DigiTech Bad Monkey

It was easy to get a SUPERB sound out of this lil Green thang. x

Well ive been playin for 12 years now (im 26) & ive ownd tons of 'Overdrive' pedals such as: TS-9's/SD-1's/WYLDE's MXR & THE VOX BIG BEN.
I playd them all thru my Marshall 100watt Valvestate with 5x12" Celestion speakers in a cab!!
Out of all the pedals that shone the brightest it was the Digitech Bad Monkey EVERY TIME!!
ITS THE BEST 'TUBE-EMULATION' PEDAL THERE IS OUT THERE!!
With incredible sustain and its amazing depth in tone = PERFECT!
Add it to your amps overdrive & you will get BLACK SABBATH/ SLASH/ZAKK WYLDE/S.T.P. & JERRY CANTREL of A.I.C.(RIP)
(it even does that Nirvana Raarrhhhh too!)
And with the superb controlled feedback that would put a smile on Hendrix's & Page's face any day... \m/(-_-)\m/
This pedal (IMHO!) is the Holy grail of Overdrive boxes!!
Forget all the 'vintage' hype'n'stuff - BUY THIS BAD MONKEY NOW...
For Blues,Grunge & Heavy Rock this pedal's got your ass coverd!!
And for #29 you cant go wrong. Peace out man. :)
(id give it a 10 but nothing in life is a 10!)

As strong as an OX,
Cos its made out of steel dudes!
LOL :)

Never delt with'em & I hope i dont have to...

Man i love so much music but its mostly Grungy Rock,and this pedal just does nothing but inspire me to play even more so from my soul.
Peter Greens sound is to die for in my books & this lil monkey helps me get into 'The Zone' lol...
I cant see how someone could NOT LIKE this Bad boy - Full Stop!!
Let there be rock my friends.... ROCK!!! \m/(-_-)\m/

Easy as you would expect.

My setup :

Ibanez RGT42, ESP LTD MH201, Ibanez RG770 -> Morley Wah -> Bad Monkey -> B-52 AT100 -> Effects out -> Danelectro Fab Chorus -> Dan Echo -> Effects in -> Avatar 2x12 Texas Heats.

I love what this pedal does for my sound. I set the level at about 7 and the Gain at about 5. I set the gain on my amp at about 5 also. This is the best tone that I've ever had. It also sounds very good by itself on my clean channel. It doesn't get very heavy on it's own but it has a very good bluesy rock sound. I use it to boost my signal going into my preamp so that I can have multiple gain stages for my dirty channels. This pedal does exactly what I hoped it would do and the price ain't half bad either.

Seems to be built well.

Digitech has been good to me in the past.

Overall this is a very good pedal. It is built well and it has great tone. If you're in the market for an affordable overdrive, you can't go wrong with this one.

very easy to follow instructions 4 knobs, simple.

Excellent very very nice sound on my blues junior, makes the sound thicker and has more power.

very good looks ruggedly built

excellent pedal, very good value.

This is a very easy to use pedal. It's got gain, level, low and high controls. There's really not much to it. A good feature- you just need guitar cables to acces the battery compartment not a screwdriver. The manual is very short but covers everything you'd need to know. It has two outputs - one for an amp and one for recording.

My setup is: Esp ltd ec 50 ---- Bad Monkey ---- (sometimes rp80)---- Epiphone Valve junior.

The bad monkey gets a really nice blues/rock tone (similar to a tubescreamer) through this setup with the gain turned up to 10 (using a clean amp), but it can sound pretty bad when the gain is turned down past halfway. I don't have a decent guitar with single coils to try with the bad monkey, but I think a single coil guitar would sound better on low gain settings.

This pedal is good for getting sounds of 1970's blues/rock and my setup can get a good Led Zeppelin sound. It's also good for stuff like Pink Floyd (when combined with a few more effects!)and modern indie stuff like Franz Ferdinand. After I bought it I looked at the sound samples on the digitech website and they're pretty accurate but not 100%. Sounds good with 'Low' at 12 o'clock and 'High' at 3 o'clock but obviously adjust those settings to personal taste. Turning up the amp gain gives this pedal more boost and still sounds great.

As far as I can tell it's got a true bypass but i'm not 100% sure.

One fairly big problem with this pedal is that it can sound quite different on differnt amps. On my (very old) peavey amp it sounded really wierd and fuzzy (hard to describe) but on my new valve junior it sounds great. I have tried it on a few solid state amps and it sounded good but for some reason it sounded real bad through my old peavey. So if you have a cheap amp you might want to try out a friends monkey before you buy your own. The 8 refers to how it sounds on my current setup. With my old amp it would be a 4.

Solid (and as heavy) as brick. I would deffinately gig it without a backup but would bring a power supply for it as it begins to sound pretty awful when the battery starts to run out. I've found the batteries last about 1-2 months (about 4 hours per week use)

Never dealt with them.

Overall this is a great pedal, especially at half the price of a Boss Blues Driver (in Australia). I play bluesy rock, 70's style rock and art/experimental rock (did I say a play rock :P) and this pedal is great for that. This pedal is not perfect (the different amp thing is a problem) but works great for me.

If this was stolen (and I got insurance money) I would go out again and buy another. Depending on your budget I would also check out a Boss Blues driver and Ibanez Tubescreamer. The Bad Monkey does the same thing as these and is a lot cheaper. The Bad Monkey will not suit everybody's taste (and amps) so use your common sense and try before you buy. This is an overdrive, not distortion pedal and sounds a lot differnt from a Boss Ds-1.

One last thing, unlike a lot of Digitech products, the Bad Monkey is analogue not digital so this pedal shouldn't be dismissed because it's a Digitech.

This is a really easy pedal to use.

It has four nobs (level, low, high, gain). the nobs are very solid feeling and sturdy. the pedal itself feels very strong as well.


The manual is really cool, it shows a bunch of different examples to get a good sound out of it.

Heres my setup:

Fender Telecaster with Hot Rails in the bridge > Boss ME50 > Digitech Bad Monkey > Peavey Classic 50 4x10.

I also use a Limited Edition Epiphone Les Paul Standard. The reason I bought this pedal was to drive my amp harder so I dont have to use as much gain. I play indie rock/ambient/experimental stuff.

I usually dont use it with the telecaster because the hot rails are high output, but its great with the lp.

its very warm and responsive. it sounds amazing. its pretty quiet through my setup.

Its tough. All metal, very well designed. I would like to get a backup just in case. I mean, at $40 why not grab an extra one?

This pedal does exactly what I need. It sounds great with my rig, and it was cheap. Im very happy with how sturdy it is and the weight. The controls are great and work well, the sound is awesome, and its cheaper than a tubescreamer. i used to own a ts9, but i like this alot better. the only problem is that it doesnt clean up totally. it works as a great clean boost, but the boost isnt completley clean. which is fine, because i never play totally clean anyhow.

also, its all analog!!! no digital crap at all!!! i was shocked when i read this, but its true. i was skeptical at first to try any of digitech products because ive read so many times that their stuff is crap. but it all comes down to your ears, if it sounds and works good for you, then there you go.

if i lost it or had it stolen, id buy a new one for sure.


if you want a good overdrive and dont want to pay out your ears, pick one of these all analog beauties up. you wont regret it.

This pedal is definitely easier to use than most pedals. Instead of having a Tone knob, it has a Hi and a Low knob. I find it really easy to get the EQ I want with that as opposed to using a Tone knob.

My setup: B.C. Rich Bronze Warlock with a Bill Lawrence L-500XL bridge pickup (that made my cheap guitar sound more like a $400-$500 priced guitar) through this Bad Monkey pedal straight into my Marshall JCM 2000 DSL100 with a 4x12 straight Park cab.

As you probably guessed, I play metal. This OD pedal was exactly what I needed for my rig. I bought it simply for boosting my signal going into my preamp. It does this very well. It really tighted up my amp and it lets me back off the gain and get that power tube tone I like.

I'm still not crazy about how it sounds when I switch over to my clean channel. It's cool because it throws a little dirt in there (I think it's just making the tubes break up a little, hence it has nothing to do with how the pedal sounds, but more to do with how strong the output signal is). The other guitarist in my band really likes how it does that, but I need to experiment with it more to see what I can do with it.

The Hi/Low knobs that I mentioned earlier really help me because my agathis-body guitar with that Bill Lawrence bridge pickup tends to be bright, especially with that Park cab. I can use the pedal to balance my EQ a little better before I come into my amp so I don't have to rely solely on the amp's EQ.

As any metal fan/musician should, I love classic rock. So I figured this pedal could also serve as something for me to mess around on at my house through my Carvin solid state acoustic amp. Yeah, it's not the best amp to use for what I do, but it's just what I happen to have. It's easier to practice on it than lugging my Marshall rig around. Anyway, I'm not really impressed with the overdrive tone. I was hoping I could sound like Skynyrd, but I haven't been able to get very close to that. But I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to emulating that kind of tone, so you can probably disregard my opinion on this aspect of the pedal.

I don't see any reason to buy a second one just for backup, even though they are very affordable.

I've only had it about a month or two, so I'm not sure how it's going to hold up. But it definitely is built solid, so I would be surprised if it died.

I haven't had to deal with them any.

I am convinced that a good OD pedal is essential for anyone playing metal with a tube/valve amp (which is the only way to do it). Before I had it, I thought my tone was decent. Now that I use it, I'm really cutting through the mix. I'm actually adding a lot to my band's sound. I can hear myself no matter what riff we're playing, and I often think to myself "I sound really good tonight" while we're practicing. It has been my best investment since I bought my Marshall.

This OD pedal is now an essential part of my rig, and if anything happened to it, I would have no problems going out and buying another one. After all, they're only $40. If you're thinking about trying an OD pedal to boost your tube amp, I highly recommend this pedal. It's an affordable way to try it out, and I'm willing to bet that you'll be happy with what it does.

Very easy to get a good sound out of it. Very smooth, very nice! The footswitch could be a little more sensitive. . . . I like to tap my stomp boxes (big feet, small pedalboard -- I need to be delicate), but with this one I've gotta give it a good heave.

EXCELLENT. I don't have, nor have I used a Tubescreamer, but I nearly bought a TS7(808 Mod) and I'm glad I didn't spend the extra $40. It does what I need it to do. Drives my tube amp quite well. It's quiet boost and sweet gain . . . doesn't do zz top.

Seems rock-hard. Digitech throws in a battery, which is great. I have one other digitech pedal and it's just bulletproof.

Haven't needed to.

Overall it's a great tube sim if you are stuck with a SS amp, and it's agreat driver for a tube amp. if you play blues and rock, you need this pedal in your lineup.

Very Easy to get a good sound out of this. Set all knobs at 12:00, and tweak to taste from there.

I'm using this with a Fender Standard Stratocaster with Seymour Duncan Antiquity Texas Hot pups. Not noisy on it's own, but when used in conjunction with the overdrive on Hot Rod Deluxe, need to be quick on your feet turning it on and off in a gig situation. THat nails as close as I've gotten to the SRV Pride and Joy/Rude Mood sound. Also works well as a clean boost. How I use it with the amp's overdrive is to set the amp drive on 4 and the gain on the Monkey at half. Allows me to use the amp for a volume boost (something which the Monkey does due, unless like me you are in a band with three guitar players and may find it is not enough), great some great semi-dirty bluesy sounds out of the Monkey, and killer rock stuff when they are both turned on. The most versatile sounds you could want to come up with with this setup. For what I am playing right now (classic rock, rock and roll, bluesy stuff) best sounds I've gotten out of nearly thirty years of playing and gigging. I can't imgine being happier even with a TS-9, although I've honestly not played through one, however for practicality's sake, this is half the price, and some people here say it sound's better. In my opinion, blows the Boss Sd-1 (which I've owned and turned in to buy one of these) out of the water soundwise. Nothing short of something that automatically turns me into SRV wuld get a ten....others have made Eric Johnson comparisons (the tones out of the pedal, not my playing necessarily).

I've had it only two months, so hard to say. Been dependable so far. Probably not an issue. Do use it without a backup, but have an overdrive on the amp that will make it through the night. WOuldn't deliberately gig without one, will likely keep this pedal for many years. Very happy.

Never used them, don't know.

Been playing about thirty years, gigging off an on about twenty. Play classic rock, blues, country, oldies, everything but metal. I also have an on/off again relationship with pedals. I can say unequivocably this is one pedal I would not sell (might trade it for a TS-9 or 808 though, but no cash exchange). I have a delay I use which I also like but this one gets a lot of use during gigs. If someone stole it, I'd be tempted to hunt the guy down and beat him to death with it, but hey, at $40, would definitely buy another - am anticipating the price will go up on these in the future, too good of a steal right now in comparison with the overpriced Tube Screamers.I like the flexibility in the low high and gain knobs, lot more variation in sound there then you would think, but I have my one favortie setting and I stick with it. When used in combination with your amp's gain, lots of flexibility there. Not really a good clean boost, will probably look towards a compressor for that. Great higher gain/tube driven sounds when used in cobination with your amp's gain, think as I said, Stevies's more gain-y stuff, or maybe the solo on Keep Your Hands To Yourself. On it's own, nails quieter bluesy stuff, or alternatively CCR Green River type of sound. If you want some semi-dirty sounds, I.E. Eric Johnson, this can do that well also. If you want Satriani/Vai/iinsert your favorite metal player here, look elsewhere (I'm a big Satriani/Vai fan as well, but don't aspire to that style anymore, ergardless, this pedal doesn't do that). Again, the decision to buy this pedal was due to a lot of research, and largely based on what I have read here. Thanks to those who helped - my opinion, every bit as good as the best reviews I've read here.

Level, bass, treble & gain controls.
Very easy to get great overdrive tones.
Ingenious access to battery
Website has some suggested settings, and sound samples.

The best pedal I've used for this kind of application. Very nice and "tube-like"
Not a 'distortion pedal' for hard rock and metal, if your putting it in front of a clean amp. Sounds absolutely awesome in front of a slightly overdriven valve amp. S.R.V. , Angus Young, Page etc.
I'm using mine with 2 Ibanez' and a Parker Fly into a Laney LC15R or Marshall amps. Thickens tones, adds boost, or whatever you set it for.

Built like a tank, and great battery access (no broken plastic battery covers)

N/A

Look somewhere else if your after a pedal to provide mega gain metal sounds, this won't!
What it will provide is great tube amp like drive, or to boost an already driven amp (preferably valve) in a solid, fantastic value pedal.

This pedal is very simple to get the tone you want. 4 knobs, Level, Low, High, and Gain. Never opened the Manual. Upgrades? I'll let you know in the next Section.

I use a LP Copy and a Lace Huntington and my Pedals are :
Vox Wha>Compressor>Bad Monkey>Tremelo>Traynor TRM40 with (2) 2X12 Cabs. I match the Level with the Clean Level on the Traynor and go from there. Since the Traynor is quite loud, my levels run between 3-4. Low around 10, High around 2, and Gain at 1-2. With the 2X12's I get enough Low's to bring a little Bottom in the Mix. And when I kick it in, the Band knows who walked in thru the door.


Now that I've said all that, here's what you need to do to make this Pedal sing. Have the MOD done by no one else but Mark Humphery. You can get intouch with him through the RigTips Group on Yahoo.
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rigtips) He will make the MOD that will keep you playing until your fingers bleed.


There is no noise on mine. I use it connected to a 1-Spot Power Source. The Pedal/MOD are very transparent. Tell him Loud Bob from The Route66 Band sent you over. You will be amazed at what he can do for you.

I haven't Gigged with it yet, but use it at every Practice we have. It never leaves my chain. Will I use it w/o a backup? You bet!

I haven't had to use Support, but if it needs it, it'll go right to Mark Humphery (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rigtips) for any repairs.

Our Band plays Rock & Roll. And together we've been playing since 1966 (ie; Route66 Band). If it were lost or stolen, I'd be on the horn to Mark for a new one.


Once the MOD is done, you'll love this Pedal. Try one for yourself.

The pedal is easy to use with several ways to change the amount of drive, volume, treble, and bass. Just a stock pedal on the outside.

Mark takes an already hot pedal and makes it scream!!! I liked the Monkey because it's hot, but not too hot. I played it in a local store and almost bought one, but they were not in stock. So I, not able to wait, got on e-bay.
This is where I found the Rabid Monkey.
The mod adds much more warmth as well as nice powerful lows and highs that would cut through sheet metal.

Only had it for a month or so, but no staggers as of yet.

Haven't had an issue, so I don't know.

I use it with a mildly dirty amp, this gives a great Zakk Wylde type of overdrive.
I also use it by itself to get that steel cutting Angus Young live guitar sound.
On a clean amp with the drive on medium, it gives a great blues sound.
Overall it is a wonderful pedal, you can trust Mark to give you a great deal. I don't know about his service, but if it's as good as the equipment he sells, it's got to be great.

Kramer Baretta with QuadRails...This bad boy is da bomb!

No noise, very quiet, even when stomped

Yes, indeedy

never needed

Blues and jazz, about 20 years...if stolen, I would immediately contact Mark H for another...

This pedal is very simple to get the tone you want. 4 knobs, Level, Low, High, and Gain. Never opened the Manual. Upgrades? I'll let you know in the next Section.

I use a LP Copy and a Lace Huntington and my Pedals are :
Vox Wha>Compressor>Bad Monkey>Tremelo>Traynor TRM40 with (2) 2X12 Cabs. I match the Level with the Clean Level on the Traynor and go from there. Since the Traynor is quite loud, my levels run between 3-4. Low around 10, High around 2, and Gain at 1-2. With the 2X12's I get enough Low's to bring a little Bottom in the Mix. And when I kick it in, the Band knows who walked in thru the door.

Now that I've said all that, here's what you need to do to make this Pedal sing. Have the MOD done by no one else but Mark Humphery. You can get intouch with him through the RigTips Group on Yahoo.
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rigtips) He will make the MOD that will keep you playing until your fingers bleed.

There is no noise on mine. I use it connected to a 1-Spot Power Source. The Pedal/MOD are very transparent. Tell him Loud Bob from The Route66 Band sent you over. You will be amazed at what he can do for you.

I haven't Gigged with it yet, but use it at every Practice we have. It never leaves my chain. Will I use it w/o a backup? You bet!

Haven't had to use Support, but if it needs it, it'll go right to Mark Humphery (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rigtips) for any repairs.

Our Band plays Rock & Roll. And together we've been playing since 1966 (ie; Route66 Band). If it were lost or stolen, I'd be on the horn to Mark for a new one.

Once the MOD is done, you'll love this Pedal. Try one for yourself.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it? VERY EASY
How about Editing? EASY
How is the manual for it (if there is one)? NOT GOOD

What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with? I use an american strat, Fender Bassman LTD

Is it noisy? NO

On what settings? my favorite blues is: Vol=1pm, Bass=11am, Treble=3pm and Gain at 3pm, and use the neck pickup

Are the effects weak or do they always sound great? The MONKEY sound very good. Its got more of a tube tone than any pedal i have ever tried ! Its a MID RANGE pedal with the hollow tone. It really reminds me of ERIC CLAPTON. sounds really good with my fender bassman.

Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? I can get a great bluesy tube tone. I'm amazed how close it is to a overdriven tube tone. Are certain effects (distortion, chorus, ...) very good? I play a Delay pedal with it. And for extra drive, i use the digitech scream'n blues pedal with the bridge pickup.

i've played it everday for 6 months

GOOD

I'm a BLUES ROCK type guy. I love a good tube tone when driven, as we all do. This pedal works well with my BASSMAN. I get a great driven tube tone. Like people say, its a SMOOTH tone. It really sounds like eric clapton when he's playen a great slow blues (HYDE PARK). Its the best TUBE DRIVER i've played. Its that BOXY MIDY tone. I have many guitars, but i like the american standard the most. the unit also sounds good with humbuckers. TRY IT !!! for $40, its the best deal out there.

pretty good pedal.
the two tone controls bass and treble equals more customization.

very sweet sound,
you get some fat bass for your tone

Hot Rod Deluxe and Fender Strat

it feels stronger than my Boss BD-2
little heavier and slightly wider
but it's tough metal case

haven't dealt

very good value..
I can use it as a clean boost too
or overdrive, or lead boost.
very flexible pedal

This is a neat little pedal with 4 controls which allow an easy tube driven sound to come from a non-tube amp. I have the MIA model (Sept. 05) and it's the best color (green) that I've ever seen.

I play an American and Standard (MIM) Fender Strat through a small Crate 100w Solid State amp. I like the option of the dual outputs to use with 2 separate amps or 2 separate channels. Nice settings to get whatever tone you're after. I cranked the low to 1 o'clock and set the treble at 10 o'clock, the gain at 3 and dist at 5 and it sounded like my old Deluxe Reverb being pushed a bit.

This is a very rugged pedal with an ultra-easy, no tools needed battery change compartment. I have used it on several gigs without a backup.

I've only called customer support to ask what other products they offer and they were extremely polite and helpful.

I've been playing for 27 years and mostly blues and rock music. I love this pedal because it allows me to use a 30 pound amp that sounds like a Marshall Stack when the pedal is set for extreme drive.
I sold my old MXR Distortion + and a newer Zendrive because this Bad Monkey puts them both to shame. My friends also have gone and bought this pedal and we all think it's the HOLY GRAIL ???

Easy as pie to work with. I got "my sound" in about 60 seconds. Got the "Stevie Ray/Tubescreamer" sound first. The manual is simple, because the pedal doesn't require much thought.

I use a Vox amp (solid-state, but a good one), and a hot-rodded Strat (decent sounding single-coils). No other effects. I started with a clean and even-sounding tone from the amp. This pedal really fattens up the tone, and makes my amp sound like it has tubes that are being pushed right to the point of breaking up. It's brilliant for hard-edged blues (moreso than the DigiTech Sreamin' Blues, in my opinion), 60's Rock, 70's Rawk, and anywhere else you may need that extra push. I compared several Tubescreamers and TS-style pedals, and found this to be the most genuine sounding of all. At $40, I couldn't pass it up. It sounds (again, my opinion--and tone is subjective, innit?) better than a modded Ibanez TS. The best among more costly green pedals.

This pedal pushes your sound, but is transparent with your guitar's tone. My Strat sounds like a Strat (on steroids). I like the fat tone I get from it so much, I'm swiching to humbucker-equipped guitars to feed the need. It's a beautiful-sounding pedal.

As a side note, this is NOT a digital pedal. It is analog. The X-series pedals are digital, and have those characteristics. But the Bad Monkey, Screamin' Blues, Grunge, Death Metal, and Hot Head are ANALOG. One reviewer stated otherwise, and I almost didn't buy the pedal. When it's at all possible, try before you buy.

Built like a Boss. If it blew at a gig, first of all I'd be very surprised, but then I'd just plug directly into the amp *gasp*, and play on.

Don't know yet--not worried.

The only overdrive I'll ever use--period. The only negative thing is the way you have to remove the top of the pedal the replace the battery. But this minor inconvenience isn't even enough to lower its rating.

Very easy to use. Plung in and play. I recommend having all knobs half way and then adjusting them to your preference.

GREAT sound!! This is one of my favorite pedals. The overdrive is so sweet. Very warm sounding and great sustain. I run this and all my pedals through a Yamaha T50. I am planing to get a 3 amp set up. That being the Yamaha T50 for overdrive with the Bad monkey, Fender Hot Rod Deville for clean and Latvala vintage (custom made..point to point wiring) for warmer tones. I have tried it with the Latvala and it is just the best.

Never had a problem with it. I have an Boss overdrive in my pedal anyways just in case.

Have never dealth with them, or have had to deal with them. Great product.

If you want a great tube overdrive tone, this is it. It can give you a great Santana overdrive/sustain tone, SRV raw tone, Slash warmth, Michael Schenker edge. Probably not the best for metal, but it doesn't matter cause we are talking about GOOD tone. Get it one and you will not regret it.

Simple. Level,..low,.. high... and gain.. In,.. Out,.. to amp.. to mixer. So Simple I bought 2 of em.. More on that...

Sounds Great! So good in fact I bought 2 of em and daisy chained them together For the most over the top sound!.. OK let me start by saying I use this in a TUBE AMP.. I cant say how it'll sound thru solid state amps..I dont use em. I've played gobs of equipment thru the years since 1975 and Mesa equipment exclusivly since 97' .If you know boogie you know the distortion is very Ballsy and dark..Just like I like it. Any way back to the Bad Monkey. I needed something for one of my backup amps which is a 69' Fender Bassman that I've got loaded with Ruby Tube 6l6's and Groove Tube 12ax7's. I have been laboring trying to find a pedal that gives me a sound close to what I'm getting out of my Boogie rigs and the Bad Monkey IS IT! Now it's a OVERDRIVE and wont do Metal...Alone.. but wait! Their so cheap take 2 of em and daisy chaing them and you'll find yourself selling off the rest of your pedals on ebay or a least scalling down your pedal board. 2 pedals together will push it into the metal zone, Not thrash Rectum Frier but close. I tried numerous pedals..TS's MXR's .Voodoo Labs Sparkle ect. ect and I did find some very good sounds but the the Bad Monkey sounded so close to these for a fraction of the cost that it was a no brainer..I'm thinking of promoting my Bassman with the bad monkeys to 1rst stringer for a while.. I play in a Rock/Classic and Original Rock band and will use this setup at my next gig. This pedal is quiet even when I run the gain W F O. It makes harmonics jump of my fret boards and sustains for days.. a la Gary Moore, Vivian Cambell, .. I mostly use my Gibson SG loaded with Seymoore Duncans, JB Bridge,, Pearly Gates in the neck and Also a Carvin DC 127 with stock Hum's and coil taps.. 2 Totally different guitars made out of different woods and they both sing with the Bad Monkeys.. Setup is Guitar..into Bad Monkey .. into Bad Monkey ..into Carvin Digital Delay into Fender Bassman.. That's it.. It produces the meanest wall of sound I've ever heard out of a Fender Bassman.. So close in sound to my Boogies it's scary.. Now alone the pedal is still a great sounding pedal. But classic rock is the most you'll get out of it alone. Nothing wrong with that if thats the genre your after like me..

Well I've had em for about 4 months and I dropped one that hit right on the "Low" knob and bounced a couple of times.. Still working just fine..Athough I dont recommend dropping them.. (watch your alcohol consumtion before handling any equipment). Although It survived (and works fine) I find the "Low" knob does'nt "Feel" the same.

Havent called so cant say

I play Rock, Blues, Country, Funk , Punk, It just dont matter..Whatever band I find myself in at the Time..

Playing too long. And own to much crap to list since 1975.

If lost or stolen would buy again as long as Digitech doesnt get hip and start charging double what there getting now..

Look I'm only speaking for myself and I aint telling no one what to buy. Sound is subjective. What sounds good to me may suck to you..what sounds good to you may suck to me.. But I've found that with a good clean tube amp this pedal just shines..And that aint no Monkey Buisness. :-)

This is a very easy pedal to operate. The inclusion of both treble and bass tone controls blows away a lot of other pedals instantally. All the knobs feel solid and the pedal case is robust and solid. Foot pedal action is perfect.

Let me first list a few of my other pedals... Fulltone OCD, Barber Directdrive, Barber LTD silver, Boss DS1, Danelectro Fab overdrive, Boss OD3. ( these are just my overdrives.) My amp is a GenzBenz El'Diablo C60/30 combo (tube.) The Bad Monkey can hang with ANY of the other OD pedals I have, it is actually smoother than most and is nice and pick sensitive, it just sounds superb. I usually keep the Barber LTD and DS1 (only) on my pedalboard and switch out other OD's or distortion pedals when required.. but, every time I plug into the Bad Monkey I am amazed at how great it sounds and responds.

I have and have had other DidiTech products, I keep a Digiverb on my pedalboard and had the RP100 and The "Weapon". Never had any problems with any of them and this Bad Monkey is built rock solid, no worries!

Never needed them, in my opinion that deserves a 10.

I have been playing for 40 years, I am still a fan of the guys a lot of people don't think about anymore, Alan Holdsworth, Steve morse, Al Dimeola, Malmsteen, Vai, etc. These guys were and still are monsters! With that being said, The Digitech Bad Monkey is an exceptional OD pedal and for the price it is the correct choice. I have owned tons of gear in the last 40 years and very few items come to mind as real keepers, My Yamaha NE1 and Barber LTD are two items I will not part with. Now on that list is the Bad Monkey. I wish ALL pedals had seperate treble and bass controls and performed like this one does. I stayed away from it for a long time because of the paint job, it seemed a little over the top to me but now after using for about 6 months and comparing to other similar products it works and sounds so great that I would not want it to look any other way. I don't care if it's hot pink, tone and playing response is the bottom line and I do not think you can find a better made pedal that sounds this good until you get into the high end botiques. I rest my case.

4 knobs , level ,low,high and gain . Simplicity itself .

Seeing a new one up on ebay for only #19 , and a quick bit of research on Harmony Central confirmed this was a low risk investment for what was probably a great pedal. Delivered in two days , plugged in and ....wow!!
Everything everyone said was confirmed . Not a heavy distortion , but a lovely saturated tube emulation , or overdrive.
I have today borrowed a friends Ibanez tubescreamer TS808 reissue and have been doing an A/B comparison . He paid #120!! No discernible difference between the two , apart from the #101!!
This pedal normally retails around #39 . It is a bargain at that price and shows the TS as being an expensive 'genuine article' .
Cannot recommend this pedal highly enough

Built like a tank and very well finished . great LED size , very visible compared to Boss . I guess it will outlast me.

Can't see why I would ever need to talk to them

Light rock/blues . Perfect
24 years a player but still looking for my perfect sound . This has certainly helped.
Play a couple of USA Strats , USA Tele , Yamaha SG and a Lowden F32C
Fender Blues junior (lovely sound!)
I would certainly buy this pedal again especially at that price!!

Extremely simple to use-Volume, Lo, Hi, and Gain. That's it--4 knobs
and a stomp switch. Plug in and play.

I need to preface this review with the fact that I have reviewed very
few pieces of gear on Harmony Central. It seems that most of the gear I would review, there are dozens upon dozens of similar reviews up. That said, the Bad Monkey really impressed me. A friend of mine
who is a vintage instrument dealer told me to go pick one up. I said, 'Are you crazy? It's a DigiTech!" Well, I'm eating my words.
For the money, you cannot go wrong with this pedal.

I have been blessed with very cool gear. I have an original 808 Tubescreamer, an original TS-9, Fulltone Fulldrives and OCD's. You name it, I've run across it. This is easily the best big production overdrive on the market. Yes, there are better overdrives, but this one has tone without having to spend $100-150-300+ on an overdrive.
That's just silly.

My set-up is a good guitar (usually an old Gibson SG standard, Custom Shop Gibson LP Jr., or a custom made 'Fender' Esquire)--wah pedal (Teese or vintage Thomas), MXR EVH Phase 90, overdrive pedal, Zinky Master Blaster (clean boost)--amps (Marshall 50 watt JMP, Marshall JCM 800, or 60s Fender Bassman and Orange 4X12 cab). The Bad Monkey sounds great in my rig, and would make an excellent addition to yours, probably!

I've had this pedal a very short time, but it seems BUILT! It is actually the heaviest (weight wise) overdrive pedal I've come across (that probably does not mean a thing), and it seems to be very well put together.

Have never dealt with them, but it was $40--backups are affordable but may not ever be necessary. I'll take my chances.

I play a lot of different styles professionally. My first love is dirty, dirty rock 'n' roll. I also play country and southern rock for fun. I play recording sessions, as well, but I have not had the pleasure of taking this box to one. I've been playing for about 18 years, and I own a lot of gear.

There is no comparison between this pedal and most others on the market. The new Boss pedals don't impress me. The new Ibanez reish Tubescreamers need mucho modifications to sound good. Really, there is no good bridge between this pedal and very expensive overdrives. This is as good as any for the money, and I would not hesitate to replace it if lost or stolen.

Ease of use? Easy....You would have to be a bit green behind the ears not to be able to operate a pedal like this. Old Skool baby.

I'm using this mostly as follows:

Les Paul Standard/Flying V/Washburn Superstrat
Behringer Hell-babe
Boss Metal Zone
BAD MONKEY
Laney AOR50 Series II Head
Korg AX1500G and homemade volume cut in effects loop
Peavey 412MS cab

I only got it this morning but I've had a good fiddle (with the pedal)and can see that it is exactly what I was looking for. A good boost/overdrive in the Tubescreamer vein, with good mid range response.
Ace.

Solid as a stone. So cheap I could buy 4 or so for the price of a TS-9 reissue.

Why do I need support for a pedal like this? It has a warranty, though.

Does exactly what it says on the tin. Don't buy expensive boutique or reissue TS pedals. No, get one of these and spend the rest of your cash down the pub.

easy standard controls.if you need a manual you need to be in a short bus.

this is where this thing shines.i play a strat,schector,ibanez,and danelectro.through a fender hotrod deluxe.i use a pedalboard with alot of pedals on it.the bad monkey does not color the sound like my boss ds1,or sd1.the monkey replaced both of those! this pedal gives a awesome tone in a tube amp a nice mild classic rock blues tone.it doesnt have a lot of gain but is very clear. in my effects chain i use a electro harmonix double muff for harder stuff and a rocktron metal planet for a marshall sound in my fender amp. throw this pedal in the mix and there is nothing i cant do!

digitech and dod seem to be the same company and dod used to make the worst stuff back in my earlier years (80's),and boss used to make the best.my how times have changed because its the opposite now! it seems to be pretty solid construction.

never used

i play classic rock, blues, psycadelic, and it gets the most use of any other pedal i own. iv'e been playing for 25 years.i would defintly buy again.obviously with all the other positive reviews on this monkey i'm not alone in my opinion that this thing kicks butt!!!

Digitech Bad Monkey Tube Overdrive pedal.

Four knobs: level, high, low, and gain. Very easy to use. You don?t need a manual for a pedal this simple (or, frankly, any pedal I?ve EVER used). Made in China.

I use a 1950s Fender Strat MIM reissue and a Fender Frontman 25R 25-watt amp with a replacement Eminence ?Ragin? Cajun? 10? speaker.

The sound of the Bad Monkey is warm and smooth with a fairly low-gain sound. This is NOT a distortion pedal, so those wanting a heavier hard rock-type of sound will be disappointed. Stop now and hit the back button if you?ve ever considered a Death Metal pedal. The attempt here is to sound like a tube amp cranked up to as healthy level. Digitech accomplishes the tube overdrive sound admirably.

The bass control should be renamed ?warmth.? One can dial in a very warm sound with the Bad Monkey. This pedal is never harsh even at maximum gain settings (although I use the gain at about the 1 o'clock position). I use this pedal in front of a clean amp and I?m able to get just the right amount of distortion. One can clean up the sound by rolling off the volume control on the guitar ? but only to a point.

The best pedal I?ve used previously is an early 80s MXR Distortion +. Despite the name, the old Distortion + was more like an overdrive rather than a distortion pedal. I no longer have the old Distortion +, but I recorded with it extensively in the mid-90s (so I feel like I remember the sound quite well).

I feel that the Bad Monkey is as good (if not better than) the old MXR Distortion +. The Distortion + had a high-gain yet smooth sound. The Bad Monkey is slightly softer and smoother still. The old Distortion +, however, did not have a tone control. Comparatively speaking, it?s easier to switch between clean and distorted sounds with the Bad Monkey.

The Bad Monkey is incredible for $40!

The pedal seems very heavy. Actually, it?s the heaviest pedal I?ve ever used so I bet it?ll hold up. I treat my pedals with kid gloves, however.

I have never contacted Digitech so I?ve give ?em a five.

I?ve been playing guitar seriously since 1989. I play mostly classic rock and originals. I like an English-type of sound and the Bad Monkey is excellent in this regard. I?m no longer as serious about music as I used to be but I know what I like.

I?m not a fan of most modern distortion pedals because I find them a bit over the top. I?m also old enough not to understand all this Death Metal distortion crap. As I stated earlier, those wanting a Death Metal sound will absolutely hate the Bad Monkey. Obviously, I'm fine with that.