ProCo 85 Whiteface Rat Reissue Redux........

[harddriver]

Well I just bought a Pro Co Whiteface Rat Reissue for the second time, I bought my first one brand new 2013. Let me preface this by saying I really enjoyed my 85 Whiteface reissue the first time around and it nailed the Nuno Bettencourt tone... not close... nailed it. So I sold it back in 2018 because I found myself playing my SRB SD-1/OD808 and Maxon OD808 the most so I had not experimented too much with it.

Well I fell into the rabbit hole of what Jake E Lee was using on the first and second Badlands album especially the first one. My SRBSD-1 sounds killer as well as my OD-1 but there is this hard edged raunchy crunch on the first Badlands album that my SD-1 just seemed to miss. I liken it to what you hear with Jake's Ozzy tone and then Badlands when you really scrutinize it something else is going on other than an OD-1, it's just crunchier and the harmonic qualities are different as well as the how the low E responds.

So I came across some internet posts that Jake was using a Dimarzio Very Metal pedal which is based off of a Rat. So since I liked my 85 Reissue I figured what could go wrong so I snatched one last week. I received my Rat and pulled out my Jake Whitey that has an Alan Holdsworth Seymour Duncan which was Jake's pickup long before JB's, plugged in the Rat and my OD-1 to A/B them in to my Splawn modded 2203. It took me a little bit of tweaking to get it right as I started of with my Nuno settings but those weren't Jake at all so I kept twisting I had to set the filter higher and lower the level some and there it was.........

The Badlands first album crunch but not quite a fuzz tone with hard edge crunch, the low E was also spot on in response just a little loose but still tight enough not sloppy loose, I then switched to the OD-1, the OD-1 was just a little rounder/warmer, low end was a smidge tighter not as hard edged on the crunch... I went back and forth and the Rat definitely was it. I am quite surprised at this finding, I never equated a Rat type pedal with Jake but I know he use the Badcat OD-1 fuzz pedal on a Fine Pink Mist but that wasn't used on the first Badlands album. So I have to say the I can definitely agree with the premise that Jake used the Very Metal pedal or a variation on at least the first Badlands and more than likely the second because both albums are similar.

[lll]

Supposedly Jake used the 1st version of the "Kasha QuikMod"; basically adding a 4th preamp tube.

This is the current version (3):

https://www.kashaamplifiers.com/product-page/quikmod3

Big Crunch Sound:


The 2017 models just arrived and I have many of them to sell. If you want a little more out of your amp or if you want to hear what two tube gain stages will do to your Fender, Marshall, Vox or even a Valve Jr, you should get this thing. Jake E. Lee used them with Badlands on tours and studios across the globe. Many professional recording studios use them to hot rod amps instantly without ever touching the electronics inside. Producers and mixing engineers like Keith Olsen, Tom Werman, Rhett Laurence and Mike Plotnikoff used them to create tone with many classic amps and bands of the 80s, 90s and current.

Here's a pic of it:

[RockyStar]

Very Interesting!

Where did you get the White Face Rat?

[harddriver]

I wish there was an English translation of the magazine article. I've been a Jake fan for years and have studied his gear pretty thoroughly, I was aware of his use of the Badcat OD-1 pedal in his 1996 Fine Pink Mist and that album sucked when compared to anything Badlands ever did tonewise so I never explored anything having to do with Rat's or Fuzz pedals I always thought grunge and doomer metal guys used those things until I saw the 2009 Extreme show Take us Alive from Boston, so I embarked on Nuno quest sort of....

I had always thought Nuno's tone was unique and grindy as all get out and until then I never knew Nuno always used a Rat pedal as a boost, at time Nuno gets Dimebag harmonic content and ovetones in his sound. Looks like Nuno used/uses and 1986 blackface Rat from the pics of have of it sitting on top of the Marshall heads he uses, JMP, DSL, TSL whatever backline amps are there or his own the Rat is always there along with a Noise Gate pedal.

I still may pick up an actual Very Metal pedal in the future but those pedals had issues and a 30 year old pedal more than likely has functionality issues so I am hesitant to purchase one.