History and Timeline of the Proco Rat Pedal (2021)

>Kalamazoo already had a thriving musical scene in 1974 and was the ideal location for a musical gear company to launch.

It was also the original home of Gibson guitars since their founding at the turn of the century, where Gibson remained until the 1980's when they moved to Nashville.

IOW the famous Les Pauls of the classic rock '70's were being manufactured concurrently across town.

The Rat— easily the worst sounding great pedal ever. Boss DS1 is a distant second.

The only way anyone could have figured out how to get good sounds out of these was by some accidental necessity.

The pedal’s sound into a clean amp is an audio invitation for you to throw it directly into the bin.

Man, I had one of those in the late 80's. I thought it sounded bad. Turns out you are supposed to use it as a boost for your amp's distortion.

It makes sense that something is obsessive was written by JHS.

People have had a hard time believing he is who he appears to be, and tried to dig up bits of dirt or play gotcha with him. But my guess is that he really is just a wholesome, genuine, passionate guy…in an industry filled with customers and companies who often aren’t.