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Pro Co Turbo Rat - Rare or Not?


Gamble
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Hello folks

I'm just after a bit of advice on the subject of Pro Co Turbo Rat pedals; are any of them actually rare and desirable or are they all much of a muchness?

I've done a little digging, one eBay listing was bragging about the "Motorola LM308N Chip" claiming it was highly sought after but then on another forum someone said all Turbo Rats are all pretty much the same.

Anyone with a bit more knowledge on the subject care to enlighten me?

Cheers, Matt

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There's info on pot date codes here.

The LM308 was the original chip used in the RATs and has more caché than the later models that used a different one- the 308 is supposed to sound better, but it's possible some snake oil may be being touted...I'm not that convinced having A-B'ed a few over the years.

A very good article here on why the Rat sounds like it do in case you're interested, with some info on the 308 chip.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by ahpook
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Cheers for the info!

I guess what I'm really asking is are any of them more valuable than the rest? The eBay listing that said about the 308 chip appeared to sell for £135 but any others I've seen have been around the 40 quid mark, it doesnt seem like the 308 ones are really that rare though, so has a fool simply been parted from their money? 

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From what little I know, the Turbo Rat seems to be a more modernised version of the Rat. It does seem to have been in production for quite a while, so the "rarity" issue would appear to be clutching at straws (to me anyway!).

Many years ago, I had a "Vintage Rat", which was a reissue of the original circuit by ProCo. It did have the LM308 in it, but how accurate (accu-RAT?) it was I have no idea. I do wish I'd kept it, they only seem to have produced it for a few years in the mid-late 90's, and finding another one is testing (and expensive).

There would seem to be more readily available "replica" Rats by the myriad boutique pedal makers, at various price points.

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6 hours ago, Gamble said:

Cheers for the info!

I guess what I'm really asking is are any of them more valuable than the rest? The eBay listing that said about the 308 chip appeared to sell for £135 but any others I've seen have been around the 40 quid mark, it doesnt seem like the 308 ones are really that rare though, so has a fool simply been parted from their money? 

Snake oil IMHO - if you really want a RAT with an LM308, then buy one without and fit one. Even if you can't do it yourself, paying someone would be cheaper than those prices.

I retrofitted an LM308 in my Turbo Rat, just to see how strong the snake oil it contained was. Cost me a few quid and 20 mins with a soldering iron. I left the 308 in but the difference between the original chip and the 308 didn't warrant the effort to my ears.

 

 

 

Edited by ahpook
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The reason I ask is I've got one with a 308 chip but I'm looking to shift it, I want to price it realistically but don't want to give it away if I'm sitting on hidden treasure. I had no idea about the different chips etc until I started looking into the value of it yesterday.

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