Proco Turbo Rat SOUNDCLIPS

Here's some more samples, this time of the Proco Turbo Rat. I know my random licks in E are getting monotonous, I'm just trying to give you an idea of how the pedals sound, in case anyone is interested. Check it out:

Turbo Rat, played with a pick:

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The Turbo Rat is also good for chunking power chords:

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Add some Boss OC-2 for thickness:

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And some Dunlop 105Q for good measure:

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Questions, comments, criticisms, whatever welcome.

Well I play pretty hard fingerstyle, so it sounds similar with a less concise attack and perhaps less harmonics. If I get a chance I'll do some samples.

And I recommend you listen to any of my samples with a sub. All of the distortion pedals I've done samples for will sound thin on regular computer speakers. But I do run the Turbo Rat in the blend of an Xotic X Blender. If I get a chance I'll do some samples to show what that sounds like too.

I've owned two Bassdrives and the Turbo Rat is my pick there. They're very different pedals, though. The Turbo Rat will do less distorted sounds, but they're more edgy and less warm and having less gain will also cause the pedal to lose bass. At the gain setting I use, the bass response actually seems pretty equal to my clean signal, which is pretty impressive, given it's tight and heavily distorted sound. I'm glad somebody thinks it sounds pleasant because my brother (guitar player) complains about my harsh assrock he calls it sound. I also run the Turbo Rat with my Xotic X Blender, which gives me in effect two channels, one with the blend which is a warmer, more overdrive like sound (though still feels pretty gainy), and then full on which is what you hear in the samples. For these samples I'm using a Fender American Deluxe Jazz bass with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders (passive), both pickups full on. And for reference I used my SVT-3 Pro instead of the V4BH I used for my other distortion pedal samples I've posted on the forum, though the difference in amps isn't a big deal as far as these samples are concerned.

I haven't heard of any Turbo Rat mods, but I can tell you it sounds pretty tight with a clean blend. A lot of distortion pedals sound a little flabby on my low E string. I have to play strings lighter than mediums; heavier strings have more string tension, and if I play mediums I break them all the time at the string core because I play so hard, lighter strings with less tension I don't break as often. Plus my main gig is with a band that tunes down a half step. So it's cool that the Turbo Rat stays tight on my low E string, and with the clean blend. I recommend the Xotic X Blender because sometimes, depending on the settings and the distortion pedal, the bass knob comes in handy to give a little more bottom to the effected signal. I also have some distortion pedals, like the EBS Multidrive, that have too much bass, so in the Xotic loop with a little bass cut sounds MINT. If I get a chance I'll do some Multidrive samples too.

I tried the Keeley modded Rat and I prefer the Turbo Rat. But that's me.

Thanks for the extra sound samples. Sounds good!

My brother, a guitarist, picked up the Keeley modded Rat a long time ago, years I think, so I don't really remember the details sorry. The both of us decided we liked the stock setting best and as a matter of personal taste, we didn't care for the Keeley stuff in general. But it's a matter of personal taste.

I'm not sure what guitar I was using at the time, but it was probably a Jazz Bass with Fender 60's pickups, which were pretty low output and without the greatest string balance, but they had the vibe. I remember the output of my pickups didn't seem to hit the pedal hard enough, so that's probably what I didn't like about it, of course I haven't had that problem with the Turbo Rat and my newer, beefier Jazz basses.

Besides responding better to my basses/playing, the Turbo Rat has a different vibe to it; a different tonal color. I describe the tonal color of distortion pedals in terms of real colors, if this makes any sense. For example a Fulltone Bassdrive (or most Tubesceramer type pedals) is a light yellow. The Keeley Rat and Rat 2 are a darker shade of yellow than the Fulltone, and hairier. The Turbo Rat is more of a red, if this makes any sense. I prefer a more reddish tonal color, which is why I prefer my Turbo Rat to my Rat 2, for example, among other reasons.

But it just goes to show what a difference pickups make in how your distortion pedals work. The 60's Fender pickups sound like god with the MXR Bass DI, but I'm not so hot about that pedal with the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders I use now. I'd be curious to try the Keeley mod again with the new equipment I've got these days... maybe I can get my Rat 2 modded. If you guys would do some sound samples or something I'd be curious to give them a listen too.