The Ultimate RAT Pedal Blindfold Challenge - 7 Pedals - £40 - £200 Shootout!

Seven RAT-inspired pedals, one real RAT & one blindfolded Pete Honoré. Can he find the most expensive from the most affordable? With a range of guitar pedals starting from £40 to £200, do all RAT overdrives sound the same when set to 12 o'clock? | tinyurl.com/y6qk6dh4
» Electro Harmonix Flatiron Fuzz & Distortion | tinyurl.com/y2nhfe7e
» TC Electronic Magus Pro Distortion Pedal | tinyurl.com/y2y6nnne
» Walrus Audio Iron Horse V2 Distortion | tinyurl.com/yygy7u8t
» Mooer Black Secret Distortion | tinyurl.com/y2o9x44h
» ProCo RAT 2 Classic Distortion | tinyurl.com/y4wafx6p
» Jam Pedals Rattler Overdrive & Distortion Pedal | tinyurl.com/y6b2yzac
» Wampler Ratsbane Mini Distortion | tinyurl.com/yyxehzuc
» Iconic Guitars Vintage Modern S-HR In Aged Flat Black | tinyurl.com/y6xbnngd
» The GigRig QuarterMaster Switcher | tinyurl.com/y2up3cc8
🎥 Looking to watch something else? Check out our previous episode!
» • The Ultimate Klon Peda...
↪️ Episode Guide ↩️
» 0:00 Cheap Vs Expensive Blindfold Challenge
» 2:20 Let's See The Pedals
» 4:38 ProCo RAT 2
» 8:25 Electro Harmonix Flatiron
» 10:44 Jam Pedals Rattler
» 14:47 TC Electronic Magus
» 17:28 Wampler Ratsbane
» 21:29 Walrus Audio Iron Horse
» 23:27 Mooer Black Secret
» 27:19 Quick Recap
» 31:55 Was Pete Right?
» 34:40 What Do The Switches Do?
» 38:30 Final Thoughts?
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#Andertons #RATPedals #BlindfoldChallenge

[@lexist7]

What’s really impressive is that you were able to blindfold 7 rats

[@HorizonMelt]

Hahahha

[@nzstjohnthebaptist]

They got lots of practice with three blind mice first.

[@Alec_McCloskey]

If you didn’t look at the screen, you’d have no idea Pete was blindfolded... Phenomenal player

[@TarnTarn-zv6cp]

Theres a show that needs making, which player is blindfolded lmao

[@advdan]

Same as Rob Chapman. He slays it blindfolded.

[@oranchung]

Get to see the episode where Pete and Ariel jammed being blindfolded

[@bingobango4840]

Haha. I just posted that before reading your comment. So true

[@Nickraculous]

If you didn't look at the screen there's a lot you'd miss lol

[@CianRourke]

Just a little suggestion. Label the pedals alphabetically. This way 1 won’t be 6, and 3 won’t be 2, etc.

[@boggeshzahim3713]

Seriously, I'm amazed how they still have such a confusing setup in these

[@klinks67]

Yes, and the pedals have already been placed in a random order... just play them from 1 to 7! less confusing for everybody

[@AndrewPRoberts]

I know, I've been commenting this for like MONTHS

[@sebastionhawk5565]

WORD! I agree.

[@mattchase3153]

I've also suggested that they use post-it notes on a sheet and then just reorder them as needed.

[@unitednihilists]

I'm not a gigging musician. I RAWK out in my basement, and the one thing these blindfold challenges have taught me is that Tone City are the perfect tools for me.

[@rgbplumbinghilton]

TC and Mooer are killing the competition for sound and value.

[@Lalairu]

For the price is amazing!

[@Si_G]

Pretty sure the Mooer is the same as my £20 eBay Mosky. Absolute bargain.

[@rictube4716]

@@Si_G I think it is too. Why pay more when you can get the Mosky so cheap.

[@LuxTheSlav]

@@rictube4716 Quality control. If it's the same components, they skimped on something else. You might be fine, or it might flat out not work.

[@rictube4716]

@@LuxTheSlav yup, they skimp on marketing and hype. Absolutely noting wrong with the quality of the pedals. All mine work great.

[@sheltonus]

I'm impressed at the smoothness in the Quartermaster's switching. I could hear absolutely no transition between pedal selection (other than pedal differences, of course).

[@e.g.systems6146]

While I'm not particularly a RAT lover, that little Mooer is really punching above its weight, and the TC is right up there! Thanks for the time you put into these boys!

[@ascosta]

I love how the pedals are already randomly pre sorted and then Pete does a second random sorting for no good reason other than to make things confusing 🤷🏻‍♂️🤣

[@matthewtyler-jones8317]

Gotta say, Pete said somebody should make a RAT inspired pedal with a plague theme. He should check out the plague doctor on the Wampler Ratsbane

[@Sorc47]

I'm still mad Brian didn't name the pedal the Wamprat.

[@miguelroldao6939]

Sorry man, but if Glenn Fricker and Henning Pauly had a child, it would look just like you.

[@SeabeeBuckeye]

@@Sorc47 that's hilarious and I always thought the same. Probably a lawsuit over that name however 🤷‍♂️

[@STRATMAN1969]

yeah but you better get one quick before Disney buys the rights to Covid ,and Brian gets a cease and desist .

[@johnwalsh9507]

you might be looking for this kinkguitarpedals.com/product/russian-plague/

[@rocket69218]

That TC did sound really good... amazing for the price. Not sure I would bother spending more on any of the others.

[@eupraxis1]

Just, last week, ordered the Wampler, not because it sounded just like the Rat, but because, generally, I really liked the overall sounds. These others here were all great, but in the end I personally preferred the Wampler.

[@jordandangelo180]

Man I was very excited to see this as I’ve watched the Tube Screamer and Klon blindfold test so many times that I feel some relief to have a new blindfold to watch. I bought many RAT clones and then realized I was spending a lot of money trying to get the sound of a pedal that cost $65.00 and there really is no need for a clone when the real one exists! The Rattler is great and I bought a cool all white RAT but the original RAT is always the best.

[@leoe388]

Thanks for telling me that this video was coming. I've been so psyched all this time. I love this format

[@Yupppi]

Rat is an interesting pedal. Nuno got it built in his signature amp, Graham Coxon had two stacked. For a pedal that is just somewhat simple distortion with bad transistor, it's been used in so many unexpected ways.

[@richardb2032]

Why don’t you put numbers on post-it notes and then put them on the pedals. Easy to change around quickly. No need to keep re writing an order on paper ?

[@blueskyredkite]

Too many numbers. ID the pedals A to G, and order their ranking by number. "Number 2 is number 1" you what?!

[@cloudshad0ws]

@@blueskyredkite I think this is the best solution. Use letters for one of the lists and numbers for another. Would make it much less confusing.

[@FirelandOfficial]

And why not just do them in order, so number 1 is the first one you tried... it'd make a lot more sense.

[@benmoore3776]

Wouldn't look as clean on camera

[@richardb2032]

@@benmoore3776 could have plastic numbers /letters like on the those light boxes

[@kurukq]

Maybe you could label the pedals as ABCD Etc.., so as not to say #1 is #3 and so on.

[@Briansgate]

People have suggested that multiple times, and even whoever runs the youtube page acknowledged it. Still they don't.

[@JosePineda-jn8jk]

I know you are saying “Rat tone” but, I keep hearing “Ratón” which in Spanish means Mouse 😂 . I now want to make my own clone and call it that! 🤔

[@MiguelBaptista1981]

@Iván Vai My friends from Spain say raton, so it's either a regional thing, or from another spanish speaking country. Rata usually means something else in Portuguese though :P

[@angeldamiangarciaguevara4967]

@Iván Vai este wey

[@albertogaytan4619]

@Iván Vai rata is rat and raton is mouse

[@TheEmperorOfIceCream]

I just pre-ordered the magus here in the states and then checked out this video to verify my decision. I have an original rat and I actually use it very low gain high volume with the filter at 9 oclock, which means less filter or more highs pass through. Even with subtle settings it colors or shapes the tone in a way I really like. The reason I want the magus is for the turbo rat setting which uses led clipping, and turbo rats go for almost twice as much. From videos I've watched they sound great with gain just below 9 o'clock as a sort of boost. I was a little bummed you guys didn't try that setting for turbo because Captain Even mentioned it when you guys were discussing that rats aren't really meant to be below 12 o'clock. Anyway, I'm hoping I feel that way when my magus finally arrives (3 months from now.)

[@gernblanston2242]

How did you like the Magus? Thanks

[@christianhartmann8567]

I love these videos because I can listen to all the different nuances between similar pedals and then find my own ranking. Although I sometimes have a different taste than you there in the videos - it helps immensely to make an informed decision. Please keep making these Blindfold Challenges.

[@MichealBT]

Love the numbers and the prices!! Thanks production team!! Great video dudes!

[@pepenietnagel7449]

The reason Pete is complaining about the gain being too much on the Wampler Ratsbane is, that the pedal was set to high gain mode all the time. The toggle switch on the left side should have been set to its middle position, which is the „original RAT“ gain setting.

[@luisangelmedia4459]

What a great time to be a guitar player. Incredible amounts of options to choose from if you have $50 or $200. Anybody can afford a solid rig right now with these!

[@cabbycabby1770]

Proco all day long to my ears.

[@wspeed657]

I love that the distortion sounds like an explosion when it starts or as you called it "bloom"

[@rubenhartmannandreassen1044]

We need more of these videos!

[@derekjohnson5720]

Telecaster+vox+rat=tone heaven!!

[@rickspyder6159]

You just saved me 6 hours at a music store and the sanity of the salesman. Love these videos

[@wildbilltexas]

That was a fun comparison. The Rat had a rep for making shitty amps sound good!

[@jeffreyesguitar5129]

It’s uncanny how often Pete guesses which pedal is the original.

[@SunTzuBean]

For these blindfold challenges they should set them up like this: Out of all the pedals, choose the one that is in the middle of the price range (i.e. the one that is the median price of the bunch) and allow Pete to test it without a blindfold. After he is comfortable with the sound of that one, he should A/B blindfold test the median pedal against the rest of the pedals so that Pete can sort them into a “more” expensive or “less” expensive than the median pedal. Then, if you guys really want to order them, you can order the “less” expensive group and the “more” expensive groups independently. That should cut down on the amount of things Pete has to remember and order, and the final product is still an ordered list from least to most expensive sounding. I think it would produce more surprising results since Pete only has to think about whether or not the pedal he is testing is more expensive than the one he has already heard.

[@Jaysteenn]

I love these blind shootouts!

[@frankglad2989]

Great Shootout! Thanks.

[@jimcamp2423]

The Rat 2 was my favorite, the feedback is something that none of the others could seem to emulate. Probably because the others are newer technology & takes on the Rat ? Oddly the EHX sounded much closer to the ProCo than the others to me, therefore actually better.

[@mahatma_gandalf]

I kind of liked them all about the same. Having said that, I didn't really love any of them, as I typically prefer the rat sound with single coils.

[@UnboundOdysseus]

The ProCo Rat is my favourite. Turning UP the filter control actually cuts some high end and makes leads just sing like a violin.

[@SaxJockey]

Just bought the RAT 2, sounds good. I tend to keep the filter above 12 o'clock to avoid piercing highs. That might change when I have explored it more thoroughly.

[@tonygunk6795]

The rat sounds so damn good.. my favorite distortion pedal

[@vadenk4433]

I’m gonna pick up a Magus. That’s a killer pedal for the price

[@SkyBrotherBortz]

A Rat into a cranked up AC30 is an amazing, ferocious sound.

[@dragffys]

Easy, label the pedals with letters (A, B, C..) and place them in order on the pedalboard. Then place post-its with the position number (1st, 2nd, 3rd...), and move the post-its around as required.

[@FoxVert]

I thought the Magus sounded good when you did the video putting together your less expensive pedal boards. I'm glad to hear that it holds up in this company.

[@al271987]

“See the quiet?” Love it.

[@daniels.2978]

Day in day out you guys present the most fun, informative gear reviews. Peace love and rock n roll Pete and Lee.l

[@geoffblack9655]

The RAT absolutely has a great low gain tone around 8-8:15 ish. Darken it a bit, raise the volume and it’s the tits.

[@Tanzi24]

I've owned a Rattler for 5 or 6 years and this is mostly how I run it!

[@thunderbirdbrown3002]

The difference between the Iron Horse and The Black Secret was insane dude! They sound the same... fascinating 🤘🏿

[@dr6849]

Those videos are so much fun!

[@billyhughes9776]

They all sound really good -- Liked the Rattler, Ratsbane, Ironhorse and Original the best. I have an Ironhorse and really love it.

[@josephharrison7914]

Finally the Rat blindfold challenge is here

[@blueskyredkite]

And in that run through, starting at 30'25" I could not hear a difference between them.

[@Sui778]

TC Magus Pro is right there with everything else and the three modes on the toggle switch are the most useful of all the units that had switches.

[@drdre4397]

I chose the ratsbane, I just like the mid focused feel and I won't really be turning the gain up that far. I will say the toggles have a huge effect on the tone and with the gain toggle left and voice toggle right, you get less gain with a bit of a mid punch and it's really nice. I don't use it in any other mode.

[@mdmusic2130]

I have the Rat original and the the Rat proco 2 but I love the New Wampler Ratsbane…huge killer tone!!!Fantastic pedal!!!

[@MrWilson-WithaPbass]

Thank you guys , Big Rat fan here (I have the Iron horse ) ,Had an OG in the day ,as well as a Keely modded one (sold both ) along the way ., gotta say I like the Low end in EHX .Good deal for those.

[@guyfawkes8873]

Great idea to ask the viewers to put the video away x) so much fun

[@dominic9893]

The affordable moore seems to be a big winner here. Sounded great and very similar to the ironhorse.

[@captainwhizz]

You guys must be psychic; I’ve got a load of stuff sitting in my online basket, waiting for me to decide which boost or drive pedal I’m going to get, and you throw this out there!

[@david_farmer]

I'd love to see a shootout that includes the modeled pedals in a Kemper, Ampero II, HX Stomp, etc., compared to the actual stomp boxes. Love this! That Blues Breaker really did sound great. I own a Kemper and am also looking to get an Ampero II Stomp. I already own Helix Native or I'd be looking at an HX Stomp. But I find myself wondering how well included modeled pedals really hold up. These video comparisons you've done are just great! Lots of honesty in here and its just great to see and hear.

[@niccololaforteza7983]

the more expensive ones seem to have more presence, according to my ears at least. but heck, im gonna go get that magus.

[@GuitarBailey]

HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY....THIS IS THE MOMENT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR 6 MONTHS AND HERES THE ULTIMATE RAT SHOOT OUT THANK YOU PETE AND CAP.

[@the5chord]

You guys are awesome. If I was in England I would be ordering from you all the time. Unfortunately all we have in this country is the queen on our money but no Andertons!

[@emeraldchan7770]

I love my mooer and classic rat. They really get the job done.

[@guitarlessonsnow3431]

RAT is the best distortion for versatility. From light overdrive to fuzz and everything in between.

[@RobertFisher1969]

Love this series of videos! Maybe next time use letters for the pedals so that Pete can say “A is my #3” instead of “#1 is my #3”. 🙂

[@Dreyno]

I have a Proco Vintage Rat that I bought new in the late 90s. At the time I wasn’t sure about it but I put it away for a few years and when I dug it out, I loved it. The main reason for buying a Proco is because you know what to look for on the board. The others don’t look like Rats but they sound like them.

[@gcvrsa]

I have had my eye on the Walrus for months, mainly because of the "wide open mode". I know you aren't really getting into the additional modes of the Wampler, tc electronic, and Walrus, but I have to say that in the standard mode, the tc electronic pedal is really great and a fantastic value. I think I might pick one up just because it's great and inexpensive. But the JAM Rattler really is in this compart a stand out. But, for the record, although top-mounted jacks allow one to place pedals closer together, this is not necessarily a good idea, because you do need to have enough space between pedals to fit a foot between them and no accidentally hit two or three switches at once in the middle of a song.

[@Chazbattles]

Preferred the original rat for some reason. Loved the rattler too. Great Demo. Can we do a univibe blind test or a analog delay shootout.

[@Scoots1994]

I couldn't click on this fast enough. I love my Deucetone Rat, but that Rattler was the winner for me too. Even with the gain high it still had some nice tone.

[@tomfonner1886]

2, 3, and 6 were my favorites

[@lionsden_prod]

Great comparison!!

[@michaell.8938]

I really like the Iron Horse. The switches made noticeable differences in tone. The original Rat is still a huge contender here.

[@LL-bl8hd]

I listened without looking at the screen and ended up liking the EHX and Wampler the best. They were all good, though.

[@BigMateo24]

Now we need the ultimate CE-2 chorus shootout.

[@SwidrygajlowArek]

its already out

[@peterlostig]

Would love seeing a blindfolded guitar cable test through the whole pricerange :)

[@jdjk7]

Broughton Locust Star. It sounds as phenomenal guitar as it does on bass. I had the EHX Flatiron a long time ago when they first came out, but there was really no way to get enough low end out of it without simply putting it in a blender loop.

[@BopKitBill]

Magus Pro out there killing it!

[@happygolukky]

Lol - wow so similar - especially when you flipped between all 7 - maybe it is down to extra signal noise? Or just price? Great blindfold! And Pete is amazing. Also - got all the fam kitted out in Anderton’s T’s here in the US.

[@DougMen1]

They all sound so similar, so you might as well just buy the one you like of the cheaper ones. I kind of liked the EHX, 'cause it sounded a little smoother and less harsh to me

[@mootsym]

If the TC and Walrus had the same quietness of the Rattler, they’d be my favorites for their versatility plus sound. The walrus almost got Muffy on one of the settings.

[@OscarFaldi]

I have mooer black secret.. it's so funny watching this challenge hahaha

[@charliepayne9248]

Me too, it's a superb little box of fury....!

[@Momentum88]

Awesome Thanks!

[@GuitarBailey]

I can say I'm sold on the jam pedals I have a Eureka fuzz and I love it so versatile time to add the rattler.

[@tomaselke3670]

I'm still a fan of Electro Harmonix partly because I like the artwork on their pedals, but I'd probably go for the Wampler based on the sounds I heard in this video.

[@adrianwarner8686]

New title for these vids "How to make a £40 pedal sound the same as the £200 alternative".

[@jebusgod]

a lot of the time that comes down to the amazing guitar they're playing and amazing amp, plus helps when you're a great player like Peter

[@imacashew.]

This makes me want to get out my rat pedal. I haven’t played on that pedal in a while.

[@ihaveaproblem3153]

Great video, I think the guitars pickups are pretty hot making the dynamics of the gain not show, I use a rat as an overdrive sometimes with a Tele, if I put a guitar with a bigger output into the rat with a low gain setting it no longer acts as an overdrive. I guess sometimes the guitars pickup determine the style of music your going to perform, Pete would have been more comfortable with a low output 50/60 style guitar with the rat then a modern style guitar

[@Magnum5160]

I own five of these pedals and this did not conclude as I expected. The flatiron is one of my favorite pedals, not just among rats, and the Wampler is the one on my board right now. I actually don't care much for my Iron Horse, and they all sound pretty drastically different except for the affordable models, which approximate the original quite well.

[@chrisgeorge4325]

The Magus seems crazy value for money and the Magus Pro is definitely the one to go for

[@stringtheoryguitars4952]

I have 6 vintage Rats (79-86) and you can't make them sound the same. One sounds similar to a Marshall, another has a "reedy" kind of sax tone, another has a violin kind of tone... that's why I have so many. I could never choose a favorite LOL!

[@jordanb9511]

Little Mooer Black Secret for the win here. It’s got a tasteful boxiness and gain texture to it at a fraction of the price of the Rattler, which is the creme de la creme here, especially that bloom man.

[@miromax811]

0:17 No, he would say "My name is Remy"

[@miquelmarti6537]

Most difficult shootout ever... and he even spotted the original one. I think I liked the Mooer and the TC the most.

[@olliedf89]

Perfect timing for me too as I’ve been after a good rat for ages! I’d love to see you do these comparisons with a wee bass blast through at the end. Not enough of these style videos with bass content, and low end consistency is one of the hardest things to compare across separate demo videos. That said I’ll probably pick up an original all the same!

[@boimesa8190]

Yeah exactly. U can mostly tell if a pedal is good when a bass sounds good through it 💪

[@michael_caz_nyc]

I love the Jam Pedals Rattler the Best = (less fizzy). The TC Magus was My #2, also-impressive & great value. Original Rat was #3 for me.

[@AGNC7]

Rattler does sound the best to me too. I can’t say I would have put them all in the same order but the Rattler sounded the best for sure!

[@sepvanvaleriofficial]

I have A Original RAT and I LIKE IT SO MUCH than the other version.

[@Lavietto]

I liked number 6 the most ! !

[@albertplaysguitar]

Love the Magus Pro... the Wampler Ratsbane is like driving a Ferrari... I just need a nice Honda or Toyota. Enter the Magus Pro! But, in defense of the Ratsbane, it can do that and more. You just need to get a feel for how to set the knobs.

[@TeleCustom72]

Do a Big Muff comparison next please.

[@Tone-Oz]

My ear must be developing. I could follow how Pete and Lee were describing all. In earlier times everything would have sounded the same to me! I liked the original one here the most. Cheers.

[@sleepwait9613]

I'd like to see a comparison at max level just to understand how much hey can stand out form the clean sound when engaged. Playing in a sludge/doom band it is important that there's a huge volume upgrade when engaging a distortion pedal

[@alittlebitoflight]

You dialled out the thing I like most about the rat (dynamic highs) super early and then were highish gain from there on. Fair enough. Gotta choose some kind of approach. But for those of us who like lower gain walls of distortion, it wasn't as instructive. Still enjoyed it.

[@davidburke2132]

I can only think the sound in the room, maybe because of the effects of volume on perception, are quite different to what comes through on the recorded video because when the guys were switching backwards and forwards between the Rattler and the Iron Horse saying how similar they were I was noticing a significant difference in saturation, low end and clarity. And again… to me the Mooer didn’t sound “identical” to the Iron Horse. It was very similar, but the Iron Horse was clearer, and let’s remember, they’re supposed to be “very similar”! 😜