DigiTech Bad Monkey

It's an overdrive pedal. How hard can it be? If you've ever used a BOSS, DOD, etc. this is exactly the same. Level knob for overall volume output. Gain knob for level of overdrive. And two EQ controls, one for highs and one for lows. Step on it to turn effect on and off. Changing batteries seems pretty simple as well.

9. Even though nothing is perfect, the sound quality of this pedal is amazing for what it is and how much it costs. There is some noise, but no more than any other overdrive/distortion type pedal I've used, and even then really only when the gain is dimed. When I tried this pedal at the music store I chose a Mexican standard strat to try it with, and they had me play through a small Fender solid state amp with an 8" speaker. Any amp with less than a 10" speaker is pretty useless in my book. Your guitar always sounds like you're playing through a transistor radio. But this pedal made that little amp sound like it was pushing a 12" speaker! The low end control on this pedal is it's secret weapon. After playing the pedal for about an hour I decided to purchase one and take it home. At home I plugged it into my Fender Champion 30 (solid state, 10" speaker) and tried both my Fender Mexican standard Strat and my Epiphone Les Paul. Both guitars sounded great. Again, the low end knob on the Monkey allows you to dial in more bass response for a fantastic punchy sound. My love is the blues, but I also play a variety of pop-rock contemporary Christian style songs at Church every week. The tone I was looking for with this pedal was SRV, Henry Garza (Los Lonely Boys) and Kenny Wayne Shepperd. I found it. Just the right amount of grit, and with the extra low end it just wails. Sustain is increased, too, I noticed. I am very happy with this pedal. It got it's first live performance test this Sunday (Easter). At church I play through a Marshall VS265 (solid state w/ 12AX7 preamp tube and two 12" speakers). The Monkey sounded fantastic. Again, if it could make an 8" speaker sound good, I figured it would flat out rock with a pair of 12". It did. Two other nice things about this overdrive unit. When you reduce or increase the amount of gain on the pedal itself, the output level stays consistent. No more having to readjust the output level every time I change the amount of gain. And the Monkey never sounds muddy playing chords. Nice and articulated on any gain setting.

I guess only time will tell, but seems solidly built, similar to BOSS but slightly larger. All metal housing, which Digitech claims is thicker/heavier than most other similar units. It is a fair bit heavier than a BOSS, so I would say their claim is probably true. The other nice thing is METAL input/output jacks. No plastic junk here.

Can't comment as I've never dealt with them.

Overall this pedal has provided the sound I was looking for, a punchy, bluesy, overdrive ala SRV, KWS, and Henry Garza. The overdrive it provides sounds better than that available on my Fender Champion 30 and my Marshall VS265, and I consider both amps to have better than adequate gain channels. The Monkey just simply sounds better. I plan on getting the Screamin' Blues eventually and use it in tandem with the Monkey. I tried the Screamin' Blues at the same time when I tried the Monky and was equally impressed. Sounds great, but with more distortion capability.

This pedal is very user friendly and the manual is easy to follow. I have a made in the USA model (date of mfg 08-04). In speaking with the local Digitech rep, I found out that these are now being made in China and when the USA supply is off the shelves, they will all be the imports.

I'm using a Fender Stratocaster and a Fender Deluxe and this pedal just amazes me at the great tone it provides. Although not a true bypass model, it doesn't affect the tone when in the 'off' position (at least to my notice). I use it with all controls at 12 o'clock and it sounds sooooo good. It blows away my Ibanez Tube Screamer !

The pedal is built like a tank, it has an easy hinged cover for accessing the battery compartment and seems to allow for a *much* longer battery lifespan.

Customer support online is very fast and supportive,

I play classic rock, blues, jazz and funk. The pedal is very close to sounding like the Ibanez 808, it may be *better* than the 808. It really has that warm overdriven tube voicing down pat. I've compared it to a Boss Blues Driver, Ibanez and others, but this BAD MONKEY not only sounds cool, it even looks cool !!!

Very easy to use - level, high, low, gain. You will find a good setting immidialy.

OMG, this is the best overdrive, I've ever tried. You nail the tube factor with this Bad Monkey. I can't believe, that someone finally done it. I use both Les Paul and Strat-type guitars. I'm using a Yamaha digital amp, and a Yamaha DGstomp as well. When gain is setting to low, it sound good, and when gain is over 12 clock it's actually sounding better. With Les Paul's you will dial high up, and with strats you can dial low up. You will always find a sound, that you can use, and that you will love.

Fully reliable.

Best overdrive, and at a low price too. To good to be true, but this is real. I will now purchase other Digitechs stompboxes.

Pretty much as easy as it gets, only 4 knobs, 1 level, 1 low, 1 high, and 1 gain, and has GREAT sound. Manual is very good, quite descriptive, and came with a booklet with all of DigiTech's pedals and some example settings for each.

Using this with an Epiphone Les Paul Classic and Vox Pathfinder 15R. Haven't noticed any excess noise, and it sounds great. Not really going after the sound of any particular artist, so I can't say if it sounds like anyone famous.

On a side note, when I bought this pedal I had an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer on my board as well...I ended up selling the TS9, to me the Bad Monkey sounds just as good (if not better).

Seems pretty reliable, shell is metal, so that's always a plus. I'd gig without a backup.

Don't know

I play mostly Alternative and Bluesey stuff, the Bad Monkey is GREAT for low gain situations. I've been playing for 10 years, and like I mentioned above, owned an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer when I bought the Bad Monkey, and ended up selling the Tube Screamer because I liked the Bad Monkey tone just as much (if not better) than the TS9.

You cannot beat this pedal for the price (or even with some more expensive pedals)!

takes a deep push to turn on. but as i run this through a loooper, that and the slightly noticable bypass circuit are not issues for me.

i have been playing semi-pro for 25 years. have always hated dod and digitech (sorry) i play semi hollows into clean fender amps. and God Damn this is a dream come true! i have used a boss od 3 for 2 years for my od/crunch tone. (let me note i own keeley, and a few other high end boutique pedals). well this thing shows the od 3 for the raspy thin pos it really is. i just bought a second BM last night, as this will be my main tone. (bosstone or keeley 3-way rat on top for hot leads) this fixes all my ts-9 complaints.
hey tone snob, have you played 500+ live shows? build and mod your own pedals? didnt think so. i doubt you ever owned this pedal. why are you going out of your way to review this box that a true tone snob would never consider. LOSER

the switch concernes me a bit. time will tell

IT WAS 29.00 BUCKS WHO CARES

i'm thrilled i stumbled on to this. Thank you all for your accurate reviews here on HarmCent. great value, great tone, monkey time! i felt like a dick asking for it at the counter of guitar center. now i'm laughing at the 60.00 i spent for two of them, and at thought of how much time and effort tone snob will spend being mediocre. i will wrap by saying, i cannot spell well and rarely use punctuation, but i know a new classic when i hear it. i dont even mind the name anymore. it has the charm of a orange grestch. MUCH love to you all in the comunity. see ya tonight in the clubs.

4 knobs... couldn't be any easier.

I can't say enough good things about this pedal (and this Digitech line in general). This pedal is super quiet and has the warmest, most tube-like overdrive sound of any overdrive pedal I've ever used. Use a humbucker equipped guitar and it nails amazingly warm plexi/AC-DC type sounds. Use single coils and you're in Hendrix/Texas blues territory. Kick this pedal in in front of an already moderately distorted tube amp and you've got an incredibly warm, fat ultra gain sound that sustains for days with clarity and best of all it doesn't create feedback like so many other pedals do. On top of the way it sounds through an amp you also get the emulated direct out for going straight to a mixer. It sounds just as fantastic for recording direct to the board. Yes, this pedal f***ing rocks!

I would never have expected this level of rugged build from a pedal in this price range. It weighs a ton and is very solid. It won't skid across the floor, and the battery access design is ingenious. Instead of the crappy plastic cover DOD approach or even the slightly less crappy "unscrew the plastic finger-screw" Boss approach it has two metal pins (one on each side) that you simply push in with a 1/4" guitar plug (or similar sized object). When the battery has been replaced, you just pop the top back down by hand and you're ready to rock again. Also, the battery life for this pedal is nice and long. I've run my current battery (a standard Energizer) in it for over 6 hours and it's still doing fine.

Never dealt with them.

I play mostly very hard rock. Live, I use this pedal into my Marshall TSL100 half stack. I've been playing for 20 years and I must say that this pedal surprised me. Now go buy one.

It is a pretty standard stompbox. I have a stock BM (made in China) and have had no problems figuring out some nice tones from it. The recommendations from the digitech website and accompanying brochures are good places to start.

HW1 Strat-->CS3-->Bad Monkey-->Digitech X Series Delay-->Stock Fender Blues Jr. This basic setup gives me most of the tones I am looking for playing rock, blues, and country styles.

The Monkey is very quiet in comparison to the Tubescreamer it replaced. It has nice breakup as you roll the gain knob clockwise going from a natural sounding country OD to texas blues tones at a higher gain. The Low and High tone knobs seal the deal for me because it gives flexibility in the tone that a TS doesn't have. I like how you can dial in the mids but they don't HAVE to be there like with the TS. I also like how it cleans up when rolling off the guitar's volume.

I tried this effect in the store with a Screamin' Blues and this one won the comparison. I liked the two stomp boxes in tandem as a mild OD/boost and higher distortion, but I could only justify one purchase at the time.

No probs with Digitech yet at all.

I'm mainly a bedroom player so I can attest for this pedal out on the gigging circuit, but it is well-constructed. It is the best OD pedal I've owned, including Tubescreamers, and it was far less expensive. Save for boutique quality and priced pedals this effect is the way to go for overdrive.

Tone controls seem a little peaky with some instruments and it takes a bit of doing to get a good sound dialed in, but that's pretty much normal.

While I do not especially go crazy over the tone of this unit, it's good enough and most people will love it -- but the primary and glaring advantage it bears over other cheap stomps is its abilty to keep good definition when chording or arpeggiating. This is a true acid test of a distortion or overdrive stomp: "Can you strum a complex chord and have the tone structure still be apparent through the distortion, or does it just turn to mud?"

It's amazing how many stomps can't do it with most guitars. Chord and they just blow up on you. This one keeps that clarity quite well for a stomp without a Wet/Dry setting.

Though the jacks and pots are plastic PCB-mount, contrary to previous reviews, they are well supported and seem relatively rugged. The metal case is fine and the bottom is secured with Allen screws (nice touch!). The rubber isn't shifting and peeling up as it does on some stomps I've seen.

I've had a few problems in the past with their gear and have found DigiTech support to be only adequate: Slow and confused, with several attempts having to be made to get correct support answers.

This is a third-generation effect using a machine-built PCB with micro-miniature surface-mount components. User repair and modding are probably out of the question, but this construction decreases production costs adequately to have a US-made pedal in this price range. Contrary to previous reviews, this is not a digital effect, but an conventional analog circuit using 4580 surface-mount dual OpAmps.

It's well-built, rugged and maintains a very "focused" signal - unlike most other cheap OD stomps. I don't know of another OD stomp that is as good of a dollar value at the Bad Monkey's typical $40 street price.

Yowsah, yowsah..step right up and see the simering simian, the naughty ape...dare I say..the bitchy baboon??!! No you say....a digitech pedal for $40 that actually sounds good? Hmmm.....4 knobs, no waiting level, bass, treble, gain. All work well and actually have an effect on the tone. The controls ( as others have stated )are very interactive, so you need to actually spend some time with tthe pedal and try out various settings to see whats going to work for you.

This is a follow up to a previous post where I stated I was not happy with the pedal and didn't see what all the hub-bub was about. Well...I admit it....I made a mistake. I should have waited a while till post until I had a chance to actually spend some time with the pedal. This is a very nice sounding, low gain overdrive. I don't know if it's as good por better than the Keeley-Analog Man modded pedals that others have stated, since i've enver used a modded pedal. I have had a veritble treasure trove of pedals i nthe 38 years I've been playing though. From old pedals taht sounded like crap back i nteh 70's that now command stupid high prices to a few botique pieces to the sundry Ibanez, Boss, Vox, Vesta Fire, Ross, DeArmond and other off the shelf musci store staples over the years. Suffice to say, the BM is a good un.

Four knobs - no brainer effort required to get a good or even a (dare I say & piss off the likes of "tonesnob & company) a great one.

I use this with a reissue Fender Jaguar Samick Royale RL-3 - probably one of the most under-rated guitars on the planet - I LOVE it and I've owned Gibson, Epiphone (USA), and heritage semihollow - this beats them all. Whoops - thsi is about the Bad Monkey - with a name like that I HAD to try it especially after hearing Digitech's sound clips. I have NOT been disappointed. It fattens up my Jaguar and adds a beautiful and musical overdrive to my Royale. I have tried settings all over the knobs & cannot find a bad sound. I have been playing over 40 years & have had a LOT of different equipment - I have VERY fussy ears too and the Monkey pleases them. It sounds very musical & does NOT impose itself on your guitar's natural tone,

It's basically a tank - no worries no problems!

When I dealt with them on a coupek of questions they were very responsive, helpful & friendly.

It's an overdrive and beefs up slightly anemic single coils, buffs out humbuckers and can be used (& I have used it) for blues, classic rock, jazz, surf, anything I play. It's dynamic as anything I've ever tried but it is NOT overbearing like a lot of the TS-9 clones seem to be. If you can't get a good sound out of this box, it's not the Bad Monkey!

I'd replace it if it were stolen in the proverbial New York minute. I've had BOSS, Reverend, Visual Sound, and VOX overdrives and they all sound pretty good BUT the Bad Monkey is the real overdrive king IMHO. This box may be the best kept secret in the overdrive box realm. Better buy one before they become collectible!

Standard model, 4 knobs Level,Low, High Gain, piece of piss to use, easy to get a good sound out of it high and low knobs very useful for cutting or boosting frequencies.

Awesome

This is my setup

Epiphone SG Vintage (not the standard model real nice, inexpensive guitar) into Korg DT10 tuner -> Crybaby 535Q -> DOD FX40B Eq pedal -> Bad Monkey into a Marshall DSL50 thru a Hotplate attenuator into a 1960AV cab with vintage 30s

I really like this pedal, its got a great sound which is not heavily saturated so you can still hear the individual notes of chords coming thru. I generally run the amp on clean and the Bad Monkey with the gain at full and level at half with the bass and treble slightly boosted. I can get a lovely, buttery ACDC shook me all night long esque tone or run the level up into the amp with both pickups and get an eric clapton blues breakers sound or even a SRV sound. The pedal is versatile to a point, it wont do heavy metal however I found that by running it through the classic gain channel of the DSL with the the gain full and level halfway its really meaty.

If you've got a good setup to begin with its difficult to not get a good sound out of it, its never buzzy or harsh and i rarely turn it off now, nothing gets a 10 however its really a 9.5

Nice solid metal body, switch seems tough im pretty gentle with my gear I would depend on it

Never dealt with them

This pedal is a fantastic bit of gear and for the price I dont think you can match it, the tone is great its easy to use and I get laughs out of my mates when i tell them its called 'Bad Monkey', I'm tempted to but another before digitech cons on to wat great pedal it is and pushes the price up. Dont be ignorant and elitist, go try one out with a good setup and you'll be very happy

Pretty easy ( as most pedals are ) but your need to take a bit of time to fiddle with the bass/treble controls as they add quite a bit of versatility to the mix.

OK, here is where the rubber meets to road. Do I give it a 10 based on it's price/performance ratio, or should I judge it on sound quality alone regardless of price?

If you check out some of the gear pages ( other than HC ) out there, the Bad Monkey is getting some great press from seasoned players who have the boutique/vintage/keeley/am modded stuff...so they know their tone imo. I actually bought mine when they first came out before all the hub-bub started. I didn't care for mine to begin with. I tried it out a few times, but found it rather flat and fizzy sounding compared to my other o/d pedals...so I stuck it back in the box and forgot about it till all the posts started flying. From reading the posts, many people stated how the treble and bass controls set this pedal apart from other offerings out there. Pulled the ape back out and started tweaking the b&t knobs and it really opened up the tone. I prefer the low gain tones over the high gain, but I do believe that is what the pedal was designed for. Still, for a $40 pedal, it get's an 11. As a stand alone, I'll give it an 8. I lucked out and got mine for $26, so I feel blessed. Run into another o/d pedal, really sets the sparks a flying.

Its a pedal.

The monkey is a low to medium gain OD pedal suitable for bluesy lead and rhythm tones. It has a noticeable midrange voicing that is similar to the tubescreamer but is less nasal and more useful with a wider variety of guitars and amps. The distortion quality is VERY smooth and does not suffer from any fuzzy, buzzy, gritty, spitty, transistorized weirdness at any point from the initial pick attack to complete decay to silence. The gain knob produces useful tones at both ends from almost no grit to singing blues leads. The eq is very useful and different then most OD pedals. Both the treble and bass knobs CUT their respective frequencies when left of noon and BOOST when turned right. Also the bass knob seems to add a fair amount of gain when boosted. I hear some bass rolloff when its kicked on and boosting the bass doesn't really get it back. As someone else pointed out the "Bass" knob is really more of a "low mid" knob and does fatten up the tone but it gets a little tubby after a certain point. The treble boost is useful even up to max and unlike most Boss OD's you will find yourself adding treble because of the smooth nature of the sound. The volume knob has ALOT of available gain so you can easily use this pedal as a booster with the gain down and the volume up. Lastly the damn thing is quiet even at max gain.

Appears to be "strong, like bull". Similar construction to Boss units. Heavy enough to stop a drunken marine rushing the stage.

Overall I consider the pedal to be very musical. By that I mean it produces a wide range of musically useful and pleasant shades of overdrive with a well voiced mid range emphasis. If it has a drawback it may be that it is TOO smooth and lacks the rough edges that some players prefer. However, for blues and other styles where you want a lower gain thick smooth tone for rhythm or leads this pedal is the real deal. A bargain at any price.

Just a note that may help some of you. Try using the mixer out into your amp. Suprisingly it sounds better into a tube amp than the amp out does. Should sound muddy since it's supposed to be a cab simulator out to send to a mixer/PA. But try it and see. Much much better ! Richer and fatter w/o being muddy, dark or losing articulation.

2 band eq, gain,volume.a 10 simply because most other mass produced OD's only have one tone knob. Also has a cab simulator out so you can go into the PA, which is very nice if it works well, which i don't know since i haven't tried it.

I use it mostly as a clean boost, and to me it sounds a lot like a tube screamer with a bit less of that mid peak and a bass control in this context, which by the way is how i'm reviewing it. The treble control feels and sounds a bit different, but not much. Is there some kind of magic to the tone as some reviews suggest? not to me. I find it to be a good tube screamer alternative, especially if you like them but wish they had more low end. to that end the monkey is the choice. But other than that i doubt you'll find it much differnt. It could very well depend on the amp tho. So this could accont for the glowing reviews. Maybe my amp doesn't bring out the magic in this pedal.
In short i would say that if you have a tube screamer you should probably not bother with this pedal unless you need the extra low end. If you don't have a tube screamer and are looking to get something along those lines, then i'd say check it out. The basic character of the tone of this and the tube screamer all things being equal (as in EQ amd drive/volume set to sounds as similar as possible) is different, but to be honest not enough to call either the better pedal.

if you intend to use it as a distortion pedal instead of a clean boost, there too the difference isn't huge. But the momkey has a little more drive. i don't care for either pedal for this use.

Gotta be good.....all metal with good old metal jacks bolted to it and a strong housing. In a pedal like this the only thing that can go wrong would be the switch. taking the pedal off as you do to access the battery you can see it's a circuit board mounted switch. One of those typical tiny momentarys. These are not perticularly reliable, but then most every mass produced pedal made today has the same switch. So it's as good as any other at least. So as solid as this thing is i'll take off 1 point for the switch since many botique pedals have a real DPDT footswitch that is not only more reliable but is total bypass.

?

As i said, the features make it a slightly better alternative to a tube screamer, which is the category it's definatly in. But the thing is, the features are not enough better to make it the better choice if the tube screamer has a bit better tone to your ears. After all, thats the bottom line. And also consider as noted earlier that if you like screamers but more low end is a big one for you, then the monkey is without a doubt your pick.

But in summation i can't honestly see what the big buzz i read here is about. Good pedal at a price that makes it a great buy if you're in the market for a TS type unit. But if you have a TS or the like then no matter how cheap it is it's not worth buying unless you find the tone to be much better or the bass boost a major concern. personally i'm still using the screamer as much or more.

All pedals are easy to use

I use mainly a Tele or Strat thru a SF Deluxe Reverb and I lean towards blues and classic rock with funk, R&B, and reggae excursions. The Bad Monkey is a Tube Screamer clone with bass and treble controls. Compared to my modded TS-9 it is smoother, and has a wider less nasal midrange peak. It has more gain than the stock TS and it is mostly quiet even with the gain maxed. As with any TS circuit the original bass from your rig is rolled off and cannot be dialed back in. The "bass" knob is really a "low mid" knob and can add some additional fatness to your tone but becomes muddy/tubby by about 3 o'clock on the dial and is uselessly thin left of noon. The treble control never gets raspy and is useful from noon to max depending on what you like. The gain provides useful tones throughout its entire range and maintains some dynamics at most settings

The build quality is on par with the Boss line and the knobs, jacks and switch all feel solid. I don't forsee any issues.

I really like the midrange voicing on this pedal and the tone knobs allow for an extra degree of control that never existed with the original TS design. That said, I have found only one use for TS style pedals and that is to add midrange thickness to single coils for leads. The Bad Monkey sounds very good in this capacity and will be replacing my venerable TS-9 which I always thought was too nasal. Overall I find this pedal to be superior to any offering by Ibanez (including the 808 reissues which are merely marketing hype) and as good as some of the "booteek" TS clones/mods I have heard. If you've always wondered what the fuss was about the TS then give the bad monkey a try.

Couldn't be easier, twiddle the knobs to get what you want. I'm sure you're all familiar with that concept :-)

I just wanted to echo what so many others have said below, this pedal is GREAT, and what a ridiculous price! All I wanted was a bit of a boost for my solos, and this does exactly that, at a fantastic price. I've just come back from a recording session with my band, and I used the Bad Monkey on all the lead parts.

I play an American Strat through a Peavey Classic 30. I also use a Boss Flanger and Super Octave, and put the Monkey at the end of the chain.

We have 2 guitarists, and I just wanted something to help my solos cut through the mix. This pedal gives a really nice kick in the pants to your tone (and BIG sustain!) and holds on to your amp's natural sound very well, if you want it to. With the Level and Gain up high, it did create some hiss through the amp - but not noticable at all while you're actually playing.

I've only used this for one session with the band so far - but it's built like a tank. A very heavy tank. I can't imagine anything short of TNT breaking this thing.

No idea here. If it ever did break, I'd just buy another one. Or two!

Our band is kind of like Queens of the Stoneage/Soundgarden in style, and this pedal is just right for it - not too "fuzzy" or death-metal sounding. (See www.duffry.com for basic demos).

I've been playing for 18 years, and earn my living as a guitar teacher. I usually don't bother with many effects, but recently got into them, and I'm super impressed with the value for money of this thing. Anyone wanting a harsher METAL distortion isn't going to be happy with this, but for boosting up a valave amp, it's the bees knees at this price.

Get DOWN wid yo BAAAAD MONKEY!

A rather simple device consisting of 4 knobs: level, low, high, and gain. Not much tweaking required as the controls respond as you would expect.

I've played it through my quality equipment that I've collected over my 30+ years of playing: new and vintage tube and solid state amps with a real Tele, Strat, Les Paul and others. I play mostly blues, rock and honkey tonk. With this pedal I desired to achieve a mild overdrive to fluidize solos and crunch up rhythm. The Bad Monkey gets close, but no cigar. I thought that the individual high and low eq knobs would set this pedal apart from competitors in the $40 to $60 range..... but I was wrong. For example, I locate a clean and beautiful tone with my guitar and amp. Then, I use the Bad Monkey to layer some bluesy drive while trying to maintain the unique personality of the guitar and amp. Doesn't happen. The janglyness gets lost as the high's get sucked away. It you adjust the pedal's eq knobs to compensate, you compromise the true tone of the guitar and amp. I also have a Boss Blues Driver in which the Monkey is in direct competition with. The Blues Driver is superior in maintaining the sparkle in your tone compared to the Monkey.

It's heavey for it's size and appears solid in construction.

I have no idea.

A good pedal for the price that does the mild to medium overdrive thing well and has good flexibility for tone shaping. Without jumping to far in price there are better pedals though. Wrapped in a green case with yellow lettering, DigiTech has created the ugliest pedal ever........but this only adds to the vibe.

4 knobs Level ,and Gain,but the High ,Low knobs in the middle really help.LED ,and stereo out.

I play a Les Paul Special with P-90s,and two Telecasters ,with various parts, and PUP's (Duncans,all single coils) Dunlop Crybaby,MXR Dyna Comp,DigiTech Bad Monkey threw JMC 800 50 watt combo.This pedal is great,for my Marshall. I had Fender Blues Jr, but Distortion boxes sounded to high and "tinny" threw that amp (sold it) but the Marshall is really my tone of choice for 5 years, I had a fender bandmaster head and cab before that. This effect is great for a tube amp; it gives the right amount of gain, or boost to my single with out changing my tone. I was using the Dyna Comp before to boost my single, but I got the unit second hand 6 years ago so its starting to cut out ,and it hums. Now the Bad Monkey does not hiss, or buzz, there is of course the boost in volume level, but that's what I was looking for. You can boost the level to get it to push the amps gain, or boost the gain knob to make a more distorted tone. The best part of the effect is the High, and Low option, I can get a great tone with the high at 6 o?clock, a heavy warm tone, and together at 3o'clock an overdrive sound. I have had the box for a week and tried most of the knob positions, and haven't found a bad one yet.

The housing is very heavy,built hevier than both Boss ,and MXR pedals.
Easy pop pin setup to get battry in ,better than Boss again on that one.I would gig with out a back ,I don't see any way I could break this baby.

I regestered online ,and didn't hear back from DigiTech,I really don't see having problem .I'll let ya know if I have to contact DigiTech.

This pedal is not for everyone,(Metal nu or old)it's not a heavy sounding tone changer,which is what I have found most OD/Distrotion pedals do. I have had MXR Dis Plus, Boss BD-2 ,they were great ,but they sounded to close to my Marshall?s Muddy gains, so they ruined the tone. I have also had a Boss Overdrive, and Distortion, DOD FX56, and an MXR Blue Box. lot of these OD/Distortion Units colored and changed the signal to much for my taste's ,and the sustain would decay to hiss and microphoinc feed back ( In the case of the Blue Box ,cool Fuzz and Octava,but Zero sustain even with Dyna Comp)I was going to purchases an Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9,but saw the review on the Bad Monkey, and at about $57 cheaper ,why not give it a try. Its anolog,it won?t suck the life out batteries ,and it was designed to work with a tube amp, I like allot of the other reviews by tube amp owners agree on this. I have been playing guitar since 83 (Acoustic & Bass) I have played out ,and been in bands cover and original playing bass from 93 to 97,from 98 to 99 went to sound & recording school, so I have heard allot boxes, and when I started to build my electric guitar rig, It has taken many guitars to settle on telecaster's as my guitar of choice ,and Marshall as my amp of choice. I hope that this box will stand the test of time and use.

Blindingly obvious

Ignore the prank reviews, this is one outstanding pedal at an absolute steal of a price - and this comes from one who has always been dubious about Digitech products.

I've also owned a Tubescreamer and a Fulltone Fulldrive. This little green box covers most bases that these do and at a ridiculously low price. Those who've shelled out for one of the above overpriced and over-rated pieces of kit must be as sick as a parrot. Hey! Maybe that's why the prank reviews are turning up!

Anyway, I use a Trace Elliot Speed Twin 50 watt all valve combo Fender US Strat and Tele, Hamer Special, Ibanez AM70 and a
Yamaha AES 620 and it sounds outstanding with all of them.
Lots of adjustments with the improved tone controls - way
better than the Tubescreamer, but not for those looking for screaming distortion. It sounded a little noisy into a transistor amp I tried, but was a quiet as a church mouse into the Trace.

Come the nuclear holocaust, only two things will survive, cockroaches and the Bad Monkey pedal. Solid cast metal. You'd have to try very hard to break it.

Doubt I'll have to use them!

Do yourself a favour and buy one. They are so cheap, even if you decide it's not for you, you can stick it on eBay and still get most of your money back. Must be in the running for Pedal of the Year or possibly a future classic.

Very simple, effective, more control than a tube screamer thanks to low and high controls. Dial it in for your guitar and amp, spend some time and you will reap rewards.

Very impressive, and the variety of subtle tonal possibilities makes it a very effective tool for the discriminating ear. Bang for buck, forget that notion. It's just cost effective at $40, enough to piss off the likes of "tonesnob" and other anti-establishmentites who have been duped into spending 4 times this amount for a fricking overdrive pedal built by some pothead and his buddy in their upstairs apartment in uptown. If these buttwipes spent more time learning how to caress the strings (where 99% of your tone comes from, your fingers), they could move on and get a life. But hey, ignorance is a profit-meisters playground.

Michael Moore couldn't break this thing unless he unleashed his breath or passed gas on it, whereby the wires or knobs might melt. Other than that, it's built out of steel.

They are still around after all these years, don't see them disappearing anytime soon. I hear they respond within 24 hours, and give you 5-6 year warranties. I doubt "Z-Vex" will be around in 5 or 6 years to fix your $200 piece of crap overdrive you bought from him.

Wow, bargain, replaces the overpriced TS-9 with a more shapeable and useable eq. It's a fools paradise out there guitar junkies, get off the gear buying train and start playing with simple effective tools like this. You want the ultimate tone, play your guitar. Play it ALOT.

Just like the rest say, four knobs...even a guitar player can figure this thing out.

I've run this pedal through three different setups (Digitech Legend 21 into a Marshall Ministack, straight into a VOX AD50VT, and into my Digitech 2112 w/2120 chip upgrade into a Marshall 9200 Dual Monobloc Power Amp powering a Marshall 1960A Slant Face Cab) and find that this pedal works best into a tube amp. It produces a very smooth, warm overdrive that will work quite well for what I do (rock/blues, and a touch of metal). The addition of the bass and treble knobs are quite effective and will radically alter the tone of the pedal, don't be afraid to experiment with various settings. You'll find a sound to your taste in a matter of minutes. The "Texas Tone" setting in the manual was the perfect starting point to finding mine. I will say that it does not "de-transisterize" a solid state amp, but will fatten up those circuits as well. It does add a bit of noise if your not careful. I found the noise to be worse (substantially) with the solid state setups I tried it through. Noise was not nearly as bad into my Digitech 2112. But then again, if you're not using some form of noise suppression, you'll be ablr to afford one with the money you save by buying this pedal.
I was worried about the bargain basement price tag, but then again Digitech has the means to mass produce these puppies and keep the price as user friendly as the pedal itself.

Let's see, it's built of friggin' steel and could be used in a mob hit for bludgeoning purposes. I may be biased toward Digitech as I've used their gear for 13 years, but I've always been happy with their stuff, even when I've had the occasional snafu (and I've had them, believe me...). This is a sturdy pedal, period. Go physically pick one up and see for yourself.

I've dealt with Digitech support for other products and have always gotten a quick response, usually in less than 24 hours.

No, it's not totally silent in it's operation, but it's $40 new. Some cost cutting measures were probably taken to keep the cost down, but not many. It was designed for and truly does work well with tube amps. It's a big, warm slice of tone nirvana that I'd buy again if I had to. Tone snobs will pass on it for the brand name, the price, and the fact it's a new product that is not painstakingly handwired for 6 hours. That's their loss and our gain, as the lowered demand will help keep prices down (gotta love Economics!!). If you're a kid looking for a pedal to play some "jam" type stuff or classic rock, or want to boost your amps distortion for solos, go check it out. The paper route will pay for it.
Ten years from now they'll be calling it "The Poor Man's Tube Screamer." While that product sells based on it's former glory, this one will sell on the reputation it's building right now.

Its got 4 knobs, Hi, Lo, Gain and Level. Pretty easy to get good sounds out of it.

I use a stock Gibson Explorer into a Marshall MG50DFX soild state combo, good for creating hot bluesy tones but not for what I wanted. It was really easy to get that classic rock smoothness, but cannot get that bitey crunch (i.e. Guns N' Roses) that I so wanted. Its got a really strong sound and will DEFINITELY cut through in a live scenario. Yet again, do not get this for hot hard rock tones, BUY THIS AND YOU WILL BE OOZING THE BLUES!
MY EXPERIECE WITH THIS PEDAL IS THROUGH A $350 SOLID STATE AMP. IT WILL SOUND ALOT BETTER THROUGH TUBE!

This thing was built like a fucking tank. In fact, I beat a Jehova's Witness down with it and it didn't even ding. This thing is very durable, however I'd never gig without a backup because of a little thing called Murphy's Law; Anything that can go wrong, will. I have been plagued with this last name and gear has taken a shit on me just before I really needed it, so never gig w/o a backup unit.

Never dealt with them, don't think you'd need to.

I play hard rock in the vein of Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Aerosmith, etc. Unfortunately this pedal is NOT for those types of music. However, if you play the blues with that New Orleans soul or Texas spank, THIS IS YOUR PEDAL! This pedal is very transparent and lets the sound of your guitar shine in all its glory...it just wasn't my thing.

4 knobs gain, low, high, volume, pretty simple.

This absolutely blew me away. I go to Berklee college of Music and we have a tech room with literally thousands of pedals and effects. The second i played on this bad boy I had to get one. It is such a clear overdrive sound, very Santana sounding lead if you like that, which I do. This will not get a hard rock sound so don't try, but if you want a great blues/classic rock sound from a pedal you gotta try this. I would have paid $160 for this but it was 1/4 of that. Unbeleivable. I use a Standard Fender Strat (lefty) into the Bad Monkey into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and it is not noisy at all.

Built like a tank, I would gig without a backup.

N/A

I play original stuff that ranges from jazzy sounds to full out rock sound, I use the Digitech Hot Head pedal to get a thick distortion, but I use this 75% of the time, I also do a few covers like GnR, Boston, Zeppelin, Handrix, etc. and the combo of these two pedals does it all. However, these ratings are based on using the pedals through a tube amp(Fender Hot Rod Deluxe), the analog pedals really chime through on tubes, but on solid state it still sounds good, but not amazing.

Very easy to get a good sound right out of the box.

This pedal sounds great i can get some really fat punchy od when paired with my peavey delta blues 210,Also works very well with other pedals such as od,distortion and fuzz.What i really like about this pedal is that it lets your true guitar tone shine through.

Seems heavy duty to me plus i take very good care of my equipment.

never dealt with them.

Anyone looking for an excellent od should check the bad monkey out.I play blues and classic rock and it really suits my style,I put the bad monkey first in my pedal chain and it has been there ever since.

Simply, just twist and go.

quote from another review:
"A good amp will show this pedal for the crap it is. I hate all the new digitech pedals they are the worst line of pedals since johnson."

First of all I have a good tube amp AND I AM ALSO a bedroom player. I hated digitech up until I tried their new line of ANALOG PEDALS. They kick ass! This is an analog pedal except for the emulated out jack. You are claiming to be a tube snob, but you don't even realize that analog is king when it comes to add on stomp boxes. You are just a crappy player or something. It's amazing how 98% of the posters love this pedal. ALSO, PLEASE DO NOT recommend Arion Pedals. They are junk. I guess you'd suggest rocktek too. LOL buddy.

Built to survive even the harshest fake tubesnobs

Emails answered within 24 hours

As long as you like it that's all that matters.

overdrive-o-riffic

TS-9s Utah sibling
really close
in fact i liked the low and high EQ

Digitech makes tough gear
and this is another

I have e-mailed digitech and their support dept. has ALWAYS came back with a response within 24 hrs.

I was demonstrating these new digitech distortion pedals for a customer at Bob's Music in Lima ohio.
ythey loved all the pedals and purchased the BAD MONKEY
for their son.
bad news I wanted one tooo and it was the LAST ONE !!!!
Kim ,the store manager said she was ordering more so i have to wait ( sigh)
But now i don't have to worry about my TS( getting broken I've found a close sounding CLONE!!!

It is easy to use, but why would you want to use the Bad Monkey, one of the worst overdrives ever made.

I was going to give it a 3 but I sobered up after reading Tonesnob's review. I can only suspect that a lot of guitar players are going tone deaf after reading these overblown reviews. Digitech makes some very nice gear,but this ain't it. The Screamin Blues in that pedal series did sound better than the Monkey. The Bad Monkey made sounds that were in every way inferior to the natural amp sound. They should have named it the Tone Turd. If you get one of these stinkers for Christmas you have my sympathy. Just exchange it for something good.
In fairness to Digitech they have other gear that is excellent.

Pray that it breaks or gets stolen. Unfortunately it probably is reliable.

Paid $0 because I wasn't stupid enough to buy one. I have seen them for $36 on the Net - $49.95 At Guitar Center. GCs policy is that they will match or beat competitors ,so if you don't ask for the good price on any of there stuff ,you just flushed some of your money away.
A better pedal IMHO is the Ibanez TS 9 DX Turbo Tube Screamer especially with a clean boost or a TS 10 in front of it. The market price for a used TS 9 DX TTS is about$60 - $80 in good shape , new about $110. Money better spent. Don't let them make a monkey out of you.

i'm not going to get into the technical features because there's nothing more to add to what's already been said. i was in the hunt for an overdrive pedal that wouldn't add a lot of high-end gain/distortion to my tone. i just wanted to drive the tubes a little bit. this pedal does that in spades. i give it a 6 on ease of use, simply because it's easy to get a good sound but takes a lot of time to get a great sound. which i guess is typical of any pedal...

my setup: g&l s-500 strat -> bad monkey -> fender blues jr. tubes

after years of playing acoustic bluegrass, i finally broke down and started picking up some electric equipment again. i like to play/write good old fashioned rock and roll influenced by everything from elvis to johnny cash, the stones and the ramones. all the good stuff, none of the garbage the kids are playing today. i dig a good, solid tube driven amp without a lot of distortion. the bad monkey does a fairly solid job of it. i needed to drive the tubes at lower volume levels in my house for practices, and that's why i got it. it took me several weeks and alot of fiddling with knobs to get the sound i wanted, but finally i think i'm there. this probably isn't the greatest pedal out there, but for the price it's fine by me. the separate bass/treble knobs let you dial in just the right sound for your tastes (and amp setup). separate level and gain knobs allow you to get the right punch and attack.

to early to say, really. but i think digitech builds solid equipment. treat it right, it'll last forever. bash it like pete townshend and it'll last just one day.

can't say much here...

if you're into nu-metal or iron maiden or something, obviously you and your mesa boogie are looking for a different pedal with more drive. but for a good 70s style overdrive (zz top, stones), this gets the job done. i like to use it for just a little extra umph on lead parts and will sometimes keep it on for a dirty rhythm sound.

It's as simple as a stomp box can get.

Controls:
Level
Bass boost/cut
Treble boost/cut
Gain

I really love the treble and bass buttons. They allow you to either boost or cut the sound, and it works great.

I have it working on a 9-volt battery. It's also really easy to switch batteries. No hassle with difficult to open hatches or something, all you need is a guitar cable to click it open. You can switch a battery in less than 10 secs.

===================================================================
Ibanez RG/Fender Strat USA -> Bad Monkey -> Kustom Quad 100W combo
===================================================================

This pedal sounds great! When playing with a Strat trough it i can really get "Hendrix" sounds out of it. You know the song "The wind cries Mary"? I'm talking about that sound.

Really warm tube overdrive sound. I went to the store to buy an Ibanez Tube Screamer, and the guy at the store said: "You should check that Digitech pedal out, the Bad Monkey, it's cheaper and just as good". I compared them, and acually liked the sound of the Bad Monkey better than the Tube Screamer. When i first tried it i was biased because i've had bad experiences with digital pedals, but this one sounds as natural as it can get.

This pedal is also really quiet. I give it a 9, because a real tube overdrive on a tube amp still sounds a little better. For solid state, this is the best tube-like sound you can get though.

I just got it today, haven't gigged with it yet. It looks like it's built like a rock. It's also heavy as hell, all made out of steel. It looks like it's made for heavy gigging/road abuse.

But, i haven't got it for enough time to be sure, so i'll just put in "no opinion".

Didn't need to call them.

Been playing for about 5 years. I mainly play Blues and Classic rock. This pedal gives me just the sounds i need. I can get a warm blues overdrive, but it also gives me enough boost when playing a solo.

This pedal rules. If it was twice the price i'd still had bought it. For 50 Euro's, this is really a no-brainer. It gives a better sound than the Tubescreamer and any other overdrive pedals i've tried.

If it was stolen, i'd track down the thief and cave his head in with the pedal. If i wouldn't find him, i'd buy it again for sure.

I give it a 10. For the price, it's amazing what you get!

Beyond easy - - this pedal has just four knobs and each one really produces a wide range of effect. The truly incredible thing about these knobs is that once set, they seem to 'stick' in place - - no other way to describe it - - they just stay there and seem to get 'stickier' the longer you leave them in the one place. I love that because it means you don't have to worry too much about the knobs changing position. The other thing that's cool is the way the battery is changed, you just push in the detent bar on one side of the pedal and the whole thing just lifts off revealing the battery - - means you can change batteries beteen songs in about 30 seconds. However, the battery lasts forever. I've done four gigs of about 3 hours total playing time for each gig and the battery still has some juice left (I always pull out the input jack between sets).
The pedal is real heavy as well so it just sits there like a good pooch and barks when asked. And what a name - - Bad Monkey - - cracks me up!

Man this pedal is just wonderful. I've been a dedicated Tubescreamer TS-9 user since Noah was a boy and have also spent a bit of time with another good pedal by Boss called OD-3, but this pedal takes it all one step further. I use a 57 Reissue Strat which generally sounds a little thin and that's where this amazing pedal, with it's awesome bass boost, really kicks in and gives the old Strat a big, fat sound that gets better the more you crank it up. I A/B'd the TS-9 and OD-3 with the Bad Monkey and wondered how I ever got on without the Bad Monkey - - the TS-9/OD-3 both sounds great but still a little thin and lifeless next to the Bad Monkey.
There's one thing I discovered by accident which is if you use a Bad Monkey for your basic backing crunch (and blues solos) and combine this with one of Digitech's other pedals called a Hot Rod (X series) then you really do have tone heaven. The Hot Rod is just amazing as well because it has a 'Morph' feature that lets you change the distortion/overdrive from real full creamy sound to more of a scooped sound. Anyhow, I now use them both so my setup is a standard American 57 Reissue Strat > Bad Monkey > Hot Rod > Fender DSP 90 amp. BTW, Fender's DSP 90 amp is a tranny but I dare anyone to tell the difference between it and the best tube amps when using its clean channel. Pure bliss!
For a Strat, set the level about 10 o'clock (same as straight thru), bass and treble on 2 o'clock and drive on 'fwat out' (is there any other setting?. This will really make your Strat sound great. On the rare occasion that I use my Les Paul, I just pull the bass back to 12 noon - - that's it.

This pedal is built like a brick shit-house and no doubt will survive just about anything. They are so frickin cheap that I'll just buy another one for use as a backup though having used the little green dude for over 30 trouble-free gigs, I've never had the slightest problem. Oh yeah, it's as quiet as a mouse.
With regard to some other reviewers points, my Bad Monkey seems to clean up real well when I back of the volume so no problemo there. You have to remember that not all volume pots are the same. Fender's pots reallly drop off around '7' whereas a Gibson needs to be on about 2 or 3 to be the same so it's all horses for courses really.

I'll have to wait for the next nucleoid war before I have to get DigiTech to service this little monkey.

I've been playing for over 25 years and play mainly contemporary rock and blues - - a lot of SRV, Cream, Purple, GNR etc etc and that's where this pedal and it's tougher brother the Hot Rod really work so well together. I've collected over 56 pedals in my life, mainly distortion pedals, trying to find 'that' tone and at last, I can stop buying these things. Woo-Hoo! I'm gonna save up for a yacht now (probably cheaper than all the pedals I bought).
If someone stole it I guess I'd just mosy along and look for someone leaning up against a wall panting for breath - - they weigh a ton!

Easy to use. Love having separate Hi and Lo knobs instead of a single Tone knob. Easy to dial in good settings quickly and the manual is helpful in getting started.

American Fender Strat > Ibanez WD7 Wah > Bad Monkey > MXR Phase 90 > Tech21 Trademark 60

or

Strat > WD7 > Magicstomp > TM60 or HotRod Deluxe

Depends on what I'm playing and who with.

The Bad Monkey is an excellent tube overdrive with very warm tones and slight distortions, which is exactly what I look for. I prefer it to my TubeScreamer in most situations for that extra boost at solo time. This box gives you a little more edge. Some have said it doesn't clean up when rolling back the guitar volume, but it works great for me.

I usually use this box when playing with straight blues groups. I use the MagicStomp in its place when with classic rock groups to avoid taking a box full of stomp boxes. (See my review of the Magicstomp.)

I don't really look for sounds of other artists, but am in a perpetual tweaking mode of my own sounds. I play with several groups and do solo jazz work and have played since I first saw the Beatles live in 1966. Seemed like a good job to have.

The Bad Monkey is an excellent box for those needing a great quality tubey overdrive sound. Forget the price. This box just sounds great. The fact it's cheap shouldn't factor in so much when you're looking for YOUR sound. Take some time with it and you'll be pleased.

Metal, seems reliable. Knobs firm, not flimsy. Seems reliable

No idea. Shouldn't need them.

This is an excellent box. Definitely worth a look if you're in the overdrive market. Tubescreamers are nice, but you should not turn up your nose on this one because of price. Metal box, great versatile tones, and it really sounds good. I've got a Tubescreamer and the Monkey. This box gets much more work than the Ibanez.

easy, thats all that can be said, 4 knobs, and step on the SOB.

i play a Ibanez TC-620 talman with 2 p-90s through a fender 65w Princeton. WOW, originaly i used this through my amps dirty channel, because i thought i had too little gain. but i simply ditched the processor i was using and fiddled with my eq and now this little box is my only distortion, still not for playing metal. i have the knobs set at full, except for the volume knob. this is a fairily noisey box, butif you set the volume down around 1/4, you can solve that problem.

i play hard rock/blues, with this pedal in a band, and i love the tone it gives to my p-90s. not fuzzy at all, I HATE FUZZY OVERDRIVE!!
a very transparent effect, still captures all of my p-90 tone.

this thing is toughf. it's gotta be for my fat ass to be steping all over it. i would surely gig without a back up.

never had to deal with them, and i doubt i will

man, it really is hard to find a good overdrive that matches your flavor, there a so many out there, but for this price range, this pedal may be the best for 40.00. there are much better overdrives than this, but not for less than 50.00.
truth be told, i gambled on this brand new prouduct because it stood out to me, i read lots of reviews and made a very good decision.

Four knobs, one input, two outputs....about as simple as it get's

71 tele, 78 Tokai Strat, 67 ES335, hombrew tele into a Winfiled Thomas "high power" Eliabeth...a great, blackface super type amp. I was looking for an inexpensive, good sounding, usable, blues overdrive/boost to add to the sonic flux and compliment the other pedals I use. For me, this ain't it!

I have a digidelay that has seved me well, so I guess this would hold up to daily stomping. Some people have not faired well wit hthe new digitech pedals. I've had pretty good luck with them.

I've played quite a variety of music over the last 35 years. Mostly blues these day's as that is my first love. I really wanted to like this pedal. Bought one based on all the fantastic reviews and the fact it's dirt cheap! While I'm happy it works well for most of the players, it bites a big one compared to my other overdrives. The equally inexpensive Ibanes TS-7 has a much warmer, fuller sound than the Bad Monkey and also works pretty well as a boost. My old Marshall Bluesbreaker and Vox Valve Tone send the Bad Monkey back to the forest canopy in search of shelter. I like the tone shaping options of a separte treble and bass control, but was unable to dial out the inherent fizziness this pedal produces. Now, this may just be with the amp I'm using. It may sound fine through other types of amplifiers, but the Winnie sounds excellent on it's own and I want pedals that enhance, not detract from the tone. I can't decide if I should take it back, sell it or keep it. I should keep it for a while and give it another go. Maybe I got a dud? Who knows.

Four knows - volume, gain, low and high eq.

I compared the Bad Monkey with all of the current Ibanez Tube Screamers. No contest if you're looking for a great overdrive that retains the character of the guitar/amp.

This pedal sings with Strats and Fender tube amps. It's not very noisy at all. The pedal is more overdrive or boost - not a distortion pedal. Turn the volume up on your amp. Then hit the Bad Monkey. Tone Nirvana!!

The Bad Monkey is built like a brick, whatever...

The website is pretty good for getting help and answers. This pedal will probably outlast you and your grandchildren, unless you throw it off a bridge of something.

This pedal is one of the best-kept secrets in the music world. I have been playing blues and classic rock for over 20 years. I've had a lot of pedals. The Bad Monkey certainly ranks as one of the better investments in this area.

Just don't buy this pedal and expect Megadeath or megadistortion. Use the Bad Monkey to push your amp over the edge. You won't regret it.

This pedal is very easy to use. No tricks here.

I use mostly Fender guitars and a Guild Bluesbird. Fender Deluxe Reverb, Standel 2X12, Crate Vintage Club 50 stack, and Peavey Special 130. I play Modern Country to Classic Rock to Contemporary Christian.

THis pedal sounds very good. I actually replaced a Reverend Drivetrain II in my chain with it. I run it after a Route 66 which has a low impedance buffer so there is absolutely no tone loss. I also run it with a modded Blues Driver. It's very transparent without the mid hump of a Tubescreamer. Very articulate not mushy at all.

Don't know. It looks like it is built like a tank.

Never contacted

In response to "tonesnob". He apparently is out to bash something. I doubt that he even listened to this pedal. I've been at this for almost thirty years and have heard alot of equipment and have owned too much equipment. I didn't need another pedal but this thing for $40 bucks is a no brainer.

This pedal sounds alot like a good Tubescreamer without the mid hump. It's more transparent as well.

This is a update to my initial review I submitted on this pedal last month. It's as easy to sue as a toothbrush!

Ok, I was very pleased what this did for my Fender blues jr. But it did sound a tad dark and did'nt clean up that well with the guitar's volume but sounded as good and better than my other boxes, some of which are boutique. I still like my HBE powerscreamer but the boost switch went out and back to the monkey I went. I also just recently aquired a reissue Marshall JTM45 head with matching 1960 cab loaded with 25watt greenbacks, this was a spontaneus purchase that will cost me a months overtime and drew a WTF! look from my wife and to crank it to get that glorius crunch will put me in the catagory with the kids who run there dirtbikes up and down the street in the eyes of our neibors and law enforcement! Our band usually plays smaller venues and rarely get to the outdoor stages. Well after bashing through a corus of the Who's, (won't get fooled again) at full power and shutting down waiting for the cops to show up, I tried the bad monkey and was able to make the amp sound and respond just as it had cranked but a much more reasonable level! And that volume issue I had seems lessened with the marshall, I was able to turn down and it would clean up! Fact is this combination is extremely sensitive to picking and volume changes! The monkey easly retained the amp's caracter and you can add bass to keep the cabinet's THUNK unlike a tubescreamer. Guitar's I'm using are a Schecter C-1+ and a S-1 elite and a Gibson 61SG reissue and all sounded excellent! This is now my ultimate rig but will continue to gig with my Vox valvetronix 60watt head and controller for sake of simplicity but again if were outdoor on big stage then this is it! as for other effects? a HBE compretro(SWEET!) a Budda wah, MXR phase 100, Dan echo, some alternate tunings and a heavy Dunlop glass slide gets everything done for me!

As I stated earlier I had a case of dumbass and left a digitec phaser in harms way and it was ran over by two cars and was seriously blemmed but continued to work! I just dont use it anymore because I lost interest in the rise fall anf step filter. Boss may have passed this test but I seriously doubt my few boutique pedals would! I have bought a second as back up and bought a third to give to our other guitar player, everyone can afford to be a philanthrapist with what digitech is charging for these greenmeenies!

It's forty bucks people!

Currently play in classic rock cover band, just handed keyboard duties over to accomplished player and play lead/rythym and Mandolin. Been playing since 1979 ahve been in original material band and recorded but always as hobbiest weekend warrior but had offers to join professional group, Ive gone through some equiptment over the years and this pedal really stands out for performance and value and in it's own way I look at it as the tubescreamer of the new millinium!

Just put her in drive and step on the gas...

Strat into a 1966 Fender Super Reverb. I loved it the moment the first few notes rang out. But the human ear can be deceived.... I can never really tell how good a pedal is until I record with it. I recorded with it! It is terrific. It is transparent and articulate. This is an overdrive pedal that is musical. It is NOT a pedal for Metal Heads so don't even bother! It is unique in that it emphasised my playing style. It allowed the tone of both the guitar and the amp to shine through. It blew me away. I've been using a Marshall Shredmaster, a Drivemaster, an Original Reverend Drivetrain and the Original Marshall Guvnor and this one is now the pick of the litter. Grab one right now...right now...get up from your computer and purchase one...yes, right now!!! I used an MXR Dyna-Comp in front of it and I was in Heaven. Do not spend your next $150.00 on that Boutique pedal you've been drooling about. Buy this, you will not be sorry.

Don't take a bath with it.

Nice people..They're from Utah...home of the Osmonds

I was inspired to write and record immediately after playing this pedal. It is just too sweet n nasty. Lay down the funk and let this mutha rip. Throw in a coupla of power chords and the sky opens up. It's a keeper! Hear it for yourself. $35.00 is a small price for this slice of happiness.

Very easy to use. Hell, my grandmother could get useable tones out of this thing with a Koerean Telecaster into a Gorilla amp with a blown speaker. If you need the manual ... you rode the short school bus. :o)

Using a custom Strat copy thru a Peavey Classic 30, the sound quality would be amazingly good even if it cost four times as much. There is no noticeable change in tone, when the Bad Monkey is put in the chain, which is kind of awesome considering that they don't claim it to be true bypass, and in light of the fact that they practically give it away. Once turned on, there is as little change in the base 'dynaics' of your original sound as any stompbox or rack effect I've ever used in twenty-five years of playing (I'm 41 ... my ass is OLD!) regardless of price. When setting this thing up, the HI and LOW pots allowed me to keep my base sound, yet easily dial in a warm, overdriven tone that sounded like a continuation of my original sound - but with more PUNCH - using the LEVEL and GAIN pots. It truly is a very warm, natural sound that doesn't get muddy, isn't noisy (Even with single coils!), nor screw up your original tone. In short ... amazingly awesome considering the price.

Dunno ... only had it a few weeks. I'm sure it's built like a tank.

Never used 'em. Which is good.

Now that I'm an old fart, I'm playing original Jazz/Bop tunes, experimental pseudo-fusion (how's that for a description?) and lots of old blues standards in a harder-edged blues style a la SRV or KWS on steriods.

Very easy to use!!

i have a 89 fender strat plus with texas specials in it running through a 4-10 hot rod deville. this pedal rocks out and is well worth the $40 price tag. Since buying the pedal i no longer use the amps distortion at all. VERY GOOD PIECE.

Built like a tank

i play mainly in a blues band and this pedal totally works well with what i'm doing...save your money buy this instead of a ts9 or 808

Too simple - though like most any pedal, experimentaion is a good thing.

The online DigiTech Bad Monkey sound clips are quite accurate. For testing, I used one of my own Strats (loaded with Rio Grande Tallboys) plugged into a '66 Champ w/Weber 8A125, a custom Penn 40w 6V6 amp and Fane 12", a custom Winfield "Harvard" (twin EL84's) w/Weber 15F150T. Signal path was guitar-->Bad Monkey-->amp. Smooooth overdriven tube tone, no fizzy square wave "after taste", no radical loss of guitar tone, a very good range of boost from very subtle to a nicely saturated power tube-like tone. A very quiet OD pedal. Choice of pickup and picking techniques gave a wide range of tones, all very nice. Two thumbs up, a keeper.

Built like a heavy Sherman tank, this pedal will be around for the long haul, I'd expect.

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A very nice pedal to add "hair" to most amy music genre short of metal et al. I've had lots of OD pedals over the decades, most of the boutique variety, the Bad Monkey is just fine for the tones it provides and better still for the low purchase price. This pedal does what it sez it'll do, and what it's s'posed to do: fatten up the tone, add some varied measure of grit, be transparent enough to let notes in chords ring out.

Easy to use..yeah. Easy to get a good sound and change sounds? Twist the knobs and you're there. Don't need a manual, didn't read it.

No offense to tonesnob, but this monkey is a great buy! I don't know what he's playing through, but I also notice he didn't list it either.
Here's what I use it through:
3 Strats/Gerg Bennett Santana clone with humbuckers/Rockson OD10 (yes, and it sounds good!)/Bad Monkey/Big Muff/Zoom Driver (the good metal cased modeler)/Cool Cat Chorus/Danecho Delay/Crate Blonde Vintage VC3112 all tube Combo.
This thing smokes, no noise (depends a lot on your gear) stands out in the mix well. My other lead player heard it before I told him it was on my pedalboard the 1st gig I used it at and he said "what is that? Did you put new tubes in your amp?" Thought it was my OD channel on steriods, he said. Kids, if you can't get a good sound out of this with a decent amp and guitar, you need to go back to square 1. With my volume and tone controls, and some palm muting, I can make this thing do (almost, lets be fair) anything I want from Stevie Ray to ZZ Top (more in the old days). Good pedal, mmm mmm mmm!

Heavy duty case, only had it a month, but yeah I'd gig without a backup, but I usually have something around just in case. After 42 years of playing you tend to cover your backside!

Fix 'em myself or buy new ones, nothing here.

Right now I play classic rock for the bucks (have a very sick wife and we need the money for doctors & meds). Works great for distortion OR overdrive, specially in my style I'm playing. Great sustain when I kick in the OD channel on my amp, real nice for slide too all on its own. Nice pinch harmonics, but again, you gotta have a fair guitar and a decent amp, tubes help a lot. Lost/Stolen, I'd buy it again and be glad the guy that stole it had one now too. Ain't really nothing to pick apart here, it's just a flat out great deal and great sounding pedal. I stomp, it screams, that's all I want, the added plus that it's a smokin pedal for OD sounds with great clarity is just gravy to me. Remember boys and girls, YOU DON'T NEED A THOUSAND DOLLAR TS9, 30 YEAR OLD BIG MUFF, OR A LOCK OF ELVIS'S HAIR TO SOUND GOOD! Just learn your craft and find the sound you want, and if it comes from a 10 dollar pawnshop pedal, so be it. Don't fall prey to the boutique thieves or relic peddlers (no pun intended). Live and play, folks, it's all good. Been at it 42 years and I'm still searchin...Love to ya all.
PeAcE
The Doctor
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4 knobs

Someone needs to leave a truthfull review of this turd because these reviews are all from bedroom players with solid state amps that wouldn't know tone it jimi hendrix beat them over the head with it.

This low gain overdrive is a good concept but it is a tone assassin. It does not compare favorably to a tubescreamer or any other decent pedal. It is muffled and sounds the same no matter where you put your volume knob. Artificial is the word that describes it best. If you are thinking this will give you that slighlty overdriven tube sound I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.

On the plus side it's cheep as dirt. Spend some extra money and get the barber ltd. If you want something tube screamer like get a tube screamer. A good amp will show this pedal for the crap it is. I hate all the new digitech pedals they are the worst line of pedals since johnson. I had some hope for this one after reading the reviews here. These people are tone tards.

Seems sturdy but the rubber pad will come of the footswitch easily that doesn't happen with boss pedals.

Do not fall for it. It promises much but delivers a fart. If you need a pedal that is cheep and good sounding get an arion. Run from the new digitech line. I have had hundreds of pedals and I wouldn't mislead you. I have always wanted a pedal that does a convincing low gain break up. This ain't it.

10 - can't seem to get any auditory goobers out of it...

It seems effects traders/traffickers on the internet frequently say, ONo Digitech/DOD stuff...O when they?re hawking pedals for trade. I?ve never used a Digitech pedal until I went out and snagged the Bad Monkey based on reviews at this site.
This pedal is quite solid and hefty, quiet, gives two outputs and is a metal flake green color which is deeper in hue and depth than the green of the OtubescreamersO which it emulates rather handily. And for Pete?s sake it costs $40 !!! This thing delivers the sweet woman-tone, the tone of crunchy chewey tubes being ingested by your electronic mojo lizard appetite. It is hep, cool, sure-fire brown sound certified chocolate cake for your ears. AND Digitech extends the warranty to SIX years if you register it (one year otherwise). Shut up with the internal voices-of-doubt game and go get one to play out with. Save your expensive bow-tique pedals for your own little museum of overpriced artifacts of tone...

Just bought it - but a 6 year warranty sounds sweet to me...

Inspires one to just play on for a long time, long time, long time...

Easy as pie to dial in what you want. Digitech provides good manuals with suggested settings to get you started.

THE BEST $40 I'VE EVER SPENT ! This pedal is awesome. Great transparent sound. You can dial just a touch of overdrive to good dirt. It is only an overdrive pedal so dont expect mambo distortion. This box is a permanent part of my rig. I would not change anything.

I have several digitech boxes and all work great. Never had a reliablity problem with them. I do suggest an ac power source.

I have been playing for 15 + years and have tried many overdrive and distortion units. This is one of my favorites. I'll never be without a bad monkey to spank.

This pedal will get over looked my alot of players because of it's low price.How could a $39 pedal sound good.Well those of us who own one know the secret.This pedal just sounds very good and beats out many pedals that are three or four times the price.It is a OD pedal and can get a little dirtier than a TS9 or 808.Very easy to dial in a good blues tone.

The sound is simular to Tube Screamer but will get a little more dirt.The pedal works well with clean channel to get a good responsive blues feel and sound.It will give your distortion channel that extra kick for solos.I have used this pedal in front of several tube amps and it sounds great.I have owned about every boutique pedal available and I tried hard to not like this box.I kept going back to it when I was at the music store.The guy that sold it to me thought I had lost my mind.I was always a good customer because I always bought the expensive stuff.Imagine a Bad Monkey in front of a Dr.Z.Yes you can find better sounding pedals but for what I was looking for the BD was perfect.

Seems like it is built well.

Hope I don't need them.

I play rocked up blues and classic rock.

It's very easy to use. It has a bass and treble control unlike most overdrives which just have one tone knob. Getting a good sound is easy in my opinion.

This pedal sounds great! I AB'd it with my Maxon 808 re-issue and the sound was VERY compareable. When the bass knob on the bad monkey was on about 2 O'clock, that's where it matched the bass response of the Maxon. Plus you could boost it more or cut it which is a great feature considering it- A} Is more versatile for either a stand- alone overdrive or one to drive your amp into sweet harmonics, B} costs one third of the price of the Maxon, C} is made in the USA.

I just got it, but it seems pretty sturdy.

Don't know.

I highly encourage you to try this unit. You won't be bummed if you like the basic Tube screamer sound. Also, with the gain up high it seems to have a bit more drive than the Maxon 808 re-issue,and with the added bass control it's versatillity is very worth the 40 bucks. One more thing- driving the Bad monkey with the 808 before it sounded
excellent! I'd buy another if I lost it. The X-series pedals are also amazing. Check out the Hot Rod distortion- I liked it better than the new Hot Head distortion. It was tighter sounding and the morph control on the Hot Rod is Wicked!

This is an overdrive, not a distortion pedal. It enhances the natural sound and tone of your guitar/amp combo. The manual includes sample settings.

I use a Fender and Les Paul Standard guitar, along with a Fender Blues Junior and a Marshall JCM 900. The Bad Monkey seems to work well regardless of the combination. The two tone knobs (low and high) help shape the sound very well. The distortion sounds great at 1 to 2, very weak beyond that. Basically, I'm using this pedal as more of a "volume" boost. It gives me a little edge for my lead playing. You'll like this pedal as long as you're not looking for great distortion tones.

Digitech has built the Bad Monkey like a tank. It's definitely tough and reliable.

Never have dealt with the company or had one of their products go bad.

This is a very good pedal. People looking for a little boost will love it. Those expecting a distortion pedal will rate it poorly. This pedal isn't versatile but it excels at what it's suppose to do. I'd replace this pedal immediately because it's perfect for my style of music.

Easy to use as any other overdrive, the only other difference being the direct out jack that by the way if you plug into by accident and run in to your amp will actually get a slightly cleaner sound less noise but ever so slighly less sustain. But you can't get a bad sound out of this pedal! Comes with lots of liturature and sugested settings that you won't bother with as your hands will intuitively find a sweet setting, I use level 9 0 clock, and all others at three o clock on a Fender blues junior set to clean and it gives perfect distortion that matches the amp perfectly just as if I cranked the amp up to get distortion, so it effectively makes the amp a two channel now.

Ok here we go! I've collected overdrive pedals for the last five years and I have some from when I was a kid (ts808)(ts9) and many others, This pedal impressed the shit out of me, it's the best overdrive sound imaginable, But I'll state the flaw right up front, this thing will not clean up when you roll the volume back! You teasin bastards! I mean for Thirtynine dollars I'll cut you some slack but this thing has the potential to be a Holy Grail status drive but this holds it back, especially an overdrive, which should clean up when you roll it back because these are the more expressive of the distortion genre! I double checked it with a Nobels OD1 and sure enough the Nobels go's from clean to crunch with a slight twist of your Guitar volume knob, I tried to EQ them the same but I like the sound of the Bad Monkey better, More amp like! But damn man! I would give it a ten but I'll have to rate it a 8 because of this!

True story! I once left a music store after buying a guitar and a Digitech phaser, I accidently left the phaser on top of my Jeep when I left and seen it fall in a intersection when I left the light! It got creamed by Two cars, the first hit shot it about thirty feet down the road and the second sent it to the curb! the box was lost, I swung around and picked it up and got a severe case of low self esteme and went home and sure enough other than cosmetics it plays fine! I will gig without back up, But will not gig with this until they get it to clean up!

I play classic rock in a cover band and have played guitar since 1979, I have about as much gear as you can imagine, it comes and goes, I'll keep this for now, I feel this overdrive is on third base and the engineers at Digitech need Barry Bonds to homer this bad boy in with a modification to the circuit to make it volume sensitve and this will make the Bad Monkey the King Kong of the tube screamer sector! it dosent lose bottom end, it sounds natural and amp like, it just dosent respond like one.

The Bad Monkey is very easy to use. 4 knobs - Level, Low, High and Gain - standard distortion stuff. Manual is very basic, gets to the point. I grabbed the free Digitech product manual @ Guitar Centre, I'd suggest it for the settings suggestions.

I'm using this with a Squier Cyclone (humbucker in the bridge, single coil neck pickup) and an Epiphone SG/Les Paul Junior (P90 pickup) primarily into a Tascam Porta02/Behringer 802 for direct recording sounds with the amp modeling. This is an analog pedal, not digital like the DigiTech X Series, so there's a little noise. But the sound is far superior to the X Series Tone Driver (the yellow one) which I A/B'ed with the Bad Monkey.... the Monkey smoked it. I'll take the noise for the more convincing sound of the Bad Monkey. Maxing out the Gain gave the sound a nice squashed compression, rather than just adding more distortion. I also tried out the Hot Head, I'd suggest that for more gain. But I was coaxing some serious Roth-era, Van Halen-esque sounds using the humbucker with the Bad Monkey. Brown sound, baby! I could also see coaxing some SRV outta this. Nice smooth overdrive, great for strumming rhythm. At some extreme settings on the EQ's, it's a soloing beast, too. Using more relaxed settings on the gain, this was perfect for copping Springsteen and Replacements/Paul Westerberg rhythm tones. I imagine country players and bluesy bar band types would also dig this pedal. Quite versatile, very musical. I'm voting a 10 not for "pristine quality", because the pedal is incapable of that. I'm giving it a 10 because it delivers, period.

Metal housing, heavy, built like a tank. Kinda the best of both DOD and Boss pedals. I'd get a backup not so much for reliability reasons, but because you won't wanna be without it's sound. I don't see this pedal dying on ya, but spill a beer on any pedal and it's history....

N/A

I needed a cheap, reliable overdrive that had amp simulation for making 4-track demos. I also didn't want something that sounded too much like transitors or someone's extreme idea of presets (or nu-metal). I really wanted to avoid something with an LCD or software or rack mounts or any of that crap. I was basically looking for a cheap SansAmp. I think I found it. I'd replace this in a heartbeat if lost, stolen or broken. It compares to nothing I've tried, and I've tried them all in my quest for this thing. And all this for a fraction of the cost of the competition. I think DigiTech has a winner here.