Bad Monkey Review

The Bad Monkey Tube Overdrive gives your guitar amp a boost just when you need it. This rugged pedal produces the smooth natural character of an overdriven tube amp while maintaining your guitar's distinct tone.

Ease of Use:	9.2
Sound:	8.8
Reliability:	8.9
Impression:	8.9
Overall rating:	9
Users rating:	8.1
Comments:	51

overall: 9

Featured review by: MrCarrot, on april 04, 2007

Price paid: $ 58.56

Purchased from: GAK

Ease of Use: As overdrives go, this thing is great. It's totally simple to use, with a level control, high + low controls, and a gain control, more controls than a Tubescreamer. You can get the sound you're after in about a minute. I've compared it to my Valve Jr's natural OD, and with the right settings, it sounds almost exactly the same but at a more acceptable volume! Comes with a battery, manuals + suggestions for settings, everything you need. 9 for ease of use. // 9

Sound: The pedal's pretty quiet. I'm running a Fender Standard Strat through this straight into my Valve Jr. It gets a great bluesy Overdrive tone, and is very effective at mimicking natural Overdrive. The effect is strong, and sounds great. Mine doesn't eat batteries. It lasted 2 months on the battery it came with of about 1-2 hours a day of playing. It nails Clapton tones, and SRV tones pretty well, it really makes a Strat sing. Imagine a TS-808. Add a High and a Low control, add a bit more grit, take a bit of gain away and you've got a Bad Monkey. 9 here. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Reliable? Sure. Just look at it, massive metal case, battery entombed inside with more metal. I'd gig it without a backup. It's pretty heavy for an OD pedal too, gotta be a good sign of durability. Loads heftier than Boss pedals. 9 for reliability & durability. // 9

Impression: I play blues, blues rock, classic rock and the like. It's a perfect match for my playing along with my Strat and Valve Jr. I've been playing for a few years, one year solidly. It's the best in the pricerange, I love everything about it. Suits me to a tee, it really is an amazing pedal for £32. There really is no competition for it in that pricerange. // 9

Reviewed by: unregistered, on october 07, 2005

Price paid: $ 50.4

Purchased from: Online Store

Ease of Use: The Bad Monkey Tube Overdrive gives your guitar amp a boost just when you need it. This rugged pedal produces the smooth natural character of an overdriven tube amp while maintaining your guitar's distinct tone. Low and high tone controls give you the flexibility to boost or cut the bass and treble frequencies for just the right sound. Get a Bad Monkey and supercharge your amp's tone. Easy to use! Three knobs give you control over the tone.

- Level boosts the output level of your guitar signal.
- Low adjusts boost and cut of bass frequencies.
- High adjusts boost and cut of upper harmonics.
- Gain provides smooth tube amp distortion to your sound.
- Dual Outputs. The amp output is for connecting directly to a guitar amplifier. The mixer output features cabinet emulation circuitry for connecting directly to a mixing board or recording device. // 9

Sound: The pedal has a metal case and the sound range goes from warm rhythm tones to great lead guitar and blues tones. Especially for all SRV fans this pedal is a must because it doesen't have to hide behind the Ibanez Stomp Boxes. 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. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Didn't had any problems, well build pedal! // 10

Impression: It's a great pedal to a great price for all blues players. Especially for all SRV fans this pedal is a must because it doesen't have to hide behind the Ibanez Stomp Boxes. This is the new generation of the Tube Screamer. It sounds better, offers more control, and is way cheaper. // 10

overall: 9

Reviewed by: Mark G, on october 26, 2007

Price paid: $ 50

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Ease of Use: This pedal is extremely simple to get a good sound from. There are 4 controls: level, low, high, gain. The level is simply the output volume of the pedal. Leaving this at 50% will mean it won't give any extra output. Anything beyond 50% means you are pushing your tubes harder, giving a tighter higher gain sound. The low control is self-explanatory: It boosts/cuts the low frequencies in the signal. If you want a little more "oomph" to your sound, just boost this a bit. The high control is much like the low control: It boosts/cuts the higher frequencies from the signal. If your amp tends to be a bit muddy, boost it a bit. If your amp is very trebly, you can cut it a bit. The gain knob is a little trickier: If you use the amp on it's clean channel, you can use the gain to give it some crunch, or smooth overdrive. If you use the amp on its distorted channel, you can use this knob to boost the gain even further if you already maxed the level. This is a very straight up in your face stomp box, so there are no preset patches. The manual does make a few suggestions, but it is easy enough to figure out on your own. The manual is fine, it doesn't go into too much detail but it isn't needed so that's fine. It tells you what you need to know, no more, no less. My unit is stock, and I don't know if there are any firmware upgrades for this. I highly doubt it, since this pedal doesn't use any patches or presets. A 10, because it is very easy to use. // 10

Sound: I am using this pedal along with a Schecter C1 Classic with EMG81/85 pickups through a B-52 At 112 amp. I always boost my lows and highs a bit and leave the middle at about 50%. I can't really turn up the volume on my amp enough to get it cranked due to other inhabitants of my building. My amp on it's own can deal cleans and rock sounds easily. However, this pedal gives it the extra push it needs for metal, metalcore but also jazz and blues. I simply boost my amps distortion with the level knob for the metal and metalcore, and I boost my amps cleans channel with the gain knob for jazz and bluesy sounds. This is a very cheap pedal. However, it does not add as much noise as other pedals I've tried do. I've tried a couple of Boss OD pedals as well as tube screamers and the TS9. This Pedal was not only a lot cheaper, it also produced less extra noise. If you really push this pedal to it's limits (level and gain max) you lose some of that organic feel, and your sound can get a bit digital. However, you shouldn't boost everything this much anyway if you have any common sense in you. A 9, because it sounds a bit digital when you boost the amp to truly manic proportions (which you shouldn't be doing anyway). // 9

Reliability & Durability: It is a very sturdy metal stomp box, although it feels a little less solid than a Boss pedal. I'm not sure exactly why, because the differences are very minimal. It hasn't given me any problems however, and I would use it without a backup any day. an 8, because Boss pedals are a bit sturdier. // 8

Impression: I've had this pedal for 2 years now, so this is not a day after review. I've had ample time to tinker with this pedal and try alternatives etc. To this day I remain impressed with the quality and versatility DigiTech has been able to put into this pedal for only 50 bucks. I play metal and metalcore, with the occasional jazz and blues. This pedal suits my needs perfectly for all these genres although it really shines for metalcore. The extra gain and punch this thing can produce is bordering on the insane. If it were stolen, I would simply buy it again. There is no other pedal on the market that gives such an incredible boost, with so little extra noise for this kind of money. I love how you can choose between using your amps own gain, and the gain of the pedal. You can boost your amps gain with the level knob, or use the pedals own gain settings using the pedals gain knob. This makes for a lot of versatility. The only downside to this pedal is its buffer. It can sound digital when pushed too much. But hey, you can't have it all for only 50 bucks. I tried all the other OD pedals Guitar Center stocks, too many to list here. Just check the guitarcenter website for their OD pedals. I decided on the Bad Monkey in the end, because it had the biggest gain boost, with the least amount of extra noise, for the lowest price. I would only like this thing to have a better buffer, but that would probably double it's price. If you want an inexpensive yet highly versatile and effective OD pedal, get this. It will push your amp into the realms of metal blues or jazz however you see fit. // 9

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: Kaleb352, on march 13, 2006

Price paid: $ 4

Purchased from: local music store

Ease of Use: Simple and effective! Level/volume, high, low, and Gain knobs. The pedal comes with a book that shows some factory settings, but you can do what sounds good. // 9

Sound: This pedal wasn't made for heavy distortion, I wish I'd known that when I bought, but owell. It is basically used to play clean Overdrive songs. You can play lots of soft rock stuff and if you set it up fight, you can get some good hard rock sounds. I play lots of Grunge rock/emo/punk, so this pedal dosnt suit me. But if you like soft rock/'50s/'60s/'70s this pedal will do. // 8

Reliability & Durability: DigiTech always has quallity pedals. The battery life is pretty good and it is really sturdy! I dought you could break it with normal playing. And if you were to use it in gigs, it should do just fine. // 10

Impression: Overall this is an excellent pedals for begieners or experts. You get quallity sounds on a low budget. For me this pedal has not been helpful inless I'm playing a solo. With my SG I can get pretty good distortion, but not the best. I would recondmend this petal to any one into the soft rock scene. // 8

overall: 9.8

Reviewed by: will-loves-zep, on october 22, 2007

Price paid: $ 91.4817

Purchased from: Fairdeal, Birmingham

Ease of Use: This effect is real simple, just plug your guitar into it then plug this into your amp. It takes a 9v power adaptor which, I would recommend, or a 9v battery. That's pretty much all the instruction you need. The sound is very good, you can use the four knobs (low, high, gain and volume) to tweak it but it's very easy to get a good sound. It came with a booklet with all the DigiTech effects in it and settings for all of them (including this one) and I did look at them but just found my own way around. // 9

Sound: I use an ESP LTD M-200FM and a USA Stadard Telecaster through a Laney TF-200 and it sounds sweeet! I play through the oferdrive 2 channel (the one with most crunch) and use this for a solo boost usually. For this I set the high to full and the gain to about 5 or 6 and the bass to 7. It sounds really fat and full, you can get close to any sound that uses a Tube Screamer with this as it has thew same chip in it. I play mainly classic rock (Deep Purple, led zep) and modern hard rock (the answer, the datsuns) and I play in a grungy rock band and I can depend on it totally for the sound I want. It can make solos really wail and scream, for example it can make me sound just like Thin Lizzy's Chinatown solo. Overall a great sound, fat, full and screachy. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I can depend on it totally. I use a power adaptor to avoid any embarasment mid-solo and would definately use it for a gig without backup. It is built like a rock, the construction is similar to that of a Boss pedal; a no non-sense metal block. you could throw it off a stage quite easily without a screw coming loose. // 10

Impression: I have been playing for around 5 years and this pedal ticks all my boxes. I would definately buy it again if it broke or was stolen by someone. As I said I use this for a solo boost and tryed out this and a Boss DS-1 in the shop and this kicked it's arse. The DS-1 was way too noisy, the Bad Monkey works with your amp and keeps the basics of your sound, the DS-1 didn't at all. I especially love the screaming solo tone and don't hate anything about it at all. I mean even the name is pretty damn cool. The pedal could have a mid control but I don't think it needs it, it would make it more versatile though especially if you weren't just using it for solos. This pedal rocks, go buy it now! // 10

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: sjones, on august 29, 2007

Purchased from: CA House Music- Wva.

Ease of Use: The DigiTech Bad Monkey Overdrive is a great Overdrive for a bargain price. Many people have referred to this as a "Tube Screamer clone on a budget." It is a simple pedal to use and doesn't take a whole lot of time tweaking. The manual that comes with it is also very informative and give some suggestions on setting. // 9

Sound: I use this pedal to front end my Peavey Windsor Head. The pedal isn't noisy at all. The effects are easily tweaked to your likings. Remember: this is an Overdrive pedal, not a distortion pedal. This pedal is made to boost your amp and give more grit and gain. It also tightens up your sound too. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This pedal has never given me a single problem. It's never broke once and is very reliable. I gig it without a backup all the time. I use power supplies for all my pedals, so I don't know what the battery life is like. It's one of my favorite pieces of gear. // 8

Impression: My bands orginals are a hard southern rock, and we do covers all the way from heavy '70s rock and up. This pedal works for everything. If it were stolen or lost I would get another one the next day because of it's inexpensive pricetag. The way that it boosts your amp and tightens up the sound is great. // 10

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: J.Dawg, on october 30, 2008

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Ease of Use: The reason I payed $0.00 is because it was a free offer, that came with the purchase of my DigiTech Whammy. It`s very easy to get a good sound out of it, just turn the knobs on it, and set it on what you want. The manual for it just tells you the basics about it. The unit has never been upgraded. I really don`t know the firmware revision number; it has no editing patches. // 9

Sound: My setup is this, My Gibson SG is connected to my DigiTech Whammy, then from my Whammy to my DigiTech Grunge distortion, then from my distortion to my DigiTech Bad Monkey, then from the Bad Monkey to a Marshall amp. It`s not noisey on any settings really, no matter how high or low you put it. The effects are pretty good, they always sound great too. I can get sounds of my favorite artists like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin... and so on. If you run the distortion with the Overdrive, it kinda creates a blanket over the sound. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I could depend on it, but I would need some backup in a gig. But I could depend on it because it is made pretty good, it could take the beating, on the ware of turning it on & off. It is a very good pedal and the way it's designed is made for dependability. // 9

Impression: I play Classic rock like AC/DC & Led Zeppelin, as mentioned before, and Alternative rock like Rage Against The Machine. It`s a good match for more of the Classic rock catagory, AC/DC and stuff. I've been playing for 4 years. My other gear is my Gibson SG, DigiTech Whammy, DigiTech Grunge, and a Marshall amp. If it were stolen or lost I would get it again because it is a good pedal. I like the whole thing, and every feature is my favorite feature. Didn`t need to compare it to other products. I wish it had a bit more effects, but the effcets on it are just fine. // 10

overall: 9

Reviewed by: BlackandSilver, on june 25, 2008

Price paid: $ 49.99

Purchased from: Daddy's Junky Music

Ease of Use: It's pretty simple to get some awesome sounds from it. Set your amp up to treble (10) and middle (5) and put the gain up all the way to bring out some crazy sounds from this thing. Then, put high at about 5 and low according to tastes, and add gain for a metal sound or put high, gain and level all the way up to make your guitar scream! The manual explains these in good detail, and even gives you some suggestions. // 9

Sound: Drive G65 and Epiphone SG310 work great with this baby. Even with level up all the way, you get a reletavely screach-less sound. (But sometimes you get a little too much background noise.) The effects themselves really do some crazy different metal and hard-rock oriented tones. This pedal saves you a lot of time mixing, and sounds awesome Live. Add a little reverb to create a godly sound. // 9

Reliability & Durability: This thing was made to stand up to getting run over. I dropped this down the stairs and there's not even a scratch on it. I've had it for a month or so and the battery died once during that time. It's a cheap little 9 volt you get at CVS in a pack of ten for 2 bucks, too. I could tottaly change the battery right before a gig and trust it to last (I would trust a week-old battery at a gig with this baby). // 9

Impression: This is perfect for virtually any type of rock that needs a little tube Overdrive added in. It can do metal, Grunge, screamo, and hard rock the best (in my opinion). Stack it with a reverb pedal and you've got a pretty good chain going. If I ever needed a new one, I'd buy a replacement in a heartbeat. This thing is made of magic. It just needs enough gain between it and the amp for the sound to expand enough and you're rockin' hardcore style! // 9

overall: 9

Reviewed by: GeneSmasher, on june 05, 2008

Purchased from: 2nd hand

Ease of Use: Majority of tones that can come out of this thing are really nice. Personally, I use it as a mild Overdrive though it can go quite high in terms of gain level. I found my favourite tone quite easily. There are only four knobs - level, low, high and gain. So it's quite an easy to use pedal. Mine is made in the USA and no modifications, all stock so far. // 10

Sound: I use the Bad Monkey purely with a humbucker-driven setup. My guitar is an Ibanez GSA60 and my amplifier is a Sound Drive SG-10. I use the Bad Monkey as a booster for my Beta Aivin HM-200 Heavy Metal distortion pedal, since I play mostly metal, neo-classical shred and experimental, though I also play a lot of rock. The tone is quite weak when the pedal is set to a trebly tone, but other than that, the tone is punchy and strong. As a booster, it shines by cleaning up my HM-200's tone a bit, yet making the volume louder and more middy. As a standalone, it shines when used to play pop-rock stuff like the Killers, Franz Ferdinand, etc, an even Radiohead, etc. It excels more as a mild Overdrive. The Bad Monkey, I'd say, is more of a Tubescreamer kinda overdrive/booster. // 8

Reliability & Durability: Its made in the USA, so most would think it more reliable, but for me I don't care if it's made in the USA or China. A well-built pedal is a well-built pedal, no matter what the origin. The Bad Monkey does not disgrace it's origin. It is very well-built, tough, even though I bought it second hand. // 10

Impression: With the Bad Monkey, I boost metal leads, and as standalone, more as a mild Overdrive for the verses of rock songs. I play stuff ranging from contemporary Christian music to modern metal, and the Bad Monkey shines as a standalone Overdrive or a booster. A guitarist for close to 7 years, I know my playing style and I stick to it. If it were lost or stolen, I'd either get it again, or if a Boss SD-1 or Ibanez TS-7 comes up at a cheaper price, I'd get those since the three pedals sound quite similar (Tubescreamer kinda tone). I also like the fact that it has mixer output, and unlike most other Drive pedals, the gain level can be increased without the overall output level increasing as well. I wish, however, that it could have more of a personality than being DigiTech's answer to the Ibanez Tubescreamer. // 8

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: VLVTRVOLVR13, on august 11, 2007

Price paid: $ 50

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Ease of Use: So I went with my friend to GC today and he was trying out different pedals to try and find a good distortion pedal for his single channel Crate amp. We took a look at the cheap line of OD and distortion pedals by DigiTech and the first was the Tube Overdrive Bad Monkey. The pedal was extremely easy to use, I didn't even take a look at the manual. There were four knobs, Level, Bass, High, Gain. And each knob functioned as it was clearly labeled. There are no patch editing features, but the knobs felt pretty firm, so you wouldn't have to worry about them brushing a side and screwing up your setting. // 10

Sound: Clearly, DigiTech was trying to manufacture a cheaper version of the Tube Screamer, one of the most popular Overdrive pedals. As a whole, the Bad Monkey(BM) created similar tones. It was very quiet, even when the gain was cranked, and I would reccomend using this pedal either to get a good overdriven rhythm sound, classic rock sound, or, use this pedal to boost your amps distortion channel for a lead setting. I feel like the greatest use of this pedal lies in its ability to boost a lead signal without creating any unwanted feedback or hum. I certainly wouldn't really on this pedal as my main rhythm sound, but I play more modern rock that requires a lot more gain. // 8

Reliability & Durability: The pedal is built with a metal/steel body or something like that, regardless of material, it was hard and built for smashing. I felt like I could really on the BM not to let me down durring a gig, and I think it would hold up very well after constant use. // 8

Impression: If you are looking for a cheap way to get that classic tude Overdrive sound, the Bad Monkey is probably the best way to go. Through a tube amp, the pedal does sound very nice, but it certainly doesn't top the classic Tube Screamer. As a guitarist of about three years, I've tried out a ton of gear, and there's nothing too special about this pedal. It works well, it feels tough, and it sounds decent. it's nothing I would replace if lost or stolen, but if I were tight for cash (arent we all?), this would be an alternative I would deffinately look into. // 8

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: shabutie86, on may 11, 2007

Purchased from: Music Pro

Ease of Use: Pretty damn simple to use like any effects pedal, you got your high and your low, your gain and your volume, all very basic. There is a manual that comes with it that shows factory settings and other of digitechs products. Also it has a second output port for a mixing board which is always nifty. // 8

Sound: Right now I am using a Les Paul Studio and a Roland Cube 30 amp on the classic stack modeling which is basically modeled after a Marshall I believe. Anyhow the sound is beautifull, it has a nice low warm fuzz sound or with some tweaking some nice attacking loud crisp fuzz, it has a very classic rock sound, reminisent of hendrix or even Zeppelin if tuned correctly. If your into Wolfmother this is the pedal for you! // 10

Reliability & Durability: Nothing so far wrong with it, it's a metal casing and it's been beautifull so far. The knobs are all lowered and pretty rough to turn so there's no accidental movement and messing up of your tone you got going, I've knocked it around a bit accidently and no damage to it so far! // 9

Impression: I am in love with this pedal, I play a lot of different kinds of music but I use this specifically for classic rock sounds, and I use it for playing lots of Wolfmother. I've had it for little under a month now and if it was stolen I would totally buy it again. // 10

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: WrathOscuro, on august 20, 2007

Purchased from: Gear 1 Music

Ease of Use: As long as you understand it's purpose, this pedal is just as easy as any other DigiTech stomp box. The knobs are level, low, high, and gain. The Bad Monkey is very versatile, yet also easy to get cool sounds out of it. Take note that this is an Overdrive pedal. Not a distortion pedal. Don't expect to get some brutal gain out of the pedal alone. This is used to add some grit to your cleans, or add an extra boost to an amp that can already be overdriven. // 10

Sound: This is pretty much a cheap version of an Ibanez Tube Screamer, only it's a more smooth sounding Overdrive. Though it is only a $40, it is great at what it is supposed to do. Using the pedal alone, you can go from the Stevie Ray Vaughan sounds, to Jimi Hendrix, to Led Zeppelin if tweaked right. Like other Overdrive pedals, it also can act as a boost to an amp that already has gain, to make your tone thicker, put more character into your notes, etc. The thing that I love about this pedal is that it also will maintain your guitar's tone. Bluesy leads, shrieking leads, whatever you want. Though this is a great quality pedal especially for the money, It is recommended that the reader should try out several Overdrive pedals, because it's all a matter of personal preference whether or not one likes the Bad Monkey or the Tube Screamer better. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I've had absolutely no technical problems what'soever with this pedal, though just like any other stomp box, it will suck down battery juice pretty quickly. Also, it's made out of hard metal casing. I've dropped this pedal and have drug it around, yet the pedal still has yet to have any dings in it. // 10

Impression: There is really not much else to say that hasn't been said already. It's nice smooth Overdrive for a great price of $40, it's reliable, durable, and will serve those Who understand the purpose of an Overdrive pedal nicely. Got an amp that has built in Overdrive, but it's just not enough? Try this pedal out for a good boost. // 9

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: CWeavr, on june 11, 2007

Price paid: $ 39.99

Purchased from: local guitar shop

Ease of Use: The Bas Monkey is just a basic Overdrive pedal. It has High and Low controls to cut or boost bass and treble frequencies, Level control to control to output level, and Gain controls to determine the amount of Overdrive you get. It has amp and recording/mixer outputs. It also comes with a manual to teach you how to use it properly if you are new to stompboxes. // 9

Sound: I use a Standard Strat through a Marshall solid state with a few other pedals. You can get a great gritty boost out of this pedal. But if you're looking for a heavy distortion, look elsewhere. It sounds great on both rythym and lead parts. Reminds me of the Tube Screamer. // 9

Reliability & Durability: It's very dependable. The only problem I've had with it was that the level knob came loose after a few months, but it wasn't a big deal. Everything else was fine. I've dropped it, tripped over it, and accidently kicked it, but it is still in perfect condition. // 8

Impression: I'm not a real big fan of DigiTech. I've never really found a pedal from them that I loved, but the Bad Monkey is definately an exception to that. It was exactly what I was looking for, to give my solid state a tube-like boost. It's definately one of the best DigiTech pedals I've played. And the price is so low it's like you're ripping of DigiTech. I definately recomend it to any player looking for a gritty boost. // 9

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: darthbuttchin, on january 04, 2007

Ease of Use: This pedal is one of the easiest pedals to get a good sound from. You literally turn the knobs and you have a great tube overdrive sound. You do get a manual with it, but that just tells you where to plug the leads in and what each knob does. There is also a small catalogue that comes with it that shows all of Digitech's stompboxes and in there you can find some settings to start you off. // 9

Sound: I am using a Cruiser by Crafter RG600, with a Denio CH-40 Chorus pedal, through an old Stagg amp. The pedal is a very noisy pedal if you turn it right up, though if you strive to get an amazing tone from it, you find it can be a subtle noise as well. This pedal is always very strong sounding, unless the battery is running out at which point the effect isnt so good. I am able to get a good sound out of it and I can replicate the sounds of many of my favourite artists, such as Cream. I can also manage to get a good Nirvana sound out of it. // 8

Reliability & Durability: Generally speaking, you can depend on this pedal. It will always give you an amazing Overdrive. However, if you are not going to use a power supply, be warned, it eats bateries. Especially if you leave the leads plugged in. I would take it to a gig without backup, though I would definitely make sure I took a spare battery with me, or I would change the battery before I left for the gig. // 8

Impression: I really play classic rock and blues and also a lot of grunge. This pedal is(as far as I am concerned) a good match, as I can get a very good sound out of it for all the music that I play.I have been playing for two years and I own a Denio CH-40 Chorus pedal aswell. If this pedal was stolen, I would take after the person Who stole it. When I caught them, I would take the Bad Monkey and Drive it through their skull. I would then take the Bad Monkey and enough of their money so that I could buy a new one and have two! The thing that I love most about this pedal is that it doesnt't take long to make a great sound with it. However, the only bad thing about it is that it eats batteries like they are going out of fashion. I compared this product with the other pedals in Digitech's distortion range and decided that it was the one that was most versatile. // 9

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: PumpkinPieces, on march 26, 2007

Price paid: $ 45

Purchased from: Playford Music Co.

Ease of Use: This pedal has its typical DigiTech set up with level, lows, highs, and gain knobs. Pretty simple to use and very easy to get you guitar to sound like a Bad Monkey. The manual gives you a few pre sets which are all pretty spiffy, but it won't be too hard to stray away and get your own sound. // 10

Sound: the Bad Monkey not only is fun to say but fun to play thru. So far I've used my Epiphone Jr. P-90 thru it into a Marshall MG100 half stack and at the store played thru a tube amp. It sounded awesome on both amps. It gives a nice smooth Overdrive just as it promises. I play many genres, my band plays punk/ska and this is a very nice addition to my pedals. I also play a lot of Smashing Pumpkins, and I've always had trouble with a solid state amp getting the light overdriven sound in intro of bullet with butterfly wings, and this pedal solved that. This pedal is great from smooth lightly overdriven cleans to Classic rock Overdrive. // 9

Reliability & Durability: DigiTech pedals are made quite well, durable and easy to use, I doubt it'll break, it's like a steel brick. And I would gig without a back up. another thing is it doesn't slip around due to it's weight and nice grips on the bottom. Stomp on it as hard as you want, it can take it. // 10

Impression: As I said I play just about anything, and this pedal is great for overriven punk, classic leads, and those light overdriven 90's Grunge intros (I can get a nice smells like teen spirit intro sound). I've been playing for a year and 4 months. I also own a Crossroads pedal and a Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi. With these three I'm pretty much set distortion wise, and am ready to look into different effects. I would absolutely buy this again if it were stolen for 45 bucks it's a hell of a deal. I went into the store planning on getting a Screamin' Blues or Bad Monkey, I could get the Screamin' Blues sound with my Crossroads pedal and the Bad Monkey had a much different sound, so I chose the Bad Monkey. I wish it had a little bit more gain, just a bit, but I just turn on my bigg muff on a low setting to get a little more boost, heck vice versa too. If you need a nice smooth Overdrive, this is a heck of a steal. // 9

overall: 10

Reviewed by: Iron Rocket, on june 11, 2007

Purchased from: Cornerstone music store

Ease of Use: It is smiply a great sounding guitar effect it has 4 nobs to turn too change the sound. Gain, level, hi, and low. The manual tells you how to work it what batter and some cool settings. Never needed a fix or a tune up it's amazing. You can't edit it. I can't beleive how good it sounds it's so easy too use perfect from beginner to pro it's awesome. // 10

Sound: Crate guitar, B.C. Rich Warlock. Not much extra noise unless you use the amp dist and the Bad Monkey. This effect is very powerful and has a grate punch it's for hard rock(GN'R), blues/southernrock (Lynyrd Skynyrd), and thrash (Bullet For My Valentine) are the best musics for this effect. Other effects just an RP250, Boss wah. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Yes you can depend on it it has warrenty enlees it was messed up in the shipping no need to use the warrenty. I would use this without a backup if you want too that's fine if your use different sounds okay but you don't need it this dist. Will hold it's own. The durability of this thing is amazing I drop it all the time and sounds as good as when I bought it. // 10

Impression: I play rock, thrash, hardcore (Christian). Perfect match for my fast fingers. 2 1/2 years I'm 14 so I don't have the creame of the crop. Washburn acoustic, Crate Electric, Bad Monkey, RP250. No I tried it and just fell in love with it.If it were stolen I would go when I found out and get another.Love everything hate nothing. My fave is it's raw punch.Its not compareable show me one and I'll try it but you probly wont change my mind. // 10

overall: 5.5

Reviewed by: cheeseisthebomb, on january 11, 2008

Price paid: $ 49.99

Ease of Use: This pedal is one of the easier DigiTech Pedals to use. There is a volume knob, a low knob, and a high knob. There is also a gain knob. That makes a total of four knobs. There is a manual for it which is worth flipping through for some sample settings, which I recomend trying out. // 8

Sound: This pedal is a below average sounding pedal. The low sounds completley pathetic no matter what, so then that eleminates the sound all together. I find the distortion to be muddy. I used to think that this would be a good pedal for boost, but I don't think that that would work either. There is no paticular artist you can get out of this pedal. // 4

Reliability & Durability: I never have like the way DigiTech's were constructed. The last DigiTech pedal I had fell apart and I wasn't really sure why I got this one. If you are a heavy stomper, or an aggressive player then don't buy this pedal. You will have to do some major repair work in order if you do. Avoid gigging. // 5

Impression: This pedal would be good for a cheap, lightly distorted rythem guitarist in a 3 chord punk band. That is really the only thing it is good for. I don't like this pedal at all. It is not reliable, nor does it sound good at all. I wish the sound was better. If you want a good Overdrive pedal, try out the Boss Super Overdrive pedal, Boss BD-2 Blues Driver, or the Boss OD-1 Overdrive pedal. // 5

Comments

[Irenic Retral]

This pedal would be perfect for me to get. Because i'm into "soft rock".

[zebrahead234]

awesome overdrive and boost pedal

[cap'nkirk]

Yeah, I've played through that pedal, it's got a pretty good tone. It's no tubescreamer though, but it's awesome for the price.

[rap_Fn_sux]

digi tech are the only pedals i buy, good quality, easy to use and they sound bitchin! i have their metal master and hot head overdrive pedals and their flange and reverb pedals, all of which kick ass! I dont know if any one is in to tool, but that flange with the right settings is almost perfect for just about any of their songs, the reverb too.

[zacky gates]

can this pedal do metal (avenged sevenfold)? or rock (greenday)?

[nickwarhead]

I use this to push my marshall JCM 900. Works good for that. Its not real powerful on its own but pushing an already high gain tube amp is sort of what it is made for I think...

[blind_melon1995]

no metal man
not at all
truly tube tone and slightly dirty under 8 gain
great pedal a must buy

[al silver]

Can this get like a 3 Doors Down sound?

[led_zephyr]

i have had this pedal for 1.5 years and it rocks. its no tubescreamer but it gives boss a run for their money. surprisingly real tube tone and highly versatile. however, i recommend the BBE GREENSCREAMER, it is an exact copy of a Tubescreamer, just of higher quality, analog circuitry, and true bypass, all for 100 dollars.

[BloodBlooms]

the point of this pedal (and i own two of them) isn't to get balls-out heavy. it's digitech's take on the tubescreamer circuit, so keep that in mind. it wasn't made to do high gain stuff. it was made to add just a little grit to your tone and boost an already-distorted signal. that's the difference between distortion and overdrive. it's a great effect--especially since it's all analog, true bypass, and $30 new on eBay.

[Hart_Attack]

agreed with bloodblooms, this pedal for me has all i need when i play. When I need a good SRV tone I'd set up my Vox on a tweed 4x10 with the gain at 3 o clock and the gain on my bad monkey which I've dubbed "Otis" at 10 o clock with the bass at 2 and the tremble at 10. sweet creamy tones, I can even get a really great santana with those same presets but my vox on black 2x12 and the gain on my bad monkey at 4.5 o clock.

get this pedal if your under a budget but still need great tone.

[mi2tom]

I just got this pedal and just wow, great

[Chiefwiddler]

After buying the Metal Master pedal, I vowed never to buy Digitech again. It was awful. Ok if you want to sound flat and characterless, but it made my mind up to invest in a Boss GT8. Now that is a wicked piece of kit!!

[mfergel]

Yeah, folks don't seem to fully understand this pedal. This pedal is at it's best pushing an already overdriven amp, like a JCM800. I use it with my JCM2000 DSL. Turn on the green channel crunch and push it with the Bad Monkey. We are talking thick tone. It's really not going to help a solid state amp.

[tobythechimp]

on the contrary mfergel i use it through SS amps and it sounds amazing! Its great with my ibanez s-470 and when i need a bit more boost i stick on my EQ (i use it as a boost pedal) and hey presto-solo tone

[SOMETHINGSOAD]

i agree with toby it does make a SS amp sound better

[Sid McCall]

nickwarhead wrote:

I use this to push my marshall JCM 900. Works good for that. Its not real powerful on its own but pushing an already high gain tube amp is sort of what it is made for I think...

no. mayyyybe soft green day (waiting, stuff like that)

[Second Rate]

zacky gates wrote:

can this pedal do metal (avenged sevenfold)? or rock (greenday)?

This pedal is an overdrive pedal, it's not made for driving a clean amp into the ground. Typically, in a metal setting, you would stick it out in front of an already distorted amplifier to get a high end boost for solos. If your amp is only a single channel and youre looking to drive the clean channel to meltdown, i would reccomend a BOSS MT-2. I've personally found most of digitech's distortion pedals to be a little wanting. That said, this particular overdrive pedals serves its purpose pretty well, but as someone already said, it is no Tube Screamer.

[Cwolf]

i used to work at guitar center and in my time there i tried every pedal known to man and i have to say digitech is complete crap spend the extra money and go with a boss pedal.

[llanafreak44]

Most of these reviews were by people who don't know that overdrive pedals are for TUBE AMPS, they are supposed to give you a boost, you aren't supposed to use them with a solid state on a clean channel. Its for overdriving your tube amp even more.

[Atreideslegend]

basically this pedal is designed to make a solid state amp sound like an over-driven tube, but it doesnt really work, if you want the tube amp sound, buy a tube amp + tubescreamer, its the only way.

[A7XRemenissions]

^umm no. It's not supposed to make a solid state sound like a tube amp. Everyone would buy cheap SS amps and this inexpensive pedal if they could achive tube tone with very little money. Like people have said before, it can either: A) Be used on a clean channel to help break it up a bit for very light bluesy overdrive OR B) Boost an already overdriven TUBE amp to get thicker tone. / rant

[djinn1973]

I use this pedal to add boost and a little dirt to my VOX AC15CC. The tone controls for both high and low settings make it a good alternative to some thing like a Boosta Grande.

[livrockdie]

This pedal does anything from a little boost to hard rock, I like to distort my amp then use this it picks up harmonics great I'd go as far to say it does metal. Thats with a strat with a tone zone in the bridge, this, and a vox pathfinder (yes, I know thats considered a ss amp by most people but it works great with it)

[Weybl Himself]

I've found this pedal to be a great 'thickener'. When the gain's right up it tends to get rather messy in the highs and lows but it's great on a low gain setting to add a little grit and tighten up the midrange. I wouldn't use this for anything heavy at all, it's just not over the top enough.

As for improving the tone of an SS amp, it's not a huge help there, it hints at tube characteristics but it really is at it's best when it's used to push a tube amp just that little bit harder.

[Tele Echoes]

"I play rock, thrash, hardcore (Christian)"

Let's all thrash to some hardcore Christian music!
Muahahahahaha.

Seriously though, you earn 10 points for pure comedic genius. As for overdrive. I use the Double Muff, because in the words of Jack Black on cock push-ups, "Yeah, one's all you need."

If you actually have a tube amp, this would also be a complete waste of money.

Fuzz Face, or Big Muff and/or Double Muff are the best ones out there, in my humble opinion.

[which ones pink]

^It's not a waste of money with a tube amp. I use it to get Zeppelin and SRV tones out of the clean channel, as my amp has far to much distortion on the second channel.

I also use it to tighten the signal on said distortion channel, especially for solos and shredding, as it's very loose.

Checked.

[the.spine.surfs]

Tele Echoes wrote:
Fuzz Face, or Big Muff and/or Double Muff are the best ones out there, in my humble opinion.

Muffs are excellent (I have a Russian Big Muff Pi and a Metal Muff w/Top Boost) but really arn't overdrive pedals in the way that the Bad Monkey is.

[Angel Of Sin]

are there any pedals for black metal?

[Pete24v]

i think everybody has missed a great feature of this pedal.... the mixer out!! you can plug this output direct into a mixer/p.a/pc etc and it has cabinet simulation when the effect is on and off, brilliant! so when your valve amp goes down on a gig the Bad Monkey can save the day with a pretty decent DI'd sound.

[asiankid123]

Ive heard about this pedal, ive heard sumone play it to. to me, this stompbox can sound like an Ac/Dc ryhthm guitar

[]\/[R. EM0]

I have an SG. my guitar instructor, (he's really my teacher, but instructor sounds more professional.) recommended i get a Bad Monkey, so I'm getting one for Christmas. I have a Randall practice amp, not sure which kind, but i love the amp, and i hope both the guitar and the amp work well with the petal.

*message me if you've had any probs with it!*

[marianoarnaiz]

IT ROCKS I PLAY WITH THIS GUY POWER METAL AND HEAVY METAL AND HARD ROCK AND BLUES AND LATIN AND ACOUSTIC IT THE MOST EASY SETTING-CHEAP- AND GOOD OVERDRIVE I HAVE TRIED, I LIKE IT BETTER THAN MY TUBESCREAMER

[fleh]

dis monkeys badass

[bucketbots]

check my profil

[RAGman22ReborN]

It has officially become my personal favorite overdrive pedal. Affordable and awesome for its price. I use my 5150 cab hooked to a crate power block and with this baby hooked in along with my other pedals, it kicks arse. From Iron Maiden to Black Sabbath, Queen, Creed, Alter Bridge, Buckethead, Megadeth, Stevie Ray Vaughan or Joe Satriani, this monkey does what its master commands.

[Weybl Himself]

Tele Echoes wrote:

"I play rock, thrash, hardcore (Christian)"

Let's all thrash to some hardcore Christian music!
Muahahahahaha.

Seriously though, you earn 10 points for pure comedic genius. As for overdrive. I use the Double Muff, because in the words of Jack Black on cock push-ups, "Yeah, one's all you need."

If you actually have a tube amp, this would also be a complete waste of money.

Fuzz Face, or Big Muff and/or Double Muff are the best ones out there, in my humble opinion.

Although those are all great pedals (EH rarely put a foot wrong) they are so totally different to an Overdrive pedal that you can't really compare them to the Bad Monkey.

[601210]

Weybl Himself wrote:

Tele Echoes wrote:

"I play rock, thrash, hardcore (Christian)"

Let's all thrash to some hardcore Christian music!
Muahahahahaha.

Seriously though, you earn 10 points for pure comedic genius. As for overdrive. I use the Double Muff, because in the words of Jack Black on cock push-ups, "Yeah, one's all you need."

If you actually have a tube amp, this would also be a complete waste of money.

Fuzz Face, or Big Muff and/or Double Muff are the best ones out there, in my humble opinion.




Although those are all great pedals (EH rarely put a foot wrong) they are so totally different to an Overdrive pedal that you can't really compare them to the Bad Monkey.

agreed. And, a Bad Monkey + Big Muff sounds like pure sex.

[fobio]

That sounds like a good deal for 58$

[mickjones76]

fobio wrote:

That sounds like a good deal for 58$

You can get these for under $40, anywhere.
Just for the jokers: this is an overdrive pedal for a tube amp. If you say it sounds good thru a solid state, than you are easy to please, and also dont know what things are for.
I run this on ALL the time, clean, distorted, whatever, the bad monkey is never off. I use to it tighten up my sound, and as an occasional volume boost.
Everyone should have one, but I think only half the ppl that do have em, use them correctly.

[mickjones76]

Atreideslegend wrote:

basically this pedal is designed to make a solid state amp sound like an over-driven tube, but it doesnt really work, if you want the tube amp sound, buy a tube amp + tubescreamer, its the only way.

OK, you just proved that you dont know anything. The Bad Monnkey is a TS clone. No sarcastic comeback, son, just stop posting stupid, wrong comments.

[bobthecow]

I use the Bad Monkey with my hybrid amps and it sounds amazing. I have both a Vox Valvetronix 30 and a Marshall AVT 50.

It sounds wonderful on both, either on clean or distortion. I still havn't been able to get the exact sound I want... but as others have said, for that I need an all tube amp.

[Mental Hop]

I agree with CWolf. I also work in a music store and have tried every pedal out there. This, and all Digi-tech pedals are not worth it. I'm sorry to say, they're horrible. Buy a Boss or anything else. This pedal in paticular is only good for volume boosts because it has no effect unless you crank the gain all the way. Buy a SD-1 and you'll get all the tone you need for an extra $10.

[lespaul#1]

This or the Screaming Blues?

[lespaul#1]

This or the Screaming Blues?

[marianoarnaiz]

I own this little green guy, and it amaze me every time, if you run a distortion through it pumps it all to the heaven and allso makes any amp boost op the way it should. ALso if you put the gain knob in ten and you put the amp volume a little hight you can hace a little overdrive/distortion sound that is awsome

[MRAAJR]

lespaul#1 wrote:

This or the Screaming Blues?

i got both.....

[piebot9]

will this pedal give solos a boost and make them sound thick

[Gmoneydogg360]

I use it for ZZtop like jazz makes my pinch harmonics sound great the only bad this is it eats batteries up so its best to get the apater

[ricv2106]

Hi im pretty noob at this stuff so please dont make fun of me.... I got a Laney LC 15 R. I love that amp it has such a nice tone and all, unfortunatelly i wish it had more gain (although it can do rock well enouph)so i would love to be able to drive it into hard rock and metal territory (not death metal but old school like Iron Maiden or Metallica while keeping the amps original tone (i like warm type of sound like my amp, not like some digital distortion . e.g modelling amp at metal setting type of sound). Unfortunatelly for me i cant always crank my amp up(live close to grumpy neighbours) so i need more gain at lower volumes (to push me at least to old school metal territory).... so i wondered if a overdrive pedal such as this would help.