Doesn't chug like a tight sounding distortion but still sounds big and fat, definitely more of a doom metal pedal. I loved the way rat pedals sound personally.
I player Stoner and Doom. The Rat is perfect for those. It is better to run it into an amp that has a little crunch going on, or use it push another pedal (fuzz is a good one).
That's not chugging. That's an impenetrable wall of bass heavy fuzz. A rat will kind of chug if you boost mids going in, to an extreme degree, and then cut them back out afterwards. But anything will chug with pre and post EQ and enough gain.
Hey Ola! I've been using a Rat for almost 15 years. It needs to be used with a dirty amp; a bluesy crunch. The knobs are quite tricky. Output knob also boosts treble freqs. Filter is a reverse tone control. Distortion boosts mids and turns the Rat into a fuzz box above 60%. Give it another try if you can, I think it can give you some really cool tones.
I worked there in the late 80's early 90's and had 3 rats and a turbo rat. Employees could buy anything for the cost of the parts only so I ended up getting all kinds of cords, snakes, patch bays for myself and my friends. It was a lot of fun working there at that time. Jeff Beck and Gun's N' Roses were just a few of the bigger names that I remember making stuff for.
It's also particularly well suited to single coils. I have a walrus iron horse. It's a rat with the original chip and a clipping selector. I highly recommend it if you like rats
@@Rr0gu3_5uture Yes and no, he used the rat to boost the plexi, i think. A lot of the tone probably came from James modded Plexi, which Kirk also used in the studio.
Yes! Love the RAT! It reacts very differently depending on the amp (and settings) you're using. Also the controls are very sensitive to each other. Usually less gain will sound better, and if you're using an already slightly broken up amp sound, the volume control on the pedal can really push it into a heavy overdrive without too much fuzz (unless you want it to :-)
The Rat is a great pedal plugged into the front of a clean amp. You just need to adjust your rig accordingly, since it doesn't behave like many other distortion pedals. The EQ curve is kind of weird, and the "filter" knob is mostly useless. It's just a tone control wired in reverse. Turning it up kills off your treble response, but doesn't seem to bring out your bass or midrange frequencies at all. I tend to keep the filter knob on zero at all times, and tame the spikey high frequencies using the tone control on my guitar. Usually, players will leave their instrument tone wide open and adjust the EQ settings on their pedals or amp instead. You need to approach things backwards with this pedal. If you don't want to switch pickups or roll off your tone, you could alternatively run some EQ or pre-amp pedal after your instrument but before the Rat. As long as you keep these quirks in mind, the Rat can sound fantastic as a drive unit plugged into the front of your amp. The "fizzy" characteristics aren't coming from the pedal, really. They're in your tone because you need to roll off some treble frequencies before you hit the pedal - especially if you're using humbuckers.
The Rat is incredibly versatile. You can use it got a good garage band sound, classic metal, punk, or grunge. I've done everything from Neil Young to Alice in Chains with this.
The Rat was the sound of Florida death metal in the old days I remember Allen West of Obituray used one as did Trey from Morbid angel so being set properly I think they ran them through a JCM900 😀🤘great video as always
If I am not completely mistaken, Proco RAT was the choice for early 90's black metal also. They got that shrill buzz happening with these pedals and E standard tuning. I bet I am going to get a few guys saying that "gear didn't matter" back then but whatever.
Couple of RAT notes from a life long user: The RAT is not like other distortion pedals in a lot of it's behaviors, and it can take some time to understand how to use it. First, the center "tone" knob works backwards, with an increasingly aggressive hi-cut, that also seems to move the mid-focus downward. My rule of thumb has always been to set it as far to the left as possible with it getting "hissy" or too prone to feedback. Second, they do tend to get fuzz-like the more distortion you add. I always found it most fruitful to think of the distortion level in terms of how much of that color (and volume) I needed to add to turn my amp's natural OD into something gnarly and mean. On it's own, the RAT's distortion is a bit... dry? solid state sterile? It some how doesn't feel like it's interacting with what you're playing, or with the amp white right. Unless you turn up the volume and add the bonus magic. BONUS MAGIC: I have big love for the Rat on high headroom amps. For years, I played a RAT with low distortion and the volume full out to run a Fender Super 60 (one of the crappiest, flabbiest OD channels ever, IMHO) out of pre-amp head room, and sometimes staged other dirt pedals according to the needs of the moment. The boost range in the volume knob on SOME versions can pummel nearly anything into submission, and it should not be underestimated. They are definitely not all created equally, and a lot of ProCo RATs just don't run as hot. And I've yet to find a RAT clone that has the completely ludicrous volume output of my early 1990s model.
Tim Clark dude I've had quite a few of these over the years andi always hated them immensely. This was back in grunge days though lol but man once I really figured out it's place and how's to truly use it is a great dirt box. You're absolutely right on all of the points you listed
Tim's got the right idea. My favorite application for a RAT is to max out the volume, set the filter to 0, and adjust the drive knob to taste. It's like a Maxon or Tube Screamer with hair and grit.
I feel that the RAT sounds good, depending on the amp. I had a client who had a very clean amp and relied on pedals for his sound. It actually sounded pretty good right off the bat. Then there's my lead guitar player for my band. He has a Mesa Boogie Tremoverb. The distortion on that amp sounds sooo much better than the pedal. We did run a few tests on a recording. It definitely lacked the low end when it came to the palm mutes and other reliable frequencies. I tried to compensate that by messing with the amp EQ also. After some tweaking, we just ended up using the amp's distortion with an overdrive pedal. It probably does sound better on amps that have a lot of headroom from what you're saying.
@@lylaznboi01 - This is going to run a bit long, but maybe it'll be helpful. I run two different amps for different applications - The previously mentioned Fender Super 60, and a Blackstar HT Club 50. Neither of these is what I'd call "metal" amp on its own. For the Fender, the catch is that it's a non-master volume amp, and it has to be over the hump for *really* good things to happen in the power section. In my room, it puts out about 115dB at 4. Power amp doesn't sweat until its up around 7. So, on the clean channel, the RAT acts more or less like a super-boost that can get the pre-amp to actually reach a natural breakup a room volumes. For contrast, my EHX Soul Food in clean-boost mode can't get the Fender there even when fully cranked out on output volume. With the RAT into the front, the Fender's OD channel gets tighter and more focused, adds preamp compression, and moves toward what I might characterize as a good hard rock sound that can be run up into some NWBHM and hardcore punk tones by adding filth from the RAT. By running the distortion past noon, and filter up to about 11:00, I start hearing the kinds of fuzz-like characteristics I associate with US doom bands like Sleep from the pedal, which enhance the amps own overdrive channel - usually with the amp gain at less than 2:00. For a 1x12 combo, it's unexpectedly huge sounding, and goes right into Orange territory. The Blackstar has two channels with 2 voicings each. The clean side has one they call the "Boutique" with moderate head room that just reaches breakup (without a boost) with most of my guitars, and a high headroom "modern" voicing that almost never reaches breakup (without a boost). In the clean side, the RAT can help tighten things up in the mid range, and lower the relative headroom, as well as adding grit to taste. However; with this amp the RAT doesn't do quite the same things on the clean side, regardless of how high the output on the pedal is set - the RAT takes over as a tone component, rather like a solid state amp in a box. However, by using the filter knob and moderate dirt, it puts out some really nice blues tones. It's also useful for doing a cleaner pass on multitrack guitars. The OD side of the Blackstar also has two voicings, one that they call "classic" which is more like a crunch channel, and a "modern" channel which I'd characterize as higher gain, with more mid focus, a tighter, punchier low end and more "edge". But neither voicing sounds like what you'd expect from a modern, high-gain metal amp. Which is where the RAT comes in for that rig. It becomes a mechanism to run it into the kind of high gain territory that I think we look for in a metal rig - where I want a lot of filth and sustain, without completely losing the sound of the guitar itself in the dirt. The Blackstar ISF knob is a critical aspect of controlling how the RAT interacts with the amp to this end, insofar as it impacts both the tone stack and seems to impact the interaction of the pre and power amp sections. The settings that I use on the RAT will vary a LOT depending on the amp, the channel and the sound I'm looking for, but it's a reliable one-box 90% solution for getting less than ideal amps to behave and sound the way that I want - and even how I dial in the amp in given situation. Using the RAT effectively is a conversation with the rest of your signal chain, but one that I've found can get me as close to the sound I want (as long as what I want is *more*) without having to stage 2 or more gain devices for anything but coloration.
I did an 80's rat in to a '67 Fender Dual Showman (like a Twin in a head with no reverb) for years. I'd pull two tubes from the Showman to run at 42W and turn it up as loud as I could get away with. Absolutely killer and very reactive to wood and pickup choices. Did everything from EVH to EHG with the right guitar, and a really killer Sabbath Bloody Sabbath-era Iommi tone.
@@charlesrocks Hetfield probably didn't use it with a clean amp sound like in this video. Guns N Roses used Marshall's that were modded to sound heavier than they were normally capable. Alternatively, you can crank a heavy amp and crank a distortion pedal in front of it. Of course, these days there are more options for heavy amps. Seether, on their newest record that has a heavier sound than usual, they used a Vox amp for the clean tone, and a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier for the heavy sound. But that's more expensive than using one amp and a distortion pedal or two. Go back further, and Toni Iommi used a Treble booster to give his amp a little push. The Beatles plugged their guitars directly into the soundboard for Revolution and Helter Skelter. Eddie Van Halen fed his Marshall amps less power than normal to get his sound.
The ProCo Rat is one of my favorite pedals. Awesome fuzz. Works great as a straight distortion. And it's not too shabby as an overdrive either, although at that point, it's kind of like having a sports car and driving it at 10 mph everywhere. Mine has been on the fritz a little bit lately so I'm looking at getting a replacement.
The RAT is best demonstrated on Carcass' "Necroticism" and Obituary's "Cause Of Death". In both cases, it was used as basically an overdrive-on-steroids, in front of dimed Marshall JCM's. An 800 for Obituary and a 900 for Carcass, if memory serves.I have used RAT's and Turbo RAT's in front of Marshall's and old Mesa/Boogie Coliseum heads in the studio on occasion, and got awesome results (specifically for death metal).
Play that pedal through a Valvestate head and instant Obituary! Its more like a fuzz because its an old circuit like the old Muff pedal so theres no refinements to the tone stack. I love my Rat for that old school sound, although the frequency sweep is fairly unusuable at its extremes You should do a Muff pedal at some point. Plug that into an Orange or a Laney head... Doom it up and worship the riff!
One of my favorite pedal to use as a boost on a high gain amp with medium output pickups. I set it up about 9 - 12 - 3 (clock positions). Some guitars likes it better than others, but when it's a good match, it's hard to beat!
Yeah, if you own a Mark IV, unless you get an overdrive pedal for a boost, it doesn’t need a distortion pedal 😂 But I can see why One would want a ProCo Rat pedal. I believe Metallica used them for Kill Em’ All. I managed to dial in a similar tone on my Mark IV straight from the amp. Just gotta sit down and dial it in. I recommend Class A, Triode, Harmonics🤘
@@dylanm.3047 actually, a Tube Screamer and a JCM 800 was used on Ride the Lightning, a Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ plugged into the power stage of a Marshall was used on Master of Puppets, and I think a similar setup to Puppets was used on And Justice for All. I believe the Rat was highly unnecessary with those rigs (keep in mind that Kill em All was recorded on a Plexi).
@@MrDragonkarp James used the Rat though. And sadly, the whereabouts of the amp used on Kill 'em All are unknown, as it got stolen at a gig on the subsequent tour.
Me too. I’ve been wondering if they chug. I even asked the question in a pedal board group, but all I got was a laugh react. I didn’t know if that meant “of course it chugs”, or “don’t be silly”. Now Ola has read my mind and made a video. Thank you my Swede.
Hmmm... Morbid Angel and chug? Not really, imo, there's a lot more going on in MA song structure, chugging is usually in the back seat, Trey Azagthoth uses a lot of different strange lunatic shit and chugging doesn't have a big role there, sometimes it is not even present.
Hi Ola, Great video as always. Keep it up! I have one of these and I recommend the following. A Marshall 2203 or something similar that's already driving and then use the Rat like you use a tube screamer. Volume on max, filter between noon and 1pm, and drive at 9 o'clock and adjust to pickups and chug level required. It's an old school chug, but everyone needs a palete of chuggary in their menu.
Back in the day...it was the go to front of amp boost pedal for metal. Works surprisingly well as a semi-clean boost. That little grit around the edges ;-)
The rat was (is) the distortion pedal that made the jc-120 the early metal sound of Metallica. From the quintessential 80's clean chorus to full thrash metal chug, it was a garage band holy grail.
Hell yea that pedal chugs.. own one and love it!!! Don't use battery's on it though drains the crap out of them fast! Lower the distortion if not you get a fuzz sound
I just bought bought the rat2 and that boss super overdrive! Can’t wait to use it on my orange combo. Ola has helped me max out my credit card and I’m ok with it
The RAT sounds even more sick with the gain on the amp set to allow the distortion from the pedal to push the amp a little bit. You wind up getting something that sounds really close to Morbid Angel and it sounds sick.
I just got one of these last week along with a Blues Driver. Still trying to find a proper tone with it. The Blues Driver oddly enough got me a tone Im really happy with .
Hell yeah! I live in Kalamazoo Mi, and worked for ProCo for 8 years before they closed. Charlie Wicks was a great man and a friend to all. I ran a Mazak CO2 laser that cut out the bodies before bending and powder coat. Great times!
I have two of these, my dad's old one from like 86 and my own that I bought in like 99. They are very similar sounding but the older one has tighter mid range. I don't find it very " chuggy" but it is one on of my fav distortions. I also find the extra treble/attack from my SSH strat makes it closer to some chug like shenanigans. Anyways a good distortion that every studio and guitarist should have in their arsenal. Ha det bäst!
I worked at a screen printing company Impact Label Corporation in Kalamazoo Michigan USA where Gibson Guitars was located (Heritage Guitars which Alex Skolnick plays, was a part of Gibson remains in Kalamazoo.) Impact Label Corporation prints the graphics label for Rat. I printed thousands of these labels with glow in the dark ink black and red. I also printed Gibson labels for the headstocks of Gibson guitars
It sounded awesome into the fx loop and with a boost. This could be a nice way to do something different and not sound like everyone else. Just need to plug this direct to an interface and use something like the torpedo "wall of sound" and you are set for recording.
The Fuzzrocious Cat Tail has knobs to affect the clipping on the high and low frequencies. If you cut the bass frequencies and almost max the high end frequencies into an amp just breaking up it will easily chug. Running a boost into it also makes it chug.
I owed a Rat pedal by in the 1980's. it is NOT a great sounding overdrive pedal, but it is the best we had in the way of a distortion/overdrive pedals back in the day. Today, there are much better sounding pedals. The Rat is too fizzy and raspy for my taste, but on the pedal, if if you turn down the raspy distortion knob and turn up the volume knob, it can drive the front end of a good tube amp.
I like to use a little taste of tube screamer when using the lead amp on my Boss Katana plus reverb or delay, play riff of 80's heavy metal. But if you dont add reverb or delay and change to brown amp you can chug
The Rat works best, for me at least, when used with other pedals, like fuzz, boost, and od. As a stand-alone effect, I find it to be somewhat less versatile tonally than what I want in a pedal, plus the overall sound, by itself, feels a bit thin. I have learned that it does bring a certain flavor to my tone that is hard to pin down, but definitely, noticeably there: when used alongside other drive-type pedals in front of the amp, it fills out the sound very nicely. Sort of a "secret sauce" pedal, if that makes any sense. And yet I don't care for nor do I still own any Big Muff pedals, so go ahead and start casting aspersions. That's why they run the races: because everybody likes a different horse. Nice job, Ola.
@@antonycharest4719 a stock RAT does suck some bass, but it's quite minimal. If you're already using a EQ setting on the amp with plenty of bass and enough of the low mids you should be OK.
I run a TS808 clone with a little more treble with no gain but the volume dimed and tone at like 11 o’clock to boost the super low End feel of the rat. Helps bring out the clarity of the high end notes and but still has a lot of fat low end to it
I worked for a company in Kalamazoo Michigan Impact Label Corporation that printed all types of labels. I worked in the screen printing department as a Lead Press Operator where we screen printed the control panel for the Rat. First you do the black and then the glow in the dark ink. We also printed Gibson labels Gibson Guitars use to be in Kalamazoo. Heritage Guitars are made there now. Loved to print these labels to further the cause of Metal
It was these old RATS, OCDs, Tube Screamers and the like that helped build the metal scene. Hell, I'm sure even late 60's Fuzz Faces can be used for metal.
I have an original RAT that is in a box made from flat steel that is bent into shape. When it quit working I sent it to ProCo in Kalamazoo Michigan and they fixed it and shipped it home to me with a free t-shirt - RAT STOMP ON IT. It is still prominently displayed on my pedalboard.
Obituary tone is jcm800 with a rat. Bass on 10, zero mids, and treble on about 6. The rat is distortion on 7, filter one 2-3, and volume around 6-8. I just got a rat last week so I've been researching
It's wednesday and we all know what that means!
.
.
It means nothing... it's just wednesday...
IT'S WEDNESDAY MY DUDES
@@gibek2600 aaaaAAAAAAAAAA
It doesn't chug just throw it to garbage basket.
Its HUMP DAY!
I got my taxes back, bought a Jackson Rhodes V, Orange amp and called in sick. Damn right it’s a Wednesday.
Will It Chug: Twin Reverb with no pedals
I want to see this lol.
It won’t chug but it’ll peel the paint off the walls...
It is rumored to achieve time travel via sonic dissolution of nearby musicians. They come back changed.
Yass please
Rolland jazz chorus with no pedal
A Swedish wise man once said "it will chug, if you push the strings hard"
otuzdortistanbul I don’t know why it sounds dirty but it does LoL 😂
Unless it's that Dime Drive pedal. That failed horribly.
@otuzdortistanbul This was beautiful^^^ bravo.
The same one that said "if you want, you can bascially make anything chug with the help of an overdrive"? Yeah, I think I know that wise old man.
@@JonManProductions nah
Doesn't chug like a tight sounding distortion but still sounds big and fat, definitely more of a doom metal pedal. I loved the way rat pedals sound personally.
I'm in a group on Facebook for Doom players and a lot of the guys in the group use it. For DOOM, I suggest using it to push a Big Muff
I player Stoner and Doom. The Rat is perfect for those. It is better to run it into an amp that has a little crunch going on, or use it push another pedal (fuzz is a good one).
Sounds Megadeth ish to me
It's more of a fuzz than distortion, to be honest. This isn't really a hi-gain metal pedal, but if you put an OD pedal before it, it does wonders
If you pair this with a tubescreamer to tighten it up a bit its an old school metal machine.
ola-"will it chug"
every stoner sludge band-"do we look like a joke to you?"
@Jon Goat You're not qualified to answer that
...but seems to me, that most sludge bands rely on the bassplayer to make some chug/boom, and that's cool !
@@Kenneth.W.63 No sir. Try downtuning to C Standard or something!
That's not chugging. That's an impenetrable wall of bass heavy fuzz.
A rat will kind of chug if you boost mids going in, to an extreme degree, and then cut them back out afterwards. But anything will chug with pre and post EQ and enough gain.
Hey Ola! I've been using a Rat for almost 15 years. It needs to be used with a dirty amp; a bluesy crunch. The knobs are quite tricky. Output knob also boosts treble freqs. Filter is a reverse tone control. Distortion boosts mids and turns the Rat into a fuzz box above 60%. Give it another try if you can, I think it can give you some really cool tones.
Frrr will it chug videos are always great but I can’t say the rat was done justice here
@@ericwoods8340
I concur. He turns the distortion down more on his other reviews.
I worked there in the late 80's early 90's and had 3 rats and a turbo rat. Employees could buy anything for the cost of the parts only so I ended up getting all kinds of cords, snakes, patch bays for myself and my friends. It was a lot of fun working there at that time. Jeff Beck and Gun's N' Roses were just a few of the bigger names that I remember making stuff for.
Just listened to a complete history of Proco today. Thats an awesome story!
YES FINALLY! I've been waiting for this forever
Did you get one ???
Ce faci nicu aicia
Actually it's not chugging
One of my all time favorite dirt pedals. Best suited for the earthquake-y style distortion usually found in doom and sludge IMO.
I didn't know goats played guitar!
Your delusional
@@BrianBower It's not easy, but I make it work.
It's also particularly well suited to single coils. I have a walrus iron horse. It's a rat with the original chip and a clipping selector. I highly recommend it if you like rats
5:08 And all the doomers go like "Yeaaaahh! That`s the sound!"
It really do be like that lmao
Yeah pretty much
The sound of doom! Possibly the best pedal ever!
brb listening to Goatsnake
Yep. My first reaction as well. The gorgeous sound of doom
RAT and BIG MUFF!
@@Rr0gu3_5uture Yes and no, he used the rat to boost the plexi, i think. A lot of the tone probably came from James modded Plexi, which Kirk also used in the studio.
I love this comment lol
New you tube series “ Ola Does Fuzz”.
Yes! Love the RAT! It reacts very differently depending on the amp (and settings) you're using. Also the controls are very sensitive to each other. Usually less gain will sound better, and if you're using an already slightly broken up amp sound, the volume control on the pedal can really push it into a heavy overdrive without too much fuzz (unless you want it to :-)
Shit gets serious when the pedal is plugged in the front
Not every pedal is an MT2, Ola.
The Rat is a great pedal plugged into the front of a clean amp. You just need to adjust your rig accordingly, since it doesn't behave like many other distortion pedals. The EQ curve is kind of weird, and the "filter" knob is mostly useless. It's just a tone control wired in reverse. Turning it up kills off your treble response, but doesn't seem to bring out your bass or midrange frequencies at all. I tend to keep the filter knob on zero at all times, and tame the spikey high frequencies using the tone control on my guitar. Usually, players will leave their instrument tone wide open and adjust the EQ settings on their pedals or amp instead. You need to approach things backwards with this pedal. If you don't want to switch pickups or roll off your tone, you could alternatively run some EQ or pre-amp pedal after your instrument but before the Rat. As long as you keep these quirks in mind, the Rat can sound fantastic as a drive unit plugged into the front of your amp. The "fizzy" characteristics aren't coming from the pedal, really. They're in your tone because you need to roll off some treble frequencies before you hit the pedal - especially if you're using humbuckers.
Run it in front with a flat graphic eq and it tightens up the Rat to MT-2 levels of tightness. That is my setup Jcm900 + Rat + Rane EQ.
vht4me I'll just stick with my MT2, lol, actually I have been using a boss ME50, the MT2 built into it sounds awesome with the flanger on but set on 0
Why did everything go downhill when ge plugged it into the front? I thought that was the was the way you made it sound good, not the other way
The Rat is incredibly versatile. You can use it got a good garage band sound, classic metal, punk, or grunge. I've done everything from Neil Young to Alice in Chains with this.
The Rat was the sound of Florida death metal in the old days I remember Allen West of Obituray used one as did Trey from Morbid angel so being set properly I think they ran them through a JCM900 😀🤘great video as always
Obituary uses 800's and rat.with the bass on 10, 0 mids, and treble at around 6-7
Trey is also still using 900's at a rack unit rat. I love that the old school guys never change
If I am not completely mistaken, Proco RAT was the choice for early 90's black metal also. They got that shrill buzz happening with these pedals and E standard tuning. I bet I am going to get a few guys saying that "gear didn't matter" back then but whatever.
@@2free2snakes haha black metal guys sometimes try too hard for things to not matter sometimes.
@@2free2snakes nah, they were using a Boss pedal
The new signs look great. The entire set up is much more appealing.
That Rat Distortion is awesome.
Couple of RAT notes from a life long user:
The RAT is not like other distortion pedals in a lot of it's behaviors, and it can take some time to understand how to use it.
First, the center "tone" knob works backwards, with an increasingly aggressive hi-cut, that also seems to move the mid-focus downward. My rule of thumb has always been to set it as far to the left as possible with it getting "hissy" or too prone to feedback.
Second, they do tend to get fuzz-like the more distortion you add. I always found it most fruitful to think of the distortion level in terms of how much of that color (and volume) I needed to add to turn my amp's natural OD into something gnarly and mean. On it's own, the RAT's distortion is a bit... dry? solid state sterile? It some how doesn't feel like it's interacting with what you're playing, or with the amp white right. Unless you turn up the volume and add the bonus magic.
BONUS MAGIC: I have big love for the Rat on high headroom amps. For years, I played a RAT with low distortion and the volume full out to run a Fender Super 60 (one of the crappiest, flabbiest OD channels ever, IMHO) out of pre-amp head room, and sometimes staged other dirt pedals according to the needs of the moment.
The boost range in the volume knob on SOME versions can pummel nearly anything into submission, and it should not be underestimated. They are definitely not all created equally, and a lot of ProCo RATs just don't run as hot. And I've yet to find a RAT clone that has the completely ludicrous volume output of my early 1990s model.
Tim Clark dude I've had quite a few of these over the years andi always hated them immensely. This was back in grunge days though lol but man once I really figured out it's place and how's to truly use it is a great dirt box. You're absolutely right on all of the points you listed
Tim's got the right idea. My favorite application for a RAT is to max out the volume, set the filter to 0, and adjust the drive knob to taste. It's like a Maxon or Tube Screamer with hair and grit.
I feel that the RAT sounds good, depending on the amp. I had a client who had a very clean amp and relied on pedals for his sound. It actually sounded pretty good right off the bat. Then there's my lead guitar player for my band. He has a Mesa Boogie Tremoverb. The distortion on that amp sounds sooo much better than the pedal. We did run a few tests on a recording. It definitely lacked the low end when it came to the palm mutes and other reliable frequencies. I tried to compensate that by messing with the amp EQ also. After some tweaking, we just ended up using the amp's distortion with an overdrive pedal. It probably does sound better on amps that have a lot of headroom from what you're saying.
@@lylaznboi01 - This is going to run a bit long, but maybe it'll be helpful. I run two different amps for different applications - The previously mentioned Fender Super 60, and a Blackstar HT Club 50. Neither of these is what I'd call "metal" amp on its own.
For the Fender, the catch is that it's a non-master volume amp, and it has to be over the hump for *really* good things to happen in the power section. In my room, it puts out about 115dB at 4. Power amp doesn't sweat until its up around 7. So, on the clean channel, the RAT acts more or less like a super-boost that can get the pre-amp to actually reach a natural breakup a room volumes. For contrast, my EHX Soul Food in clean-boost mode can't get the Fender there even when fully cranked out on output volume.
With the RAT into the front, the Fender's OD channel gets tighter and more focused, adds preamp compression, and moves toward what I might characterize as a good hard rock sound that can be run up into some NWBHM and hardcore punk tones by adding filth from the RAT. By running the distortion past noon, and filter up to about 11:00, I start hearing the kinds of fuzz-like characteristics I associate with US doom bands like Sleep from the pedal, which enhance the amps own overdrive channel - usually with the amp gain at less than 2:00. For a 1x12 combo, it's unexpectedly huge sounding, and goes right into Orange territory.
The Blackstar has two channels with 2 voicings each. The clean side has one they call the "Boutique" with moderate head room that just reaches breakup (without a boost) with most of my guitars, and a high headroom "modern" voicing that almost never reaches breakup (without a boost). In the clean side, the RAT can help tighten things up in the mid range, and lower the relative headroom, as well as adding grit to taste. However; with this amp the RAT doesn't do quite the same things on the clean side, regardless of how high the output on the pedal is set - the RAT takes over as a tone component, rather like a solid state amp in a box. However, by using the filter knob and moderate dirt, it puts out some really nice blues tones. It's also useful for doing a cleaner pass on multitrack guitars.
The OD side of the Blackstar also has two voicings, one that they call "classic" which is more like a crunch channel, and a "modern" channel which I'd characterize as higher gain, with more mid focus, a tighter, punchier low end and more "edge". But neither voicing sounds like what you'd expect from a modern, high-gain metal amp. Which is where the RAT comes in for that rig. It becomes a mechanism to run it into the kind of high gain territory that I think we look for in a metal rig - where I want a lot of filth and sustain, without completely losing the sound of the guitar itself in the dirt.
The Blackstar ISF knob is a critical aspect of controlling how the RAT interacts with the amp to this end, insofar as it impacts both the tone stack and seems to impact the interaction of the pre and power amp sections.
The settings that I use on the RAT will vary a LOT depending on the amp, the channel and the sound I'm looking for, but it's a reliable one-box 90% solution for getting less than ideal amps to behave and sound the way that I want - and even how I dial in the amp in given situation. Using the RAT effectively is a conversation with the rest of your signal chain, but one that I've found can get me as close to the sound I want (as long as what I want is *more*) without having to stage 2 or more gain devices for anything but coloration.
I did an 80's rat in to a '67 Fender Dual Showman (like a Twin in a head with no reverb) for years. I'd pull two tubes from the Showman to run at 42W and turn it up as loud as I could get away with. Absolutely killer and very reactive to wood and pickup choices. Did everything from EVH to EHG with the right guitar, and a really killer Sabbath Bloody Sabbath-era Iommi tone.
James Hetfield used a ProCo Rat with a Marshall in the Kill Em All
I don't believe you.
@@charlesrocks www.soundaffects.com/blog/2018/08/rat-race-ten-guitarists-who-love-the-proco-rat/
He also used alcohol and drugs to kill his career...
@@thegoodguy44 Was that before or after the black album?
@@charlesrocks Hetfield probably didn't use it with a clean amp sound like in this video. Guns N Roses used Marshall's that were modded to sound heavier than they were normally capable. Alternatively, you can crank a heavy amp and crank a distortion pedal in front of it. Of course, these days there are more options for heavy amps. Seether, on their newest record that has a heavier sound than usual, they used a Vox amp for the clean tone, and a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier for the heavy sound. But that's more expensive than using one amp and a distortion pedal or two. Go back further, and Toni Iommi used a Treble booster to give his amp a little push. The Beatles plugged their guitars directly into the soundboard for Revolution and Helter Skelter. Eddie Van Halen fed his Marshall amps less power than normal to get his sound.
I loved the sound when he put in front of the amp, yes it doesn’t sound like a traditional but it’s so chunky I love it
Time for another kitchen cover "there's a rat in my kitchen, what am I gonna do?"
Chug bro chug
Are you gonna fix that rat? 🎵 are you gonna fix that rat?🎵
Wait... is this a UB40 reference on a Will it Chug video??
3:02 sounding like a Weedeater riff. Stoney.
yes this is a pedal more design for stoner/doom/grungy tones
@@TheSumfuck Sludgey
The ProCo Rat is one of my favorite pedals. Awesome fuzz. Works great as a straight distortion. And it's not too shabby as an overdrive either, although at that point, it's kind of like having a sports car and driving it at 10 mph everywhere. Mine has been on the fritz a little bit lately so I'm looking at getting a replacement.
Trevor from Obituary uses this pedal! And man, that shit chugs....
Obituary 🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽
Absolutely, Obituary.
That's his whole board... tuner, Rat, gate = chuggage
Their live show is still freaking unbelievable
@@dylandonis4590 Agreed, I saw them last year and I think they ripped the flesh off my face, and also broke my neck/spine 🤘😂
Definitely worth redoing with a Plexi or JCM style amp for sure :)
The RAT is best demonstrated on Carcass' "Necroticism" and Obituary's "Cause Of Death". In both cases, it was used as basically an overdrive-on-steroids, in front of dimed Marshall JCM's. An 800 for Obituary and a 900 for Carcass, if memory serves.I have used RAT's and Turbo RAT's in front of Marshall's and old Mesa/Boogie Coliseum heads in the studio on occasion, and got awesome results (specifically for death metal).
Shure yhew did, Shitdick, shure yhew did...
Obituary tone... is fucking killer.
5:04 - Ola discovering what sunn o))) is all about
....almost the chord did not last 3 years though
80’s Florida death metal bands would argue that this pedal will certainly chug, and when used with a 7-string, may cause satanic possession.
*God of Emptiness slowly fades in* 🤘😏
Satanic possession? I kindda like that...
Obituary has used the Rat for decades
Play that pedal through a Valvestate head and instant Obituary! Its more like a fuzz because its an old circuit like the old Muff pedal so theres no refinements to the tone stack. I love my Rat for that old school sound, although the frequency sweep is fairly unusuable at its extremes
You should do a Muff pedal at some point. Plug that into an Orange or a Laney head... Doom it up and worship the riff!
Preach Digi !
Regardless of the Chug or lack thereof, your testing helped me decide on buying this pedal for the sound i need. Great video!!!
5:12 yeah, that's the Sunn O))) sound, you can see it sounds really good with long/droney chords
One of my favorite pedal to use as a boost on a high gain amp with medium output pickups.
I set it up about 9 - 12 - 3 (clock positions).
Some guitars likes it better than others, but when it's a good match, it's hard to beat!
I just ordered one. Stoked
I still run my Rat purchased in '86 through my Mesa Mark IV with a screamer.
The Mark IV doesn’t need either of those, though.
They work really nice with an overdrive
Same dude, mines a newer rat though.
@@FEAROWNAGE the rat needs the mark iv.
Yeah, if you own a Mark IV, unless you get an overdrive pedal for a boost, it doesn’t need a distortion pedal 😂 But I can see why One would want a ProCo Rat pedal. I believe Metallica used them for Kill Em’ All. I managed to dial in a similar tone on my Mark IV straight from the amp. Just gotta sit down and dial it in. I recommend Class A, Triode, Harmonics🤘
1:10 killed me for about 10 minutes wondering what that reminds me of, then I nailed it… Led Zeppelin, Ten Years After
This was used on Kill 'em All.
Dion R and master of puppets, ride the lightning, as well as justice for all
@@dylanm.3047 actually, a Tube Screamer and a JCM 800 was used on Ride the Lightning, a Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ plugged into the power stage of a Marshall was used on Master of Puppets, and I think a similar setup to Puppets was used on And Justice for All. I believe the Rat was highly unnecessary with those rigs (keep in mind that Kill em All was recorded on a Plexi).
DS1* by kirk into a marshall
@@MrDragonkarp James used the Rat though. And sadly, the whereabouts of the amp used on Kill 'em All are unknown, as it got stolen at a gig on the subsequent tour.
@@dionr1168 the mark iic++ was only slaved into the marshall for some of kirk's solo on mop, great info though!
Rat sounds just unique! Mix of a fuzz and distortion but not a first nor a second. I like it very much.
I was hoping for this to happen and it did, a demo of the rat.
I've been trying to get Colin over at CSGuitars to demo one for a few years and he never has, so this is a treat.
Me too. I’ve been wondering if they chug. I even asked the question in a pedal board group, but all I got was a laugh react. I didn’t know if that meant “of course it chugs”, or “don’t be silly”.
Now Ola has read my mind and made a video. Thank you my Swede.
@@edwardsullivan5530 Depends on your entire FX chain, I'm certain.
"It didn't chug"
*Morbid Angel has left the chat
Hmmm... Morbid Angel and chug? Not really, imo, there's a lot more going on in MA song structure, chugging is usually in the back seat, Trey Azagthoth uses a lot of different strange lunatic shit and chugging doesn't have a big role there, sometimes it is not even present.
@Curly Que palm muting isn't the same thing as chugging
Hi Ola,
Great video as always. Keep it up!
I have one of these and I recommend the following. A Marshall 2203 or something similar that's already driving and then use the Rat like you use a tube screamer. Volume on max, filter between noon and 1pm, and drive at 9 o'clock and adjust to pickups and chug level required. It's an old school chug, but everyone needs a palete of chuggary in their menu.
Like how your legit astonished at every sound that comes out of your amp.
5:12 is 100% Soundgarden's Fourth of July!
Back in the day...it was the go to front of amp boost pedal for metal.
Works surprisingly well as a semi-clean boost. That little grit around the edges ;-)
The rat was (is) the distortion pedal that made the jc-120 the early metal sound of Metallica. From the quintessential 80's clean chorus to full thrash metal chug, it was a garage band holy grail.
I think Ola is one of the best music-oriented people on TH-cam. Anyone else agree?
Me last night: God I hope Bernie wins Texas
Me right now: God I hope Ola can make the Rat chug
Dude they will never let him win. It's rigged Joe Biden will win the whole process was a scam.
Wake up the party is rotten beyond repair.
Just hope for the best
@@Soldano999 maybe its time for the states to move away from the whole two party thing and shift more focus on the house and senate.
@@Soldano999 yup, just ask Seth Rich...........oh wait........
Prophetic.
Hell yea that pedal chugs.. own one and love it!!! Don't use battery's on it though drains the crap out of them fast! Lower the distortion if not you get a fuzz sound
6:14 is such a sick tone, crazy that it comes from two pedals that came out in 78-79.
I just bought bought the rat2 and that boss super overdrive! Can’t wait to use it on my orange combo. Ola has helped me max out my credit card and I’m ok with it
This pedal is the biggest part of Obituarys tone. Please do a tone video for Obituary!
I’m ready for the series “Can Ola Get it to Chug?” Episode 1: Telecaster>DS1>Twin Reverb
"Reminds me of fried chicken". Exactly, that's what I was thinking : )
Obituary's Cause Of Death sound in a box!
Lol, I hate the guitar tone on that album so much.
James Murphy use this pedal?
@@airieshahzad3991 Only in the rhythm parts. He used a Tube Screamer into a JCM 800 for the lead tones.
@@AlexRamosDrTaz all this while I think he use Boss HM2 hahahaha
@@airieshahzad3991 No, but Trevor Peres
The RAT sounds even more sick with the gain on the amp set to allow the distortion from the pedal to push the amp a little bit. You wind up getting something that sounds really close to Morbid Angel and it sounds sick.
The legendary ProCo Rat...the pedal that makes you EARN its chug!
This guy never fails to put a smile on my face. He definitely a character.👍👍
I just got one of these last week along with a Blues Driver. Still trying to find a proper tone with it. The Blues Driver oddly enough got me a tone Im really happy with .
Blues driver kills. Ola should do that one. The guy from All Them Witches used to use a blues driver as a fuzz/distortion. Sounded awesome
Legit shoegaze foundation
@@xNimrod97x yeah I've always kinda avoided the Blues driver. That pedal can do much more than the name would have you believe.
Try a tube screamer instead!
You totally commented about this in one of the facebook groups I'm in
That's pretty much how I've use my Rat pedal for years. Pushed with an overdrive... and I use a tube screamer and it sounds savage!
I'm a simple man. I see Rat pedal, I click.
You're a very simple man. I enjoy it.
sounds better through the effects loop. Through the front its shit
Hell yeah! I live in Kalamazoo Mi, and worked for ProCo for 8 years before they closed. Charlie Wicks was a great man and a friend to all. I ran a Mazak CO2 laser that cut out the bodies before bending and powder coat. Great times!
I have two of these, my dad's old one from like 86 and my own that I bought in like 99. They are very similar sounding but the older one has tighter mid range. I don't find it very " chuggy" but it is one on of my fav distortions. I also find the extra treble/attack from my SSH strat makes it closer to some chug like shenanigans. Anyways a good distortion that every studio and guitarist should have in their arsenal.
Ha det bäst!
WOW! Haven't a RAT in a long time. Love this channel, you never know what you're going to see.
In the late 70's the Ratt was the nastiest distortion pedal available. It also had a rep for making shitty amps sound good.
I worked at a screen printing company Impact Label Corporation in Kalamazoo Michigan USA where Gibson Guitars was located (Heritage Guitars which Alex Skolnick plays, was a part of Gibson remains in Kalamazoo.) Impact Label Corporation prints the graphics label for Rat. I printed thousands of these labels with glow in the dark ink black and red. I also printed Gibson labels for the headstocks of Gibson guitars
Doom or be doomed.
When you first plugged into the front of the amp, the sound/tone reminded me of the band Electric Wizard.
Electric Wizard uses a Univox Super Fuzz pedal. Can't find one? Try the Behringer Superfuzz or the Boss FZ-2.
It sounded awesome into the fx loop and with a boost. This could be a nice way to do something different and not sound like everyone else.
Just need to plug this direct to an interface and use something like the torpedo "wall of sound" and you are set for recording.
The Fuzzrocious Cat Tail has knobs to affect the clipping on the high and low frequencies. If you cut the bass frequencies and almost max the high end frequencies into an amp just breaking up it will easily chug. Running a boost into it also makes it chug.
I owed a Rat pedal by in the 1980's. it is NOT a great sounding overdrive pedal, but it is the best we had in the way of a distortion/overdrive pedals back in the day. Today, there are much better sounding pedals. The Rat is too fizzy and raspy for my taste, but on the pedal, if if you turn down the raspy distortion knob and turn up the volume knob, it can drive the front end of a good tube amp.
Exactly. I will take a BE OD Friedman or a Dirty Shirley over a Rat. Or a TS9 .
What were the other options you had back in the 80s? Ds1?
@@kianhowtan2429 mxr 104 + distortion, tube screamer, DOD pedals.
It goes from od, through distortion right to the edge of fuzz. It is a great pedal, and your comment was very apt!
Jame's tone on Kill 'em All was a Rat into a JCM800. So yeah, a Rat will chug
You sir are wrong kill em all was with a JMP
I’m pretty sure he didn’t use jcm800 until RTL
Adding an overdrive makes any distortion pedal sound better in my opinion. It helps push mids especially with the tube screamer
I like to use a little taste of tube screamer when using the lead amp on my Boss Katana plus reverb or delay, play riff of 80's heavy metal. But if you dont add reverb or delay and change to brown amp you can chug
TS>Rat=some of the best metal tones you'll ever hear.
Haha nice one :)
The first time I went to Sweetwater, I bought a RAT. It's such a great pedal.
Sounds really cool with the overdrive in front!
The Rat works best, for me at least, when used with other pedals, like fuzz, boost, and od. As a stand-alone effect, I find it to be somewhat less versatile tonally than what I want in a pedal, plus the overall sound, by itself, feels a bit thin. I have learned that it does bring a certain flavor to my tone that is hard to pin down, but definitely, noticeably there: when used alongside other drive-type pedals in front of the amp, it fills out the sound very nicely. Sort of a "secret sauce" pedal, if that makes any sense. And yet I don't care for nor do I still own any Big Muff pedals, so go ahead and start casting aspersions. That's why they run the races: because everybody likes a different horse. Nice job, Ola.
If you don't know what chugging is, it's this: CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG
Accurate
My buddy Lance got his in 1980 & still works . I have one in my collection too. They're great.
That got doomish in a hurry.
Agreed, good tone colour pedal imo
Trey from morbid angel uses this I love how raw his tone is especially on covenent and blessed are the sick
I use a RAT on my bass rig and it CHUGS
DoctorQuicksand do you blend it in a wait or is this sucking all the bass?
@@antonycharest4719 a stock RAT does suck some bass, but it's quite minimal. If you're already using a EQ setting on the amp with plenty of bass and enough of the low mids you should be OK.
This guy rules the world. Love the way he always says "4 by 12" instead of just 4 12. :)
I've always heard rumors that these were a big part of early metallica sound.
Only Kill 'em all. James also used a modded marshall plexi, but it got stolen
I run a TS808 clone with a little more treble with no gain but the volume dimed and tone at like 11 o’clock to boost the super low End feel of the rat. Helps bring out the clarity of the high end notes and but still has a lot of fat low end to it
New show idea: "Will it Fuzz?"
I worked for a company in Kalamazoo Michigan Impact Label Corporation that printed all types of labels. I worked in the screen printing department as a Lead Press Operator where we screen printed the control panel for the Rat. First you do the black and then the glow in the dark ink. We also printed Gibson labels Gibson Guitars use to be in Kalamazoo. Heritage Guitars are made there now. Loved to print these labels to further the cause of Metal
Do a video on Mesa Boogie JP-2C, I would love to hear your thoughts on that amp.
Or Mike Wead on Coffee with Ola!
Of course it will. The mighty Rat will do anything. Can't believe this is even a question.
I watched the video just thinking the whole time "just get rid of the rat and run a TS into the dirt channel of the Randall Satan"
I'm on my third Ibanez Tube-screamer.
It was these old RATS, OCDs, Tube Screamers and the like that helped build the metal scene. Hell, I'm sure even late 60's Fuzz Faces can be used for metal.
3:01 Elysian Fields by Megadeth
Love the grit behind it. Fun pedal, very diverse range of genres when paired with different amps. Well worth a buy
"will it chug!" Timer starts at 37 seconds.
Yes
Donnow wai
Always thought of it as a rock pedal. Not surprised it doesn't chug, but I like it a lot.
It chugh's in a Doom way.
I have an original RAT that is in a box made from flat steel that is bent into shape. When it quit working I sent it to ProCo in Kalamazoo Michigan and they fixed it and shipped it home to me with a free t-shirt - RAT STOMP ON IT. It is still prominently displayed on my pedalboard.
Trevor Peres of Obituary uses one.
Spot on plugging an overdrive. James Hetfield used it in the past and Obituary used it to achieve their monstrous Celtic Frost on steroids sound.
Rat in the effects loop sounds a bit like Slowly we rot. Is that the sound? Or how do I get the legendary Slowly we rot sound?! I want it!!
Turn the tone knob on your guitar all the way down, guitar>rat>fx-return on amp
Obituary tone is jcm800 with a rat. Bass on 10, zero mids, and treble on about 6. The rat is distortion on 7, filter one 2-3, and volume around 6-8. I just got a rat last week so I've been researching
@@clintn6677 thanks mate!!
@@Sagerydian th-cam.com/video/YUp2_nWe1xY/w-d-xo.html here is a rig rundown so it will show you all the details
Clint Norwood i suppose you’ll have to adjust the treble with different guitars and pick ups?
Flotsam and Jetsam used to drive their M/B Triaxis pre/Strategy 500 PA rig with the Rat pedal for their leads back in the 90s.
The return of Satan.