The Most Used Pedal In My Entire Collection: My '90s ProCo Rat 2 Distortion | Jay's Toolbox

CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro Jam
1:34 Welcome to Jay's Toolbox
2:29 How I met the Pro Co Rat 2
5:16 Why I Love This Pedal
8:53 Now Let's Play This Thing!
19:44 Goodbye!
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[@lebowski2007]

Similar to your BM story: I traded my green Russian in the box for a case of beer when I was 17…that one still hurts!

[@EthanCaouette]

I own both the Jam rattler ltd and the regular one and they are among my favorites for sure! Stacked with the Lucy dreamer both at lower gain is just magic.

[@DizzySaxophone]

Those first 2 tones on the intro jam were 🔥 Now I need a Rat.

[@2Plus2isChicken2013]

I had a Rat pedal until about a year ago and traded it. I didn't hate it, it was just a victim of a pedal purge. There are two pedals I have that I absolutely must have on my board. The first one is a Boss TU-2 tuner. That's my favorite tuner ever. The second pedal is an Emma ReezaFRATzitz distortion pedal. Out of all the distortion pedals I've tried that one is the best, and I've tried quite a few.

[@sTVG2]

I bought a Lovepedal Eternity Kanji (PCB version) around 2010 and it is my irreplaceable pedal. I liked it so much I bought another Handwired version of the same pedal but it is not quite the same thing at all. I still have it. It has a very unique vibe to it! I could never get rid of it! It has SO MANY beautiful and useful tones!

[@piktormusic2538]

Oh, THAT’S what sag means. Nice! Thanks for this great demo Jay.

[@Fuhgitboutit]

Glorious rock machine is a great explanation

[@craiger2399]

I'm watching this twice just to hear you play.

[@fixedgear37]

I’ve owned Rats for 36 years. Everyone should own one. The new ones sound the same.. chip doesn’t matter.

[@stoneysdead689]

No, it doesn't- I had an old Rat from the 80s that my mother put up for me when I moved out at 18- I'm 52 now. And a couple years ago, I found it in a box in the basement. Long story short- I sold that Rat for close to 700 dollars- went and bought a 40-dollar used Rat2- and never noticed the difference as far as how it sounds. I did notice that extra 650 bucks in my wallet though- bought an Ibanez SP3 with it.

[@fixedgear37]

@@stoneysdead689 Hell yeah. I no longer own any vintage rats. I converted all that to cash and have a $49 used one from GC now. actually sounds better because no scratchy pots.

[@TyroneLoganMusic]

Finally got one last year. Great condition used around $60. I love it.

[@taky2686]

All I know is all my RATs sound a million times better than all my RAT2's.

[@stoneysdead689]

@@taky2686 I agree- they sound maybe 2-3% better- and cost over 10 times as much- what a deal! But hey, I'm sure the family dog and your girlfriend think it's worth every penny. LOL.

[@mattofthemountain]

I too traded away my Black Russian Big Muff a while back (for a DL4), but I recently bought another one so I’d have it in the collection again. And, more in line with the theme of this video, I bought a 90s Turbo Rat this year too.

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

I have a newer rat, but it seriously does almost any dirt sound I could ever want (ok, maybe not octave fuzz, but almost everything). I would feel comfortable showing up to almost any gig with a rat and a tele and would feel comfortable pulling it off.

[@therewasascene]

Hands down my favorite pedal as well. Same model. Started playing electric, got a grunge, hated it, got a rat and never looked back. For a long time I used it almost like a preamp - always on, roll back for clean. Always liked what it did to the EQ and it’s so touch responsive/reactive to the volume knob. Exemplified perfectly by your demo. I run it fairly low gain as well most of the time - but that blown out sag is iconic and a fun tone to visit when called for. It does so much!!

[@vadidrock]

This was my first pedal back in 92. I still love it.

[@dwise3651]

Excellent tribute to the Rat. Loved your playing and energy for years. All the best to you!

[@ronlee2611]

I recently purchased a Rattler. I put together my first Pedaltrain Classic 1 pedalboard. I wanted a distortion pedal and fell for the hype. It's a great stomp box and it is harmonically rich. Fantastic pedal.

[@bryancroad2063]

Great video, I really love the rat. It was my first distortion pedal, I'll always have a special place for it, definitely my board. I did a demo too if you're interested.

[@jeffikus1]

That.Intro.Jam! Love the tone man. Something I've always enjoyed about your playing, is seeing how "into it" you are. Super inspiring man!

[@chrishansondc]

My two favorite pedals that I will never be without are the catalinbread echorec and the chase bliss habit. Both of those pedals changed guitar playing for me forever. I’ve learned so much about listening from delay and looper pedals.

[@thisdyingsoul76]

My favorite pedal is actually fron a local builder. Its basically a klone stacked into a prince of tone copy. What usually do with it is set the klone side to be a clean boost and the POT side to be slightly dirty with a bit of a boost as well, into a slightly dirty amp. Then I can get clean to light crunch with just the amp, a moderate crunch with the POT side and for a singing lead tone I hit stack the klone side into all of that.

[@AdADglgmutShevanel]

I got one brand new less than a year ago for $57. One of my best sounding pedals.

[@jeff1872t]

This was the Rat masterclass I needed. Thanks Jay.

[@admarhermans1]

Just discovered the Rat circuit is ideal for very low gain bass overdrive! Always thought I needed to find a low gain soft clipping transparent OD pedal... I was so wrong! The simple reason why they aren’t built for bass and why most guitar pedals of that kind dont work. David Barber helped me a lot to get that into my scull. 😄 I really dislike high gain or modern fuzz for bass... At lower gain settings and with the great filter knob, the Rat circuit does exactly what I’ve been looking for! I found it in the Rattler Bass pedal by JAM Pedals! 🖖

[@stevenbatke2475]

Never underestimate that Tele neck pickup!

[@LysanderLH]

I have an early Keeley modded Rat with a 3-way switch for different gain profiles. Had it for around 25 years and it’s still more versatile than anything else that has crossed my path since.

[@mykhedelic6471]

Jay is the ultimate attack dog.

[@tusleplopp1]

I really love the rat myself! The Wampler Ratsbane is my favorite of the boutique variants :)

[@fixedgear37]

Or just buy a rat. Boutique is dumb.

[@jeffs.3533]

You are 100% right. RAT pedals are awesome. Just got one after playing for about 20 years. Boy was I missing the fun. I actually got a Drunk Beaver Heavy Bat which has lots of RAT versions. Great video. Thanks!

[@larsfocken3456]

I have got the same one and it's great! I also have a Tele with Bigsby. Great combination. Thanks for this video!

[@reinotsurugi]

Love the RAT and use it constantly, but watching this, I want to go back and play around with rolling back the distortion like you did in the beginning.

[@Gibbo1050]

Got one of the originals around 1989. Still got it and still on my board. Lent it to a friend for a while back in the 90s and it came back missing the battery cover/plate! Still haven't forgiven him for that 😅

[@KoaCharvel]

Love the rat and the variants of it.

[@Sagerydian]

Dude. Is that a Tag Heuer Monaco????

[@RJW14]

dude I got one of these for my birthday last year and damn me, I should've bought one YEEEEARS ago, crazy versatile. Spent half the night jamming on it. Does pink floyd through Sabbath to whatever. Also really fun to run this, dimed, into my boosted marshall type sound, really detonates it.

[@benjohnson4810]

I have a Rat 2 from around '95 and it has been a very good pedal. I've had it 12 years now and wanted to hear a plexi in a box, so i got an ehx od glove and it is awesome. I was gonna sell the Rat, but i haven't yet because it sounds really good too, but not as thick as the od glove.

[@LtCore]

Great video! Have you ever tried the JHS PackRat? I love it!!!

[@craigbragg2842]

Who can't love the RAT? Great demonstration of why it's so terrific and versatile. As far as pedals that don't leave my board, it has the be the Catalinbread Epoch Boost and the Red Witch Famulus OD/Dist.

[@kennethc2466]

Me. I hate that pedal.

[@MykToronto]

Awesome video Jay! I've tried the '90s US versions with both the LM308 and OP07 (the latter was used right before they outsourced production), and found the difference between them was far less pronounced than when compared to a newer rat with an LM308 swapped in. Perhaps part of the magic in the older rats was also due in part tot he other components, such as the diodes. Fortunately there are so many great variants out there. I've found The Drunk Beaver Bat to be the most spot-on! That's my desert island pedal 🤘

[@user-jy3io4iz2p]

Bought mine a year ago, together with SurfTrem my almost always on fav pedal. The Ibanez 850 is close (fuzz) and Warm Audio JetPhaser 😎

[@AM2PMReviews]

This compared to the Distortion + might be a good video too. I remember when my TS808 was so cool but really these rats, Klons, Bluesbreakers etc are what I lean to more now.

[@marki7661]

I’m not sure what the specific circuit differences are on the two JAM rats u mentioned other than an extra diode, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard to either mod it to get it closer to the one you prefer with the symmetrical clipping. If they’re too different to easily mod, I would wait till you come across something that gives you those OG Christmas Rat goosebumps and shivers down the spine vibes, and do a little JAM/RAT pots and pcb transplant. Assuming they just daisy chain all individual pcs’s together the way Pete Cornish used to do for Page and Gilmour.

[@orryfishburne5326]

I like the Rat circuit. Im currently using a JHS PackRat on my guitar board, but my favorite Rat circuit i own is the 903 Effects Rune. The Rune uses LM308H chips which are the tin can version of the LM308 op amps, has a toggle switch to change the clipping diodes from Silicon, LED, and Germanium, has a dip switch inside for a Ruetz mod, and has a second footswitch for a dirty boost thats before the rat circuit. The only reason i have the PackRat on my board over the Rune is because i wanted to try the Rune on a bass board and the PackRat takes up less space

[@infinidominion]

Made it sound like an overdrive 😂

[@thisdyingsoul76]

The Rat is insanely versatile. It has this reputation of being a filthy, untamable beast; but I bought a clone that is supposed to be faithful to the original circuit and component's a while back and was surprised how I was able to get anything from a mild overdrive to wooly fuzz.

[@davidskeie3415]

Chews through any mix!

[@madamp88]

Yes! Awesome - also the pedal I own the longest

[@deanallen927]

Pedal I can't seem to get away from for too long; my Electro Harmonix Electric Mistress Stereo; yes, sue me, it's the digital one. As a lighter, smaller replacement for my Boss RT-20 I just set the speed at 1:00, the Flange at 8:00 and the chorus off and leave it. Beautiful 3D slice through the tone without the big scoop, gain reduction or the plinky metalic sound of other flangers. It LOVES being hit with a 250 or Red Llama. I wish I could put it on a band saw and just saw off the chorus part (ew!) - EHX told me, sadly, this flanger circuit doesn't show up in any single space pedal they make, and it's my favorite.

[@pickledpeppersband1016]

I love the Rat as well but I only use it to push the amp just a little.

[@lavalizard1]

What a great video - I’m a RAT fan too… that was fun. The ONLY pedal I rely on more is the Greer Lightspeed. It’s on my studio and gigging boards and NEVER gets turned off. I use it in a way similar to @MichaelWWestbrook (KZbin) … I treat it as my amp - it fixes any issues I get running into some weird backline setup. But the Rat (and some offshoots like the DRV) are right up there… and heck yeah - a RAT slamming into the Lightspeed.. You ‘ain’t lived until you try that live… FUN.

[@stanleyrimpsonjr]

I just got one. Never used a rat but I love it now! lol! Not the best looking but it’s built like a tank and works! I got it running into TS mini. This is a great budget distortion that’s actually great!!

[@Lalairu]

I use the RAT with a Boss SD1, it boosts very well with overdrives. I love it ❤

[@stanleyrimpsonjr]

@@LalairuI’ll have to try it with an SD-1

[@davitofarito]

I've never tried a Rat that I liked the sound of. They always sound fizzy to me.

[@SandauxBeats]

Mine seems to have like a "clean" signal after I sustain my tone. Like when I hold a note, the distortion and the clean tone signals separates. :( I dunno if it's broken but most people says it's normal. 😭 Bought it new from Amazon a year ago.

[@christianboddum8783]

I could never make it work for my sound though I tried, but fuzzy tones never was my bag either... FWIW

[@wesmitchem825]

Rad a I got a you dirty rat that's modded with a gain boost or a different cap value I'm not sure cause the switch is busted and stuck in gain boost mode but looking at the circuit it looks like the other option is some kinda cap value change the only thing I don't like is that it runs off a male 1/8 inch power plug

[@seanzinger]

I had one a few years ago and it just didn’t sound like this. I could never really get the volume up past 12:00 though. Maybe that was the problem. It sounded good through my Iridium but not though my actual amp.

[@pawelmajor5548]

SZCZUR (RAT) by Tone Charm Audio.

[@DTension]

What is that riff at :11 the first thing he plays.

[@thebrysmith3]

Ok fine. I guess I do want a Rat.

[@peterpeper4837]

Does the Rat play nice with synths?

[@user-jy3io4iz2p]

Use a DS-1 on drummachine (TR-8s).

[@olivier42100]

Oh shit ! better buy one on Reverb before they shoot up 200% 😂

[@Fuhgitboutit]

I got hand surgery and cant make noise with my rats freakin lame

[@R1GAMBLER]

🐭

[@75YBA]

🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀😀

[@slimturnpike]

Love the confirmation bias here.

[@user-qd9mm5mt4i]

If you put a 9v battery in your mouth and yell "Darna!" your hair will all grow back.

[@starshineraiser6729]

Why don’t you reach out to Jam? I have a feeling that if they went through all the hard work to build such a pedal, they wouldn’t mind tweaking it to your liking. I’ve always heard that they’re super cool to deal with.