DigiTech Bad Monkey

I run a fender Telecaster and a Stratocaster either direct to my PA or through my fender Performer 1000 solid state hybrid amp . The Bad Monkey is amazing ....quiet , smooth , almost imperceptible with gain at 1 but the warmth is there without a doubt . No noise anywhere anytime , no switching sounds at all . I use this to record direct and it is amazingly quiet and effective ( no pun intended ) .

No problems ever ...the battery seems to last a very long time but live I use the adapter for consistency . I would defintitely use it without a backup ...however at the cost (50 bucks new CDN ) grab 2 .

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no need , no experience , no problems

I play country ...trad and contemporary , I play meat and potatoes rock/blues and I've used about 5 other pedal effects or effects boards to find the tubey warmth and smooth sound I get from the Bad Monkey . The only thing that came close is my prehistoric old Korg effects board ( which will have to be pried from my cold , dead hands ). How's this to sum up ...whatever these other folks have been saying about this pedal ...ditto times 2 . Its a gem ...for 50 bucks just go get one .

Recent unit, stupidly easy, no need for the manual

******* brilliant pedal, better than the ts. You can do all that bluesy, classic breakup thing but I like to push an already seriously pushed od channel with the bd. Man, straight into a early metallica type grind with little to zero noise. Not that thats the only way I use it - I'm grinning pretty much every time I kick it. I've got the byoc version of the ts as well so I'm going to use both and have one on all the time. You really need at least one of these on your board and for 34 uk ??, blimey!

Heavier than a boss, don't think a backup will be needed.

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all flavours of rock, playing for years, own a ******* ton of gear. This thing is cheap as chips, would absolutely buy it again, nothing I hate about it. Seriously, at this price, forget all that boutique bollocks and buy this.

Could not be simpler! Knobs do exactly what they say and are very responsive. See other reviews for any technical details.

Amazing!!! I have long searched for an overdrive pedal that maintains the guitars essential character, is quiet, does not suck tone in bypass and has true analogue warmth and response (rather than that oh so nasty digital edge).

Bingo - the BD is a no-brainer! Easily the equal of the TubeScreamer and just as good as boutique pedals costing oodles more! In fact I was so impressed with these pedals that I bought the Screamin' Blues and Hot Head for their differing characters and levels of distortion (all brilliant btw)!

The controls are very interactive - as they should be - and the pedal rewards experimentation (although it is impossible to get a bad sound out of it).

And if you want the ultimate budget bang for your buck setup, just partner it with the incredible Blackstar HT-5 combo, and a Yamaha RGX A2 (for more hybrid sounds) or Peavey EXP Signature (for modern super hot LP sounds), and you have a match made in heaven!!! I can even share my magic setting if you ask really nicely LOL!

Built like a tank and lots of sensible features including the excellent direct out.

I rang DT UK to ask questions etc before purchase, and they could not have been more helpful. Also, I found the marketing material and DT website to be incredibly well laid out, and I love the sound samples on the site - great to be able to hear the pedals wet and dry!

Well you can tell I am a fan - incredible product and I am going to buy another as a backup in case they stop making these little primates in favour of the ever growing push towards digital gear!

Features? Four knobs, including bass and treble. Gain is pretty tame-just the way you would want it for goosing up the front end of your overdriven tube amp. volume adds drive and power. All controls do something you can hear. Silent switching is reliable. Goofy to open-but easy to work-battery compartment. Rubber bottom. Green paint, red LED.

This is what you want in front of ANY amp. You can keep it on all the time or just stomp on it for a very smooth overdrive. Add it to an overdriven amp and send it into harmonic distortion for solos. Responds very well to single coil or humbucker pickups. It's quiet as hell and there's nary a bad tone in it-period. Compared to my 200 dollar Radial Tonebone Classic....well, I actually prefer it because it's so easy to use. Admittedly the Tonebone is in another class but it is also touchy. This thing cleans up nicely with the volume control on your guitar.
The BM is soooo easy to use and get the perfect sound from. I use it with Fender tube amps, Roland Blues Cubes and Peavey solid state amps. It goes wherever I go. I don't leave home without it.
Buy two of these-they're too, too cheap. One of the best pedals ever made. For a boost or an overdrive-it's the kind, duuuuude!

Built tough. No worries!

Mr. Digitech came to my house and gave me a million dollars, just for buying this pedal. No, really!

If you play electric guitars, you need one of these. What more is there to say? Why pay 200-300 for something that isn't as good as this for under 50 bucks? No brainer...go get one.

Great sound straight out of the box. Set all to 12 o'clock and start from there.

All the guitar players are raving about this thing, but if you are a bass player don't feel left out!
I run a Thunderbird through a David Eden Traveller head into a Hartke 4.5XL and a EV 15" TL box. I have been using a Boss ODB-3 up until now for my overdrive sound. I have also tried out others including the Bass Big Muff PI.
The Bad Monkey leaves them all for dead. This is not the modded version either.I have had no trouble with low end loss, I can just dial it back in with low end control. The purists will say that this is just compensation and not the genuine low end from the bass. I run a good rig and really care about my sound and that doesn't bother me at all.
This is a real transparent overdrive not just a fizzy fuzz. It even allows for great controlled feedback that I just could not get with the others.
Bass players, this is for you!

New and gigged with it already. Looks solid enough. Those tiny switches inside the Digitech pedals worry me to look at, but I have never had one fail me.

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Great pedal at a great price, not just for guitar players.
I play 70's rock & 70's punk with a few great growly driving basslines and the Bad MOnkey just brings them to life, combine with a good chorus and you are in ballsy bass heaven. Don't even consider a ODB-3 with this around.
Bass players, this is for you!

Easy to use.

***EDIT***
Made in USA my Butt!
It is Made in China.

I play mostly single coils.
Stratocaster, Telecaster, Guild Blues P-90 through either a 50 watt Marshall JCM 900 with Mullard EL-34's and 2X12 cab or a restored 1965 Epiphone Pacemaker amp.
I'm an old guy who has been playing forever and I use the Epiphone amp the most because of its light weight.
The amp has a Weber Alnico speaker and EL-84 type power tubes rated ar 12 watts max.
The only problem with the amp is that it only has a volume control and no tone control.
I also use a Weber Mini Mass attenuator on lower volume gigs.
Everyone comments on 'for the money'.
I don't care what it costs so long as it is reasonable.
This pedal has EQ cut and boost rather than a tone control.
Gives me all the tone I want from punch to screaming treble or any combination of both.
I have used an 808 tubescreamer since the 80's and it finally went out on me after many years of use.
I refuse to pay the price for an old 808 and the new reissues are overpriced for what they are.
This pedal is so close to the 808 sound that I can't tell the difference.
It is close enough to perfect to me.
I play everything but hiphop and metal but I do play a few songs in those genres.
I am now playing in a modern country band.
We also play classic rock and pop.
My Epi amp will break up a little when cranked and with the attenuator it gets beautiful harmonics only problem is that the attenuator cuts the volume in half at any setting.
This pedal boosts the front end of the amp and tone giving me more perceved volume.
As for overdrive it sounds like an 808 tubescreamer.
This will probably be my only and last distortion unit.
Through my Marshall it enhances the great Marshall sound.
I don't like complex, botique, fancy pedals with too many knobs on them.
I got to give it a 10.

It will probably outlast me.

?

Not much more to say.
If you like tubescreamers and you want bass and treble cut/boost you can't go wrong with this one.
It is almost as ugly as an 808.
I fon't use many effects and only when necessary but tis one is always on.
Boost the treble and it gets super country twang.
Boost the bass and get punchy.
If you ar old school and like good control and a good sound you can't beat this one.
Find your setting and leave it alone.

It can't get much easier than this.
Four knobs who do exactly as what they were meant for.

If you use it for what it is made it is a superb pedal in sound. Ofcourse there are better pedals but you have to pay maybe 4 times the price of this one.
And the price, the name, the sound, ... It's just charming

Never failed

Never had to deal with them: because of reliability.
But very nice they give sound examples with almost every pedal.

I just planned on buying me a second and maybe even a third: second for driving the first just a bit over the edge and a third for spare because I can't miss it in my rigg.

Tough case, gain, volume, bass & treble. EZ battery swap. Rubber base. Easy to use. All settings work well.

I use it with all my amps-solid state and tube. Sounds tubey with the SS amps and gives the tube amps an extra "something" that everyone here has tried to describe in one way or another. Basically it's a tube screamer design so if you know what the TS9 is and what it does then you will LOVE this pedal. It is a refined TS9 / TS 808. I own an original TS 808 (ugliest pedal ever! LOL) and this beats it just because it has the bass AND treble controls, both of which really make a lot of difference. The gain is about the same as a TS 808, maybe a little more. It's juicy and transparent. I have the gain at noon, treble at noon, bass at 3 and the level at 11. It's the only boost overdrive that I use with the solid state amps. I use it with other overdrive pedals for the tube amps. I just set the dials and turn it on. It stays on all the time.

Totally silent with AC adapter or battery. Except for an increase in harmonics and a juiciness factor, the pedal is transparent so my guitar sound is not affected at all with the tone controls at noon. I add some bass to my settings, which adds the kind of vibe you would get from a Fulltone fat boost.

Works perfectly with all my other boost, overdrive and distortion pedals. Warms up digital pedals like BOSS GT 8, Zoom G7, etc. It > IS < the swiss army knife of OD pedals. I would feel naked without this.

Using it with Ibanez and Gibson guitars. Sounds good with singles and humbuckers. It's the ONE pedal I want on my desert Island.

Tough.

In 1971 I played my first gig. So I'm working toward 40 years as a guitar player. I still play weekly and gig about 20 times each year with a jazz-rock-blues combo. Always liked the TS factor so imagine my happy surprise when I added this "enhanced" version to my chain. It does wonders for any combination of guitar and amp. Just go get one.

Easy to get a good sound from this pedal.

Gibson (or other "clone") Les Paul into Screamin Blues pedal, into Bad Monkey, into (either) BC 30 Roland Blues Cube/Fender Blues Junior/Fender Blues Deluxe amp. This is the one pedal in my chain that stays on all the time. I use the Screamin Blues to goose it for piercing solos but the real beauty of this pedal-with all knobs at 12 o'clock-is the way it brings that slightly overdriven tube amp mojo to every rhythm and solo. Yes I agree with the many who look upon this as another TS 9 WITH THE ADDED TONE SECTION.
It works well with other pedals, too. I have used a Tonebone Classic, a Rocktron Nitro, a few wah-wahs and a BOSS ME-5 in the chain with the Bad Monkey. It always sounds good and it always brings that tube driven tone to each of my amps.
Dead quiet using either a battery or a regulated 9V 300 ma PS. (Try the Danelectro PS. One of the quietest around)
Nice smooth overdrive with a touch of harmonics and ever so slight compression. Can't beat it with a stick!

All the positive hype is true. If you already have a nice TS 9 or one of its variants, you won't need this, necessarily. But you could get one for the cheap 40-50 price and add it to your chain anyway, in which case you would not be disappointed. As a standalone tube tone pedal it is one of the best-and certainly one of the cheapest. While my Tonebone classic may produce better overall dynamics, clarity and harmonics...I would never miss it as much as the Bad Monkey. The Monkey is the "take me everywhere" pedal in my rig. It always shines with the overdriven tube tone that all of us want, no matter what style we play (except METAL, of course.) This makes it for blues, clean styles, rock, jazz and country. I am buying another one real soon.

When my Ibanez TS 10 (modded to TS 808) crapped out, I needed a replacement for a gig on the following night. Not good. I went to the music store and all they had was this, used. Took a chance for 30 bucks and took it home. That's how I came into possession of my bad monkey.

Nice range of boost volume and nice range of overdrive. No sucktone or noise at normal useage levels. Bass and treble boost and cut. Direct out for going to a board and amp out, too. No noise on/off switching.

I use this with with a laney LC 30. Pure fking heaven. That's all I got to say. Its my number one OD. Better than the TS 10 and more rugged. Sometimes I use the direct out into the Laney for a change of pace. Its a little smoother. Mostly using the amp out and setting it to sound just like the laney sounds dry. no problem.
Using a Epiphone G400 sg guitar with gibson burstbuckers going into the bad monkey then into the laney. Makes fat greasy butter on everything. I fouled me drawers when i opened up with this. Fkin great drive and sustain with almost 100 percent transparency. I love this thing. Too fkin good for 30 bucks.

compared to the ibanez TS10 this is a lot better built. It's almost 2 pounds of metal and the whole bottom is rubber. tough took me a while to figure out the battery thing.

This costs 40 new. its the biggest no braner in the world. your just stupid if you own a decent tube rig and you aint got one of these yet. WTF are you waiting for?????

Basic use as a Tube Screamer, but with 2 knobs for tone: Low and High. Couldn't be easier to use.

Of course there's a lot of better overdrive stompboxs, but for the price, this bad ass monkey is a must have.

Mine it's from the 2006 series. It's really built like a tank. Very solid and heavy. But I also had a 2008 series, and it doesn't even get near to the 2006: much more light (plastic?!?!), suck more tone (both are not true bypass, but on the 2008 series you can notice that pretty well), and the components soldering doesn't have the same quality.

Well, mine it's the 2006, so that's what I'm ratting, and once more, for a pedal of this price range, it deserves the higher ratting.

Never needed anything from support.

As I said before "this bad ass monkey is a must have"! For the price you can't find better. Sweet overdrive tube tone, easy to use, just like a Tube Screamer but more versatile, and very reliable (at least the 2006 version). If you can, get one.

Idiot proof

I have it on a board where it is the only non analogman pedal. It is not out of place at all. Says it all for me. I use it as a clean boot with low or no gain, bass and volume up, treble in the middle somewhere and it pushes the drive channel on my Fender Blues deluxe to give a lovely thick warm OD, but still with that Fender cutting edge. In line with the Analogman beano boost and it whilst my strat still sounds like a strat, the sound is thick and seriously powerful. I love the Monkey. Have not noticed any tone sucking of note when it's off.

Feels very solid. Can't imagine it failing.

This pedal would have been good at twice the price. At the price it is for sale at, if blues rock is your thing, you really have no excuse to give one a try. I doubt you'll be disappointed

Four knobs, not too complicated.

I run this right in front of my Dual Rectifier as a boost pedal. I usually use it with Strat or LP style guitars all with humbuckers.

Its not a noisy pedal and it doesn't suck tone. If you want to know what tone suck is try using a Crybaby wah.

On its own into a clean channel it can do a nice power tube breakup imitation quite well.

This thing really shines when you run it into a distortion channel. A dual rectifier on its own can sound a little dark and muddy, but with the monkey it tightens up the lows and ands a perfect amount of crunch.

Seems pretty solid.

If you're in the market for a tubescreamer type pedal this is it.

Very easy, tweak until tone is acquired. Since this little guy starts with decent tone, you can get there pretty quickly.

This is a poor man's tubescreamer, very close to the same thing. I own a number of tubescreamers and this one sounds a lot like the early '80's model with the TI chip. There is only one drawback that I have not seen listed here; there is a volume drop. I mean to say that, when you plug straight in to the amp and set the clean tone, then run through the Monkey, you will probably hear a need to touch-up your volume a tad, and this is referring to the "bypassed" sound. There is no noticeable drop when the drive is engaged. It's not like it's sucking tone, the sound is good, just ever-so-slightly lower. It may be only the one that I tested, but... I do wish that these "pedal-mod" guys would look into it. Some of their stuff is engineered with as much Love and has no one to Corp-ifornicate the product.

Popeye shot it with Kryptonite slugs, no effect. Pretty dang tough.

The folks at Digitech have always gone out of their way for customers that I've known, even now with their new stuff out.

I am a professional musician taking a few moments to help up-and-comers get some decent advice by which to spend their hard-earned bucks. I have lots of equipment, Marshall amps and nearly every brand of guitar, lots of effects, the whole deal. As for "style", I don't take country music contracts and classical gigs take too much Labor intensive "prep" to be practical, so I play a very wide variety for those who seek my services.

A tubescreamer with more tone control. Easy to use and dial a good sound.

fender strato with hot rails/squier california with GFS rails clone/gibson les paul studio straight to a rocktron wah before the bad monkey.
A tube amp, with its natural distortion is the best choice. Also, try it in front of a BBE sonic maximizer.
This little box really surprised meu. I had my share of tubescreamer and clones, even built mine, along with modified boss SD`s, but this little box covers it all with a more flexbile equalization.
I give it a relative 10, because it`s the best bang for the buck, tubesreamer and overdrive related.

never had any problems, but I own it for 1 month. seems rock solid.

no need to contact them.

A lot of value for the price, and it seems to be dropping fast. I threw away my tube screamers and ds clones and kept only the bad monkey. excellent for boosting dirty channels, but it has a good sound of its own.

Very easy to use and set up. Hard to get a bad sound.

I play predominantly through my Washburn Stage A20 which has Seymour Duncan Custom Custom pick up in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck. My amp is a Mesa Single Recto head through a Marshall 1960 quad.
I bought the Recto for the modern high gain tone so the Bad Monkey is used for crunch and lower distortion sounds through the clean channel. It allows me to get blues type tones as well as classic rock crunch. It produces very full and amp like sounds that sit nicely alongside the amps core tones.

I have had it over three years and it is very reliable. It has been used with different amps with good results.

Dealt with Digitech regarding a problem with a cheap multi effects unit , RP50 which I had a problem with just outside warranty and they did not seem to care at all. Don???t really rate them form that experience but I have had no issues with this pedal.

Our band plays covers ranging from old rock to the latest pop songs. We tend to add a bit of grunt to most songs and this pedal helps when I want to play with a bit less overdrive than I get from the amp itself. It covers in all the gaps nicely. I did have a MI Audio Crunch Box and Tube Zone when I was using a crappy old Marshall AVT50 head to supply some decent distortion and overdrive but I have since sold them now I have the Mesa. The only overdrive I kept was the Bad Monkey which says something. I am interested in trying an OCD as I was very impressed with some samples I heard of that.

4-knobs and very easy to use.

I'm using this with a highly modified Fender MIM strat (SCN pickups, Seymour Duncan hotrail in the bridge), playing into a Fender Blues Deluxe amp. My effects chain in the following order: standard Dunlop CryBaby wah, Russian Big Muff PI, Boss DS-1, Digitech Bad Monkey, MXR 10 band EQ, Danelectro Cool Cat Vibe, Digitech Digidelay digital delay pedal. The overdrive on my amp was a little muddy and I also wanted to the option of boosting my Big Muff and DS-1. The pedal sounds great on its own. The ability to adjust the highs and lows separately is a HUGE plus. The pedal thickens up my DS-1, but shines even more with the Big Muff...it allows the Muff to be boosted and really smoothed out (when I choose) - very good for getting those Gilmour-esk tones.

My buddy lent me his analogman modded Boss SD-1 and I A/B'd it with the Bad Monkey. The Boss overdrive made it sound like I through a blanket over my amp. This was not the case with the BM. On every setting and with every pedal configuration I ran it through, the BM ended up being heads-and-shoulders better than the modded SD-1, and it cost far less $$$. It really lets my tone shine through.

I also like that I can turn down the gain and use it as a boost for my clean signal...completely backed off, it adds no grit to the signal, which is something most OD pedals can't claim.

The pedal is a solid, heavy piece of metal. The footswitch can wobble a little bit more than a Boss's, but that's more in the difference in design...not a big deal. Be sure to go online and extend the warranty to 6 years (one year longer than Boss's :-) I would have no qualms in gigging without a backup.

I had a few questions regarding an RP350, which I consequently ended up selling about a year ago. Digitech was very good about getting back to me about it. A++

This pedal, as a boost, works for just about everything. On it's own, it's good for any signal that you'd want to be thickened up or add some dirt to. It's not a distortion pedal, but it works GREAT with other distortion pedals. My friends own a lot of very expensive pedals, and it has given me the opportunity to do some good A/B's. Compared to every other OD I've tried, this one takes the cake...and all for $39.99!

Digitech is discontinuing this pedal (at least I know guitar center and musiciansfriend aren't selling it anymore), so you should scoop this one up while you can...or at least they start going for 100 bucks on ebay.

Highly recommended!!!

Easy enough. The knobs are clearly labeled.

I use mine with my Deville 2x12 and it's a vast improvement over my coveted Boss OD1. While The OD1 sounds great, now matter how much I wanted to deny it, it can't hold a candle to this. It just has way more sound possibilities with the Hi and Low EQ.

Sturdy construction, hard metal. Switch feels solid.

Haven't need them yet.

Awesome for any kind of music with a bit of grind or just to use for some boost.

Well...it is pretty easy to get a good sound out of, as long as you are playing fairly loud. To my ears, unless the amp is loud, the Bad Monkey just makes it sound mushy.

Basically, this is a really good Tubescreamer type pedal, for about half the cost of a new one. I really love that it has controls for treble AND bass, instead of the universal tone control. When I bought it, I had never considered owning another Digitech pedal. They just didn't seem like my thing. I generally enjoy boutique and vintage stuff, but this really caught my ear. I use it as a volume/grit booster, exactly as I would a tubescreamer. My set-up is: guitar (GPC Weaselrite, Reverend Volcano, Custom built Tele)--tuner, wah (currently a modified Crybaby), Zinky Master Blaster (clean boost), Bad Monkey, Ibanez AD 99 analog delay---Revenge 18 watt combo amp.

18 months later, I'm still using it regularly without a backup. The jacks are fine, pots are fine, and the switch is fine. If it goes out during a gig, that's ok. I can plug straight into my amp and get a great tone, after all, if you aren't happy with your straight in tone, you probably won't be happy with a bunch of pedals running into your amp.

I have never dealt with them. I'd rather not-

I play in a punk band, but I also 'moonlight' in a rockabilly band, and sometimes play country. I can adapt the Bad Monkey in my setup quickly, and it blends in. I've been playing more than 20 years, and have owned a ton of gear. Right now, I am at a place where I am very happy with my gear. I don't have all of the expensive stuff that I once had, and that is good. If the Bad Monkey were stolen, I would definitely get another one. I've also been looking at the Ibanez Tubescreamer TS9DX and the Maxon 820, but I'm happy with the Bad Monkey for now-

Thickest overdrive i'd ever use! good stand along overdrive for both rythm and lead. I love the slightly compressed tube OD sound. Makes my tunes cut right through the Band. Contourable color mix makes this one unique where most OD usually have single tone control knob.SMOOTH

metal casing very though, but the footswitch is flimsy

best overdrive I had used so far

Super easy to use
I love the Bass and Treble Knobs as opposed to a Tone knob like on lots of other similar gear.

Control Lay out is:
Gain Bass Treble Level

I really believe this pedal is destined for greatness. Who knows, in 20 years everyone may be on E-Bay giving $100.00 for them...he he he
Well maybe not, but it is a cool little unit.

I've tried it hooked up several different ways, and on the advice of a friend I put it in the chain after another distortion/boost unit and it really adds great "feel" to my digital environ.

It gives some nice "spank" and really has a great response to picking nuances.

I keep the gain fairly low...somewhere in the 9 to 10 O'clock area and use my Ibanez PT5 (another great unit!) to boost the monkey into more grit.
I use a Digitech GNX3000 for Amp/Cab Modeling and effects. I don't use a conventional amp at all anymore. With the GNX on the job just a power amp and 1-12 Cab.

But this is how I run it
Guitar(Mexi-Made Strat all stock S/S/S)into my Morley Wah, into the Ibanez PT5, into the Bad Monkey, into the Digitech GNX3000, into a Nady Power Amp into my home-mede 1-12 cab loaded with an Eminance* Texas Heat Spkr.

The Ibanez unit is a 5 pedal multi fx get up that I have set for varying stages of volume and distortion to pust the Monkey with.

It just seems to sound better this way. And it no doubt adds the "feel" that was missing in the GNX.

With my settings and particular set-up there is no noise at all.

Very well made.
Should last a lifetime
I boutgh mine new, about a year and half ago and no problems at all.

I see that digitech has wised up and started charging more for this pedal.
They where like 30 bucks at first.( if i recall rightly)
It is still well worth the price and I would have to but another if this one crapped out!

never used

Great pedal. Everyone needs at least one of these on their board.

Very easy to use. Comes with a small booklet from Digitech w/ pics that show a few different settings for various sounds for quick reference. But it's no problem to dial in some different tones. It's a simple device so the manual is pretty simple - there's not much to say. Works well with just about any solid state w/ an effects loop and sounds great through tubes.

I've used it through an Epiphone Valve Jr. half stack and a Carvin SX-200. Played a few Les Pauls and a Taylor T5 through it. It adds a little hiss to the amp, but it's pretty negligible. The effects sound really nice. I've really enjoyed playing it through the clean channel just to get some strong contrast between using it and bypassing it. Using it w/ the T5 is a blast because the guitar already has so many different sounds - this just adds a new dimension. I haven't tried to emulate any particular artist's sound, but it's just a nice overdrive amp sound. You can really make your guitar and amp scream.

Yeah, you can depend on it. I've used it in a few gigs w/out a backup and haven't been dissapointed. You really have to be quick about adjusting your guitar's volume when you kick the thing on, though. Turning the gain up on the pedal is no joke, and using it w/ the Carvin SX-200 is an art, because that amp is already so LOUD!

N/A

i've been playing a little over 15 years. I play Classic-Rock, Folk, and a little grunge-type stuff. The pedal is a nice tool to have around. It's not incredibly essential, but it's a lot of fun. I like the simplicity of it. There' very little involved. Dial in the settings w/ the analog dials, kick it on and you're going. I chose this one because I was already in the market for an overdrive pedal, liked the Tube Screamer but didn't like the price tag. For $50 it's a good buy, and you can find them used for around $30. Add it to your pedal assortment and have fun. I got mine preowned, but never opened for $25.

very easy to use, I just followed the example on the brochure and at their website and I found its' sweetest spot

The most contourable creamy tube overdrive at very affordable price. It has a characteristic of the tubescreamer but not identically comparable. The best point of this pedal is that, even at the max gain, the roundness of tone is not compromised, you can still shape it smoothly.

sturdy!

This thing is pretty easy to use and produces great sounds.

I use a line 6 spider 3 30 and a fender strat. The pedal lets your guitar's tone sound through better than most pedals. The pedal is very quiet. This pedal isnt a distortion pedal.It gives your tone more of an edge. Sometimes hard to get a good higher end tone out of but very easy to get a good warm one. Good reinactment of the tubescreamer and it serves its purpose well.

I can depend on this thing any day of the week. Its built like a beast and the battery lasts a good while too. I would gig it without a back up.

No need to yet and i hope its stays that way.

I play lots of blues music so this pedal is a great addition to my collection. I have been playing about 3 or 4 years. I also own a dunlop crybaby (another great pedal). If it were stolen then id track down the theif then hit him in the face with it.(which may kill him because of its massive build.) I like the fact that it gets a good blues tone and gives a good overdriven tube amp reinactment. The only thing i dont like is the high end tone problem. Not as easy to get one.This pedal all in all is a great addition to anyones pedalboard who wants a good blues tone.

This thing is brain dead to use, really easy to use, a manual isn't even needed

Using this to get more push out of a peavey valveking halfstack with a Gibson LP smartwood. It is *amazing* as a booster, this pushes it to "ridiculous" amounts of gain, I'd say it's a match made in heaven.

It's not noisy at all and is very transparent.

Built like a tank. It's very solid and I would gig without a backup

I play rock/metal and for the newer metal stuff, this pedal is a must now, it's really amazing what it does to a tube amp. I've been playing for 13 years and this is a great standalone or as a booster. If it were stolen I'd have to buy a new one ASAP. Best feature is the low and high EQ's, no tube screamer sucking my lows away.

You can not go wrong with this pedal for the price.

Very simple pedal, but has a lot of flexibility. The tone controls are a really welcome addition, especially the "low" control. The cab simulator output is actually very functional. It was a wise decision to add a separate jack for this function. It works well for silent practicing when plugged directly into the board. Not sure that it would cut it for recording, but definitely adds to the value of the pedal.

I play a strat style guitar with Dimarzio Virtual Vintage p'ups into a Roland Cube 60 (set to the black panel model.) I've tried it with other amps as well and have gotten consistently good results. The Monkey is very quiet until you get to the most extreme settings. The real reason for this pedal is to give a warm boost to the sound, so trying to get extreme distortion settings isn't what this pedal is about. Not worried about copying someone else's sound. Just looking for a full, warm tone that will clean up well. The Bad Monkey certainly does that, and more. It will also serve as a versatile clean boost if you reduce the gain. Very cool.

Seems to be really solid. I gig regularly and don't think twice about reliability. I've had nothing but good experiences with Digitech equipment. In fact, I think of the Monkey as the "back up plan" if anything else fails.

I've owned a lot of Digitech pieces over the years. I am still using a GSP-21, a DSP 256, and an MEQ 215 that are all nearly 20 years old. I've actually had to replace the memory back-up batteries and they still work as new. The techs were very helpful when I called with questions regarding the more complex pieces. Excellent service department.

I play a wide variety of music. I play professionally in a sequenced duo, and also play with a band at my church. At one point, I made my living playing full time. I've been playing for 35 years and have owned a ton of gear. The Bad Monkey is really a versatile piece of equipment. As a pro, I always looked for reliability and flexibility. The Bad Monkey really covers a lot of ground. IT IS NOT meant to be a heavy distortion pedal. It is really at the gentle end of overdrives, but it does it really well.

easy

very-much like an Ibanez Tube Screamer, however, it has more tone controls that allow you to shape bass and treble frequencies. This is a very nice overdrive that I am now happliy taking to gigs...very verstaile. Pushes the amp gently, or aggresively, depending on your taste. I really, really like this pedal through tube amps!!!!

very sturdy!

a great pedal that does what a lot of boutique pedals do at a fraction of the cost. awesome!

very easy to use controls. you just have to know how to mix it with your other gear.

low and high are very responsive.

level finds unity around 9-10 o'clock

battery a bit difficult to access but that's no big issue.

I'm using this with my solid-state practice amp and a Les Paul copy. On a solid-state it isn't as impressive as what it may sound like in a tube amp but it does its job.

The Bad Monkey does shine however when I use it as a booster for my other OD. I have a zendrive that I like pushing with the BM. It sounds great. The two of them have similar voicing (similar not the same) and the extra mid boost from the BM helps me get that push. A little tweaking of the knobs will help me get the perfect boosting sound.

And, the nice thing about the BM is that when you turn the gain knob all the way down, the bad monkey becomes a mid-humped, bass and treble adjustable clean boost. No overdrive whatsoever. It's good for those clean solos.

for rhythm, you can get a pretty good sound. lead is where it can get nice when paired with another OD/Distortion/Fuzz. But when compared to the zenrive, it isn't as crunchy. and i like crunch but the bad monkey isn't supposed to do that. i use it similar to how a TS would be used, as a booster of an already good sound.

built similar to a boss. a bit heavier and wider.

i can expect the same quality.

never dealt with DigiTech.

I do a lot of research on the net before I buy anything. But overall, it's a rule of thumb to try things out before you buy them.

my set-up is basically Les Paul copy -> modded wah-> BAD MONKEY -> modded DS-1 -> zendrive -> Fab Chorus -> DD6 -> various amps

i play blues and rock. it's a good investment especially for beginners who want a good piece of equipment to start with.

This is really easy to use--four knobs--level, low, high and gain. Of course, there's the additional bass knob that most tube overdrives don't have, but that shouldn't be too difficult for people to figure out.

I have to say that--regardless of the cheap price, this should already be a legendary pedal. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it. First of all, it's dead quiet--next to no hum or noise. I use this with a Fender 140 tube head and a Garnet Gnome tube amp, and it sounds amazing with both of them. I play an Epiphone '63 Firebird reissue, an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Flametop (Seymour Duncan Phat Cat bridge, Gibson Classic '57 neck) and an Epiphone SG (Seymour Duncan SH-6 neck, Gibson 490T bridge). In my opinion, the Bad Monkey really shines with the parallel switch setting on my personally modified SG in the bridge position. As well, it sounds great on the coil cut.

When comparing it to the full humbucker on the same guitar with the humbuckers set to the series switch, the Bad Monkey didn't sound as good--but then again, none of my pedals sound great with that configuration (usually all of them sound grainy or woody), as the humbuckers add so much volume and bass before you hit the pedal. When you're not using humbuckers, this thing really, really opens up.

Like most tube overdrives, it doesn't sound the greatest after about the halfway mark on the gain knob, getting a little grainy sounding. Although it does have more of a smoother full gain sound than alot of what I use (modified Blues Driver, modified Vox V810, 80's Ibanez TS10 modded to TS808 specs).

Truth be told, this is not a Tubescreamer. And that's a good thing. Tubescreamers, though I like them, have a traditionally gritty midrange hump (to my ears in the 700-900 Hz range), whereas the Bad Monkey has a smoother mid response, not to mention the low knob for bass, which really comes in handy to fill the sound out. Most Tubescreamers and variants lack the bass knob, and their tone knob covers too much of the mid sweep territory--the Bad Monkey has a "high" knob and it must be pointed out that they got that right. It's a "high", not a tone knob, which is what i've been griping about for years from other pedals where they control the mids. And the high knob here seems to have it's fundamental frequency in the 1-3 kHz range--or possibly even a bit higher than that--which is where you get your clarity in guitars in the mix (i'm an engineer/ producer and i've spent lots of time in the mix dialing out 700-900 Hz and emphasizing the 3 kHz range, which is magic for making guitars shimmer and come to life).

Make no mistake, the ratings of 1 from people here are probably people who don't tend to have alot of experience, running it through a solid state amp. This-is-not-made-for-a-solid-state-amp. Say it again. If you are buying this so that you can turn your solid state into a tube amp, this will not give you tubes that you do not have. This is made so that you can turn the volume knob up and turn the gain down, so that you overdrive your preamp and tube section.

I did a couple of mods to it (despite the surface mounts, there are quite a few actual caps) that reduced a bit of the mids, making it more pick responsive. Stock, I would have gave it a 9, after the mods i'm giving it a ten. Plus, there is one capacitor that if you lower the value, it turns the bass knob into a lower mid control (i'd say more along the lines of 500-800 Hz in the tone sweep)--I used that for awhile, but I found that it turned it too much into a grittier Tubescreamer type. Anyone that's interested, I can do this modification for them, contact me at the email address below.

9. Hasn't broke down, and it weighs a ton--you could probably throw this around all day and it wouldn't break. The switch is a PCB mount thing that possibly could yield problems (hence the 9 instead of a 10), but as long as you don't jump on the pedal switch with both feet, it should be fine.

Haven't needed to contact them.

I could rate this a 9, but why? Even in stock with no mods, it's a beautiful sounding pedal that is great as a clean volume boost, or a mild overdrive pedal. I play a wider variety of things--and tend to use fuzz pedals alot for the more aggressive stuff--i've tried to take the Bad Monkey off of my board due to the "pedal snob" theory--"oh this is cheap, people will think i'm an amateur or lesser player". Guess what? They said the same thing about the Gibson Junior in 1955--the "pros" didn't want anything to do with it, but now the Gibson Junior with P90's is commanding insane prices on the collector's market. If you have your own style, the rest is just icing to try to make you an even better player.

I've been playing for 14 years, and with experience comes the fact that you know a great tone and sound when you hear it, regardless of what you've paid. Like I say, I have my own personally modified Blues Driver, Vox V810 Valvetone, Ibanez TS10 modded to TS808 specs....and though the V810 is raunchier (Pete Townshend "Who's Next" type crunch); the Blues Driver cleans up the best, distorts more and is brighter/ chimier; the Ibanez TS10 modded to TS808 specs has a little more low end available for a Tubescreamer circuit without a bass knob--the Bad Monkey is the best overall.

The only thing that I wish it had was maybe a mid knob, then it would make it insanely great. But that's not that necessary. The bass knob, when fully up, gets VERY bass-y, you shouldn't need that much bass (but it's there if you need it for some reason). I can see people playing this for five minutes with all the knobs (including bass) up full crank, and it would get very muddy. Be very careful when dialing in the bass (most overdrive pedals don't have a bass knob, so this could be foreign to alot of players). Plus, I wish that it was true bypass (ie: unplug the power and your signal cuts out). Other than that--which is nitpicking--it's perfect.

Don't go looking for others' sound with this--it makes it sound like YOU. It's like a mirror--if your playing is not so great, you will not sound good through this. If you're an excellent player, this will only make you that much better. And if you're looking for Big Muff type fuzz or highly distorted sounds, look elsewhere--this is not a high gain pedal, it just responds to your playing and what you put into it and gives you nothing but that, regardless of the distortion setting.

This pedal is very easy to use. with it's tone, level and gain controls - it is very flexible. I use it in combination with a Nobels ODR-1 in a chain where I can use either or both. I use the Bad Monkey for the beefier kick and it works well as a lone effect or as a layered effect.

Fairly transparent - the tone controls allow me to add additional color - I like it!

Excellent - no problems.

Never serviced - maybe the best response...?

Excellent performer!

Easy to use but not easy to get a good sound out of it. Not modded. Manual is ok.

This is one overrated pedal. The overdrive just didn't appeal to my taste. I agree that it did sound kind of cheap and tinny. I used my telecaster and pro junior. I just couldn't like it.

This pedal really sucks. I wasted $40. I totally recommend saving for a decent overdrive unless you really can't afford to save anymore money. This overdrive is totally overrated. I wish it would sound more "real" instead of fake cheesy overdrive.

It doesn't sound like a modeler which is nice because it reminds me more of an analog pedal. Doesn't mess with the guitar's natural tone. I have a feeling it works better with tube amps than with solid state which has been my experience with other pedals in a similar genre. I don't know if it sounds better than the 808 since I've never owned one but it seems to at least impersonate the feel of tube amp overdrive.
Its a pretty clean over drive too. The bass can be a little too much so I've been dialing it back a bit. Treble tends to need cranking to about 3 o'clock for any sort of clarity. So far I've only used it with a little solid state Ibanez practice amp and I'm not all that impressed. But then again I'm sure it will sound better on my tube amp.
I compared it side by side with a Line6 Crunchtone which I also own. The Bad Monkey is approximately the same tone as the "pop" setting on the Line6 pedal although the latter is slightly brighter and WAY louder. This is my main problem with this pedal because I read somewhere that this one is more powerful than the Tone Driver which I also have but it really isn't. The Tone Driver is much more versatile as well with much more available gain.

Overall I'd say this pedal is decent for some applications. It's probably best for boosting a lead channel or adding a little bit of warm drive to a clean channel. By itself it is not for heavy playing styles...you'd need to add another OD or Dist. in there somewhere.
I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt since I haven't used it with my tube amp yet but I don't think I'd get rid of it either way because you never know when your song writing will call for just such a sound as this. And at $40 I don't feel like I'm taking a loss if it sits around for a while.

Easy simple pedal. 4 knobs.

My friend recommended this pedal to me but I somehow I could not get a good sound out of this. The overdrive sounds too weak, "woody" and cheap. Not enough gain for much playing around with. I plugged straight into it then into a Fender Twin. Not my kind of sound apparently.

Looks cheaply made with it's plastic but we'll see.

Been playing blues for over 20 years, and still searching for the "right" overdrive for myself. However, this pedal is way overrated in my book. But it's alright for it's cheap price though I guess. But I recommend saving up for the better overdrives out there like the Voodoo Lab sparkle drive. Sound quality is worth paying for. This pedal is what you pay for. Cheap price for a overdrive.

This is a very simple device: level knob, low/high control knobs, and gain knob. There is one instrument input and two output jacks: one for the amp and the other for straight to mixing board (simulates a cabinet). I didn't bother with the manual. Anybody that's every tried an overdrive pedal should know what they are getting into. Once you've got it tweaked, just stomp it on and off when effect is desired. Simple.

I didn't buy this to sound like any famous artist, I just wanted to get a creamier lead sound from my tube amp. When I got the Bad Monkey, I already had its role cut out for it. Basically, this pedal acts as my replacement "Lead" channel. I'm not particularly fond of Channel 2 of my Mesa DC-3, the EL84's tend to get too hairy when overdriven at low volumes. I just plugged this into my amp, had it set on Channel 1, gain about noonish-to-1, low's at 2:30, highs are 1:00 and I got the tone I wanted. There is already some mild breakup in channel 1 so when I put the Bad Monkey there, it gave me the buttery tone I wanted. No complaints! Like any other overdrive, you need to match it up with what guitar/amp you will be using it and the Bad Monkey is a good match for ch. 1 of my amp, as I intended it to be.

You can back off or turn up low/high knobs to define their freq. levels, which is a Godsend for anybody that's ever owned a Tubescreamer. Backing up the gain knob will, of course, give you more headroom while turning up the gain will drive it harder giving you an increasingly OD sound. I don't bother turning it past 3 o clock ever, since for my amp that'll just become a mess; perhaps it'd suit your amp? You could probably clean it up with other effects if needed, but I never saw the need to put the gain that far up. You can always control your tone from your guitar, which the BM responds to very well. Yields much nicer-sounding results. This thing is an excellent value.

I always avoided DigiTechs because the graphics made them look kind of cheap, kind of toy-like. This is the first time I've actually owned one. When it arrived, I was surprised how hefty and tough looking it was. The knobs are the cheap rubbery kind of things, but otherwise this thing is "built like a tank", as they say...

I don't know how the battery life was (it came with one, which was unexpected), but I had a spare 9V adapter that I use with it instead (I don't like or trust batteries).

Never dealt with DigiTech before, this is my first time purchasing one of their products.

I'm one of those guys that have no real musical focus, I just play what's sounds good and looks fun to me. I've played rock, metal, blues, jazz, swing, and lots of other random stuff. If you need a good OD sound, I would definitely give this a shot, since its half the price of a reissue Tubescreamer and far superior for its tweakability.

I've been playing for 7-8 years and I've owned many guitars and amps, but I've settled on an Epiphone LP Standard and an Ibanez SZ320EX, both upgraded with Seymour Duncans (interestingly, these sub-$500 guitars were what felt and sounded best to me!) I currently run a simple rig of a Mesa/Boogie DC-3 and TC Electronic G Major. The Bad Monkey is the only stomp I have other than a Boss Loop Station.

I'd definitely repurchase this if it were stolen, but not before I got incredibly pissed.

I love the high/low controls. Great feature. I wish the mix-control was balanced so I could use it with my headphones. It'd be nice just bringing my guitar, the Bad Monkey, some cables, and a pair of cans for when I'm away from home. But it's unbalanced, mono signal, so if you stick in headphones you'll get sound in only the left side.

This isn't for everyone. If you can, I'd recommend trying it at a store with your amp (or an amp like it) to see if it will work for you.

Very easy to use. Alot of fun to play around with for different sounds.

I was just about ready to buy an Ibanez TS9, but for the price I hesitated. Good thing I did! I don't let go of my money easily. I did some research on the internet and read some very good reviews of the Bad Monkey. I checked around locally and found a store that carries DigiTech, so I went to check out the BM. I must say that this pedal is at least the equal of the TS9, and perhaps a bit better! I ended up saving about $50, and got a better overdrive pedal! The BM has exactly the sound I was looking for: that creamy, soft, overdriven tube amp sound - not distortion - I have a Boss pedal for that, and they are two totally different sounds. The BM is superb at what it does, and is exactly the sound I was looking for...and it's dead quiet, whether on or off. I have three amps: a Peavey, a Vox and a Behringer (my "just for fun" amp). It sounds great thru all three, as well as with any of my seven electric guitars - Peavey HP Signature, lite ash Strat, Les Paul Standard, Tele, Epi Casino...you get the idea. But, obviously, each guitar sounds different thru the BM - single coil vs humbucker, solid body vs semi-hollow, etc...I can get just about any sound I want, from Clapton to Buddy Guy to Santana (man, that Peavey HP Signature is SO close to a PRS! Check it out!) I've been playing for some 40 years now, off and on, and within the last year I decided to get serious about playing again - an old dog learning new tricks. I know sound, and this Bad Monkey does the trick for me. At $50, it's SUCH a steal! And, this is really cool - if you buy one and go to DigiTech's site and register the pedal w them, the warranty goes from standard 1 year to 6 YEARS!

Very reliable. Have had no problems at all, and I've been using it constantly, day in and night out. I always play any piece of new gear incessantly for the first week or so. That will usually let you know real quick if it's gonna last. The Bad Monkey will probably outlast me! (And don't forget - if you register your purchase w Digitech, you get a 6 year warranty! Can't beat that!)

No need, so no opinion. Although I did call them before I bought the pedal, and they seem very friendly and knowledgable. DigiTech is now a part of the Harmon International family, which also owns numerous home audio companies. Their reputation is pretty good, as I've also been into home audio and home theater for some time now.

Gotta give it a 10! Heck, for the price it should get an 11! I play pretty much anything but rap/hip-hop, and the Bad Monkey really shines on blues and jazz especially (which is mainly what I wanted it for), although you can dial in some nice sounds for rock, indie and country as well. It is NOT a distortion pedal! If you want a pedal that can give you a slight nuance to your sound, a creamy, smooth overdrive, look no further. Although it can be driven much harder if you want a more aggressive sound.

If you've ever used an overdrive pedal, this is straight forward.

gain/vol/treb/bass controls and bypass stomp switch.

Also of note is the cab sim out.

Wow, like many others, I thumbed my nose at this pedal.
"It's digitech... it can NOT sound good."
Well a friend urged me to check one out. I did.

I've had this pedal for over a year now, and use this into my fender 85 and vox AC30 combo amps, with my Gretsch guitars.

It gives a good, versatile tone. Good breakup, and the meaty lower mids fill out the somewhat scooped or 'refined' tone of a cleanish AC30. I run the gain around 11 o'clock, the vol around 9 o'clock, the bass around 3 o'clock, and the treble around just over 3 o'clock. It gives a nice, almost transparent creamy n crunchy addition to my tone, that allows good additional harmonics, bite and smoothness to be my main tone when playing in a three piece outfit. With just a much needed addition in the lower mids, enough to give rhythm work and palm muting technique good body, and gives a bit of nice hair and sustain to lead work.

This pedal requires no mods, mainly because of that little bass control, which is conspicuously absent on many other designs.

The only addition to make it better is to add a clean boost pedal with about 3dB boost (usually the lowest setting on most clean boosters) to open it up and make it a bit more touch sensitive, and help with picking dynamics. I can totally change the tone by just lightly stroking the strings, picking with my fingers, or really churning aggressively with the flat pick.

What completely surprised me (yes, I got even more surprised by this green box) was how it made my backup amp, a solid state fender 85 come to life. Again, that amp has beautiful clean, but not much in good tubey type gain. For years I tried to find a pedal to make this amp work, and they always sounded thin and brittle. Not the bad monkey... it makes this amp a joy to play through!

Good work Digitech! I'm impressed. Now those modified blues drivers, tube screamers and all of their ilk are relegated to being bench warmers. The Bad Monkey is now permanently bolted to my pedal board.

One last note is to try the cam sim out instead of the normal out into your amp (or the next item in the chain). It adds a level of refinement to the tone.

Yep. Dependable and robust bugger.

I opened it up and changed out the red LED to a booteek blue LED. All surface mount electronic components, and unusual pots mounted directly to the board. Yet on inspecting the was they are secured to the housing, I have little worry that anything bad will happen to it.

The FET switching stomp switch feels a little mushy compared to a boss pedal, but hey, I don't think it's going to fail any time soon.

Don't need it. The pedal works well.

If there was one word to describe this thing, it would be "surprising."

For the price, this is absolutely, downright astounding.

Considering all the shades of kakk from other pedals, which then need to sent off to some boutique modifier to be usable, only to be put to shame by this humble green box, is a rare thing indeed.

Tubescreamer killer is what man people call this thing. Yep, easily.

But...

I also say it competes with other pedals over 5 times the cost of this bugger.

This is just an addition to my last review: I picked up a TS-808 reissue for a hundred bucks, with the intention of replacing my Bad Monkey with the Godfather of Tubescreamers. I played with it through my practice amp for a bit, all jazzed at what it might sound on New Year's through my live rig. I immediately remembered what my original 808 sounded like when I bought it at 17 (many, many years ago). Then I decided to A/B the 808 and the Monkey. Set them up flat first. Hmmmm. Very, very close. The Monkey had a tiny bit less hair and a bit more low mids. Then I set them both up to my regular gig settings. Whoa! The Bad Monkey was actually fuller, beefier and a bit smoother. The Bass knob is a godsend, of course. I was absolutely heartsick and flabbergasted at the same time. The 40 dollar Bad Monkey, in my humble opinion (about 25 years of playing, most of that live), sounds better than the Ibanez TS-808 reissue. I play in a 3-piece band, and I need to have that extra bit of thick, full sound to fill things up a bit, and the Bad Monkey sounds great through my rig. I am, however, planning on bringing out the 808 and using it New Year's for at least two sets to give it a chance through my live rig. Man, I can only expound on my last post: the DigiTech Bad Monkey is a classic in the making.

Has anyone else come to the same conclusions as me regarding the Bad Monkey vs. the 808 reissue? How about a Bad Monkey vs. the TS-9? I was floored, absolutely astounded to find that this little 40 dollar pedal sounded better to my ears than a $169 dollar Ibanez 808 reissue. Wow. Wow....

We all know the drill: it's basically a Tube Screamer with the lovely addition of a bass knob that gives it more versatility tone-wise than your average Tube Screamer.

I've had this pedal almost a year, I picked one up when I realized that I'd better get one in case DigiTech decided to jack up the price. Hey, for 40 bucks, this is a mother of a deal. This is a great pedal. It sounds soooooo damn good, better than my TS-5 that it replaced. It gives me the type of classic rock overdrive that I end up using 85% of the time. Love it. This pedal is definately now a classic in it's own right.

Built as well or better than many pedals out there. You could certainly knock out a few teeth if need be with this thing.

Haven't had to deal with them, and I've been weekend-warrioring with this thing for almost a year.

Can you find any other pedal at this price that sounds this damn good? Take a bow, DigiTech, this is a winner. I've been playing for almost 25 yrs, have owned tons of gear, sold way too much that would be worth bucks now, including an original TS-808 (hey, we had no idea that they would be worth so much!). My live rig consists of strats into a '65 Bandmaster through a tweed Peavey 4-10 cabinet with reissue Jensens, and the Monkey gives me that sound I loved when I was 17, playing my Super Reverb with a TS-808 in front of it. The Monkey may not be some 500 dollar boutique darling, but it will always be the workhorse of many musicians out there in the trenches. An excellent overdrive destined to be a classic.

Digitech's Bad Monkey Overdrive is beyond easy to use; no manuel
needed.

The sound quality of the Bad Monkey Overdrive is what you always seek
but are often dissapointed with other overdrives. This one is buttery
smooth but with the 2 knob EQs you can give it a little kick if you
are worried about the silky sound not cutting through a mix when playing with other musicians. The decay or tail off is not clippy!!
It will be the last OD I'll ever need! The BM with some careful EQ tweeking keeps my amp sound in tact.All of these things are important
and this stomp box is made right.

I would gig with the Digitech overdrive without any backup. Maybe a spare battery. I might switch to an adapter.

I play everything from 50's doowop to metal to classic to country.
I have many effects processors (some are a dissapointment) I've had a fuzz/dist/od fetish since the Maestro Fuzztone of the 60's. This a rare find in which the price is 1/4 of it's value (to me)
Someone said the Digitech Screaming Blues takes up where the Monkey ends; that is not true. I bought the Screamin' Blues for the
OD/Dist combination. It sucks. The Monkey is not like the Screamin' Blues at all!! 2 BMs on a pedal board would be neat. It compresses and adds sustain. I would replace it if lost or stolen. Nearly 40 yrs of trial and error and chasing tone and (my) ideal sounds.
Now if I could find the (almost) perfect distortion unit.

It's very easy to use - a simple layout of the four knobs - gain and level, plus low and high frequency tone knobs. Of course, you have to understand how gain andlevel interact, but even the novice will get the hang of that by quick trial and error.

Great sound, but make sure you use a valve amp. NB It does not do high gain stuff - use it like a tubescreamer.

Well built and feels robust. I don't use anything without a backup, so I always take other distortion boxes with me to gigs.

No dealings with customer support.

I like it because the sound is there immediately, as long as I have a good amp for it to feed.

It took me about 10 minutes tops to get the perfect tone out of this pedal. I don't think there's a BAD tone in this pedal, it depends on the user's point of view. I give it a 9 just because there's no suggested settings in the manual. But it's too easy.

To those of you wondering, I have the Made In China version of this pedal and it is completely faithful to the USA version! Without a doubt....the Tube Screamer has been replaced. This pedal is better than my Analogman modded TS9. All for $35.........you've got to be joking!!! And it's built like a freaking tank! Here's my recommended pedal settings for a Strat going through the Bad Monkey into any Fender style amp for that "SRV style solo boost". Level: 10 o'clock, Low: 3 o'clock, High: 4 o'clock, Gain: 8 o'clock (almost off). This gives a WICKED boost for solo's with just a bit of added hair, and nearly transparent tone...not the mid-hump that's associated with Tube Screamers. I'm ordering another one as we speak so I can have one set for chunky rhythm and one set for high-gain lead. I've been waiting for a production pedal like this my whole life!!! I never thought it would come from Digitech.....and from China.....go figure!!!!!!

I haven't had this long......however......I've gone through a LOT of pedals over the past 15 years, and I can tell you that this is the strongest looking box I've ever picked up. It's HEAVY. I'm a bit skeptical of the pc board mounted switch, but it seems to work well out of the gate. The jacks and knobs look and feel solid. Turning the knobs is a pleasure, they offer stiff resistance...they won't easily get knocked out of place.

Haven't tried yet.

I play blues and classic rock. Johnny Lang, SRV, Clapton, KWS, BB King, Muddy Waters, Albert King, Doyle Bramhall, that kind of stuff. I've been playing for 15 years. Played professionally for about 10 years. Not only would I buy another if lost or stolen, I'm buying another to put on my pedal board! This just goes to show you that you can make a quality effect pedal despite dollar value, or boutique status, or vintage status, or some magic op-amp crap, or toggle switches, or bright blue LED's, or MOJO......you just need SMART DESIGN...that's it.

easy to use level ,drive,hi/low, the 2 outputs (1 to amp and 1 to mixer) can throw you off but if you take your time...i use it with headphones it comes with amp sim.

its o.k. with solid state it's so/so, in front of a tube amp it's great
i have bare bones valve jnr and it gives that broken up tube sound with out being to loud. it can get "hissy" on settings but otherwise quiet

solid, an elephant can use it, don't need a back up but you'll have more than 1 distortion with you anyways

don't know

classic rock, roots music, muck around with everything for longer i care to remember
you'll always need some tube screamer type pedal in your bag
they put a lot of effort into this i wish it did'nt weigh twice as much as 1 boss pedal but for the price great deal essential for those on a budget and solid built to last
visual sound got it right by putting a comp pedal in front of their route 66 tube screamer clone because this is what it needs to shine/sing
without it, its o.k.

Gain, level, bass and treble EQ.
All work like they should, bass and treble are very effective, so you have to take care that you do not turn them up too high, but all in all you rapidly find very decent sounds.
The character of the EQ (the way it works) is very usable, i have seen worth on more expensive pedals.

Its hard to it a pedal with 2-way EQ easier to use, so 9 of ten.

Has enough level to be used as almost clean boost (but no insane boost, more a slight boost).

It is an overdrive, no high gain distortion, no death metal pedal.

What it should do (offer tube like overdrive like a Tube Screamer) it does very fine.
Higher gain levels lose a little bit of definition, but lower to middle gain settings sound really good. It is a warm overdrive, not too dynamic, but not too compressed. Like a Tube Screamer with enough bass (thanks to the bass control) and with enough, but not too much trebles.

I like the overdrive character in front of a clean tube amp, and it sounds good if you want to drive an overdriven tube amp a little harder.
I use humbucker guitars with gibson scale, maily made of mahagoni wit hrosewood fret boards.

There are pedals that are more dynamic, that have better overtones, but they usually cost at least 2 or even 4 times more.

All in all a good sounding, TS-like pedal that gets the job done, and this quite good.

Built like a tank. Heavy and very stable metal chassis, reliable foot switch, precise controlls that are not too unstable.
10 of 10 because it hardly can be better.

No idea.

It sounds good, has (thanks to the 2.band-EQ) lots of different sounds on board and is built like a tank.
And it is really cheap. 9 of 10.
If you look for a TS-like overdrive, you hardly can do wrong buying this cheapo pedal.

Very easy. I like the independent bass and treble knobs -- much better than pre-ratioed, single tone knob you find on other distortion boxes.

Only problem in this category is that the battery is a bitch to get to. It's located under the hood of the pedal, like a boss, BUT. . . This pedal does not have the Boss-style screw; It has a pin, at the top of the hood, which one must push in from both sides -- this requires two hands, but you need a third to actually pull the hood off. So grow another arm, or ask a friend to help.

Here's my rig: Mid 90's Fender Bassman RI with a tube in the rectifier slot -- Line 6 DL4 Delay modeler -- Bad monkey -- Lovetone Big Cheese --Ibanez Talman TC 620 (fender jazzmaster style) with p-90s. Also have a Epiphone valve jr. head, but have not played it through this yet.

The monkey sounds great. Although I'm not experienced with too many "overdrive" pedals, I know distortion and fuzz (I've used a DS-1, OD-2, Rat, Lovetone Big Cheese, Big Muff and I know what my Bassman sounds like on 11). I can't make comparisons with a TS-9 or 808 -- other people have done that plenty. But the Monkey ranks high in terms of distortion, much better than DS-1 and Rat (though not quite as gainy).

With that pronounced midrange bump, it does 70's classic rock very well. If, for some sick reason, you wanted to play ZZ Top, the Monkey would nail it. And for all you SRV people, like 3/4 of you, you can do that too.

The Monkey has good range, in terms of gain. If you have a tube amp, you get pushed tubes compounded by the Monkey's own gain, and therefore you get more gain than with a solid state amp. At the lowest setting, I believe its just overdriving my amp (could be wrong about this) and I get a slight, very transparent and sweet grain -- like Stephen Malkmus' tones from the Silver Jews classic "American Water."


With the gain cranked, I get a good Neil Young "Zuma" sound. Think Cortez the Killer, and Barstool Blues. Very sharp, definined, powerful tone, with just enough rasp. Great rhythm sound.

I just got the monkey, so I'm still figuring out how I will use it exactly, but it demands certain uses. It smooths out the nasty, squishy, spitting fuzz of my Big Cheese, so chords sound better. It adds sustain, also, when in combo with the Cheese, and the solos soar in a really nasty way.

This pedal stars in a number of capacities. Boosts, rhythm, lead, blues jams. +++++++++++++++

Good so far. Built like a healthy turtle.

NA

I like Built to Spill style power-guitar pop, Pavement, Neil Young, blues, Velvet Underground, the raging psych blues of Comets on Fire, CCR, Strokes, electric Dylan, Georgie James, Fairport Convention, Sonic Youth, you know. . . guitar music. Been playing for about 10 years. Would buy one if I lost it.

Very easy to get a good sound out of entire range of gain. Has separate Low and High controls instead of just tone which helps tremendously.

If you want the chunky, hearty, firm push that only a tubescreamer circuit can give, then this pedal is for you. With a Strat, it's really easy to get the SRV tone through my 1967 Super Reverb. This pedal, unlike the ts808 Stevie used, keeps the bass intact and firm. Very alive sounding. With my PRS or Gibson ES335 through the same amp, a Warren Haynes or Gary Moore tone are both attainable.

My pedal board is as follows:Crybaby,Bad Monkey 1(gain dimed),Bad Monkey 2(gain zeroed),Nobels ODR-1(modded),Boss PS29(delay),Boss GE-7(Monte Allums Mod),Boss RV5--amp

These stock Bad Monkeys have defeated a string of overdrives to win their place on my heavily gigged board; including: Marshall Black Box Blues Breaker stock, and another one modded, a Jekyll and Hyde with Indyguitarist mods, Boss Super Overdrive with Monte Allums GT mods, Fulltone Fulldrive, Exotic BB preamp, and some other cheap junky ones I am ashamed to have owned! I don't know what to say, it doesn't seem to matter what kind of cool, boutique-modded play-pretty may be on my pedal board on a given night, I always go back to the Bad Monkey before the gig is over. I use one with the gain down low for bluesy, chunky guitar, and another with the gain dimed for hearty, amp-like overdrive that is both creamy and crunchy. I then kick in the modded Nobels ODR-1 as a singing, loud afterboost for Gary Moore sounding leads.
These pedals only cost $39; which kinda makes me sick when I think of all the money I've spend on some other ones that are basically paperweights now. But, you know, I remember buying an Ibanez SD9 in 1985 in a local retail music store here in Birmingham, Alabama. That day I had a choice between that, a TS9 or a TS808. All of them were $25 on sale but brand new. So, my point is, when SRV was using his TS808, it wasn't some high-priced boutique jem; it was a sensibly priced, mass-produced item that anybody could pick up. Not unlike the Bad Monkey.

These pedals are tanks, nothing cheap about them (except the very nice price).

Never Contacted them.

I play in 2 cover bands, one blues based, the other modern pop/rock/country. With my PRS with Duncan '59 in the neck and GFS Vintage '59 in bridge, these pedals can cover it all; I mean we literally go from covering Pink, to Pat Benatar, to Gretchen Wilson, to the Pointer Sisters to Jet, to Rod Stewart in a single set (Did I mention we have 2 female lead singers?). These pedals never sound thin or lost in the mix, they're always grinding smoothly and comfortably in the midst of it all. I've been playing right at 25 years. If lost or stolen, there is no doubt I'd grab two more just like 'em. I love that it is true to the tubescreamer feel and heartiness, but with added active Low and High controls. I hate that it is called a Bad Monkey; I mean, come on, it makes it sound like a kid's toy-which it isn't. It should be called something cool like Tube Cooker or whatever. Name aside, though, this pedal is truly a musical instrument unto itself. I don't even want to gig without it.

Rather easy to use. 4 controlls, the usual gain and level, and an EQ with bass and trebles.
EQ works as should work, all controlls work continously, no jumps or so.
EQ is very effective, so slight turns on the knobs can change the sound a lot.
9 points.

It sounds quite good, especially at lower drive settings.

I play it in front of tube amps, with gibson-like humbucker guitars.

Sound reminds me a little of a Ibanez Tube Screamer, but it has more bass and less over-emphazise of the mids.
All in all it is an ok sounding overdrive, no distortion, so the character is more soft than harsh, more vintage than n?? metal, more low or medium gain than ultra high gain.
It doesn't sound like tube overdrive, but it doesn't sound like a harsh transistor chain saw.

It is not too compressed or muffled, but not really a dynamic idol.

It sounds o.k. to push an overdriven tube amp a little harder, and it is usable in front of aclean amp, but it sounds better to kick a slightly overdriven tube amp.

As said, sound is o.k., but it is not great, so 7 points.

Low level of noise, no high gain distortion available (it is an overdrive, no distortion).

All in all it sounds ok, but not really spectacular.

Built like a tank, very heavy and relaible.
10 of 10!

No idea

It sounds decent, it is rather cheap (about 50 US$ in germany), it is very relaible, has a 2-band-EQ, so 8 of 10.
With a little better sound it could be the 11-points-hammer.

It's a doddle

Top Notch Pro Pedal - lovely juicy crunchy overdrive sounds.

Totally solidly built.

Never met Digitech so no idea.

Short review cos a more comprehensive one I submitted has'nt appeared to make it. A superb budget priced overdrive pedal & I've been playing since I spotted Mr Donegan playing Skiffle on a guitar on black & white valve tv sometime in the late 1950s.

Very straightforward to use... it's like other stomp boxes... with level, low, high and gain control. These controls are very responsive so you can tweak your sound relative to your guitar and amp. Really intelligently voiced pedal and easy to get some great sounds from it.

It's all been said about this pedal... it's a great overdrive pedal with some lovely juicy, scrunchy, creamy and crunchy overdrive sounds!

I think it's important in reviews to say exactly what set up you base your views on sound wise... so my set up for this pedal is: Kustom 10 watt amp [solid state] and a Washburn HB30 [a 335 type guitar]and a Strat [USA '72] With this set up I really love the sounds I can get... it's great for practise and recording.

Just do the usual... adjust your guitar volume and tone controls along with the controls on the Bad Monkey and you'll find some great sounds. The other amp I use is also a practise amp... the Marshall MG10 that gives you equally great sounds with this pedal. I also have the Digitech Screamin' Blues another great pedal. My simple set up is guitar to Bad Monkey to Screamin' Blues to Boss DD3... result = wonderful!

These pedals are very well built... better than any other I've used... sort of similar to a tank and as heavy. Excellent!

They feel solid and dependable

I have never had to deal with this company so no comments.

I've tried lots of overdrive/distortion pedals over the years and this one is by far the best I have ever used. It has the bonus of the output to mixer too... very useful for home recording. It's a class pedal at a budget price and sounds and looks superb. Totally recommended.

I find this pedal easy to use. Just sync the level control with the amp clean, & I tend to keep the settings close to the warm rhythm setting in the manual, + or - the gain setting depending on my mood. But it's also good to tweek for other sounds. Separate low & high controls gives slightly more variety of tones, & that's always good.

This pedal isn't very noisey at all on My MG15, but on my Cube 30x it's a little noisey but not problematically so. The sound of this pedal can depend on the amp. I first heard it in the shop on a Marshall MG50 and it wasn't special to say the least. Then I heard it on a Fender Hotrod Deluxe. And it really sounded like the soundbites on their website. Possibly better. This box shines w/tubes. I used it first on a Marshall MG15, and I liked it as long as the gain wasn't up too far, or as long as the high eq. wasn't too high. And I found that it helps especially to cut down the mids on the amp. It gives a kind of chunky sound to the amp. For anybody reading this it's also better to play solos or power chords with these pedals, and not triads. Now I have a Roland cube 30x & it sounds a bit grainy with this amp but still not bad. It seems to have slightly cleaner harmonics w/ this amp. I need to experiment more. I also have a Digitech Hothead and that sounds pretty decent on the Roland at various settings. For tubes this thing deserves a 10, but for SSs an 8. so 9 I guess.

I'm assuming I'll not have any problems.

This is probably worth mentioning. I live overseas, and I was recently in the States, so I emailed Digitech about ordering a power supply for my boxes in order to save some money. But I couldn't order directly from their e-catalog because I needed a 230 volt transformer. The answer I got was short and standard, as though it was taken out of a list. And I suspected that I wouldn't have gotten the 230 volt transformer if I ordered it the standard way. Anyway I didn't get the answer I needed. I could have called them and sorted it out probably, but I just gave up and bought some standard power supplies here for half the price & they work fine.

I'm an old timer, I play vintage rock, and blues. I jammed a bit when I was younger, & recently started playing again. Along w/the stuff already mentioned, I also have a compressor, & my axe is a Gibson LP studio, the jewel in my crown. The only thing I hate about this pedal is its name. I love the way it sounds w/a Fender Hotrod Deluxe. I also like the separate low & high controls. I did extensive research on the net. I found this Harmony Central site very usefull. That's one of the reasons I'm writing this review. I listened to alot of soundbites, Marshall, Boss, etc. And I also checked this alongside various other pedals at the shop. Boss, Ibanez, other Digitechs etc. I just found this pedal with a good sound & a good price. I thought it sounded fairly close to the tubescreemer for less than half the price. If it were lost, I wouldn't buy this again as long as I use Cube 30x, but if I had a tube amp, I would. The cube just dosen't need overdrives or distortions. I would also like to put a plug in here for the Digitech Hothead. The ratings given by others IMO, are too low. I would give it similar ratings as the Bad Monkey. Both these pedals BTW are analog.

good sound with all knobs centered. i usually turn up high a little extra

used anywhere you would use a tube screamer, plus it sounds and feels right used direct to console (live - never tried to record it direct). it is smooth, trails off perfectly (VERY few pedals do this) and has better tone controls that a tube screamer

i've gigged mine for a few years now and shows no sign of slowing down. but i think the main factor for pedals' longevity is how feasible it is to service. bad monkey uses a cheap onboard switch and the boards are SMD, so i'm thinking this pedal is the kind you buy two of for when the first one eventually has problems.

only ever had one experience with digitech support and the woman was a total B.

playing 25 years - pro player, arranger, teacher. it is a great pedal - sure to be an all-time classic. buy a crate of them so you can ebay them for big money in 30 years. like: smooth clipping, beautiful trail-off, good feel, tracks well, amp sim output is good for live, battery access is good. dislike: doesn't have sweet spot like a tubescreamer where you can have very little clipping but still fat. people keep saying the pedal is cheap for what it is, but IMO the price is about right. they could make money selling these for less. most assembly of electronics like this pedal is automated - e.g. a robot drops components on the PCB, components are all wave soldered at once, etc. The circuit itself costs next to nothing to make if you make enough of them. Dunlop pedals are made this way, too and are WAAAAAY overpriced. Many think that a pedal that sells for under a hundred dollars can't be top quality, but that thinking is behind the times.