ProCo RAT

The ProCo RAT is a distortion pedal in production since 1978, delivering a range of gain from mild overdrive to aggressive, harmonically rich distortion with a distinctive filter control that rolls off high frequencies instead of a conventional tone knob. This filter design gives the RAT its characteristic voice — at lower filter settings, the distortion is bright and cutting, while higher settings produce a darker, thicker saturation that smooths picking dynamics. The RAT's clipping circuit sits between overdrive and fuzz in character, making it versatile across styles that need more aggression than a Tube Screamer but more note definition than a Big Muff. Thurston Moore used RATs throughout Sonic Youth's catalog for their ability to maintain chord clarity under heavy distortion. Jonny Greenwood's RAT use on The Bends and OK Computer contributed to Radiohead's aggressive guitar passages. PJ Harvey paired RATs with detuned guitars for the confrontational tone on Rid of Me.