A Good Overdrive/Distortion Pedal

UgoUzuegbunam · Post by **UgoUzuegbunam** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:31 pm

I've been thinking about buying a Proco Rat Distortion Pedal, but is it really that great? Does anyone know a good overdrive/distortion pedal that isn't too pricey?? By the way, the "/" means 'or'.

Post by **Doog** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:43 pm

I personally love them, especially once they're modded with the Ruetz mod.

Ultimately, you need to go and try one for yourself- no-one's gonna know if you'll like it apart from you.

Rayjaysonic · Post by **Rayjaysonic** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:52 pm

Coolcat Drive is decent (get the V1 if you can find one) and costs nothing. Boss DS1 costs nothing some people love it, some hate it. The RAT is a great pedal for the price. The OCD is a legend but costs cash.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:43 pm

Rat and the Cool Cat Drive, both great. The Cool Cat Drive has the bonus of costing bugger all too.

I have both and I think I like the Cool Cat better(it's a V1), it may even be nudging my Rat off my board and I had that modified with snazzy chips in it and everything.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:47 pm

johnnyseven wrote:The Cool Cat Drive has the bonus of knowing your money is funding the suppression of human rights, too

fix'd

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:28 am

Not if you buy used.

vivadeluxxe · Post by **vivadeluxxe** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:47 am

The Rat is always a good choice, you can get a surprisingly large range of sounds out of it's 3 knobs....

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:01 am

No lie, I knew the correct answer to the inquiry of this thread was "ProCo Rat", well before reading the thread itself. Then again, ProCo Rat is the correct answer to most dirtbox thread questions that show up in the Effects Forum. Invariably.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:04 am

Here is a demo I made of the one I used to own:

[youtube][/youtube]

It's a good pedal.

I've also modded some, like this one for our own Benecol
[youtube][/youtube]

and built some from scratch with fun mods:
[youtube][/youtube]

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:11 am

I had my Rat modded by Pedal Mods UK. It sounds great but it doesn't seem to like my Orange Rocker 30. I like to set the rocker so the gain is set just before break up on the dirty channel for my clean sound, then by adding the distortion it pushes the amp a bit to provide some natural break up. However using the Rat it tends to produce a much bassier sound and gets rid of any trebly bite that the pedal once had. However I don't think this is a problem with the pedal.

kypdurron · Post by **kypdurron** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:09 pm

For a really versatile vintage tone, I recommend a Behringer VT999. Straight from video-sample-comparing, I loved Mikes DLS-Clone. But it all depends what sound you want to achieve, and what guitar/amp-pairing you use. It's just a link in the chain, and the other links are equally important.

Simon · Post by **Simon** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 2:22 pm

I think I mentioned this in another post but as far as fairly cheap versatile pedals go, you can't go too far wrong with the RAT.

I've got an old RAt from the 80's with the LM308(?) chip in it and I used to have the RAT 2 - The former are a bit more hard to come by now and usually go for a fair bit on ebay but the latter is a pretty good alternative. I prefer the older RAT's sound(they seem to have a bit more low end in them and generaly a bit more dirty) when compared to the newer models but that's just me - everyone has their own preferences on what they do and don't like.

These are the best distortions I've played for that price. If you're swaying towards the idea of getting one but want something with a bit more balls then the Turbo RAT would be a good choice too. I've had mine for about a year and I love the sound of it.

If you have somewhere near you that stocks them then your best bet would be to just go in and ask to try a couple out - alternatively, watch some demos on youtube to see if they're what you might be after.

Skip · Post by **Skip** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:28 am

+1 on the reutz mod-- you can do it yourself--

Jahsoul · Post by **Jahsoul** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:43 am

If you're into overdrive, I love my OCD v2 and can say I've never, and will never rid myself of it. I hold that pedal dearest to me and I have some dear pedals.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:59 am

I've always hated the rat(2?). My friend had one in highschool and I just didn't take a liking to it. After having my 5150 I much prefer tubeamp distortion but if i were going to get a pedal i liked Boss DS1s or Boss superdistortionfeedbackers(yes its a real pedal).

lank81 · Post by **lank81** » Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:37 am

Jahsoul wrote:If you're into overdrive, I love my OCD v2 and can say I've never, and will never rid myself of it. I hold that pedal dearest to me and I have some dear pedals.

Another OCD vote from me. I've got the v4 and love it. Great low gain or high gain OD sounds. Not as Marshall in the box as a DLS but damn good.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:01 am

Matt wrote:Boss superdistortionfeedbackers(yes its a real pedal).

you bet your sweet ass it is. fucking sweet pedal too.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:04 am

what? it's just a DS-1 with an extra additional useless function. i know because i owned both simultaneously, they're both as fizzy and shit as each other.

UgoUzuegbunam · Post by **UgoUzuegbunam** » Sat Mar 20, 2010 11:59 am

Thanks to Mike and his GREAT demos, I'm loving the Danelectro FAB Overdrive!! It is really smooth. Anyone agree? Should I get it?

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Sat Mar 20, 2010 7:01 pm

stewart wrote:what? it's just a DS-1 with an extra additional useless function. i know because i owned both simultaneously, they're both as fizzy and shit as each other.

meh. i had a 90's japanese (?) one and it was awesome.