The Pro Co Rat was first created in the late 70s, and then modified and mass produced in the early 80s. I imagine that anyone who bought one of these early models may well be using it today without any problems. These pedals are tougher than a cage fighter made of adamantium. Pro Co have introduced several varieties of the RAT over the decades, such as the Turbo Rat, and You Dirty Rat. I use a Turbo Rat, as I prefer the extra boost you get in the bass. I’ve read a few people complain that other RATs are somewhat lacking in bass tones.
There are three knobs to tailor your sound: Distortion, Volume, and Filter. The first two are self explanatory – adjust to your taste. The slightly confusing thing is that the filter knob works differently to other pedals: left is more treble, right is more bass.
The greatest thing about this distortion pedal is that you can get many different sounds from it. Initially, I wanted a Smashing Pumpkins sound to my distortion, but as I’m not a massive fan of Big Muff pedals (which produce a muddy, non-versatile sound) this wasn’t an option. When I tried out the Rat however I found that not only could I get a Pumpkins sound, but I could also get a range of others (from a classic AC/DC rock sound, to a warm fuzz). I should say that it took me some time to craft the exact sound I wanted from the pedal; a good few months were spent tweaking and adjusting. So, if you want a straight-out-of-the-box-and-use-live pedal then the Rat might not be for you. However, if you have patience you’ll be rewarded with a second to none distortion sound.
My band is an alt-rock indie group (sort of a blend between The Cure and Reuben) and I see the Rat as an integral part of our sound. But, considering a range of players use them (from James Hetfield to Dave Gilmour), the pedal can easily accommodate many different genres. The last thing to note is how good value for money these pedals are. Considering all of the above, and their cost, they can’t be matched. They may well be cheaper than pretty much all of their competitors but quality is not sacrificed.
Users: Jeff Beck, Thom Yorke, James Dean Bradfield, John Scofield, Thurston Moore, Dave Grohl, Stephen Malkmus, James Hetfield, Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain, Buzz Osborne, Scott Kannberg, David Gilmour, Alex Turner, Graham Coxon
