Well, first of all. If you are into classic rock, I would consider overdrive pedals. I have the boss ds-1 and the boss sd-1 (overdrive). I play almost 100% classic rock and find the overdrive to be the most useful, but still use the ds-1. And it is very cheap too. If you still want distortion, then I would definitely pay the bills to get the rat. I got both the ds-1 and sd-1 because of my slightly different musical taste, and the low prices but I now wish that I would have maybe just gotten a ts-9 or something along those lines because overdrive can handle any classic rock sounds. If you want more gain from overdrive, then turn on your amps gain aswell. You really have to overlook price and go for quality of the sound. To sum that up.....Look into overdrive, and don't worry about price, because you really just need quality no matter the price.(to a certain point) If you still want distortion, i would suggest the rat.