DigiTech Bad Monkey

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

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

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

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

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

Easy as you would expect.

My setup :

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

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

Seems to be built well.

Digitech has been good to me in the past.

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

very easy to follow instructions 4 knobs, simple.

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

very good looks ruggedly built

excellent pedal, very good value.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Never dealt with them.

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

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

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

This is a really easy pedal to use.

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


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

Heres my setup:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I haven't had to deal with them any.

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

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

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

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

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

Haven't needed to.

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

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

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

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

Never used them, don't know.

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

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

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

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

N/A

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

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

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


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


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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No noise, very quiet, even when stomped

Yes, indeedy

never needed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is it noisy? NO

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

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

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

i've played it everday for 6 months

GOOD

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

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

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

Hot Rod Deluxe and Fender Strat

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

haven't dealt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Don't know yet--not worried.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Havent called so cant say

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm using this mostly as follows:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

never used

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

Digitech Bad Monkey Tube Overdrive pedal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Bad Monkey is incredible for $40!

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

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

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

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

No problems here, very easy to use.

It is a HUGE plus to have a Treble and Bass control instead of the usual one lousy Tone control that is meant for compromise! Any Tube Screamer clone, or any other overdrive type, would greatly benefit from this feature! This makes a WORLD of difference in allowing you to set the tone where you want it, which is EASE OF USE.

Very good tone in this box. Blues, Texas Blues, Blues Rock, Rock and Roll, Swing, Rock-a-billy,AC/DC, Zep, James Gang,... all those kind of tones are really well done with this little pedal. As others have said here, it is amazing for the price! Just to add to that: I was very happy with the sound I got from this with a Strat into a Carr amp, but it SHOULD sound good in that setup. So, I tried a Les Paul and it was great. You can dial in just what you need for overdrive and bass and treble to bring out the neck pickup while not making the bridge too shrill. Telecaster, great, same thing as the LP with the tone controls, etc. I tried it with a Fender Champ, a Marshall, a Twin, and straight into Pro Tools using its Mixer output that is suppose to have cabinet simulation built into it. All sounded excellent. (No, the mixer output doesn't sound just like you're playing through a miked amp, but it sounds pretty darn good. Very useable for some things.)

So, then I tried some other guitars to see how it handled different flavors. (These ARE NOT all my guitars and amps in case it sounds like I'm bragging on my collection! Friends good, friends with cool guitars and amps great!) Rickenbacker with toaster pick ups, great. (I have not liked most pedals/amps with this guitar, so I was really pleased to find a great combo here.) Tele Jr. (Set neck mahogany tele with P-90's, as in LP Jr.), excellent bark and rawness. Silvertone/Harmony Stratotone with the Rowe/Dearmond silver screen pick ups, (This guitar has WAY loud pick ups so not everything likes it, but the raw gut bucket/juke joint sound of this guitar works really well through the Monkey.) Guild X-170 arch top that does the Rock-a-billy thing really well, also liked the Monkey a lot. In short, (I know, too late!) everything liked to spank the Monkey. I can't believe how versatile this $40 pedal is.

It seems really tough. Heavy cast enclosure and hey, if I get 10 years out of a $40 pedal that's this good I'm WAY ahead of the game. Looking inside Digitech uses a combination of surface components (almost microscopic itsy bitsy resistors/capacitors/IC's) and also some regular size you see in the vintage pedals of yore. Looks well made and solid.

Don't know. It's 40 bucks. I'm not real worried.

I have not been a big DOD/Digitech fan since most of their pedals I have tried seemed too noisy/hissy/buzzy for my taste, as compared to BOSS or Ibanez. But I guess that's old news now because this is very quiet, sounds GREAT, is VERY versatile and VERY inexpensive!! Made in China, so obviusly the Chinese have gotten their manufacturing to the point of making some quality goods.

I have played through (and owned) vintage and boutique (expensive) pedals and I have to honestly say I like this pedal better than the vintage Tube Screamers and it's clones, as well as the Fulltone, Xotic, Blackstone, Klon, and the like. You don't have to pay $150 - $350 for a great overdrive pedal. For $40, grab one. You might end up selling off some of those pricey boxes!

Simple to use, all the normal controls.

Everybody here has said it all already, the Bad Monkey sounds great, unbelievable for the price. Excellent low end & plenty of high end sparkle and bite, due to the EQs. It really is obtuse that Boss, Ibanez, and even many of the boutique OD makers haven't decided to provide separate high and low controls. The main thing that I wanted to add is that I have been running my Bad Monkey off of the daisy chain power supply from my Boss TU2 tuner, and it's been working just fine, in fact it sounds much better than when I was running it on batteries. Digitech wants to sell their power supply, and that's the way business is, but I don't feel like blowing cash on batteries or a new power supply when I have one that works just fine. Gas costs 3 fucking dollars a gallon now, I can't afford to drive to the gig, let alone to buy a different wall wart for every pedal I own! Of course if it fries I'm out 40 bucks, but I guess I'm just that kind of risk taker, but I'll also be sure to let everybody know right away if it does.

So far so good; if heftiness is an indicator of quality, both the Bad Monkey and I are made very, very well.

I did email them with the power supply question, to which they simply replied that the Bad Monkey needs 9v DC, 300 mA with the negative tip inside, and if the Boss can do that, then cool (paraphrasing). I then checked my Boss PSA120, which only claims to supply 200 mA, so you would think that I'd have blown my pedal already, but nope. Then, when I looked in the instruction manual of the Bad Monkey, it said that it draws 4.8 watts with the power supply. How many mA is that? I'm not sure. I'd like to know, but now I'm not all that motivated to find out since the thing is working beautifully anyway. It's really just more of a curiosity. So in regard to customer support, the guy wrote me back by the next day, which is pretty impressive for a big company. I don't expect them to jump up and down with joy that I want to use another company's power supply.

I play new classic rock; great songs with big beautiful guitars. The Bad Monkey is one that I honestly think could be useful to every guitarist. It'll just give you a bump, or some nice OD. You'd need to stack it with something else to get into metal territory, but if that's what you want, you'd probably have that already. This is the new generation of the Tube Screamer. It sounds better, offers more control, and is way cheaper, so for God's sake man, don't buy one of those overpriced and overhyped turds without trying this ugly little bastard first!

As easy as it gets!

I?ve had the Bad Monkey for about three months and used it on quite a number of gigs and rehearsals. It has far exceeded my expectations in every imaginable way. Right out of the box it sounds as good as (or better than) my modded TS-9, TS-7 and TS-808 tube screamers ? REALLY! It actually has MORE of a pronounced upper mid boost (I?d say around 1.5 KHz) than the tube screamers do. I like that, but if you don?t, you can easily smooth out the freq. response with the low and high controls ? Why don?t ALL TS type pedals have this instead of just the ?tone? control? If you are looking for the SRV tone, this is the best off the shelf pedal available for under about $250? really. And, it?s not a one trick wonder, either. Max out the low, high, and gain controls and you?ve got VanHalen I (with a good tube amp, of course). Keep the gain below half way and it?s the nicest smooth boost a tube amp ever had. Personally, I use it exclusively for the SRV tone. I have the gain nearly maxed out, low just a hair past midway, and high at about 2:00. The level ends up at only about a quarter of the way up, which makes the level about the same as with the pedal bypassed. Speaking of bypass, to my ears, this thing sucks NO TONE AT ALL when off. Also, when it?s on, it?s one of the quietest pedals of its type I?ve ever ran across. I?ve tried the mixer out to a PA and I gotta tell ya, it?s not bad. Add in a bit of reverb and I think I could about make it through a night of playing direct if it was absolutely necessary.

Here is my rig in signal flow order:

?64 R.I. Strat with Seymour Duncan Hot rails with coil tap in bridge position, Texas Special in middle position, Seymour Duncan Hot PAF in between middle and neck, and a Texas Special in neck position. (Yep, my main axe is a 4-pickup ?Frankenstrat?!) Or, a ?92 SRV Strat. Or a Parker Nite Fly. Or a ?60 Les Paul. Or a ?83 Flying V. Or a ?78 Kramer (original one, with the aluminum neck). Or, a couple of funky old semi-hollow bodies (slide tunings in E, A, and G).

Next is a Korg DT-10 tuner.
Then a highly modified Cry-Baby.
Then the Bad Monkey.
Then A modified TS-7 tube screamer. (I use it in ?hot? mode with the drive maxed out for more of a Mesa Boogie hi-gain sound, which the Bad Monkey can?t do)
Then an old DOD analogue delay.
Then an A/B box to either?
A ?67 Super Reverb (w/ Alnico CTS speakers)
Or a ?67 Bassman head with a 4-10 Marshall cab loaded with vintage celestions.

I have owned a bunch of Digi-tech gear over the years. None have ever failed me. This box seems really well built, so I feel quite good about it!

Fantastic Value! That says it all.

Very easy to use. Level, Low, High, gain. Didnt find the EQ very responsive, but I have seen worse, keep in mind, this is a $40 pedal and as such, it will not turn you in to SRV just plugging it in, nor will it have some of the response of some higher end pedals.

This is a good sounding pedal. Not great, but good, and for $40, very good. I plug into a tube Fender HR Deville, and a Marshall pos hybrid combo. With a large amount of pedals in between a Paul or Strat. With just the Deville, I found the pedal to be exactly what I was getting with the overdrive channel already. Which would be cool if for some reason the OD channel was broken, but since it is working fine, I really dont need it. As a solo boost I found it to be OK, but I think you might do better for close to the same price, I like the Wasabi Dano overdrive more on the Fender for solos. Where this thing DID shine was plugging it into the little Marshall combo I use as a backup. I have never been able to get that thing to sound good, but the BM really gave it the kick it needed. The BM has a nice midrange boost that you might get from the MUCH more expensive TS-808. Having never had a TS-808, I cant comment on that, but since bang for the buck is important to me, I really like this pedal. I wont be using it with the Fender, but I will be using it with the Marshall.

Seems built well, but what has always bothered me is the power requirments for Digitech pedals have been picky. Since I am not fitting this thing on to my pedalboard, I havent looked up to see if this uses the same power as say, Boss. I will be using this as battery only when I need it. But I have to notch way down this category because I have head Digitech only supports thier pedals when you use thier power supply. Since I use a lot of pedals, it has got to work with pretty standard power requirements, and I dont think Digitech does that, thus I have to score this one low.

Dunno, but with the power issue, this gets a low score too.

I will give this a good score because it's a great value, good sound and is a very transperant OD, maybe too transperant for my needs, but I like the fact that I now have a good sounding backup amp using this thing.

after just a minute of messing with it i was able to get a overdriven sound through my p-90 les paul that sounded just like james gangs(joe walsh) walk away.

im using a les paul special with p-90s going into a peavy transtube(tube simulated) amp. i think the pedal is great. it took me a while to come around to keeping it cause i tend to be a anti pedal guitar player.

its perfect. the battery died on me cause i forgot to turn it off one night, but that was my fault.

idk if il ever have to contact customer support.

awesome. i believe its an original pedal. doesnt emulate anything.

THis pedal is extremely easy to use, even for ametures

Soudn quality is really quite good, but it's all relative. If you have a good amp that sounds right with the pedal, you'll get a good tone. Some amps just don't sound as good with certain effects as others. Also, the pickups you're using, your method of playing, etc.. all come into play. Those that expect a pedal to just magically make their tone shine are dreaming! A lot of how you play determines what it sounds like. When I first tried the pedal, I was in G.C. on a cheap guitar, playuing through a cheap amp, and it sounded amazing! When I got it home however, it didn't sound remotely like it did in the store. Needless to say, a slight adjustment in my playing, and tweaking of my amp gave me a nice sound that I was looking for. You can't judge the pedal in the first 15 minutes guys, it just doesn't work that way.

They have always been very reliable.

Have no idea, I've never needed them. Go figure?

Not exactly the sound I'm looking for, but pretty damn nice overall. If they made an OD pedal with a hint of chorus built in, now that's what I'm looking for! Or, I could just use a chorus pedal too! Hey, I was just stating what I'd like in my ideal pedal!

Pretty simple to use it you've actually decided want you want to get out of it. Very versatile High/low controls with a wide range of variance. The manual is decent, pretty well done actually. This is a korean made version of the later runs.

I play a Parker Nitefly II (1994) into a Marshall Valvestate half-stack with vintage 30 celsition speakers. I have also played this straight into a mixer with the mixer out and nothing else in the signal chain.

First the pedal/Amp combination. (with the amp out of course.)

I run my guitar into the BM into the clean channel on the marshall. This pedal has a very smooth on the edge of breakup sound, it allows me to really brighten my sound or really darken my sound, depending on where I set the 2 EQ controls. This does not need a mid control! One can easily get a mid boost by backing off the Hi/Low controls respectively. Its just the way a 2 band tone stack works. I mainly use this for a rythm crunch sound with the tone controls set so my guitar has the same frequency response as it does when its clean. It takes abit of tweaking but I can get them both to sound the same minus the addition of overdrive of course. Very sensitive controls.

Second the Pedal Mixer combination (using the mixer out of course.)

This is where I was really surprised by this $40 green box. The mixer out (simple cabinet simulator) seems to roll a bit of highes off and add a slight bit of compression. With the EQ on the board set to flat I get very good tones. Smooth crunch all the way, just the way I like it. A big plus is while using the mixer out its always using the cabinet sim whether the effect is engaged or not. I never planned on using this pedal this way, but found myself in a very small church where an amp at any level would have been to much.

Overall

The pedal is fairly touch sensitive and the gain control can really let you choose the degree of smooth crunch to light boost. No grinding metal tones here, but a very good rock sound. Also its fairly dynamic by itself, surprising little pedal for its price range.

Built like a brick, Heavier then my boss pedals and a better paint finish. :)

I have exchanged a few emails with digitech about this and a number of other products they offer. They have been friendly and very responsive although I have had no problems with any of their products.

- I basically play good ole rock tones and this suits perfectly.
- I have been playing for about 15 years.
- I'd replace this baby in a heart beat, for $40 it just offers more to me than it costs.
- The mixer out is a favorite feature just because it surprised me alot.
- I have used alot of other tube screamer type boxes (SD-1, TS-7, etc..) and this one is by far the most versatile while they all pretty much sound the same. No drastic differences anyway, but all are different in their own right.

Monkey boy easy to get sound out of this. You don't need a manuel, or you probably should play the Accordion.

I play at low volume, this unit compliments my Boss ME 50 and Tube Works Real tube. I bought this because I never appreciated fully the tube scream sound. This obviously is a tube scream replica, including the color. Also, I believe DigiTech is bludgeoning itself into Boss' market, whereas the pedals are similar, except the Digitech is solid ass steel. I never thought that I'd put my Boss SD-1 down, but this is more quieter, with better EQ options.

So far so good. This unit will probably last 20 years, and then some.

No repairs.

I like to use this pedal with Rat emulation on the Boss ME-50. I've played over 20 years and I have 3 vintage guitars, to include a Hamer Special 82 and Saber 540 S 1988. I thought that this was a cheaper copy of the classic SD-1, but I find that it is built as a Tube Screamer copy, but better. My set-up is very noisey, to inclue 2 noise reduction systems and this unit fortunately doesn't add to the noise, it gives my distorition a stronger edge/feel like any overdrive. Let's face it, those popular 1980 units had great sounds back then, but you have people working hard at Digitech whose careers are balancing on results, and newer units like this series is meant to challenge and raise the bar with the older companies. Plus this is made in the US of A. Not that I dislike Japanese products per se, but it feels good knowing that a quality product is coming from Utah, and I am helping our own economic welfare in some way shape or form.

Level, Low, High, Gain...you have to be a 'tard to not be able to use it.

Variety of amps: Mesa Boogie Stiletto Duece, '79 Marshall MK II Master volume, Whitney MV-66 (I have the only one!) Hiwatt D50LR. I got this pedal free when I bought a guitar online. I already have a Keeley modifed TS-9 and a older Ibanez STL. I WAS going to give it to my son...but as one of the previous posters stated HOLY CRAP - THIS PEDAL ROCKS! It is very transparent - I like my others, but the TS-9 seems to cut off some of the bottom end, and the super tube is nice - I actually like it better than the ts-9. But this thing is AWESOME. It doesn't color the sound of the guitar, and the overdrive is very smooth. I use it as more of a clean boost, but with the drive up it has a nice growl - not harsh at all. I recommend this pedal!

What blows me away even more is that I can set and forget it: It sounds equally good at one setting with ANY of my amps! I level the highs @ 5 (flat) and give the bottom a slight boost from about 6 to 6 1/2. I play with single coils and it really smooths things out withoug coloring tone.

Seems solid enough, similar to a Boss pedal. we'll see how it goes. But for the price I've seen them going for, even a "starving" guitarist could afford to buy two or three as a backup.

Haven't had to use them yet. But for the cheap price, I probably won't ever use them. I'll just buy another if it gives me problems. I don't see how it would though.

I play a variety of music - mainly my own "noodling" around. I guess I'm influenced by EVH, Aerosmith, Nuno Bettencort (when with Extreme); and I listen to Metallica, Dream Theater, My Chemical Roman, Green Day, Nickleback - I have very wide taste in modern rock needless to say. No, this pedal may not be for playing blood curdling death-metal - But if you're into Nickleback or other similar styles - I'd say it would fit right in - maybe even older metallica if you left the controls flat.

Easy as Pie! The Digitech Bad Monkey consist of 4 control knobs; Level, Bass, Treble, Gain. The manual supplied is very useful, informing the user of the various presets and tones available.

Great! The Bad Monkey, in my opinion, is the best tube emulation pedal out there. The sound is very full with very smooth highs. With an increase in gain, the user can acheive a very saturated tone.

To this point, the Bad Monkey has held up. I have noticed that the output level has decreased ever so slightly, but this could be due to pick-ups or various other issues. The tone of this product still remains remarkable since the first day I purchased it. It almost seems that the tone of this product improves with age. Odd? I will take it any day.

Never had any issues with this product.

Great Product! For the price there is nothing even comparable, unless you purchase the real maccoy.

You plug the pedal in, and get a great tone from it! How difficult is that? I didn't have a manual but there is no need for one. This pedal is more versatile than a tube screamer because Digitech has provided low and high eq, level and gain, as well as 2 outputs, in case you want to have the effect output ran into a mixer or 2nd amp.

I change my setup all the time. The pedal has been used by itself and with a vintage EH Small stone pedal after it and a CS-9 Ibanez Chorus after that. I have played an older Hohner Japanese Les Paul Custom Copy, loaded with old Dimarzio humbuckers. The tone of the guitar is not colored too much and the other pedals sound great in conjunction with the Bad Monkey placed earlier in the chain. Also, I have played this pedal and the same setup using a Crate 100-watt PA amp, and the BM(ha!) dirtied the clean-sounding amp very well, and brought out such great tone, that I'd recommend this pedal to anyone not just as an overdrive for a tube amp, but also for an overdrive tone-producing pedal for a clean amp as well. You can get the sound to just gently overdrive it for lead tones, or really nice crunch sounds, and everything in between. IT isn't noisy, and the pedal is extremely easy to dial in.

This pedal is in a rugged, steel case. I see no reason why it won't perform for years, although it has a couple of chips in the corners of the paint. It is a nice metallic green color. It is heavy and ready for years of use. And, the price is low enough that any guitarist should at least try this out because it is less expensive than many other not-as-consistent sounding boutique and mass-produced overdrive/distortion pedals.

Digitech is a USA-based company that has a well-developed customer service department. They have very reasonable rates for repairing their older "obsolete" pedals, but they stand by them. It was very easy to contact them, although it wasn't related to this particular pedal, I'm sure they would be every bit as helpful regarding this or other pedals/devices.

I play jazz, rock, alternative, and my own style of mixtures there-in.

Very easy to get a very good sound out of.
Manual had no suggested settings.

Various American strats, 64 Vibroverb reissue, Guyatone Micro chorus,
Maxon Compressor, Fulltone Fulldrive, Fulltone Octavia, Dunlop CryBaby, ToneBone Hot British..

Effect is very quiet on its own, noisy when run in conjunction with my ToneBone.
I was very interested in this unit due to the reviews here on Harmony Central and other on-line reviews (Gear Page)
I must say I was very suprised at the tone and quality of this $40 pedal.
I have several TubeScreamer type pedals, including a Reissue Ibanez Ts-808, Maxon OD808, Reverand Drivetrain 2, Jaques Tubeblower.
After AB'ing all these pedals side by side, I can honestly say that if you are considering a Tubescreamer type pedal, Buy the Bad Monkey.
You will be saving yourself considerable money. Easily as good as any of the above mentioned pedals.

I read a review which stated that the Bad Monkey was as good or better then the Fulltone Fulldrive....that I can say is not true, in my opinion.
You can get awfull close to the Fulltone Fulldrive with this pedal,
but the Fulltone sounds a little more Hi-Fi, also the Fulltone seems to have a little more head room volume wise. Just more overall sparkle.

Looks solid. knobs feel a little cheap, but for $40 its a steal.

Never have dealt with Digitech.
I have owned a few of there other pedals.
Never had one go bad.

I play blues/rock. I have been playing for 20 years, love the sound of a strat and a Fender amp. I own way to much gear to list.

I can honestly state that this pedal is a very good value, and has a very good sound to it.
If you are looking at some of the pricey Tubescreamer clone pedals.
Save some money and get the Bad Monkey. You won't be sorry.

u know all the options on this..u know about it.

i was running this straight shot into a crate 120 amp. it sounds great. using a fat strat with it and a epi les paul standard. sounds like vintage overdrive with the gain cranked and just gives your guitar a warm pleasing tone with it round 1-6.

absolutely!

dont know

i like acdc, hendrix, gnr, floyd, etc. this box gets very high praise for a reason...it makes your tone much more authentic and cleans it up while bring out your true tone you dont get until you are cranked up on higher volumes. this box is a must have for every guitarist who is serious about tone!!!!!!!!

Plug in and play - the controls are obvious and responsive... I love the fact that the 'gain' is over at the far right side, I can adjust it w/ my foot on the fly if necessary (just a little more boost at the end of the set...;)

It does the tube screamer thang, but with more or less... much more tweakable, and almost every setting sounds good

I suppose a drummer could find a way to break it, but I prolly won't...

Never needed them...

Been playing blues/rock/country for almost 20 years. I play telecasters and odd customs through a 53 Deluxe, or a local-built 17-watt head. I currently have 2 bad monkey's on my gigging pedalboard... turn one on for a little boost, turn both on for a big boost... simple, easy, sounds great.

No-brainer to get a variety of sounds out of this Bad Monkey. Just dial in or out lows, mids or highs with the 2 tone controls, crank up the boost and/or dial in more overdrive. Manual need not exist, more of a marketing tool - but has some suggested settings that are worth checking out as a reference in sculpting tones to your liking. The simplicity prevents me from obsessing with it at the expense of developing my playing. Good "feel" to the on-bypass (spring) pedal

I use a Fender Blues Deville (4X10) and a cheapo fender practice (solid state) amp. The BM effect is more subtle than a classic distortion pedal. Its hard to saturate the tubes on the DeVille at a manageable volume, but if you dial in a touch of tube overdrive on the amp, let the Bad Monkey introduce some nicely eq'ed, slightly overdriven boosted tone, it pushes the tubes, blends nicely with the tube saturation, and gives a sweet, harmonicaly rich overdrive, sustain, and touch sensitivity that makes playing more expressive and responsive. I can control the crunchiness with my guitar's volume control, and the tone controls on the Monkey seem to amplify the effect of tone tweaks from my axe. I don't try to emulate anyone else's sound, but I love blues with a singing tone ala Buddy Guy, early (Bluesbreakers) Clapton. I don't care for raspy, buzzy overdrive, and the BM delivers a tight yet fat signal that works will with my amp.

With the solid-state amp, it works great to boost and introduce some grit to a clean tone , (smoother, less raspy than other od/dist effects I've toyed with) but you will want something else if you are looking for a full-on rock/metal lead tone.

It does introduce a bit of noise with the gain up, but I'm crankin' when it's on, so that's not an issue for me. I have an SG with a very hot pickup (dimarzio super-distortion), which helps me avoid cranking the output on the Monkey to push my amp, and I don't want or need a super-fuzzed-out pedal for my sound or rig. (I have a RP-5 for those times). In front of the amp, the BM sounds best. In the effects loop on the DeVille, it seems to suck tone, even in bypass mode - I don't know if there is some expected impedance on the power stage input (or pre-amp output)on the amp that differs from what the BM is designed for. Not an issue when I place it between the guitar and the amp input.

The unit seems realiable like most pedals, I like the battery placement and ease of replacement. The battery life seems fine (unless you leave your axe plugged in overnight).

N/A

I play primarily blues rock, but I also play in a church band, where searing leads just don't cut it. In both situations, the BM delivers what I need. I've been playing over 15 years, had an MXR distortion +, a Big Muff Pi, a Digitech RP5, various amps, and this is the best overdrive I've used. (haven't tried them all) I tried to compare it with a Tube screamer in a store, but they had a lousy amp to demo with. I couldn't hear much of a difference, but with the tone controls, the BM sounded better to me there, so I grabbed it, and now I'm a happy monkey. (Bad too!)

Easy to use and get a good sound for what it does. This is an overdrive type of pedal for bluesy type distortion. The highs are not scratchy but tend to be smoother than other types of distortion pedals. Turning the highs up will not give you a brittle sound, The tone controls seem to bring or push the tones they control upfront or forward rather than alter them. Turning the bass knob down caused it to sound funky until I also turned the treble down. Both at 10:00 positioned sounded good. The tone controls also work fine at higher positions and I have no problem with the treble all the way up.

I use a Musicman SUB1 and s Epiphone Less Paul and a Pignose G60V tube amp. The Bad Monkey gives me a very similar overdrive that my amp can get without giving me transisterish brittle highs, It does not color the actual signal much, slightly but not that noticable. Theres seem to be a touch of compression. For the price it works great. I have tried Fulltone, Tonebone, Barber Electronics and for the money ($40.00!) this thing is great. I tried the DigiTech Screamin Blues and it was horrible (brittle highs).

Built solid

I have never called them

I play blues, rock and jazz and this is a good match. This thing helps one play better and the sound is musical.

Four knobs(level, bass, treble, gain), one switch. Pretty darn easy. Twist the knobs, step on the switch.

Currently playing a PRS McCarty Standard, Hamer 25th Aniversary, G&L ASAT Special and an Ibanez NDM1 through eother a Champ(at home), or a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue. I like overdrive & distortion pedals, and use a different one to suit whatever mood I'm in. When I want a TubeScreamer type pedal, I plug into the Bad Monkey...and I own a TS9 TubeScreamer!!!
The seperate treble & bass knobs are quite useful, and make the Monkey more versatile that the TS9. It also has a bit more gain and a clearer, brighter sound when engaged. Great for classic rock, blues, and some harder rock styles.
Does it suck tone when bypassed. Nah. Not too much.
Hint: OD pedals work better with a little volume to 'em. The Bad monkey really opened up at "jamming" levels.

I's use it at a gig without a backup...but I don't have to! I have the Made in China **and** the Made in USA versions. No difference soundwise.
Heavy pedal, feels solid. I dunno how long it'll last. I'm tempted to say I don't care at this price, but the sturdy construction gives me some confidence in it's longevity. I'll go out on a limb...

Never dealt with them. Ever.

I've been playing a long time(19 years!Yeeeeek!!!). I find myself just wanting something to push my Fender amps over the edge, for added sustain & rhythm crunch. I was giving some boo-teek pedals some consideration, when the missus bought me my 1st bad Monkey for my birthday in March. Two months later, and it's still my "go-to" pedal. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat...and did(hmmmmm....2 Monkeys chained together. I really oughta try that). I love the EQ controls, and the cheezy logo on it(really. I do. I don't care if you believe me).
At half the price of an Ibanez TS9, and with more ooomph and tweakability, this pedal is a steal. Try one. But one. Or two.

Very Easy. Called Digi tech. they said to zero out your amp, set the Bad monkey, then bring your amp back in. The manual gives sample settings.

Using with Strat, LP and Ric. I like it with single coil pickups. Princeton 65 and Fender Hotrod Deluxe.

What the Bad Monkey does for me is tune the Princeton into a tube amp. Takes the clean channel right to the edge of breakup. Think scratchy burble, like a tube, but without being distorted. The notes are still clear but that tube punch is there. You can get more distortion turning it up but I don't think that is the purpose.

Does the same on the Hotrod. It is like a favorite third channel setting. Clean, Clean with Bad Monkey and Dirty

I don't gig but the construction and quality appears to be excellant, I would think it to be reliable.

I called once and Digitech was great. I was not using/setting the pedal correctly. Once I did, it is awesome.

I play at home, soft rock, blues stuff. Playing about five years. I would replace it. I only have a Digitech RP50. Buying this though, makes me what to get a couple other digitech pedals to keep it simple.

Speaking from the desire to get a clean overdrive tubey sound from a solid state amp or just make the tube amp sound richerA pedal that actually changes the sound of the amp, not just a neat effect.

When this was demonstrated to me at GC it did nothing because the salesman did not know how to use it. After speaking with Digitech and using it correctly it is an awesome pedal.

Very easy...plug and play....I use it as a boost on my 5150's crunch channel.

Although it is great for the price....I waited to review this after a few months and many many recording tests. It is tight and clean sounding which is good, but it does sound just a nuthair digital, and sucks a little tone outta my amp? Just a little. I have found the best setting for me is the low/high at 11:00 and get a nice recorded Lamb of God type tone. Sounds good!

Built really sturdy! I heard it eats batteries, but I use a 9v adapter.

For the price, it is a 10, but for sound an 8.7
I bought a Maxon OD808 at the same time and compared the 2. The maxon made my head sing....The playability was awesome, but added some grainy sounds. Cool too. I returned the Maxon cause the recordings I did were so similar and not worth the $90 price difference....but the Maxon sounded more organic...it did! I liked both, and The Bad mokey is nice cause I can eq some of the highs and lows out. For $30 it is awesome and only slightly different than the spendy guys. I do like the Maxon better, but it wasn't worth it for me? I wish I had both, but oh well...Bad is Bad! haha

It was fairly easy to get a good sound. It's really just a TS9 with a low control. The manual was to the point ("This is the Level control. It controls level.") I have the 2nd generation Made in China version (1st generation was Made in USA). Speaker emulated output, I won't be using that.

I was hesitating to write a review right away. I've had it for 24 hours here and I really like the thing. It's about as noisy as a TS9. I have a TS9DX modified to TS808 specs by Analog Mike. I was easily able to emulate the TS9 sound with the Bad Monkey. But I wanted more low end than TS9 can do, so I boost the low a bit on the BM. I am using the BM only to boost already distorted sounds. Not into a clean amp. I have a Marshall Artist 3203 & have been searching for a boost for the Boost channel. Because though the channel has a lot of gain it dosn't quite have enough touch reaction for right hand fretting (EVH). When I hit my right hand finger on the fret I want it to sing. I was using my old 80's RAT, but it is sooo honky. Then I picked up a Zoom PD-01 Power Drive. Which is nice as a clean boost, but clean boosts weren't working the way i wanted (tried a Boss GE7 for that too). Boss CS-2 Compressor, too noisy & soft. Then the TS9DX, set to TS9. Works but thins out the sound quite a bit. The BM though seems to be my answer. I was about to try the Fulltone OCD but the price was scaring me. The BM price did not however.

The battery door/foot pedal? I can see that getting lost. Otherwise is as sturdy as anything else out there, Boss, Ibanez.

Playing 26 years. Ibanez RG 550's into Marshall, Peavey, Randall. Marshall 1960 cabs. Great value, come on. $30. I can't speak for stand alone sounds but for boosting a gain channel during solos I dig it.

quite easy, use the bass and trebble knobs against each other like i do. no need for a manual, although i don like where the batery is located.

my current setup is an
Epiphone Les Paul Custom flametop with a Duncan SH-1 '59 humbucker in the bridge--->Snarling Dogs Wonder-Wah 2(pick one up)---> this Moe-Foe (the bad Monkey)---> Ibanez Smash-Box Distortion (also a really nice pedal)---> Fender Princeton 65 112 (ss).
as you can see i use this along side a quite heavy distortion pedal. i rarely use them together, mostly by themselves. this OD provides as a boost for playing hard rock/blues/any damn thing you throw at it.
it dosent put out enough gain for me and my band (just an alternative/hard rock band) to use as my main distortion, but like i said it provides a fine boost to a clean or distorted signal.

wow, i wish every effect i owned were built the exact same way this is. built like a brick house. the only setback is the way it drains a battery.
solid, allways works, just need a fresh battery before every gig.

never had to deal.

i play hard rock alternative and blues. perfect for that style.
honestly if it were stolen or lost i would shop arround, but if the boss OD thats in this price range wont cut the mustard, i know i can depend on this.
i do wish it had more gain, i bought this wanting to use this as my primary distortion, didnt work out that way.
i don't like how the battery compartment is a little to complicated then it should be.

level, two band e.q.( big plus), gain. very easy to dial in desired tone.

'74 tele custom w/dimarzio fast track in bridge, 80's japanese tele and 60's rosewood reissue with fralins. doobtone micro buffer>boss tu-2>mxr microamp>bad monkey>boss dd-20>boss rv-5.
the bad monkey seems to be the answer to the eternal o.d. question. i put it in my fx chain and has not left since. i am still trying to equate how a low rung pedal company can make a such tone machine. i want it to be like 250$ so i can sleep at night. that would make sense. no it's 39 bucks.

it has only been a month, but i will buy a second before the next tour.

i play indie/new wave/blah, blah, blah. the B.M. has been a godsend. i been through the fulldrive, ts9, ts10, dod250 just to name a few. i also do alot of mods. all these have been very good or sometimes great, but the B.M. is the it pedal for now. i am thankful to have found these reviews. so do yourself a favor. If you are not quite set in the OD category, buy a B.M. you can't lose. i just wish it wasn't so ugly.

This pedal is very reliable and simple. It only has level, low, high and gain knobs. Very easy to get a beatiful sound. It is very easy to change the battery.

I have a Les Paul Westfield, Marshall G50RCD (clean channel) and the Bad Monkey. The sound is near what I am looking for (tube-vintage-warm overdrive). The low and high knobs let you a lot of sounds. The "mixer" output (a very rare option on this price range) works fine.

It is very reliable, hard as a stone.

I have not use it yet.

I like to play rock (Grand Funk, Uriah Heep, Led Zeppelin, etc) and Blues, and this pedal is perfect for both stiles. With a high gain pickup it also can be used for hard rock.
I am very very happy with my BAD MONKEY!
And don't forget the price, it is very cheap.
Perhaps it is hard to find in Spain, but you can buy it on the web.

4 knobs cant get much easier

my setup:gibson les paul studio>wah>bad monkey>digitech rp300>marshall mg50dfx.
this pedal has a lovely warm overdrive that lets all notes on chords ring through with impressive definition.i bought this because i wasnt getting a convincing enough tube sound, and this just was perfect. it sounds at its best when used direct into an amp, but with a bit of tweaking sounds great with multi effects pedals. this sounds good with bluesy solos and also sounds really good with another overdrive on for fast show-off solos.

this is built like a tank

if you are looking for a tube sound but are on a tight budget i recomend you try this pedal.also if you are into blues or want to boost another overdrive for lead playing check this pedal out

4 knobs, , one input, two outputs, all labeled, if it's not easy to use, there's something wrong with your brain and/or eyes. The manual is a nice tidy padding in the bottom of the box. So, YES, it's easy to use.

WOW! Ok sure, it's only a 29.99 version of what some call the "best" (Tube Screamer). I am using this in front of my THD univalve. And HOLY CRAP! let me rephrase that because that would imply it completely was a shock. The bad monkey doesn't do a whole lot for the Univalve-the univalve pretty much rocks all by itself. The HOLY CRAP comment was more because i couldn't believe i finally got something that did exactly what I (personally) wanted. I wanted a gentle push up and over without ANY coloring whatsoever...why would i want to reshape a Univalve anyway. Well this does it. The gentle push without losing the voice of the guitar or the amp. Yes i can boost the lows a bit or the highs which is also cool...with that flexibility, i can take the 6l6gt i usually run in the univalve to new ground. So the sound quality rating, because it didn't CHANGE my sound, it just buffed it up a bit, is high.

It's new but it's a brick. I'll gig, practice, play fetch with my pet griz with it, drag it behind my truck down a gravel road and let a 2 y/o play with it. if the two y/o can't figure out how to break it, it's RELIABLE!

Hmmmm...the age old question...if you build a good product, you don't have to have good customer support do you? Well, digitech does both!

Awesome. If you have a univalve, old fender or any tube amp that doesn't have enough front end push, try this. It's not for everyone (metalheads for instance will say it's not enough gain)..but it is the coolest overdrive/distortian pedal i've encountered.

Look at it this way, it's only 29.99 at GC and sounds like a 300.00 (ebay price) hotrodded OLD tubescreamer. What a DEAL!

Thanks digitech, i see now that you actually make something that isn't crap!