Proco Roadkill

[BootRoots]

So I picked one of these up on an impulse buy today. It's actually a great sounding box of dirt. After a little googling I guess it's basically a RAT (even has the lm308. A couple of observations... The complete and udder stupidity of the enclosure cannot be overstated. It's six Seperate sides of a box held together with 8 screws (8 screws? Wtf?). The jacks are el cheap-o plastic as is the foot switch. The switch almost seems like a toy. It's dead silent with no audible "click" sound when engaging. Not a big deal as I dont plan on gigging with this thing. Also interested to see the tone control not quite the same as a typical rat. More like what you'd expect a standard tone knob to do. Oddly it starts to add a bit of a volume boost as you dial the tone beyond 3 o clock. Bottom line: a total POS exterior with a wonderful sounding surprise on the inside. I've certainly waisted 20 bucks on worse. All in all a good find in my opinion.

 

[Alchemy Audio]

Very similar to the Rat circuit except with extra clipping diodes. If you don't like the sound, they can be removed. I recently worked on one of these. I added an LED, upgraded footswitch and DC power jack. This was a re-branded ProCo Brat sold exclusively by Guitar Center. It did include the coveted LM308 opamp chip, though.

 

[Frosted Glass]

Ah the mid 90s and their themed knob labels trend.

 

[tremolo3]

It sounds really good to me. Too many flaws, what a shame.

 

[coltonius]

Ah the mid 90s and their themed knob labels trend.

Right? At least name them something that logically transfers to what they actually represent. Still trying to work out the tie-ins on this one.

 

[BootRoots]

Ah the mid 90s and their themed knob labels trend.

there was the DOD grunge and milkbox with the odd labels but I can't think of any others off the top of my head

 

[superslidetail]

I had one of these and the matching Roadkill wah. I think I paid $50 or so for both pedals so not a bad deal but I didn't think either of them sounded very good. I found the cmatmods Ratified/Black Plague were better sounding rat pedals for not too much more.

 

[monty]

Very cool OP, I never knew these existed.

 

[drbob1]

The labeling thing may have started with the Ibanez ST10, which had knobs named stuff like "Bite", which sorta made sense. Then the late 80s with all their hair metal excess and the DOD Death Metal came along and knob names were never the same!

 

[GuitarToma]

I picked up one of these from a flea market for $5! It actually worked! It had seen better days, looked like it had been left out in the rain, etc. It was loud and harsh and the pots were really noisy. It's a fun piece to have on the shelf!

 

[Alchemy Audio]

I picked up one of these from a flea market for $5! It actually worked! It had seen better days, looked like it had been left out in the rain, etc. It was loud and harsh and the pots were really noisy. It's a fun piece to have on the shelf!

Nice score! The LM308 opamp is worth that alone!

 

[cj_wattage]

I have a Brat, which is the same circuit but in hot pink!

 

[|\|\|\]

there was the DOD grunge and milkbox with the odd labels but I can't think of any others off the top of my head

meat box, buzz box, gonkulator, big pig fat distortion, corrosion, punkfier, vibro thang, supersonic stereo flanger... i'm sure there are more, those are just the ones i can remember

 

[Frosted Glass]

Even boss got in on the game with fat and muscle controls on the PW-2 in 96

 

[flatulentmatt]

meat box, buzz box, gonkulator, big pig fat distortion, corrosion, punkfier, vibro thang, supersonic stereo flanger... i'm sure there are more, those are just the ones i can remember

Haha yeah, I think the DOD Punkifier had Butt and Face controls? I mean, seriously!

 

[DustyRhodesJr]

I bought one at GC for $10 around 2000 or so.

When I picked it up, the cashier said he was going to buy it at the
end of the day. I said you can have it, he said go ahead.

I gave mine away years ago.