Rat into Muff or Muff into Rat? - Experimenting with ProCo Rat and Electro Harmonix Big Muff

The Electro Harmonix Big Muff and the ProCo Rat are often used in combination. Boosting a Big Muff with a Rat is a typical drone metal kind of trick. Mixing these two pedals, you can achieve many exciting sounds for heavy music like stoner or doom. But what is better for you? Rat into Muff or Muff into Rat? We did some experiments for you. Check it out!
#procorat #bigmuff #stonerrock
Please use the following timestamps to navigate through the video:
What are we doing today - 00:01
Riff #1 - Fender Mustang Kurt Cobain in drop D flat - Rat into Muff - 01:02
How does the Rat change the Muff? (settings) - 02:09
Back-to-back Rat into Muff vs Muff only - 03:48
You can boost the Muff with a very quiet Rat - 04:06
Muff with Tone wicker vs Rat into Muff - 04:35
Riff #1 - Fender Mustang Kurt Cobain in drop D flat - Muff into Rat (settings) - 05:40
Back-to-back Muff into Rat vs Rat only - 07:01
Riff #2 - Tele neck pickup - Rat into Muff - 08:28
Big Muff with tone wicker vs Rat into Muff (Tele neck) - 09:37
Riff #2 - Tele neck pickup - Muff into Rat - 10:19
You don't need a loud Muff to boost the Rat - 12:23
Back-to-back riffs #1 and #2 - Rat into Muff and Muff into Rat comparison - 12:49
Here you can find some info about the pedals in this video:
Electro Harmonix Big Muff with Tone Wicker - bit.ly/37tK9Ua
Proco Rat - bit.ly/3pA0cpx
Here you can buy the pedals in this video:
Electro Harmonix Big Muff with Tone Wicker - bit.ly/2NHGMBE
Proco Rat - bit.ly/2ZvOly7
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Thx for watching!

[@WeAsACompany]

So guys, Rat into Muff or Muff into Rat?

[@CameronCrouse]

Rat into Muff is more versatile. I rock my Rat into a Green Russian for fat rhythms. Keeping the gain of the Rat at about 10-11 o'clock I can switch off the Muff and slam the Rat with an SD1 for leads. Or just a tight metal tone that I prefer over the "modern" tone.

[@rodrigomarra2710]

Can I achieve It wirh the BM Ram's Head os It better with the NYC/Green Russian BM?

[@CameronCrouse]

@@rodrigomarra2710 only way to know for sure is to try. I've seen people use the green ruasian, the NYC muff, opamp muff. The rat brings out the mids regardless.

[@rodrigomarra2710]

@@CameronCrouse thanks, I'll try 😉

[@WeAsACompany]

@@rodrigomarra2710 You can achieve it with a Ram's Head too. The sound texture is going to be a little bit different but the tone is very similar.

[@davelanciani-dimaensionx]

I'm surprised the RAT Filter didn't make that much of a difference before the Muff. Usually it really changes the tone drastically.

[@nathancl2k]

Crazy. I just bought a Rat and have a Muff reissue sitting around. It hadn't even crossed my mind to throw these together, but I'm definitely going to see how this sounds in my setup. Thanks!

[@danraiche4823]

putting the life pedal into a russian muff sounds so great, thanks for the tips!

[@JL-mu9sl]

Thanks for demonstrating grungy stoned riffs.

[@Body_Farm]

I came looking for it and I found it! I stuck that rat in front of a Beringer Super Fuzz today and burned my house to the fucking ground. When I get out of the hospital I'll stack it with my muff 🤘 Amazing video my dude.

[@CABALDRUMMER]

Rat into muff for the "tighter" more note define approach. But vise versa does that fuzz for days thing really good, IMO!

[@aaronrios6470]

Damn. This video made me purchase a big muff w/ wicker. Great vid

[@theinvisiblelanterns]

Same here

[@groteandreas1482]

Both are quite close... didn't expect that. Muff into rat wins though.

[@dangitdan9938]

How can anyone not like either? I’ll take an ounce of this over a TON of pretty boy metal ANY DAY!!! 🤘🏻

[@EOAW25]

Loved the muff into the rat!

[@fen3184]

RAT into Muff generally, though I really like the sound from running them in Parallel instead of Series...

[@WeAsACompany]

We have to try the parallel, seems interesting.

[@84kjk]

Sorry for the dumb question but how do you run them parallel rather than in series?

[@bernarddoherty2303]

@@84kjk hey kev that's not a dumb question. One way to run effects in parallel is to plug the rat into the right channel and the muff into the left channel of a stereo effect (like a boss delay pedal) and then run that delay pedal in mono to the amp. The left and the right channels will be mixed mono with the stereo effects pedal. You can also get a mixer or an a/b box or a Boss LS2 or EHx tri parallel mixer and you might also have a parallel fx loop... See? Not a stupid question look at all this technobabble! The stereo into mono method has some drawbacks but it's a good way to investigate

[@GabeHelma]

In parallel, *but with an overdrive in front of them 😃

[@masterofsparks22]

@@GabeHelma agreed. I run smallsounds bigsounds Mini overdrive in front of a Boss LS-2 running the Rat/Muff in parallel. One channel of the LS-2 is overdrive into a Fuzz War, the other channel is overdrive into a Rat clone. Blend to taste. If I want a “cleaner” tone I can turn off one of the dirt pedals.

[@solidplysken2410]

Muff into the RAT is my setting; bout with less gain on the RAT. The fat and frying boost offered by the MUFF is really a bomb in the face when you turn on the MUFF

[@BlueBarrier782]

Awesome channel! Please keep doing what you do. The playing and sounds you get are fantastic.

[@WeAsACompany]

❤️

[@ckhgator]

I like both combinations but love putting an analog octave up in between the two regardless, soooo gnarly

[@WeAsACompany]

Kind of "Life Pedal" tone. Right?

[@ckhgator]

@@WeAsACompany pretty much! I have a Wampler Fuzztration which has some nice muff tones and a switchable placement octave up, so useful. currently running it after an sd-1 and before a ds-1/rat. i can get all shades of grit from a buzzy satisfaction fuzz to an hm-2 with this combo

[@thelegendofglenn]

Would using a RAT with a Sovtek Deluxe be overkill?

[@NickLeonard]

sweet tones! but the gloves freak me out

[@acousticaacousticduo1458]

Earthquakes Devices Life Pedal into JHS Crimson sounds so damn good. I always run an always on Xotic Super Sweet with the gain barely up as my last drive pedal too.

[@LockStoppageSandwich]

Rat - Muff - Rat - Muff 👍

[@chrislarimer974]

It's kinda odd and a bit crazy but personally, I'd like to see this setup (muff into rat and vice versa) in comparison to the DOD Carcosa. Then run in sequence then parallel. Any thoughts?

[@cpsbBXCX]

i have a big muff op-amp pi and the averahe rat pedal. i keep the sustain on twelve o'clock and the tone super low, then kick on the rat full force. pretty average fuzz sound but the sustain can last for up to and more than 40 seconds, which is perfect for droning, doomy sounds.

[@Mindartcreativity]

How convenient, today arrived my Mooer Dark Secret (super surprised by the awesome sound!) and I have two Big Muff clones/replicas on my board. Gonna have some fun with these three pedals. I really like Rat into Muff!

[@NewFalconerRecords]

That Mooer is incredible for the price.

[@singularity360]

Just recently got the mooer dark secret. Have you noticed any problems with it when you push the gain past like 2 o-clock?? I returned it once and received a new one, still having that problem.

[@Mindartcreativity]

@@singularity360 no I didn‘t notice anything with my pedal. Could you describe the problem in detail? And also what guitar, pickups, amp, power supply, other pedals you‘re using. They‘re made in China and quality control isn‘t good so you could have received two lemons unfortunately.

[@GrungeIsN0tDead]

Do you mean, Black Secret? I also have one, and it really is an underrated pedal IMO.

[@mistershabadoo]

@@NewFalconerRecords +1

[@thomashunt5911]

How do you keep this quiet at high volume? I'm trying rat into muff combination for my band, whenever I kick the muff in there's massive signal interference. I'm playing through a tiny terror so have to have some amp gain to get the volume as only one channel. Would a noise gate after muff help out?

[@stevengonzalez2518]

Try isolated power or batteries.

[@thomashunt5911]

@Steven Gonzalez cheers Steven, tried batteries very similar. Will try and use separate power supply see if that's any good, it's giving me tone and weight I want just a pain In quieter section's etc I've ordered a noise gate and a behringer super fuzz to see if that could be a quieter option as I hear it works well after a rat

[@guerrillaradio9953]

How'd it work out? I'm thinking about a super fuzz too, and know what you mean. Wondering too if a noise gate will work or just make it sound all spitty and like shit, you know?

[@WHATLIVESDOWNTHERE]

Alright, definitely trying this.

[@byrdmanalb88]

NYC muff into Rat into civil war muff is my main go to

[@Protester23]

Both sounded pretty good, can't decide! :))

[@KeithShelley1]

What EQ settings are you using on the amp? I'm trying to get close to your tone with my modeler.

[@WeAsACompany]

It's the clean channel of the Orange Rockerverb 100 MKII with a standard 4x12 Orange cab with Celestion V30. The eq is: treble at one - middle between four and five - bass at almost at zero.

[@WW-1995]

Both sounds good but I'd choose Rat into Muff

[@thecruddybug4437]

Sweet video! I just started running my BM clone into a Rat clone, and I push both of those with a TS clone (I say clone, they're not clones, they're like... "boutique" takes on the circuits). I love the combo.

[@JJ-ze6vb]

Boutique just means expensive clone

[@nedgey]

Very good. Assumed RAT should go into Muff but clearly not so.

[@j.d.lawrence1222]

What type and brand of batteries were used??.....and were they fresh??? The volume knob are up pretty high, especially the big muff!

[@mattster693]

id do rat into muff but ive never liked the muff so i use an hm2 after the rat and it sounds amazing!

[@jasonsullivan4584]

Hell yeah, can't believe I never thought of that... rat into an mxr blue box is interesting...

[@kyle9maloney]

Rat into muff . It’s tighter and less splashy

[@masterofreality230]

I would say it depends, want a sharper attack Muff first..more sludgey sound Rat first. If you cant make up your mind and have an HX Stomp you can have it both ways pretty easily.

[@fabiocester6804]

Rat after for me.

[@WeAsACompany]

They're both good, Rat after is a bit more "stonerish", don't you think?

[@AlexanderSupertramp1]

good vid, and awesome riff!

[@MeOwOgai]

8:37 OHHH MY... 🥰

[@choadcityusa]

I run a rat into BM with BM sustain and tone all the way down, rat filter max high, rat volume 12-1.... gain noon some times 9 -10, amp treble is dimed but still not bright enough so i was thinking of getting an eq or a BM wicker to add highs...dilemma

[@fettjonjr]

i wish someone would do these comparisons with bass as well. not all of us play clean bass but I do blend it with my dirt pedals

[@ellisgriffin8845]

Any chance of a video of the RAT, Big muff then TS9?

[@sun6moon9]

What amp were tou using?

[@WeAsACompany]

Orange Rockerverb 100 MKII with Orange cabinet.

[@__Rob]

At least up to the 8 and a half minute mark, it Sounds more stoner with the Muff first, more grunge with the Rat first, and more doom with the Muff solo'ed. Everything just sounds heavy as f*** and stonery to me past that point.

[@Luke-yv6uo]

You have it backwards tho. It was Rat into Muff first, Muff into Rat second.

[@tungtobak]

The swedish word for one of those furry steering wheel sleeves is rattmuff.

[@geordiedog1749]

Cool. Saves me doing it:)

[@joshferguson9703]

Fuzz before distortion all the time imo I use my Danelectro fab fuzz before my Danelectro fab tone into my orange amp and I use an epi sg loaded with Wilde Bill Lawrence Xl500 bridge and l500 neck and I get doom to jazz tones

[@CorbenEdward]

I think the best thing to do would be have 2 amps, 2 muffs & 2 rats. Do opposite on each amp (muff>rat. rat>muff) then You can eclipse the drone gods.

[@gibson2623]

OD always before the muff

[@sooa8574]

very nice sounds~

[@R1GAMBLER]

rat into muff has more variety 🤔

[@choadcityusa]

Sounds best if sustain on bm is off and use only rat gain.

[@somethingelsedoesmatter]

I checked this video to see how they stack, but honestly, I don't think I gain anything much by buying a Muff. I like my Rat by itself, or with an OD Glove.

[@somethingelsedoesmatter]

Dammit. I bought a Muff even after saying this.

[@Loki_Morningstar666]

I liked the Rat into the Muff better

[@BoltBrethren]

I kinda prefer muff into rat

[@ArgentPure]

Muff into Ratt!

[@GaryMcilvenna]

Rat into Muff I think.

[@skywardstargaze1768]

I have a friend who uses a Fat Rat into a Black Russian. Insanely wide sound.

[@misterknightowlandco]

Definitely muff into rat.

[@magraretsbane6274]

I tried this but with a DS-1 instead of the Rat and found a beautifully overwhelming octave fuzz sound when the rat was placed after the Muff.

[@crazylegslife]

I was I was going to like this video but it has 666 likes and I didn't want to fuck that up. +1

[@AlexanderXtcSlayin]

Are you wearing gloves because these pedals are dirty as hell?

[@WeAsACompany]

;)

[@doomerius1300]

I prefer Fuzz into Rat. Hell, even an octaver before fuzz

[@holyshit3009]

buenardo

[@sitruscrum]

Jellybelly riff

[@antipusrises]

Rat into Rat or Muff into Muff? jkjkjkjk.

[@WeAsACompany]

:)

[@fabiocester6804]

That will cause the Dragonaut to take off.

[@JJ-ze6vb]

Team Rat>Muff

[@thatssomething1]

I do Plumes into Carcosa muhahahaha

[@WeAsACompany]

We have to try that one.

[@guidolilith]

Song 2 Blur😊

[@paketed88]

rat's filter knob's neutral position is on zero

[@ShirazSimonian1980]

I've never understood the point of combining distortion/fuzz pedals. I mean I get boosting distortion with an overdrive pedal, but even then, I feel like pedals should be able to do what they do on their own.

[@DaveyMulholland]

That's just not logical 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@AlanShortySwanson]

ok but why the gloves

[@WeAsACompany]

No reason actually 😉

[@theodorsloth2194]

This is senseless because, the Volume of RAT and Muff is cranked up so much, that the Preamp of the amp is overdriven. This is the reason, why the controls of the first pedal take nearly no effect to the tone. Make a new video with clean amp.

[@super2thesam]

hitting the front of a driving amp with a drive pedal seems to be one of the hallmarks of doom/stoner tones, I think using a clean amp would be missing the point of the cideo

[@MrMarcburger]

Am I really the only person thinking all combinations sound like a wet fart?

[@nickbisanz]

Who cares .

[@yusa4467]

I do

[@milhouse8166]

First time I've seen a reply have more upvotes

[@winstonsmith8236]

YOU! because you clicked on the video dingus.

[@DaveyMulholland]

Bizarre.

[@ushnicyuvnikof2748]

Everyone here cares, it's they entire point of the video and subject of the comments section.