$20 Turbo Rat

Twenty something years ago, my nephew started guitar lessons and I gave him my Turbo Rat. Since then I built a Rat clone, bought a used large box reissue Rat for $40 that sounded very similar to the clone (sold it for much more) and bought a used made in China Rat 2 which also sounded pretty close to the clone (sold that, too).

Yesterday I saw an ad on CL for a ratty looking Turbo Rat for $20 so I figured I'd take a chance on it. I bought it without playing it (the guy in the parking lot said it worked "100%"). I was really surprised to see that it was pretty rusty inside- even the pots and the leads on the diodes. I was even more surprised to hear that it's the best sounding Rat I've played (I don't remember what my old Turbo Rat sounded like).

From the date codes on the rusty pots it's a 1990. The guy exaggerated a bit when he said it worked "100%". The status diode does not light up. I'll figure it out. Until then, I'll know it's on- because it's a Rat.

Still a little jealous of you!

It's an awesome pedal. It has stronger mids, more headroom and volume than a normal Rat. It'll take an ES-335 into easy feedback with a Princeton Reverb set to 3 or 4.

The status LED was an easy repair- a diode in had a rusted off lead. The battery door was held on by wrapping the pedal with electrical tape. I repaired that as well. I'll stop working on it there. I wouldn't want to accidentally "repair" any of its mojo away.

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Originally Posted by Don

It's an awesome pedal. It has stronger mids, more headroom and volume than a normal Rat. It'll take an ES-335 into easy feedback with a Princeton Reverb set to 3 or 4.

The status LED was an easy repair- a diode in had a rusted off lead. The battery door was held on by wrapping the pedal with electrical tape. I repaired that as well. I'll stop working on it there. I wouldn't want to accidentally "repair" any of its mojo away.

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Don, I'm not clear on what you mean by "headroom" on a RAT. A RAT is usually the reverse of headroom. It brings on the distortion before the amp is ready to break up by itself.

I'm not sure if "headroom" is the correct word. What I'm trying to say is that the Turbo Rat stays a little cleaner higher up on the distortion knob than the regular Rats I've played. It's actually a cleaner, louder pedal. It has more "punch" before it distorts. Also, it cleans up a little better by turning down the guitar's volume. I assume that this is mostly due to the use of LEDs as clipping diodes. Some of it might just be the tolerance in the parts in this particular rusty old Rat.

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Originally Posted by Don

I'm not sure if "headroom" is the correct word. What I'm trying to say is that the Turbo Rat stays a little cleaner higher up on the distortion knob than the regular Rats I've played. It's actually a cleaner, louder pedal. It has more "punch" before it distorts. Also, it cleans up a little better by turning down the guitar's volume. I assume that this is mostly due to the use of LEDs as clipping diodes. Some of it might just be the tolerance in the parts in this particular rusty old Rat.

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Makes sense. I love RATs. Other pedals have come and gone from my rig, but the RAT is a constant. It's just got certain snottiness that other distortions lack. Once you get bitten by the RAT, there's no cure :)

I have 4... :dude