tons of gain.

Lumpy · January 13, 2014, 12:26:40 AM

Quote from: mortlock on January 12, 2014, 10:58:19 PM
ive never played through a rat. im kind of itching for a new pedal. how would it sound with a bass?? im looking for lots of distortion and feedback. I want something that can get real noisy.

The Rat has tons of gain and is great for feedback squeals. Lots of clones on Ebay, they are real popular projects with the DIY crowd. You might even find something under 50 bucks. Turbo Rat is a good variation, if you can find one of those (higher gain I think) or find a Rat clone that switches between vintage and turbo. Proco also made a dual pedal especially for bass (the Juggernaut) but it's big.

:thumbs up:

Jor el · January 13, 2014, 12:53:14 AM

I love Rats

I also love Ratt

jibberish · January 13, 2014, 01:27:31 AM

round and round. what goes around, comes around. i'll tell you why. round and round

Jor el · January 13, 2014, 02:05:22 AM

Dig

They had a 9/11 t-shirt with a stars & stripes RATT logo and What Comes Around Goes Around on the back.

That DeuceTone looks like a blast.

skydogdiesel · January 13, 2014, 06:42:08 PM

i love my 2 turbo rats. one has the lm 308 chip or whatever and the other one is older and they both sound vicious when i need them to.

Discö Rice · January 13, 2014, 07:30:42 PM

Quote from: SunnO))) on January 12, 2014, 10:23:33 PM
HI GABE

I love Rats, too.

HI JAKE

WUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUV

Lip · January 13, 2014, 10:03:45 PM

I have a Keeley Modded Rat also - Slugfuct threw the damn thing against the wall...lol - and it still works great - I've had it for a few years - sounds great for bass too.

black aspirin · January 13, 2014, 10:55:09 PM

There's a used Keeley-mod Rat for sale just up the road from me for $125. Looks like it's in good condition. Hmmmm...