DigiTech Bad Monkey

So easy...(ahem)...a monkey could use it. The manual gives all the necessary information to operate the unit, just in case you're a first timer. The real trick is knowing what you're looking for. That takes time/experience as a musician. Just turn the knobs and use your ears.

Alot of people have said many good things about this pedal and I intend to do the same. I have been a long time user of Ibanez Tube screamers. They're great pedals but there is a slight loss of low end frequencies. Still, they were the best fit for me. About a year ago I had to sell some of my equipment for financial reasons but now that the crisis is over (and we are doing well) I am replacing some things and exploring new things. I tried (and purchased and returned) quite a few OD pedals over the last 6 months including Jekyll and Hyde, MXR Wylde Overdrive, TS9, some Danelectro products, a Boss or two, and a few others. I don't remember them all. Now, most of the pedals I tried were great pedals but not getting me quite where I wanted.....Enter the Bad Monkey.

I stopped in at a local guitar shop that was going out of business and while chatting with the owner I noticed some ridiculous prices on his pedals. Most of the usual "good stuff" had been picked clean but I noticed a Bad Monkey sitting there and had heard some positive mentions of them. I have always turned my nose at digitech in the past but I figured "Well...I heard some good things about these and for 20 bucks, how could I go wrong?" So I brought it home. I plugged my '96 G&L Legacy into the monkey and then right into my Blues Junior (retubed with Mesa SPAX7's and Mesa EL-84's and a "well-broken-in" speaker). I listened. "Hmmm....It's warm. Smooth. Transparent. Natural sounding. Impressive. I'll give it some time...". After a month or two, this pedal has earned it's way onto my board. In fact, I bought a second one to daisy chain!

Like most of us, I am constantly on my own personal quest for THE sound. These pedals have gotten me the closest I've been yet. I get transparent, chunky rhythm sounds and creamy, smooth, sustainful lead tones that let the sound of my guitar/amp shine through with just the right amount of bite. All with my low end still fully intact! Used with a humbucking setup the sound gets even warmer and the sustain and overtones become more pronounced. My only other effect is a Carl Martin "Red Repeat" delay and both my monkeys and "Old Red" play well together. I hear no noise until I engage both monkeys and then it is very slight, just the line noise you'd expect when chaining OD pedals. It's not audible while playing, barely noticable when not playing. Very quiet pedal. The seperate bass and treble knobs let me massage my tone to get it right where I want it. No noise when turning it on/off.
My only complaint is that they don't clean up quite how I'd like when I turn the volume down on my guitar. Not bad, just not a perfect "10", but I seldom make those kinds of adjustments. My rig gives me clean, slight OD, heavier OD and a 6db boost on my amp (foot-switchable) so no problems with that.

Oh, as a side note. There is a second output on these that has some sort of cabinet simulation. I tried it straight into the board for some recording and it sounded surprisingly good. Actually, better sound (for my taste) than I was able to get out of my line 6 POD 2.0! Useful for late night recording and I think that if my amp ever broke down at a gig or if volume was an extreme issue I could get through the gig using this feature through the PA. Good job Digitech!

So far...so good. I haven't had them all that long, but the one I bought at first was a demo model from the Digitech display so I'm sure it took some in-store abuse and it's holding up just fine. I plan to by a third one in case one of my two "first-stringers" acts funny but they seem extremely solidly built (they weigh a ton!) so I don't anticipate any problems. Time will tell.

No Contact. No need.

I am 33 years old and have been playing for the last 20 or so years. I have owned quite a bit of gear over that time and am currently "happily down-sized" to:

1996 G&L Legacy
Tacoma DR-28
Some off brand laminate-top acoustic (my "beater" for camping)
Fender Blues Junior

I gig 3-5 times a month and these pedals finally made their debut in my live rig a couple of days ago. I was extremely pleased with my tone and got alot of compliments on it. Mostly from the guitar players from the other act and some from the audience. I play mainly blues, rock and some popish-rock, but also some more progressive stuff. We cover (among many others) The Verve, Jeff Buckley, Cold Play, Goo Goo Dolls, Pearl Jam, Hendrix, Sublime, John Mayer, Bob Seger and a bunch more. We also play some originals.

I originally took this pedal home based on the 20 dollar price tag but I bought the second one because of the sound. I am quite happy with my pet monkeys and expect to see them on my board for a long time to come.

Not that hard to get a tone. But a good tone? forget it. The manual was ok.

Did not give a very pleasant warm tone. Th treble knob added a harsh high end and I didn't like the frequencies it modified. Same with the bass knob. I ab'd this with my Ibanez ts-9 and ts-9DX and there is no comparison. The tube screamers are ALOT Fatter and warmer sounding than this pedal. More "meat" in the tone and not so brittle and fake sounding. Did not boost my amp as well either. In fact it thinned out the tone as opposed to beefing it up like the tube screamers did. This is a wannabee pedal that just doesn't cut it.

Seems very solid and well built

They have always been good

I play all types of rock, blues and metal. Peavey 5150 amps. ADA mp-1, JSX amps and OLD Marshalls. 27 years of playing have given me a superb and keen ear for tone. I didn't like this pedal at all. It's sound quality is second rate to ibanez. The Ts-9 kicks it's ass and the BBE green screamer does too. For $40.00 I guess it's ok but your tone does suffer for it. Stick with the real thing. There is a reason they are the best.

Very easy, it has the typical volume and gain plus a treble and bass tone stack.

I am not one to recommend gear this way but this little box is the best deal going for a tubescreamer OD pedal. It is every bit as good as TS-9s with the bonus of having a knob to shape the bass. It goes from very clean with the gain turned down to good rock/blues crunch with the gain past noon. It is quiet and doesn't seem to suck tone turned off. I use this with my '72 Deluxe Reverb and Les Paul ('57 classics) or PRS HBII. I sprinkle in other effects sometimes but sparingly. I havent heard better but I imagine there are some $300 booteek pedals that are a bit better.

So far so good but then I am easy on gear. Seems like real sturdy construction.

Never tried.

I like to play classic rock, blues and pop. Importantly, I play rhythm often where I need some light OD without loosing string definition or the sound of my guitars or the Deluxe. This little box delivers that. If it were stolen I would cuss and then bust out another big $40 to replace it. Take it from me, get one of these and check the tubescreamer box (for cheap). They dont come much better. Use the money you saved for a better amp, tubes, guitar or(gasp!)lesson.

very easy, small manual

I got rid of a TS-9 for this pedal. Alot more tone shaping available than the tube screamer with the bass a treble controls which are active by the way. Talk about a fat boost of juicy tone. I push the crunch channel of my 5150 head with this thing. I leave the crunch switch off and boost with the bad monkey. Full on van halen brown sound! Sounds almost exactly like his tone on Women and Children First. Incredibly fat yet biting as well. Just working the preamp gain gives you a huge variety of sounds ala EVH. Not overly dirty on the crunch channel, just big and warm. Engage the crunch switch and you have yourself a Soldano! Very cool> It takes the gain to almost uncontrollable on the lead channel. Loads of fun. Don't use that too much.

seems very solid

good people

I traded a Tube screamer for this and had some extra money left over. Sounds practically the same with added tone flexibility. Does Brown sound to a tee. The controls are VERY sensitive to movement and it takes a little dialing in to get your tone. Changed my 5150 from an average sounding amp to a blazing tone machine. I'm not ashamed to use a pedal either. Vai and Satriani both get help from pedals to get their fabulous sounds. Why shouldn't we?

Pretty basic; level for output, eq controls, gain control. Anyone looking for an overdrive box will probably know what these are in the first place. Good call on the battery compartment, its a pretty nifty system. Manual explains everything straightaway.

I've been blown away by this pedal. For 40 bones tone just does not get much better than this. My rig is not superior by any means: Ibanez RG3EX1 through Fender Frontman 212R, usually not any other effects to speak of (occasional Digitech RP). Even with this modest, solid state setup, I have been able to craft amazing tones using the Bad Monkey. Warm, crystal clear chords that ring out beatifully abound with the gain at about 12 o'clock and the highs at 1 (Lows at about 1 as well). Crank the gain and highs to 3/4 o'clock and throw on the neck pickup and you've got a fantastic lead boost that induces some of the most incredible tones you've heard in a while, everything from trey anastasio to hendrix to clapton with some tinkering around. No brittle, dry distortion to be found here. There are limitations to be found with this kind of effect, but that is inherent to its purpose; its an overdrive, not a distortion, so you will not find death metal thrash anywhere in this machine. I can attest, however, that even if you only have a decent solid state amp, this pedal will improve your tone sigificantly if you are looking for a soulful, warm distortion tone.

Well I bought a $10 warranty before I had picked the thing up,"just in case." The second I paid, the guy put it in my hand and I nearly fell to the floor. The thing is heavy. Real heavy. I don't see any need for a backup unless you're really neurotic about these kinds of things. I guess I haven't had it long enough to give it a ten, so it gets a nine with an asterisk.

Never dealt with Digitech

I play alot of rock music, everything from modest mouse to phish to clapton to cake, etc. Seeing as how I was in the market for a true tone box, not just some screaming, hissing, take your sound to eleven thrasher, I have found a phenomenal product (especially for the price). Perhaps a much more expensive OD would provide an even better sound, but I've heard it said that in order to match this box, one would have to go into the high hundreds/low two hundreds. This baby gets the job done in style for much less. Overall a fantastic product. Kudos to Digitech for the aggressive pricing. Now get one before they change their minds.

quite easy to get a good sound out of with the bass/treble... not so much a compromise as the overdrives with only a tone.

I am thrilled with the sound quality of the overdrive. I've spent up to $150 trying to find TONE in a good overdrive pedal and this one has got it. There is no comparison in value for what you are getting. Seemed at first like there was a bit of a mid-hump but you can easily shape your tone to compensate with the bass/treble. Actually after playing a few minutes I began to like the mids in the pedal... squawky!

Can't say yet but I've never had trouble with DigiTech before.

nope

I would recommend this one first to anyone.

Couldn't be easier, level, low, high and gain controls.

So far, so good. I have a few different setups that I like to use depending on the music being played and the size of the venue. So far, the Monkey has sounded really good with my Peavey Classic 50. The big test will be using it with my 50W Marahall half stack.

Only used it at rehearsal, have yet to run it through gig conditions. It appears to be well built, the only thing I don't care for is the switch and how it kinda sits under the foot treadle part, seems too exposed to me....

I've dealt with the crew at Digitech/DOD back when I worked in the repair shop at Sam Ash, good people there in Utah.

I play lots of different stuff, from rock to blues to fusion. I feel comfortable that I can get a good sound out of this device. Sound-wise comprable to a TS-9 with the added tonal flexibility. Still a tiny mid hump but nothing that will stick out like a sore thumb. For $40 you can't go wrong, hell, buy two and keep one as a backup! I'd put this up against anything the corksniffers can come up with, and it'll hold its own!

Couldn't be much easier.

This is absolutely marvellous sounding unit. It is by far the best overdrive I've had. Boss Od-3 was also good, but it sounded way too dark, I just couldn't get enough treble with that one. Not that problem with Bad Monkey. Very good EQ controls and very good sound. There might be better sounding overdrives on the market, but not at this price. The price could easily be twice as much and it would still be a good investment. This goes extremely well with a tube amp. If you have a tube amp and a tube overdrive that's easily too much tube things and it doesn't sound good anymore. I don't use any tube effects anymore, since I've got a tube amp. Bad monkey is also a very quiet unit and what's the most important thing: it's almost impossible to get a bad sound out of this overdrive. Just for the sound I'd give it a 9, but it's so cheap, I must give a 10.

This is heavy metal.

I was suspicious at first, because DigiTech's other products are not very convincing. Their multieffects just sound bad, digital and cheesy. So it took me quite a while before I dared to buy this thing, but I haven't regret the buying at all. I've been playing for way over twenty years and have owned a lot of different gear. I'll keep this one as long as it lasts. It's the best overdrive. Don't waste your money on that boutique stuff. It may be a little better, but it can be worse, too. Bad Monkey is a working man's choice. Buy it!

Within approximatively four seconds, I could produce an awesome tone out of this thing. The fact that there is a bass and high knob make the eq-ing easy and always right.

I bough this on impulse because I had a deal this morning and so far, I'm honestly blown away. I should have got this thing like 10 years ago.

Sounds great... another Bad Monkey rave review I guess.

I used to use a Sansamp GT-2 for distortion, well I still use it, but it produces a heavy, thick distortion rather than a milder overdrive. With the GT-2, I can't get anywhere close this overdrive sound.

So far so good. I never ever use backup for anything, it's just a bad habit I have. From all the gear I own, all my digitech stompboxes have always been very reliable so far, unlike some of my Boss stompboxes (believe it of not).

Never called, never will. As a children of neo-liberalism like most of you, if a problem occurs with this pedal, my reflex will be to trash it and buy another one.

I play jazz professionally but also some rock. I use the same guitar for both: a Gretsch 6120 strung with 11's, usually with flats but sometimes with rounds when I am more in a rock mood and need not to record. I use either a Mesa Boogie Mark IV, or a JC-120 these days, for solid state convenience and because that's what I own right now (if I'd have a Twin around, I'd probably prefer using that). When I use this pedal with a spring reverb it sounds very "rockabilly", which is the sound I am after in rock.

I've heard some people dissing digitech's products. I don't know since I am no gear snob but I own a Digitech Digital Reverb and Digital delay, and this Bad Monkey, and so far I think these 3 pedals are top notch stuff sound-wise! And they were all pretty cheap.

Just one thing I am not sure is why they make this goofy looking design. I don't think it is aimed at teenagers. But nevermind.

Very easy: Level, Low & High eq, Gain. That's it. I've found that virtually all stomp boxes are very easy to operate so this category is a bit pointless for this product.

Here we go. Another glowing review for the Bad Monkey pedal... But it's quite good. I put it in front of my Peavey Classic 100 head with 410 Traynor cab and it sounds great. I use it for a gritty break up of a clean tone. It's transparent if desired and has a lot of character without being harsh. Guitars used are: Les Paul, Nashville Telecaster, Peavey Wolfgang, EBMM EVH and a dual humbucker guitar that I made. Each has their own character through the pedal which is fairly volume sensitive. So the different outputs of my pickups react differently with the drive. Volume pot adjustments react fairly well with the gain.

It is warm and by having the low and high eq it gives me the ability to dial it in to match the response of my clean channel. Activating it sounds like I just threw dirt onto my clean channel and virtually nothing more. If there is any color change to the original signal of the guitar it's just warmer.

I don't use it to boost the front end of my amp to drive it harder. I just use it to dirty up the clean channel. In the past 10 years or so I've tried products from Boss, Ibanez and Marshall without the success that I've found in this box. At twice the price it would still be a 10 rating.

Rugged. I doubt there's anything that could go wrong with it. But if it did, it's only $40 to replace it.

I have no idea. But again, I could replace it for very little so I don't really care.

This is an amazing pedal. Yes, the price helps boost the meaning of -amazing-. But at 2-3 times the price this pedal would still be great. Between the price, the dayglo green paint and the goofy name I figured this pedal was geared only for teenagers. Honestly, they could change the name to something like - Vintage Tube Drive - Make it a vintage color and charge 3 times what they currently charge. It's that good.

I'm not someone who looks at guitar gear like an Audiophile looks at Hi-Fi gear. Coloring my tone is what all my gear is about. I only care what color the tone is as it comes out of my amp. I'm quite pleased with this pedal and can whole heartedly recommend it. Don't let the juvenile packaging scare you off. It's the real deal.

The tone is much rounder, warm and organic my stock or modified Blues Driver. It's much richer and full than any Tubescreamer I've played. Before you look into modding your existing pedals take a look at this pedal. Return it if you don't like it. But there's a good chance you're modding your pedals to make them sound like this one... No kidding.

Great pedal. Strange packaging.

The low & high freq. level controls make it very easy to get good tone from this unit. I find that most if not all OD's tend to bump the midrange up too much for my taste, but I can compensate for that tendency with these two tone controls, leaving the original basic timbre of the guitar intact thru the unit. This is what I was looking for in an OD pedal, and the Bad Monkey gives me that.

I don't care to emulate any 'famous artists' sounds, so I can't comment on that
The overdrive is smooth and very dynamically responsive. I can set it so that it's almost clean if I'm playing softly, but grits up nicely when I 'dig in', emulating a tube amp's response as well as any other OD unit I've heard. It's rather quiet, too, for a distortion type effect. I mostly play humbuckers with a solid-state amp, so I rely on my pedals for overdrive/distortion sounds. I really haven't tried this unit with any single-coil pickups, but intend to. I'd think that it will give me the Stratty-neck-pickup Texas Bluesy tone, real easy.

This thing is a tank! Heavy metal housing, nice heft to it. I don't know where a previous reviewer got tthe iodea that it's a plastic housing (?!). I really like the battery-access method on Digitech pedals; very elegant design. I think it's built as well or better, mechanically, than any pedals out there, and wouldn't hesitate to use it without backup.

Haven't had to use their customer support.

I play mostly blues, and blues-based rock, and this unit gives me the tone I'm after
I've been playing for about 30 years, and have several other OD pedals that I keep in the chain just for the tonal variety. I'd definitely buy another on of these if it were lost or stolen.
I love the build-quality, the tone controls, and the response and tone. There's really nothing that I hate about it at all. I did compare with some other OD's in the same general price range, and found it more to my liking than any of the others. It really makes my playing more enjoyable, because with the way it responds to my playing dynamics lets me just play, rather than worry about stepping on switches. It definitely doen not get in the way.

Well, what can I tell that you already don't know?

VERY easy to get a great sound out of this pedal.

I'm using the Bad Monkey with my LP Standard, Seymour Duncan Custom Custom bridge/Burst Bucker Pro neck. Amp is a Marshall DSL 50 with a 1960 BV 4X12.

I've tried pedals by Tonebone, Marshall, Boss, Ibanez, Indy Guitarist and a few others that I'm sure I've forget about. While a lot of them were good in thier own way they all left me going..."hmmm, not quite what I thought it would be." Something was always missing, or had too much or too little of something.

Now, I'm not going to sit here and say this is THEE pedal of all pedals. But for what it is it's DAMN good and for my needs for what I like to hear it's one of the best I've tried.

The Bass knob....my God!! A bass knob on an OD pedal!! What a novel concept!!! Nothing was worse then stepping on a pedal and hearing the bottom end fade away. Not with this pedal. You can dial in how much or how little bass you want. Nothing lacking there at all. The mids this pedal delivers are of a nice texture. Just enough to push it out without being overbearing. No hump or "nasal sounds" either. The Treble knob is very good but depending on what amp you're using it can get a bit "spikey" if turned up too high. Same with the Gain knob. Sounds great thru my DSL 50, but it can sound rather biting thru my Fender DRRI if your not careful.

It's hard to describe a tone and in my very humble opinion I think it works very well for certain Van Halen things as well as certain Led Zeppelin things. I don't try to nail someones tone but I do like to get as close to the ballpark as possible without going too overboard. Songs like VH's "Beautiful Girls," "Panama," "Dance The Night Away," ...Led Zep's "The Rover," live version of "Over The Hills".....stuff like that. I'm not going to say the pedal NAILS those tones EXACTLEY because it doesnt. But set right and it DOES work very well for things of that nature. I don't think it's as organic sounding as my Barber Direct Drive SS, but it still works great for certain things.

Seems well built. Time will tell.

Haven't dealt with them so I can't say ya or nay.

Again, the Bad Monkey may not be this or that when compared to some other pedals, but of all the pedals I've tried my SS and the Bad Monkey or my favorites, hands down. For $40.00 it's a steal too.

I use an American Deluxe single coil strat through the bad monkey into a loaded Pod XT Live. I run that into a recently purchased atomic 112-18.

The Bad Monkey's "Ease of Use" couldn't be easier. At the same time, not a one trick pony, either -- I suspect I'll end up with another one so I can have one serving as my master of OD with the other set up as a clean boost for the SRV side. Tweaking the monkey in combination with various stomps in the Pod give all sorts of flavors, all of which are simply delicious.

Unreal. I can get smooth, heavy overdrive from this thing all night long. I can also run it through one of my Fender patches and get pretty darn close to an SRV type sound. Also, if I want that "in between" sound, where the Pod is somewhat lacking on its own, I use the Monkey to set the grit and everything comes together great.

Other than running through batteries like they're going out of style, this thing is dense like a brick. Feels very sturdy, unlikely to flake. But, for $40, why not have a backup?

No experience.

Probably the best add to my signal chain on a per dollar basis. If I won the lottery, I wouldn't replace it with something more expensive. I'd just buy 3-4 more.

Even a simpleton like myself can handle this.

Not so nice. Tried it with my Marshall AVT50 (tube in preamp) and it didn't really add anything significant. In fact, the gain added was too brittle vs the amp gain. I'm a product of the Page/Townsend era and don't really like the solid state crunch. Probably ok for modern thrashers but useless on Zep type rock. If you have a tube amp, don't bother.

Worked great for the hour that I tried it!

Ahhh, fork out the xtra 100 bucks and get a tube amp bro.

Very easy. Just four knobs.

I have compared it to Analogmans silver mod and a stock TS-7 Tube screamer. The latter two are a lot and a little better, respectively. The two Tube Screamers sound much more REAL than the monkey, but the price is also much cheaper. I can get the Monkey to sound almost like the TS-7 by playing with the tone knobs.

Reliability should be about the same as the TS-7, mediocre. Cheap materials compared to the Analogman.

DOn;t know

The pedal weights a ton compared to the TS-7 but is cheaper. It uses up batteries faster than the TS-7, and sounds almost as good. I use the pedals at the some time so I can get different levels of scream without having to fidddle with the knobs in between songs.

Good value for the price.

very easy to use indeed

I play an epiphone lp with emgs into a marshall jcm800, so the sound is quite dirty but with a sharp bite to start with and I use this pedal as a booster.

I really love this pedal. I also own an sd-1 bit is also fantastic so I can only compare it to that.

First great thing is that the pedal doesnt suck your tone away and so leaves the natural sound intact. The sd-1 is bit trebley in comparison but the sd-1 has a bit more drive and sustain.

The other great thing is that you can add bass to your overdriven sound which you cant do so well with the sd-1 and other similar pedals that boost the mids.

With the amp cranked and this thing on I am in tone heaven, really heavy 80's metal sound with tight clarity.

I havent played a tube screamer or any really expensive overdrive pedals before, but to be quite honest I cant possibly see how you can get much better than this.

I cant decide if i like it more than the sd-1, I think people who are really fussy with their tone would prefer this pedal because it maintains the sound of your amp without boosting treble/mids.

However whilst I reckon rhythm guitar with fat chords sound marginally better through this pedal, I think the sd-1 has a better "melt your face off" cutting lead sound.

Anyway, I will shut up now! :-) But if you own a decent amp and like high gain rock tone I cant see how you can go wrong with this bad boy and bearing in mind the price!!! Nothing is perfect but this is damn close.

seems pretty solid

dunno

I play hard rock/cheese metal and this is great through my set up. I can imagine in a few years these things will be expensive once people realise how good they are.

??25 I got mine for! What a steal! There must be a catch....

Like a 3-knobber but the TONE gets broken into two controls: low and high. The other no-brainers are Level and Overdrive. Only challenge is opening the battery compartment. Fun to figure it out yourself!

What you've got with the Bad Monkey is a versatile stomp box with I'd say better than average overdrive tone. Does it warrant raves? No, not if its $40 price tag were taken out of the equation. But, it is $40, and since that fact can't be ignored...yes, it deserves a few raves no other OD pedal deserves. (Except the Danelectro for $15! But its CHEAP plastic body combined with the term "STOMP" box seems like a troubling match).
Why buy a Digitech Bad Monkey? It's versatile. Big time. Rather than a simple TONE control, there are two controls allowing you to contour your tone for bass "Low" and treble "HIGH". Then of course it has the only other two controls needed for an OD pedal: DRIVE and LEVEL. Regarding its "level" control - this thing makes for a very, very high output boost pedal. Again this adds to its versatility. It dishes out enough highs, booming lows and sheer volume when the level is cranked to make even the most robust 12" driver begin to fart out. Impressive. Its not totally transparent though, so for those of you where complete transparancy is essential, the Bad Monkey won't replace a dedicated booster pedal. It is however more transparent than most OD's because of its two dial EQ controls.Included specifications state you'll get 18 hours from a 9V while Boss and Ibanez OD's average 30 hours. But when you hear this gas-guzzlers output, it's hardly surprising - this thing was made to push tubes into breakup.
How about the tone of its drive.. Well, it offers the amount of drive/crunch an overdrive should so its perfectly adequate. If you're not satisfied then what you seek is a DISTORTION pedal. Anyway, The tone of this drive is... well, ok. I'd say a "six".. which is good by my picky-picker standards. But, the fact that you get all this: a booster(wow!)pedal, 2 EQ controls, semi-transparency as a booster, lead-brick weighted feel so it actually stays PUT!, and overdrive tone I'd regard as not bad at all(and not the best).... is a lot to ask in an OD. The Bad Monkey seems the product of a lot of thoughtful design by someone who actually plays a guitar. Even the battery compartment access seems to project "wittyness" as opening it is done easily with the tip of a 1/4 jack: something guranteed available should you need to open it. And it seems secure from accidental opening to boot. I've never seen this much quality and good tone for anything near $40. However, it's mere "good" drive tone that is neither bad nor great will keep it from perfection. And when the tone of a guitarists overdrive is paramount, dropping $200 for tone noticeably better hurts the Bad Monkeys greatest strength, its economy and versatilty. Still, its worth $40 and easily a good deal more. Because of its sheer versatility, for $40 the Bad Monkey is a must have for any electric guitarist: trust me, it will find a reason to be in your chain!

Gets a ten till it breaks.. feels overbuilt. More tank-like than any BOSS I ever owned.

Who.. what?

You read the review, great for $40.. a must have. You'll have to drop $80 to find better overdrive tone, $200 to match this OD's versatility. Need an OD? I'd say buy it blind because most would NEVER return it or regret the purchase. Its hefty lead-like weight would slow the theif down sufficiently so that I may overtake and then procede to bludgeon... Yeah, I'd buy it again.

Easy to use - I had a good sound out of it after only a minute of fiddling with the settings. The key is to make sure your volume and EQ settings match your amp settings, and it will provide a nice and seamless transition from clean to overdrive.

I give it a solid 9 because I paid $34 for it, and for a $34 pedal, I was amazed. A ten for me is actual tube overdrive from the amp, but this sounds great through the clean channel channel of a tube amp. I took a chance and read the reviews where people said "smooth overdrive" and the reviews were right on. I've played it through a Peavey Valve King 112, and a Mesa Boogie Tremoverb Dual Rectifier, and it gives a very smooth overdrive to the clean channels of both amps. I noticed there is a slight delay on the Valve King when switching between channels, so I bought this pedal to allow time sensitive switching to overdrive. It sounds just like I was hoping it to sound. I like that there are two EQ knobs: low and hi, which I actually like better than Boss's style of on tone knob. I get a more intricate mix with the Bad Monkey. It's cheaper than many overdrive pedals, but sounds great. Don't expect this pedal to give you higher, crunchy distortion levels at full gain - it's just an overdrive pedal and you can't get that sound out of it. It does give a decent full overdrive sound though, and through my mesa, it sounds incredible. I've never tried it through a solid state amp, though, so if you use solid state, you may want to take a trip to the music store and see if you like it. Lastly, the band monkey sounds decent in series with a distortion pedal. You could use as a gain boost if you wanted.

It's made of metal and you wouldn't want to get hit with it. I am glad digitech has been making metal stomp boxes. I don't buy plastic pedals out of principle.

Definitely a good value. I've been paying guitar for over 13 years, and lately profressionally. I am discerning about the effects I use, and what sold me on this pedal is that I can turn it on and off without drawing a lot of attention to the effect change. Some songs I play get steadily thicker, and this pedal can make seamless transitions. If you turn the volume up, it could be set to bring in a harder sound, but my use for it is to keep it more subtle. You can get it for $35. Negotiate with 'em.

Simple

Crank the bass all the way up and this is like 2 Ibanez Tube Screamers put together.

I think I paid $35 for it. I've had $150 MOD pedals and all sorts of exotic and rare pedals. This one just nailed it. It's a miracle. Remember, Dimebag could make a K-mart guitar kick arse so just buy this pedal, end your perfect distortion search, and practice your style.

Very easy to get a good tone from. Bass, treble, volume and gain knobs.

This was a surprising find for little money too! Fairly neutral OD pedal. Does not seem to color over the basic tone of an amp. Just applies a smooth and natural sounding OD over the tone.

It seems well-built. I've had no problems with mine.

N/A

I play classic rock, blues, and do like some older metal. This pedal is primarily a good blues pedal for me. I have a MI Audio Crunch Box I like for my rock tones. It has a great mid-range that this pedal does not. Between these 2 pedals (Crunch Box and Bad Monkey) I have any OD tones I want covered.

Easy to dial in. Lots of bass and treble gain available. The gain control is quite nice - from subtle dirt to warm grind.

I echo what many others have said - the Bad Monkey is a fantastic sounding pedal. It works well with other pedals. It's quiet and transparent. Really a wonderful overdrive that competes with high-end overdrives. Most of us want an overdrive that adds a little girth without destroying your already-dialed-in clean sound. The Bad Monkey does it for $40.

p.s. Certainly do try the "mixer" out into your amp as well as the "amp" out. You just might like the slight punch from the mixer out. I find it adds a tiny bit of clarity to the signal.

Strat Plus
Spectraflex and George L cables
Boss CS3
Bad Monkey
Marshall BB2
Dunlop 535Q
Boss DD6
Amp (Crate Power Block or Yamaha DG80)

A solid pedal. Well designed from the bottom up.

We guitarists are a finicky bunch, so I'm not going to say everyone should get this pedal, but I was blown away by the Bad Monkey. If you are looking for a nice sounding OD/Boost type pedal, then at least check one of these out. If you like it, you can spend the other $100 you'd have spent on a boutique pedal on other gear. I have owned those pricey OD pedals before, and the Bad Monkey makes me feel a little silly for having spent so much on them.

Hats off to Digitech for a job well done.

Well covered by others on HC, so I'll skip this section.

I discovered a GREAT trick on this wonderful pedal: you can make the EQ curve on it almost completely FLAT, which means no annoying tubescreamer-like midrange hump and no bass loss. It is too simple ??? just turn the low and high controls up all the way up and turn the gain down a bit to compensate. If you want to bring back some or all of the tubescreamer midrange, back off the low and high controls and bring up the gain. I was able to nearly match my bypass tone by doing this with the gain knob almost all the way down. So if you want your amp???s sound plus a little hair, this pedal can do it really well.

I have owned a Fulldrive II, and it was a great pedal and didn???t lose bass, but I think it would benefit from a 2-knob tone control setup like the Bad Monkey has (are you listening Mike?). If Digitech put out a 2-channel version of this similar to the Fulldrive???s layout, they would have the perfect cheap overdrive pedal. Then again, 2 of these pedals only cost $80. Hmmm???maybe I???ll buy another one.

I bought this as a cheap backup in case my Line 6 AM4 dies mid-gig. The AM4 is a wonderful and truly underrated sleeper of a pedal. Line 6 amp modeling, but designed specifically to go in front of a tube amp, so it is the best of both worlds. Read the reviews on it here at HC. Line 6 stopped making it (why?!!!), and it can be picked up for less than $100 on eBay. It???s only fault is that it flies through batteries in a few hours, so that is why I got the Bad Monkey.

If Digitech ever stops making this pedal, I would bet its value would go way up on the used market. Definitely destined for legendary status.

8 Months Later...

OK...I have been spankin' my Epiphone Valve Jr. 5 watt Tube with the Monkey for the last 8 months & I can't get a bad sound out of it...it LOVES tubes & single coil Pickups fer sure..I own 6 Danelectro's which all have a different character to them & they all sound great thru the Monkey for Blues & beyond (aka AC/DC "crunch")...I bought a Snarling Dog's Blue Doo & although its tru-bypass it fails miserably as a blues pedal-too buzzy (great 6v6 tube emulation-that's it)...I also bought the Digitech Screamin Blues & it was WAY harsh & I sold it...the Bad Monkey represents VERY WELL what an OVERDRIVE pedal should sound like...both the Blue Doo & Screamin Blues (also Blues Driver etc) are very much Distortion Pedals...if your looking for a true BLUES tone look no further..."buy the monkey"
I reviewed this when I first bought it & I was not thrilled with the compression but I have found that the minor compression tends to even out & warm up the tone nicely & delivers a nice break up on my Class A amp. Also I recently bought a 1959 Silvertone Christmas Special (made by Dano) & its bright razor edge can only be tamed by adding just O' tad of the monkey...
I have found this pedal works great also as a booster in front of my Fuzz pedal & helps to get a more even Fuzz with much less noise & it also Fattens up a good Fuzz if you dial in more bass on the Monkey...
Finally just as a pre-amp pedal this will take a thin single coil tone & add some nice Mids & Lows to the Freq...

Its a Digitech-they are built well...

If your looking for an OVERDRIVE pedal this is a Tubescreamer for the 21st century...forget the re-issue Ibanez's try this first...or try the Tone Driver also by Digitech it has a wider range...even the Screamin Blues which I personally found a bit harsh is worth a shot...this Digitech line is nice & analog too boot. If the you want more transparency spend a little more & buy a "Badder Monkey" on ebay that has been modified to sound more tru-bypasslike & has even more bottom end...If you feel like Boss just isnt cutting it for you try the Bad Monkey- you'll like its response & versatility...blows the SD-1 away...

very simple to good sound from

very smooth,suprisingly smooth for solid state.I am using it with a USA tele and hot rod deluxe.One problem with the deluxe is the 3rd channel has a huge volume jump,I use this to kick the second channel up a notch and its perfect,no change in sound,just more gain.

so far so good.

Thank You Digitech,great product!

Does everything it claims to do.Excellent product at a very reasonable price,I almost overlooked it thinking it was a kids pedal.This is a great product.I would definatly buy it again and would even recomend buying it if you cant try it out first,thats usually not a good idea but this is that good!

Great pedal easy operation tone controls very are great easy to dial in a good tone

Sounds terrific does everything from a nice punchy overdrive, to a warm rhythm tone i.e. ACDC, Danzig, Jet, which can be controlled very much with high tone knob, also does convincing texas blues tone SRV
Also does good lead boost like a tube screamer similar to old school Metallica leads

my pedal board looks like this
Badmonkey-Double Muff distortion-boss oc-2-mxr phase 90-crybaby wah
Works well with the big muff overdrives it well and blends tone characteristics well

haven't had it long enough to know

haven't dealt with them

I have been playing a for about 10 years and I like this pedal about as well as anything I have ever played through

very easy to use. just like any other pedal

wow, this thing is great. at first i didnt like it at all because i was running it through a behringer v-ampire head. now that i have upgraded to a b-52 at-100 all tube head, it is great. when i got my new amp i noticed it doesnt have as good as sustain as a solid state, so i was going to get a compressor, but then i pluged this thing up and no need. i dont use it as a pedal itself, i use it more as a booster. i keep it on all the time (even when clean, because i like tool and they just roll down the volume on guitar instead of switching channels so it gives me that kind of sound) and it sounds great. it adds clearity to my sound and gives me more sustain, and it sounds like my amp, not a pedal... o yah did i mention i got it for 30 bucks. i use my like this level-5 high-6 low-6 gain-0. it helps alot

made out of medal, seems very sturdy to me.

?

great pedal. i play tool to seether and it just add sustain and clearity. once you turn it off everything just sounds dull. i love it.

This pedal is realy easy to use. You don't need the manual. It's realy simple to get a nice sound out of it

The sound of the bad monkey is realy awesome. It's my main pedal. I use it alot.

I use a Fender Telecaster into a Digi Delay --> Bad Monkey --> Hot Head --> Grunge --> Cry baby --> Hughes & Kettner Tube amp.

It's the best. You can get the sound of Stevie Ray Vaughan out of it. It's fantastic for blues and rock.

What can i say. Build like a tank!

Never dealt with Digitech. I don't ever have to deal with digitech. I'm a big Digitech fan.

I play 2 years now and i play mostly Rock and blues. It's fantastic. It's the best you'll get.

Didn't take me long to get a good sound. I use it as a clean boost, basically giving me a third channel on my JCM 800.Manual was well laid out, easy to follow the instructions

I'm using this with a Les Paul standard into GCB-95 wah, monkey straight into front of amp with a Boss GT-6 in the loop of my split channel JCM 800. I was previously using a TS-9 which I had modded by aramat. Great pedal, great mod but I was never happy with the bottom end loss and the excessive mid boost it used to give. Same from the TS-808 re-issue I then bought, bottom end would disappear when I stomped on it. So I bought the Bad Monkey after reading all the rave reviews and figuring that ??34-00 was not a lot of money to waste if I didn't like it. I think it's a truly fabulous pedal, does everything I want as regards transparently pushing the front of my amp into higher gain territory for solos. No complaints at all.

Would rely on it 100%. I am gonna buy another one, well, at that price why not?

Never had to deal with Digitech so I can't comment. Is this a testament to their product reliability?

I play rock covers, for this genre of music the bad monkey fits the bill a treat! I've been playing for 25 years and have owned a lot of gear over the years but I will be keeping this bad boy!!! It has made me put my tube screamers into retirement, the monkey is king. I love the fact that I can dial back in my bottom end with the low control, and tailor the high end too, as opposed to one universal tone control a la TS-9/TS-808. I know it's 'horses for courses' in the world of overdrives, but this serves me good and proper. Give one a try, you won't regret it!!!

Very easy and very versatile.

Sounds great as long as you understand what it does and does not do. It is not a distortion box. Not noisy at all, the eq knobs really help a lot. I am using it with my Peavey Prowler tube amp. Sounds great. Sounds better than a lot of actual output tube distortion that I've heard.

Looks and feels very very solid. Very surprised at the quality of htis being a DigiTech. This will now make me look at other Digitech stuff for sure.

Never dealt with them

I play rock, mostly old school 70's. Been playing almost 40 years..was actually there in NYC when punk was real. (Unfortunately I was also there when disco was real too!)I think the good reviews are right on for this pedal..sounds great and is built like a tank. I bought it with an Epiphone Valve Junior Combo which I am returning, but this is a keeper for sure.

It is quite easy to use.
4 controls (gain, level, treble,bass). As easy to use as a 4 controls stompbox can be.
The manual is good enough.
Minus: changing the battery could be easier. It is not really difficult, but i have seen pedals where it is easier.
Therefor only 9.

The best overdrive i have heard so far. Better than many botique stomp boxes i have tested.
Asthe name "tube overdrive" sais it is no black-death-thrash-metal-distortion, no vintage fuzz or anything else. It is a tube overdrive, and a really amazing good one!
Maximum gain sounds good and adds a little compression, but that is what i expect from a tube amp or a tube overdrive pedal. At low gain settings it gives a clean amp a slight crunch, like a tube amp that starts to crunch a little. If you turn up gain, it behaves like a tube amp at which you turn up the gain control: more drive and at some point also a little compression (what gives nice sustain without losing dynamics).
If you put the bad monkeyinfront ofa tube amp that already delivers crunch, you have a nice extra lead sound with more gain and sustain.
Like infriont of clean amp it always sounds like tube, it never sounds like a transistor device.
Just great. As i wrote above: the tube overdrive pedal i know.
All in all it sounds neutral: it dows not make youramp sound likeadifferent amp, it just adds more gain to your, it is like a foot switch for an extra gainstage of your (tube) amp.
10 points clearly.

I have not long enough experience to judge about reliabity, but it looks and feels rock solid.

No idea, i did need support so far and assume i will never need.

Clearly a ten! Buy one!
It is quite cheap and it sounds amazing!
It you are looking for a tube overdrive pedal, test the bad monkey, and i am quite sure you won't look for another tube drive pedal anymore!
I paid 40 euros for it (new, NOT second hand), what is about 48 US$. Cheaper than any other pedal i own or owned, and better sounding than any otherpedal (marshall, ibanez, boss, boutique-stuff) i own or owned!

VERY easy to use. You can't get a bad sound out of it. VERY smooooth.
Good harmonics and very transparent.

Very quiet, quality built pedal. My signal chain is a 58 plaintop to the bad monkey, DOD compressor/sustainer, Traynor YCV80 2x12. Simple setup. This pedal does not have a lot of gain. Some players may not like that. Very dynamic EQ controls. I think this is one of the most natural sounding overdrives I've ever used. I've been looking for this sound for a long time. I love it.

Seems dependable. It's built very solid.

No dealing with CS.

For the price, you will not find a more musically natural sounding overdrive. This little box is so transparent. Absolutely no coloring of the guitar's natural sound. It really left me gobsmacked. I also use this box to drive a non-master volume 75 Marshall 50 watt lead head. It sends that old amp into overdriven glory. Very rich sounding. It nails the Jimmy Page, Allman Bros, Peter Green sound when using it in front of a Les Paul. Since it has very dynamic eq controls, you can really fatten up a thin Strat or Tele without adding too much dirt. In fact, I found that this pedal gave you that wide open SRV sound at modest volumes. It also let's dial out the "icepick" if your Strat is so afflicted. For 35 bucks you just can't go wrong with this.

This thing is awesome! There is no hassle or problem with getting the tone you want out of it, it's just like any other pedal (except sounds better). Don't bother with the manual, you gotta just dive in.

I am using this pedal to add a little more girth and some more distortion to my amp. I play a Tele Deluxe/Floyd Rose DST through the Bad Monkey then a Dunlop Crybaby and into a Carvin X100B overdriven on the clean channel. This pedal is transparent in the best way! It adds that extra push you want for a tube amp overdrive but doesn't color your tone. To make it even better it's noiseless! Seriously, no noises or hisses or anything, I can just step on it and leave it on. The only reason I had to dock its score was that to clean up my sound when I roll back my guitar's volume, I have to turn the Bad Monkey off. Still, small price to pay and even then my cleans are always 100% tube so I don't really care.

I haven't played a show with it yet, but it seems durable enough. The tone is consistent as is the volume and the thing's built like a f***ing tank!

Never dealt with DigiTech.

I play a blues-metal-punk fusion style and this works great. It give enough gain to get pinch harmonics like Zakk Wyle, but it isn't super gainy; it gives enough grind to really rip into a punk riff, yet it's also light and smooth enough to play a really soulful blues solo. I've been playing about 6 and a half years now and I've played a lot of Boss pedals up to this point, namely the Mega Distortion and Super Overdrive. The Mega Distortion sucked for what I wanted to do, and the Super Overdrive is pretty good by itself, but once again was horrible at combining with my amp's distortion. If this thing were stolen I would definitely buy it again and that wouldn't be asking much with its pricetag! The tone of this thing makes it seem like such a steal! Sounds more like a $130 pedal than a $30 pedal. It's just perfect for giving a little more dirt without any hissing or fake, SS sounds. Absolutely perfect!

The unit is easy to use, assuming you are human. It has 4 controls, level, low, high amd gain (pretty obvious). Easy to get a good tube overdrive sound. If you want screech metal or some other garbage, DON'T buy this pedal. It is for smooth overdriven tube sound.
The manual is useless, unless you are rain dead.

The overdriven sound is perfect for my Alternative Country Rock. I just love the sound. It is not noisy unless you crank it to the max. The battery compartment is under the on/off pedal. Just depress the two hinge pins and there is the battery (which it comes with). I use it for some lead work but especially for my slide work. Oh, yeah, it shines there. I use a Fender custom Shop FMT Telecaster with hums (a DiMarxio X2N in the front) through a Crate VFX5212. I hear there are some guys doing mods on this pedal. If they are, they are just ripping you off as there is little to change other than the LED. The adition of Tantalum caps, will just add noise. For my money, they are rip off artisits where the Bad Monkey is concerend.

Beats me. The other Digitech equipment I have, have never failed. It is metal and all the components are surface mount mil-spec, so I would assume it would last a long time. Yeah, I would gig without a backup. (but I always gig with a backup amp!!!!!)

Never used them, don't intend to. They were really good with my RP-7.

Overall, I rate it a 10 as it has taken the forefront in my medium overdrive arsenal. I just love the sound. Only thing I wish it had was a true bypass rather than active j-fet bypass. Even with the J-fet bypass, there is little if any signal degradation. If it were stolen or lost, I would get another (after I put the thief in the hospital). I play Alternative Country Rock, and this pedal is the item. I have been playing a full 40 years. I own 5 tube amps, one SS amp and several Strats. I have compared it to my Nady TO-2 and the Behringer Tube Overdrive and the Bad Monkey blows them both away. Way better sound, way less noise. It definitely adds to my creativity and my overall sound. I can't recommend it enough.

4 knobs - every setting I tried sounds good

I'm using this through a halfways decent rig - '83 American Strat/Frankencaster/335 Knockoff into the Bad Monkey then a BOSS SD-1, BOSS ME-30 and into the amp.

It blows the doors off of the SD-1 - it can get the same sound, but it can also do so much more!! Grunting, panting, screaming - it does it all thanks to the very active EQ controls. I don't have that much stompbox experience, but have a reasonable understanding of tone (I've owned lots of cheapy pedals, one of the original Marshall Guv'nors, SS amps, tube amps and the SD-1). This pedal pushed into a tube amp is killer. It's well worth the $$.

So far so good.

????

I play bluesy rock and have been doing so for about 15 years and have accumulated some pretty decent gear. This is easily on par with that, and deserves it's spot in the lineup.

I love BOSS stuff, but this is definitely better - get one for yourself.

Pretty simple to use, all the knobs are self explanitory. I bought it used, so I don't have a manual or anything for this, but, like I said, it's pretty simple...

I love the sound of this pedal. I have played with tons of pedals and this is one of my favorites. The gain really colors the amount of distortion in differnt ways. Put it at 7:00 and just warm up your sound, send it to 4:00 and you have some really nice rocking overdrive. It's al very warm and very clear, even when it gets crunchy.

I get no hum at all when this is on.

I've played it next to my Visual Sound Jeckyll and Hyde and it's very comparable.

Seems reliable.

I play rock, kind of like U2 mixed with Pearl Jam. Works well with what I do.

I've been playing for over ten years. I play a Rickenbacker 330, a Tele HH, a Danelectro Pro 56, a Taylor 414, and a cheap lap steel guitar.
I play through a Fender Blues Jr. amp.

If it were lost or stolen, no problem, I'll pay $35 for this pedal any day.

Easy to use. The manual was quite brief. Completelyt analog I belive, except the switching.

This pedal I absolutely brilliant. Good for pretty much any classic rock sound as all the old artists used tube amps.
Although this doesn't use a tube , it sounds pretty similar. More realistic than a bloody valvestate marshall that we have at school. Sounds like a rat running around in a pile of celery ??_??.
you can get a zeppelin sound outta this pedal, which is mainly what I want
But this only produces a low gain so it works best with a high output guitar such as a gibson SG special, which is what I have ^_^.

I can depend on this pedal as it is built really well. Similar to boss quality

nah, haven't dealt with them

I think this is a good pedal for all you budding classic rock fans. So go buy it. you can get it for like ??25 off the internet.
Looks funky too. GREEEEEEEEN

Easy to use. Dial in tone, level, gain and you are good.

I use this in front of my AC30. I'd have walked right past it in the store if I hadn't been given advise to try it with my amp. I swear, this is the best pedal you will ever get for ~$50. It is a transparent, evenly voiced overdrive that just sounds great.

It can be used as a boost, or to add a little sizzle, or it can get quite heavy. It all sounds good.

I personally keep all knobs at 12:00.

Looks solid. All these big companies make long lasting pedals.

I've been playing for 6 years. I own a Gibson SG ('61 RI) and a Fender Telecaster (Highway 1 Texas)

I'd recommend that anyone give this pedal a try. I was having trouble getting my tubescreamer to sound good through my amp. I found the TS to be too middy (expecially with my middy amp), while this pedal gives an evenly voiced overdrive. Great effect for cheap!

10 here, because you cannot beat this value.

No Brainer - bass and treble knobs added plus

***ibanez AH-10 guitar> Digitech RP-1> Crate G80 (solid state)***

I have a digitech RP-1 but was unable to get the kind of lead sound (holdsworhian, hendersonian, halenesque) I like from it. the distortion is either grainy on the bottom end, or 'swicky' on the high end. after reading reviews at harmony-cental I bought the bad monkey without auditioning one, a first for me in my 20 year playing career. good choice! the bad monkey gives me the transparent, flat tube-like sound I've been looking for - works great in tandem with the rp-1's distortion. i tried most of the overdrive pedals and was dissatisfied with the tone of most of them. works great for single note and chordal work.

I just bought it

never needed support for digitech devices

for the price can't be beat, a godsend!! versatile tone without coloration

Man this is very easy to use. No brainer kinda thing

I can sound like anybody. Name them P.O.D, creed, chevelle etc.

I use this on top of distortion channel, i can get very chunky, bassy, and yet very gainy tone.

At first i didnt try this, i was going to get ts9, but there was a slight delay on the shipment i decided to cancel that and took this. and i have never been happier than this.

I use peavey valveking 212 combo thru this baby. and it rocks!!

yeah, its digitech!!!

I play pop, metal, rock, alternative. With this thing i can play almost anything.

AND ITS cheap!! i bought new, mannnnnn so awesomee!!!

So easy to use even a monkey could tweak it. *cough*

4 knobs (Level, Low, High, Gain)
Input
Output (Amp)
Output (Mixer)
AC in
Big red "On" LED
Cool metallic green color

Use this OD if you wanna do the Classic Rock/That 70's Tone thang.

Using my Les Paul Custom w/Seth Lovers into my JTM45RI (which I modded to 60's specs) into a 1X12 w/Weber Alnico Blue Dog, it adds a sweet midrange and shiny presence to the tone with nice soft clipping.

Smooth and buttery with no harshness - retains the 'feel' and dynamics of your amp.

Turn the gain up near the top and you've got enough boost to do early 80's hard rock.

Yes, it's true: the Bad Monkey really does deliver the goods.

The only drawback is it could clean up a little more when turning down the volume on your guitar (it's good, but not great at this).

It's a brick; even the knobs are solid.

Never dealt with DigiTech.

I play all sorts of stuff, but my main squeeze is Classic Rock; been playing for 23 years.

This is a fantastic value (tone compared to cost); hence the "10" Overall Rating.

From *my* experience, works awesome with a vintage-style tube amp and vintage-output humbuckers (haven't tried the Strat yet).

I was looking for a Classic Rock boost which would work great with humbuckers (I use a Fulldrive 2 for my Strat), and this Bad Monkey takes the banana and eats it.

Simple as Lipstick Pickup!

DANELECTRO PLAYERS: This is your Review...
(First off can more of you guys please write reviews...we're
ALL Tone Freaks & we should be helping each other out-Nuff Said.)

My 2 hours spent so far with the Monkey-were with a DC-59 Reissue> Bad Monkey>Dano Tape Echo>Dano Spring Reverb> 5 Watt Type A Tube Amp.
This is a very pure chain & purposely so...I was impressed by what I read here & picked one up @ GC for 33 bucks drove home & plugged it in...

Other than slight compression, the BM does not color the unique (love it or hate it)tone of the Danelectro...with the nob on my amp at 10 oclock-I was able to dial in almost identical clean tone with the Monkey ON vs. Off...I was happy with that already & I will add that the slight compression warmed up the Lipstick PU's in a good way aka my tone was not bastardized by some digital beast...I am not fantical about "true analog" because I cant afford it BUT I try to adhere to "Analog tone" at least...anyhoo with the Level:6,Low:7,High:6 I started to turn up the Gain at about 7 you get a slight smooth overdrive, at 8 it starts breaking up, at 9 it was Perfect for that early Keith Richards sound with some Spring Verb added...at 10 I turned on my Tape Echo & got a great Syd Barrett vibe going...which is always a pleasure...the strings resonance kept there natural Dano twang nicely thru the Monkey & there was no clash between the natural "disortion" sounds created by saturating my Spring King or tweeking the roll off switch on my Tape Echo...I can say the Monkey blended very well with my other effects but in a very subtle way...I could turn it on or off & it was "close enough" to what I would have acheived overdriving my amp the with Volume knob...

So far I am very impressed...I am not a pedal fan...especially in that DOD, Digitech manner...I also thru a Boss DS-1 in & out of the same chain (my Girlfriends son had one sitting there) & it sounded like complete crap (sorry Boss lovers)...it completely colored the Danelectro tone no mater how I tweaked it...

Highly recommened for Danelectro users using a tube amp!

PS I also got some WONDERFUL WARM SURF TONE with the Monkey & the Spring King (does one thing very well if you take the time to figure it out) using just the Dano Bridge Pick up...nice overdriven "Boinginess"...Sweet!

Just Bought it...

I play bluesy jazzy experimental stuff...I like droney acid soaked sounds that were created in the 60's using enhanced 50's gear...I like to keep it simple...I dont own a distortion or Fuzz pedal...I have been playing for 23 years...I have several Dano's Vintage & re-issue & a Gretch (LP jr style) Electromatic w/ P90...also an Ephipone Dot (Gibson made). I dont purchase a pedal if it colors my tone...the Bad Monkey passes with a B+...

Pretty straight forward as described below many times. Easy to dial in a good sound. I added a little more treble - bass on 12 oclock, treble at say 2 o'clock.

I use a mix of everything. Gibson, Gretsch, Fender, my own brews etc...fav pickup is P-90. Amps are usually EL84 based things, although 6V6 has stolen my heart recently. But mainly I play through a Laney VC30, Vox AC15CC, Velocette 12R, 5E3 clone, Sovtek Mig 50.

Well, I bought this on a recommendation from someone I trust. I played it only for 10 minutes, which I would not normally do - more like ask for it overnight and try it out properly. So 10 minutes into playing I said YES! Great sounding drive unit. Doesn't screw you tone in any way, simply adds to it. With no gain and level up a bit I can get a nice boost with little breakup - that's nice! Further up I can get totally broken up tubey sounding over drive. It is quite true to its name (not Bad Monkey - DT, what are you thinking?) - Tube Overdrive...This pedal is quiet, no noise, and a nice buffered bypass that doesn't suck your tone. The drive tone is smooth, with only a slight touch of sterility...but barely noticeable. With a Strat say, the quack setting isn't mudded out by the pedal - instead it keeps the tone and adds the level of drive you've dialled in. That's great.

I totally recommend this pedal if you're looking for a lower gain tube type sounding drive pedal. Versatile enough for cleaner boost, right through to dirty grit. Forget about the price - at twice it is still a great pedal.

Too new for me to comment

Again, too new.

I play rock covers, original slightly physcadelic stuff. I need a versatile pedal that sounds good and doesn't change the tone of my carefully selected amps and guitars...this does that. And adds

There's 5 million reviews already so I'll just share my unique experience. But simply put -- this thing is a piece of cake to use.

Very organic, beautiful tube sound. Not a lot of distortion, it's more mellow. Check out what I did yesterday: Took my Richter guitar -- an EX335 clone with P-90s. Put on the neck pickup and turned the volume full up and tone all the way down (think Clapton's "woman tone"). Plugged into the Bad Monkey, with treble at 0, bass at Max, Level at 3 o'clock, and Gain at Max. Plugged that into a "Blue Moaner" (that's a Dallas Rangemaster clone, made by Blue Bayou F/X, great handmade pedal, check Ebay) on Max. Plugged that into my friend's Fender Twin. I'm not even sure what channel the amp was on -- clean / distortion / both. Those amps are fucking confusing. Anyway, moral of the story --- the most monstrous, godlike rocking tone I have ever played through! I can't wait to plug it into my Peavey Delta Blues and see how that sounds.

A tank.

N/A

More people should know about this pedal. At $40, it's the deal of the century.

Well marked and easy to figure out. It has knobs for Level, Lows, Highs, and Gain. All knobs have usable settings (gain is fuzzy at high levels). Only consulted the manual to change the battery, which is not obvious at all, but really simple ones you figure it out.

Sound quality is FANTASTIC! NOT expecting this out of a $40 pedal.

I'm using a few different guitars, mainly a Cort Katana rewired with Seymour Duncan pickups (a JB/C5 hybrid in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck). This guitar is basically a 25.5" scale PRS knockoff with a Tonepros bridge and 500k pots. The pickups are higher-gain Seymour Duncans with Alnico 5 magnets. Amplifiers used were a Marshall DSL50 through a Celestion V30 4x12", Roland Microcube, and various small and large tube amplifiers.

This pedal is an improvement on the Ibanez Tubescreamer. It compresses the sound slightly (not as much as the TS808), provides a very mild to moderate amount of soft clipping, and has the ability to boost volume levels to saturate a tube amp. Like the Tubescreamer, it works wonders for kicking a dirty channel of a tube amp into overdrive or giving a little bit of kick and power to the clean channel of an amplifier. Unlike the Tubescreamer, it has better control over the highs and lows with two separate EQ knobs versus one tone knob. It also has less of a pronounced mid-boost and more low-end than the TS808.

I find that it works better with tube amps than solid state. It preserves the feel and response of the amp better than many other pedals (like the Boss SD-1). It can easily be an "always on" gain boost if need be. It also stacks really well with other pedals. For ultra-low volume practice, I run this into a Zakk Wylde overdrive pedal and a Microcube. The ZW-44 is a very clear pedal with a bit sucked out of the mids. Running the Bad Monkey into the ZW-44 gives a huge "Marshall on 11" kind of sound, even out of a tiny amp.

There is very little noise to this pedal and the pots are not scratchy at all. Furthermore, the buffer seems well designed and even the mixer out can be useful to get a bit more presence out of dull, solid state amps.

The pedal seems pretty rugged and reliable. I haven't experienced any issues but haven't had it a long time.

Never dealt with the company, but the website has the manual, which is a big plus.

I play a lot of music, from blues to indie rock to some heavier stuff. It works very well for all styles of music and at this price is a must-have. I've been playing for 12 years and would definitely buy this again and recommend it to friends.

With this sound quality and price, it's definitely a "10"!

Very, very easy to use. Took no time at all to get a good sound out of this pedal.

For guitar I'm using a PRS SE Soapbar II with Jason Lollar P90's. That's plugged into the Bad Monkey and then right into the amp. Got a Boss DD-3 Delay going into the effects loop. Weber Beam Blocker across the stock Peavey speaker and an Eminance Cannibus Rex used as an extension. All gets LOUD as hell, too.

As I mentioned it took no time at all to get a good sound going with the Bad Monkey. Finally, an OD pedal with a bass knob!! I've tried a number of OD's throughout the years and my first thought upon trying those pedals was always the same: not enough bass. The added bass knob alone is one of the things that makes this such a good pedal. It's very hard to describe a sound and what works for one guy may not work for another. There's enough mids in the pedal to push it out without being obnoxious. Thru my amp the mids come across as
"darker" but without being muffled or nasal sounding. The treble is nice, clear and crisp and can really cut thru if you turn it up all the way. The bass control fills it all out. Nothing lacking there at all. The drive itself isn't spikey or buzzy at all. It just seems to have a nice "earthiness" to it that doesn't cover up you playing when playing chords. It seems to respond very well to changes with your guitars volume knob. Much better so than with all the other OD's I've tried.

I know this is very subjective, but this pedal thru my setup works very well for Allman Brothers, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen II.....things of that nature. When I play I don't try to nail someones tone "exact." I know some people are obsessed with trying to do so but I don't have the time for that. Just give me something that will be a close 2nd, somewhere in the ballpark that sounds good and I'm a happy camper. For what I like to hear this pedal has finally gotten me there.

Seems very well built but I guess time will tell.

Never dealt with then so I can't comment.

Overall I really don't see how one could go wrong with the Bad Monkey. I have'nt tried everything out there and I'm sure there are other pedals out there that have more of a detailed complexity that so many tone mongers are searching for. And while nothing is perfect some things are better than others and so far the Bad Monkey is the best sounding OD pedal that I have found to date. It works very well with my setup for those "Marshall moments" better than any other pedal I've tried. And for only $40.00 how can you go wrong?

This has four knobs. Each one is easy to use, heavy duty, and very smooth. The manual is good and the ad even gives you four presets to try. Very easy.

This is an amazing pedal, not just for the money. It is my favorite overdrive that I have used. It is very warm and completely transparent. You can use it from a clean booster that sounds just like your amp, or turn up the gain to drive the amp harder. I have found with my Strat that I can get perfect Jimi Hendrix, Joe Walsh, Stevie and other sounds quickly and easily. I really love this pedal. Just don't expect metal distortion out of it.

This is an extremely heavy duty pedal. I would play without a backup as long as I had a power supply(because of the battery). It is like a Boss pedal, but heavier. I like the way the top comes off with just a cord. On Boss pedals you don't need anything, but the screw can scrape things easily, so they are about equal there.

Never dealt with them.

I cannot recommend any overdrive pedal more than this. It is cheap, makes Tubescreamers sound like crap, and is very tough. You cannot go wrong with this pedal. I like it so much that I plan to try the Hot Head distortion now.

5 minutes to dial it in!

Les Paul & LP Jr thru a Bandmaster & Traynor YBA-1.
I can't believe this pedal. It sounds like a Tubescreamer should.
I'm using this to run with my Barber LTD pedal with my Bandmaster's
(66 & 68).
It's has amazing tone. I've never tried anything form Digitech because of their name "DIGITECH" not very Rockin or organic sounding.
Bad Monkey isn't much better. It could be called Butt Monkey for all I care. This pedal Rules. Thin Lizzy - AC/DC....yeah!

It weighs about 3 lbs.

I know Digitech & DOD are the same these days.
They seem to care about their customers.

I play Hard Rock/Punk Rock. Non-Master volume amps for me from here on out. I've been on a pedal hunt for the past 2 months. If it's an Overdrive pedal I've tried it (belive me)!
I didn't expect this pedal to sound this good. It sounds like a Reverend DriveTrain with less gain. I think these sell for $40 new.
Why can't Boss make a pedal that sounds this good, without he shitty high-end shrill & suck out the low-end.
I'll keep this pedal forever. For $29 off Ebay I can't believe it.
Smooth Tube like Overdrive from a company named Digitech, I never knew!

Dead easy.Very responsive tone controls.

Stratocaster into Boss cs2 into Marshall guvnor,Bad monkey,Line 6 Echo park,into Epiphone Valve Junior.This is the best overdrive pedal I have ever owned and also one of the cheapest.It gives you instant Kieth Richards rhythm tones and Instant srv lead tones.No joking if you dont buy one then you are missing out on a great pedal.Future classic for sure.It hasnt got bags of gain but if you are looking for that overdriven valve vibe then look no further.

Hasnt let me down so far.Solid build quality.

If your into blues and play a Fender then you need one of these.

No problems getting a good sound here - having bass & treble pots is a real bonus as opposed to having a single tone control. Not a huge amount of gain, but it's an o/drive pedal after all. Sufficient to get a great rhythm crunch & less aggressive leads.

Manual is fine, but use your ears - there's nothing technical going on here

I'm using it with a valve Fender Blues Jnr & a solid state Hughes/Kettner edition blue 30watt combo. Guitars are classic 60s Strat, modded Squire strat with Seymour Duncan P/Ups (lil 59 humbucker at bridge), Fender Toronado with SD P/Ups and a few others.

This thing always sounds absolutely superb - smooth with a capital SMOO but gritty enough at extreme settings if thats what you're after. It's solid state quiet, hiss is negligible.

If you're thinking about a TS9/808, try this first. It's a quarter of the price and you certainly won't be wasting your time.

This thing is a brick - heavier than equivalent Boss - over 2lbs - and a quality build. I'm confident it will last for years. I use 2 O/Ds in my live rig (the other is a TC Electronics Vintage O/Drive)so I do have a back up. I'd be happy if I had to just take the Bad Monkey though.

Battery change is the new Digitech style with spring loaded pins. Must be the easiest yet.

Never dealt with the Company - don't expect to have to.

This pedal has to be the bargain of the decade. You can pick it up on-line for less than #25.00 and for that you're getting a noticeably fine product. My TC Electronics Vintage overdrive pedal cost me 4 times as much, and as good as it is, it ain't 4 times better. Infact, it's hardly better at all - maybe a little more transparent but actually less warm.

As long as you like the sound of your rig, you'll love the sound of the Bad Monkey. It retains your guitar/amp sound, but makes it warmer & wider. It feels like an exotic Fulltone OCD pedal, in that the extra drive seems to come from the amp rather than being an obviously imposed sound altering device stuck in the middle of the floor. This is especially true of my valve amp, though the solid state H/K isn't far behind..

It's not a pedal for metal, but blues/classic rock and maybe even country sounds are brilliantly served.

I'd replace it in a heartbeat if it went walkabout. If I hadn't already got another 2 o/drives, I'd run two for different drive levels.

Very easy to use. I took one of the presets from the manual and went from there.

Great sound. Amazing bang for the buck. This is the first pedal I've owned that I just can't not stop playing. I've used a SD-1 and Keeley Rat Mod for boost in the past but the Monkey is by far my favorite. I keep the gain at zero when I can play loud to get my valve amp breaking up on its own, or throw the gain up to 12:00 when I am playing at bedroom volume. It has such a realistic tube sound that I can't much tell the difference between my amp's OD sound or the pedal (other than the amp has to be real LOUD to get into "the zone").

Seems solid. If it broke I would just buy a new one.

Great pedal over all. I opted not to buy an attenuator to play my amp at bedroom volumes after playing with the Monkey for a while. I bought it because everyone seemed to rave about it and they are right. If it were priced over the $99 mark I wouldn't rate it as high, but that monkey has some serious bang for the buck! I bet if I swapped the guts into a boutique case even tone snobs would give it thumbs when they heard it :)