Vintage vs Modern - RAT
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Tonight we get to play through one of the most sought-after pedals, a 1984 White Faced Rat. So vintage there isn't even an LED light on it! We put it up again our favorite Rat pedals, the 1981 DRV and the Walrus Audio Iron Horse v3.
So, is Vintage still the best? You can decide.
Signal Chain:
1989 Custom Squier Strat - Seymour Duncan Little '59 Humbucker
Walrus Audio Iron Horse v3
1981 DRV
Pro Co Rat 1984 White Face
Strymon El Cap v2 (stereo)
Universal Audio Dream (stereo)
All connected with our favorite patch cables and the only ones we use! Ernie Ball Flat Ribbon Patch Cables
As an old hack guitarist i've been playing original ProCo Rats, Rat mods, and derivatives of Rat circuits for longer than i'd like to admit. The biggest issue with ProCo Rats is wild inconsistency between one pedal to other. There are distinctly different components in different years, and even production runs within a year, with wildly different tolerances, and the QC was always suspect. More of the OG Rats than not have a high noise floor, regardless of gain settings, and they're notoriously unreliable. That doesn't mean you can't have one that's lasted for ages, and sounds great, but the reality is the next 20 off the line may have been broken in 6 months, or sounded distinctly different... much like anything made by EHX. It's a product of the designer or company making the conscious decision to get the cheapest components and choosing the quickest manufacturing options for margins, and figuring it's close enough.
I'm a fan of the DRV because the additional preamp gives it a depth & thickness that I don't hear in most Rats, especially on low to medium gain. It can ape pretty much all the high gain Rat tones, but it it's not introducing more noise (other than the gain) and it seems to soften a little bit of that fingernails on chalkboard high end that most original ProCo Rats have.
My final point of differentiation would be the build quality and QC of the DRV is objectively superior. They sound the same from one unit to another and they're gig ready and road reliable. I recall thrash band buddies hauling around 2 or 3 spare Rats to gigs because they didn't trust that little black box to go BRRRRRR for an entire show.
😂 You sound like a real self proclaimed expert on RAT pedals until you start talking about how the old pedals are inconsistent and unreliable, that's where you fall off the deep end😅
My dad has the big box and I've got the white face like in the video and between the 2 vintage ones my dad and I have they are dead reliable and sounds almost the same, factoring in tolerance on parts that are very similar and built like a tank. I've had maybe 3 or 4 of the modern ProCo Rat pedals and a couple clones and the only ones I'd describe as unreliable and inconsistent are the crappy clones . The new ones sound pretty close to my white face but I think there's a bit more dynamic 3D stuff going on with the vintage that maybe you can only feel and not exactly hear it !?
@@AuntAlnico4 I didn't and wouldn't claim to be an expert. The component variability, wildly different tolerances, and reliability issues, are all well documented by a multitude of sources. I'm glad your anecdotal experience has been better than many if not most. That doesn't discount the objective realities discussed.
I've been using the same 86 small box rat since 1986 it's never let me down I guess I got a good one.
You must try the Jam Rattler LTD (Point to Point version). I'd like to see a comparison with 1981. Best Regards
They all sound nearly identical. If I had to pick one regardless of price I'd probably go with the 1981
It’s a great choice!
Subbed! Kzoo is a weird little town. I should’ve picked up a few when I lived there. They were everywhere and every band in town had someone who worked at ProCo. Just got a new one and love it. Bye-bye Big Muff.
Thanks for the sub! We’re huge Rat fans over here!
I am a fan of the Rat pedal and Rat pedal shootouts! I really like the tones, did you know the JHS pulp and peel has the Rat op amp on the screw dial. Why is the Rat left off of so many worship rigs?!
Me too! If I can remeber correctly I believe the pulp n peel has a gain trim pot on the side and the switch activates the rat circuit.
I'm curious which one felt best. I have an '84 big box Rat which feels great. In this demo It almost sounds as if the Walrus has a tiny bit of compression to it? Have no idea.
They all sound similar, I'd not be able to say which was which on a track, the whiteface RAT looks the best and is OG but the vintage big box RAT looks even better imho, so I'd go for that myself.
Thanks. Very Interesting.
We thought so too!
the iron horse v3 is my favorite
Great comparison. Fun stuff. Torn between Iron Horse and Rattler. Had any experience with that one?
Both are great! The iron horse has a little bit more versatility. But if I was buying right now, I’d get the rattler
@@gearnighthangthat’s what I’m leaning towards. Especially the V2. Thanks! 🤘
True Tone/1 Spot make a male adapter for the RAT btw!
And they’re so cheap! Picked one up after we recorded that vid
I would like to see you put it against the world's cheapest A $23 Dolamo Vintage Distortion. I recommend sitting down. If you must stand then one of you should be ready to catch the other. I review pedals myself. In fact since 2014 my list says 3,048.
When I tried the Dolamo I expected the pedal to be total garbage. I would have bet on it!!! I had my own trusty old ProCo sitting beside it and I picked my fave sound and duplicated it in about a half minute.
Just get a JHS PackRat and you will have every version of RAT out there in one pedal.