Monkey FX Cheeky Monkey

2 knobs, so fairly simple really. despite this, a very versatile pedal.

Sounds great with a fender strat through an ashdown valve amp. with gain low and volume high you can push the pre amp section of a valve amp into natural singing overdrive, especially if the amp is already a bit crunchy. exploring the pedals own gain is equally cool, very fuzzy and lo-fi (in a good way). with the two knobs somewhere in the middle you can get a broad range of tones, from fat clean, to slightly boosted, to dirtier than an unwashed monkey sitting in a pile of poo. a bit noisy with both knobs maxed, but not really an issue. great for both classic (eg. led zep, hendrix) style boost as well as modern, grungier styles. works well with a wah too.

solid steel housing, not too much to go wrong inside. so should last.

haven't dealt with them, but get full marks for their website, which is very funny.

overall, a great pedal, with loads of useful sounds despite its simplicity. anyone in need of a good booster/overdrive/fuzz should take a look. suits a broad range of stles, and great value for a hand built boutique pedal.

With just two knobs (Gain and Volume) this is really simple to get.

Make no mistake, this is an astonishing pedal. It sits slightly awkwardly across the camps of both booster and overdrive almost becoming it's own combination of these two "effects". I hope people who are looking for one or the other don't discount this pedal. It does both things extremely well. Now, this is not a clean boost, but rather does the job like the classic Dallas Rangemaster by adding it's own crunch and sweetness into the boost. But this does not sound like the Rangemaster. This is a boost with a big push across the whole frequency range. Almost like adding active circuitry to your pickups. But with filth! The distoriton of this unit is drive amount, but it has a hint of classic fuzziness - like a mild Muff Fuzz - touching the extremes of the signal. The immediate thought is to use the Cheeky Monkey to push a valve pre-amp into overload and inthis classic booster/overdrive role, it excels! But you would be missing a trick if you negelected to explore it's own drive tones by pluggin it into a clean channel and keeping the volume down. Like all good overdrive pedals this is as good a distortion pedal as it is a crunchy booster unit.

To sum up, this is one hell of a pedal.

A superb hand built "boutique" pedal. I don't think you'll be breaking this in a hurry!

Handmade in the UK by Andi Allan of Mionkey FX. This is a splendid company run by an accessible and approachable human being who listens to his customers and gives a damn about his products. This is teh way things should be!

Whether you want to crank up a valve amp for rock or metal, or you just want a meaty cruch drive for punk or blues, this is the perfect solution. An expertly made, simple and dependable circuit with Monkey FX trademark splendid presentation.

Do not miss this stunning little pedal!

This thing is pretty standard. Two knobs, one for gain, one for volume, and then the foot switch. I tend not to use the foot switch but just turn on the pedal and leave it on. setting it up for a good sound is easy as it's all about preference, turn up the gain and let the thing melt your heart

My current setup consists of a mex standard telecaster and and hot rod fender deluxe amp, with a varying array of distaortions and mods.

my sound before buying this pedal was pretty good with a really nice tone, but, when i plugged in the chekky monkey everything really did sound just a hell of alot nicer. It blended really well with some of my more arkward pedals and just brought a lovely shimmer to my sound, which was great as i often play chords on the front pickup, it has some magical character to it which is something you knew was missing but you didn't quite know how to get, it's not a coloured boost and it's not something that just makes you louder, it's a boost with a bit of character and a bit of grit with a slight distortion. It really seems to respond to my expressions when i play which is total different to the expression you would get on a standard distortion, like a rat.

I would never switch the thing off and i don't think i would leave home with out one. It is a sturdy little thing that has been thrown about and stamped upon.

Customer support is fantastic.

Andi is a really nice guy who believes in his pedals. When i first got the cheeky monkey there was a slight wiring fault that meant that the pedal did not turn off when you removed the lead from the jack. When i told Andi he didn't question anything but arranged to meet me in London and exchange it for a brand new pedal with a battery to boot.

He is allways very friendly and seems to have alot of time for everyone. Im sure that even if i had had this pedal for years and completly abused it the support would still be very good

i don't know how anyone could have a setup of pedals on the floor and not have this pedal at the start of the chain or just after the wah. There is no fun without a cheeky monkey on board