Distortion Pedal Shootout! '80's ProCo Rat v. early MI Audio Crunch Box

Starts with distortion dimed. At 1:14 I dial them down to about 6, with various guitar vol/p.u. settings; at 3:00 I turn the distortion way down, then gradually toe them back up. At 5:40 the amp is turned up louder but not cranked, and the pedals are full on again, for harmonic feedback (audio in this section is just the camera mic). In all cases I had the pedal volumes set for unity gain, give or take. The Upstairs Critics at 8:16..

Playing a 1991 Fender USA Strat Plus with Fender-Lace Sensor pickups (neck/middle: gold; bridge: silver) into an '86-'88 ProCo Rat (the black pedal), then into MI Audio Crunch Box (the red pedal). Both pedals are true bypass so I daisy chained instead of using a/b switch. Then into a Pignose B100V amp head, into a Yamaha S412 4x12 cab loaded with Celestions.

For the first 5 minutes 40 seconds the amp is on about 5 (loud enough to play with a drummer--thus some of the unwanted feedback you hear early on, as I was standing two feet from the amp/speakers--single coil pickups are naturally pretty noisy, but neither pedal is noisier than the average distortion pedal; I'll say the Crunch Box is slightly quieter than the Rat in actual use). All tone knobs on the amp are around 5 (approximately flat). Yes this is a bass head, a Dennis Kager designed clone of the famous Ampeg B15 flip top but with four 6L6 power tubes instead of two. It's just a very solid clean tube head that passes the true tone of any guitar or bass right on through with minimal coloration, so I use it as much for guitar as for bass, and it's ideal for comparing these pedals.

This Crunch Box is an early '06 model, before they added an internal trim pot to boost highs / cut lows and changed the volume and tone pots within weeks of release. So I have the volume in the bottom 1/4 of its range for unity gain (newer models have unity gain closer to the middle of the pot's range evidently); I have the tone knob cranked to maximum treble...which on this pedal makes it just about a transparent (flat) EQ to my ears. If anything it still sounds like the treble is rolled off just slightly, which for distortion is fine with me, I don't feel the need for any more treble or any less bottom. However in a mix I would cut some bottom at mixdown with EITHER pedal, to carve space for the kick drum and bass guitar.

Recorded with a Shure SM57 mic in my downstairs furnished living room. The mic is about four inches out from the speaker, halfway between the dome and the edge. Then to M-Audio DMP3 mic preamp, M-Audio Audiophile 2496 sound card, to hard drive of HP Pavilion PC, using Cool Edit Pro 2.0 editing software. No compression, EQ, or other effects added beyond these pedals. The pedals themselves do add some compression when engaged, which is typical and even desirable for distortion pedals; and youtube presumably compresses audio to some degree even on the high quality setting.

After 5:40 is some raw footage earlier that day. The amp is turned up a little louder, thus the easier feedback action. You can also see the Pignose head sitting back there between the Marshall combo and the blueface Acoustic 150, in the plywood box I built for it. The audio in this section is from the built in mic on the Canon SD200 pocket camera I shot all this video with (great camera mic, I use it all the time to capture song ideas). I think I did have the midrange on the amp boosted some too in this later section.

Great pedals.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• proco
• rat
• MI
• audio
• crunch
• box
• distortion
• pedal
• Pignose
• B100V
• amplifier
• Yamaha
• S412
• Kenny
• Gott
• Strat
• stratocaster
• Plus
• lace-sensor

[swanky23]

The Crunch Box feedsback like a mofo everytime you stop playing it in the video... Don't know if I'd want that hassle whilst playing live. Noise gates suck tone.

[MissingLincolnK]

@swanky23 I'm standing directly in front of a cranked speaker cab. If I step away it doesn't do that. My fault for setting up the camera and amps this way. It has a little more gain than the Ratt, so any other pedal with similar gain would do the same. In a performance situation this wouldn't be an issue. Thanks for watching!

[ems81ar]

The CB sounds more "amp like" than the RAT.  Thanks for the clip!

[MissingLincolnK]

@ems81ar Yeah Rat is more of a fuzz, Crunchbox is a Marshall amp emulator, so comparing is a little apples and oranges. I love both. On high gain solos CB does harmonic feedback easier. For rhythm gtr Rat is more nutso when maxed, CB is a little smoother and amp-like as you say. I have to max tone control on CB or else it's muddy; this was addressed on later models. Rat has very very slight raggedy icepick treble component. In the end I kept CB--more versatile and $50 cheaper (v. '80's Rat).

[MissingLincolnK]

@ems81ar I also compared a new Rat with this '80's Rat and also one a few yrs old. The diffs were very slight to my ears, I went back and forth for hours. In the end this '80's Rat won with a little more balanced tone overall, but the new Rat sounded just fine, such a subtle difference that for most people the significant price difference for a vintage Rat probably isn't worth it (and obviously a new one has more life remaining on the switches/pots/etc.).

[andy92811]

what pick up was being used?

[MissingLincolnK]

Starts with bridge, but after about 1:15 I start messing with with pedal gain, guitar volume, and pickup settings. Just watch my right hand. If you're asking what pickups are on the guitar: Fender-Lace Sensors (neck/middle: gold; bridge: silver).

[franciserenata]

crunch box

[AlterEgoEffectors]

cool



[ripxkid]

If you ask me,this Rat pedal sounds like a crappy new (made in china) model.I have the original '87 RAT pedal and it doesn't sound even close like this.The sound should be warm and defined,massive and powerful at the same time and i dont hear that here but thin fuzzy thing.

[Whoelsewoulddie4u]

Look I like the red one :)

[eduardotromer]

Congratulations comparative video distortion.

I was in doubt which one to buy;

I liked most of the Crunch Box

Thanks

[chapintex1]

Proco Rat