So i've heard great stuff about this rat pedal,

I play alot of Led zepp, Floyd, Hendrix, Blues, and jazz.
Never any medal, sometimes metallica or acdc.

What does this pedal sound like....well really all the different rats,
would that fit into my musical area?

Thanks for help

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Trey Gilmour.... That would be amazing

Guitars> Fuzz Face (Bc109c)> Budda Wah> Dyna Comp> Bd2>Sovtek (Green) Big Muff> Color Sound Power Boost> Distortion + (original)> Tube Driver> Tube Driver> Phase 90 (Emm's Audio Mod)> Electric Mistress> Roland SH101> roland SH150> Carvin MTS3200-Crate 4x12

Theres a few different variations on the theme of 'rat', so bear with me.

In general, RAT's are a very versatile pedal. At one end, you can use it as an overdrive or an (almost) clean boost. At the other end of the spectrum, it almost approaches a big muff (although the sound is quite different).

Something to conisider is that its not a particularly 'smooth' sounding distortion, and in my experience sound better with single coils. That said, I don't own a gutiar with humbuckers, and really the choice is yours.

Another thing to consider is that there are plenty of different versions of the RAT. The most popular (new) ones are the 'Rat 2' and 'Vintage reissue's, which have a very similar circuit. Then there's the Turbo rat, which nearly the same, except it has a different clipping section, which gives it more output, and I think it 'breaks up' a little later. There's also the 'You Dirty Rat' (which I'm not a fan of), which again, has a different clipping section, but has slightly less output, more compression, and get dirty a lot earlier. Theres also the Deucetone Rat, which has 2 seperate circuits switchable between 'vintage', 'turbo', 'dirty' and 'clean' circuits. I'd reccomend sticking with a Rat 2, or Vintage reissue, particularly for the bands you mentioned.

Another thing you'll probably hear about (especially if you ask about rats on this board) is the LM308 chip. This refers to the IC (integrated circuit), which is essentially the brains of the pedal. For some reason, ProCo changed their production habits a few years ago, and stopped using this chip, replacing it with a slightly different one. Most people feel that the original sounds a lot better, and either seek out older pedals that were built with the old chip, or get the old chip put into their new pedals (and there are professionals that will do this for a small fee. www.robertkeeley.com is one.)


That said, your best bet would be to find one and try it out. Personally, I wouldn't be caught without one.

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Fender Japan 60's Telecaster with Bigsby
Fender Japan Jaguar

Korg DT-10 > Danelectro French Toast > Proco Deucetone Rat > EHX NYC Big Muff > Ibanez FL-9 > Dunlop TS-1 > Artec ADL2 analog delay

Zoom RT-223 > Keeley Boss DD-3 (behringer FX-100 in delay loop)

Musicman 75w 210 combo

Aphoniser, how do you like your Deucetone?

Great reply BTW.

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DiE ROCKERS DiE m.s
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my gear

Thanks.

The Deucetone's really good, its very, very versatile. I changed one of the IC's out (it had an LM308 in one channel, but not in the other?), I couldnt tell the difference between it and an old 80's rat I had at the time. I find myself using one channel a lot more than the other, and they've both been set on 'Vintage' almost ever since i got it. But its fantastic if you love the Rat sound, and want to make the most of it.
In all honesty though, its not that hard to convert one Rat into any of the others, the only real difference is the clipping section.

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Fender Japan 60's Telecaster with Bigsby
Fender Japan Jaguar

Korg DT-10 > Danelectro French Toast > Proco Deucetone Rat > EHX NYC Big Muff > Ibanez FL-9 > Dunlop TS-1 > Artec ADL2 analog delay

Zoom RT-223 > Keeley Boss DD-3 (behringer FX-100 in delay loop)

Musicman 75w 210 combo

Aphoniser - Is there a rat that will get very close to the fuzz face sound?

How bout the nize fuzzy mess on Time by pink floyd?

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Trey Gilmour.... That would be amazing

Guitars> Fuzz Face (Bc109c)> Budda Wah> Dyna Comp> Bd2>Sovtek (Green) Big Muff> Color Sound Power Boost> Distortion + (original)> Tube Driver> Tube Driver> Phase 90 (Emm's Audio Mod)> Electric Mistress> Roland SH101> roland SH150> Carvin MTS3200-Crate 4x12

As a Deucetone owner, i can say that if you want something really fuzzy, the "you dirty rat" setting is great, it's got a bit of Big Muff to it, but it's a lot more defined, less boomy, and more controlable.

My favourite setting is actually the "clean rat". It's a lot nearer to an overdrive type sound, but with all the gain you could need on tap. Why they haven't made a standalone pedal out of this one is a mystery.

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(very old) Rig Photos

don't bother with the You Dirty Rat. i bought one and it's a piece of crap

please elaborate.

that post isn't of much help to someone who is trying to figure out which pedal to buy.


Aphoniser, great response there!

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see my sale/trade thread

I've only ever played a fuzz face once, and didn't really think it waws much to write home about. It didn't do anything my Big Muff can't do. That said, I tend to use the Muff rather than the Rat for a Hendrix-fuzz kind of thing anyway. You can use a Rat in the same way, but you won't get the perfect result with it. Its not really a fuzz, after all.

Time, huh. I can't actually play it, but I gave it a go just now. P-90 melody maker plus Vintage Rat plus Keeley DD-3 came pretty damn close.


All you would have to do to get the "clean rat" sound out of a regular rat is remove the clipping diodes (I think). Did you find it sounded much closer to the Turbo setting than the other two?

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Fender Japan 60's Telecaster with Bigsby
Fender Japan Jaguar

Korg DT-10 > Danelectro French Toast > Proco Deucetone Rat > EHX NYC Big Muff > Ibanez FL-9 > Dunlop TS-1 > Artec ADL2 analog delay

Zoom RT-223 > Keeley Boss DD-3 (behringer FX-100 in delay loop)

Musicman 75w 210 combo

To my ears the "Turbo" setting is more or less a cross between the "vintage rat" and the "you dirty rat", i never use the Turbo setting, it just lacks that special something.

The "Clean rat" setting is really a beast of it's own, it's got a the typical Rat sound to it, but without the fuzzy overtones, it really is like a "heavy overdrive" version of the classic Rat sound. I play with a guy who uses a TS10 Tubescreamer and has an amazing tone, and our two sounds work together perfectly.

I've never tried the "you dirty rat" pedal, but the dirty rat setting on the Deucetone seems fine to me, i can get some pretty convincing Fu Manchu tones out of it.

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(very old) Rig Photos

To my ears the "Turbo" setting is more or less a cross between the "vintage rat" and the "you dirty rat", i never use the Turbo setting, it just lacks that special something.

The "Clean rat" setting is really a beast of it's own, it's got a the typical Rat sound to it, but without the fuzzy overtones, it really is like a "heavy overdrive" version of the classic Rat sound. I play with a guy who uses a TS10 Tubescreamer and has an amazing tone, and our two sounds work together perfectly.

I've never tried the "you dirty rat" pedal, but the dirty rat setting on the Deucetone seems fine to me, i can get some pretty convincing Fu Manchu tones out of it.

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(very old) Rig Photos

it's just really mushy and lifeless. there's absolutely no room for expression (i guess due to the compression), and it lacks any kind of realy bite or crunch. plus, they're expensive. i ended up selling mine and just using my crappy old OS-2 instead because it actually has more bass response and crisper tone.

maybe it'd suit some people's style of playing, but certainly not mine.

Aphoniser - How about you being the new "man of charge"?

Some people think Rats lack some bottom end. That's a quick fix also: http://www.diyguitaramp.com/rat.html

I've been thinking about putting a 3PDT toggle switch on my Rat so I could change between Vintage Rat's and Rat 2's specs

I have an older rat 2 from the late 80's according to the pot codes with the famous LM308 chip in it. There's a slight difference, but the difference is there. It's a little warmer sounding. But that could also be that the 80's pedal is 20 years old and broken in, a lot. That being said, I also have a newer one, a couple of years old before they changed the actual design of the case. The new ones have a slanted case like the turbo rats. The newer one doesn't have the lm308 chip in it. The difference is so small but the new one doesn't sound bad. In my opinion, it still blows every other distortion/overdrive pedal out of the water. Especially for the type of music your playing. If you're interested, I can sell you the newer one, for $50.00 shipped. I have a correct LM308 chip that I bought at small bear electronics but don't have the patience to put in. If you're good with soldering, I'll include it with the pedal. P.M. if your interested.

(sorry to turn this into a spam, I figured I'd ask).

Haha, I learned most of it from you anyway

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Fender Japan 60's Telecaster with Bigsby
Fender Japan Jaguar

Korg DT-10 > Danelectro French Toast > Proco Deucetone Rat > EHX NYC Big Muff > Ibanez FL-9 > Dunlop TS-1 > Artec ADL2 analog delay

Zoom RT-223 > Keeley Boss DD-3 (behringer FX-100 in delay loop)

Musicman 75w 210 combo