I just joined the Bad Monkey club

[Adrian30]

Though I should be all set in the tubescreamer department, with a TS9DX and a BD-2, I just couldn't pass on a good deal. The pedal is used but mint condition. I picked it up locally and it came in the original box with instructions and a little brochure of DigiTech pedals.

Came home, plugged it and found out that THIS LITTLE THING ROCKS! I just love it! It perfectly covers the "empty zone" between the gritty BD-2 and somewhat bassy TS9.

Thank you Bad Monkey owners for the recommendation (read: GAS cultivation)!

 

[just strum]

Adrian,

Congrats on the latest GAS relief. :bravo:

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Adrian,

Congrats on the latest GAS relief. :bravo:

There is no relief .

Each gear purchase just feeds the little Gear Monkey on your back who whispers sweet little tone nonsense into your ears.

Decent low-priced gear is the Monkey's way of getting you hooked. He's even marked his goods with this pedal.

:rotflmao: He wins, you lose. Give up now! :rotflmao:

 

[mrmudcat]

I could barely hear Adrians fart, in fact it sounded like the kind only your woman can do in her graceful ladylike way ...pfffffffffffttttttt........:rotflmao:

Congrats on the bad bad monkey:spank:

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Congrats!! Those are pretty low cost GAS relief, and for me seem really useful pedals. Very versatile. I use mine all the time, and got it for next to nothing. It was my first pedal, and I think a good first one for those just getting started in electric. :beer: I don't have those ones you have A-30, and am glad to hear it has a place in your lineup even with owning the other two overdrives.

 

[Robert]

It's a good OD pedal. It certainly has built up some fame in the guitar community, and rightly so. All guitar forums with any self-respect seem to have a few Bad Monkey threads going. You certainly get a lot of good tone for cheap when you buy a Bad Monkey.

 

[tunghaichuan]

I just joined the Bad Monkey club, too. I got my pedal cheap from Guitar Center last week. Lately, my local GC has had some good deals on used pedals. The Bad Monkey I got looks brand new, not a scratch on it. It sounds pretty good through my Blackheart head. One surprise: the bass control actually works. Crank it up and it adds bass, what a concept. :bravo:

It doesn't do the clean boost thing as well as my Boss Blues Driver, but I like the BM's OD sound better. Smoother and doesn't have the grating high end of the BD.

tung

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Ok, i vote it goes on CB's buy list with her first electric guitar!!

 

[Adrian30]

One surprise: the bass control actually works. Crank it up and it adds bass, what a concept. :bravo:

It doesn't do the clean boost thing as well as my Boss Blues Driver, but I like the BM's OD sound better. Smoother and doesn't have the grating high end of the BD.

tung

Tung,
that was my thought, too. A very wise design. +1 on BD-2 thoughts, too.

Tot,
very true, but I don't think none of us is ready to give up...well not yet anyways. As a confirmation to what you said about the monkey, I need a pedal board now. I don't have one, and I'm keeping most of my pedals in a cardboard box.

Strum, Mud, Sunvalley and Robert,
Thanks, it's truly a great little toy and it's quite affordable, too.:AOK:

 

[Tone2TheBone]

Congrats dudes. Great pedal for us all.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Tot,
very true, but I don't think none of us is ready to give up...well not yet anyways. As a confirmation to what you said about the monkey, I need a pedal board now. I don't have one, and I'm keeping most of my pedals in a cardboard box.

Hey, ya' know neither do I...hmmmm .

I have a Bad Monkey too. I don't use it for chords, but it does a nice smooth lead.

 

[tunghaichuan]

Another thing I like about the Bad Monkey: it has a built in cabinet simulator for connecting to a mixer. :AOK: Nice feature and sounds good through a guitar amp.

tung

 

[duhvoodooman]

I've found the Bad Monkey to be just an astonishingly good value, and it's generally my first recommendation for someone looking to buy their first overdrive pedal and not wanting to drop a lot of $$. It's got a nice warm, smooth analog tone, a decent range of gain (but keep in mind it's an overdrive, not a distro box!), very useful tone controls with the separate bass & treble, and the dual output options that Tung mentioned. Really, for $50 new, I don't think you can beat it with a stick! Speaking of which, you couldn't hurt it if you did, 'cuz it's also built like the proverbial freakin' tank! :AOK: :dude:

 

[tunghaichuan]

Really, for $50 new, I don't think you can beat it with a stick! Speaking of which, you couldn't hurt it if you did, 'cuz it's also built like the proverbial freakin' tank! :AOK: :dude:

My "pre-owned" Bad Monkey came with the box, which surprised me, but didn't come with the manual. I had to download it from the Digitech web site to find out how to replace the dead battery that came with it. :thwap: I couldn'f figure out how to get the battery door open :rotflmao:

tung

 

[Adrian30]

My "pre-owned" Bad Monkey came with the box, which surprised me, but didn't come with the manual. I had to download it from the Digitech web site to find out how to replace the dead battery that came with it. :thwap: I couldn'f figure out how to get the battery door open :rotflmao:

tung

Mine came with the battery, but yeah, it is definitely quite different from what I'm used to with Boss or Ibanez pedals. The manual says: "Using the tip of a 1/4" guitar cable, push one of the release pins in on either side of the pedal, and remove the pedal from the pedal chassis...", not a very practical solution, but it works.

 

[markb]

The nice man at Rockshop showed me how to change the battery. Ah, sweet! With the possible exception of a TS808 I used to have I think the Monkey is the nicest TS pedal I've used regardless of price, those tone controls really do the job. I've mostly used mine stacked with a Blues Driver. The BD does the rhythm drive and I kick the Monkey on for solos.

 

[tunghaichuan]

Cool suggestion, thanks for the tip.

tung

The nice man at Rockshop showed me how to change the battery. Ah, sweet! With the possible exception of a TS808 I used to have I think the Monkey is the nicest TS pedal I've used regardless of price, those tone controls really do the job. I've mostly used mine stacked with a Blues Driver. The BD does the rhythm drive and I kick the Monkey on for solos.

 

[gtrwrks]

My Monkey was bad, so I spanked it:

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Do tell! What did the spanking produce?

 

[Robert]

Spanked Monkey! That is awesome, Todd!

 

[gtrwrks]

I modified it with a mini-toggle switch to select between an OD mode (with asymetrical clipping) and a faux-RC Booster mode. I also installed a mojo-laden Blue LED as well as improving all 1uF coupling caps from electrolytic to stacked metal film (same value) and replaced the 10uF output cap with a 10uF Nichicon high-qual, audio-grade cap.

The BM is a fantastic pedal bone stock - it doesn't need any mods. But, the addition of a mini-toggle to incorporate 'Landgraff' clipping or 'AC'/'RC' Booster modes is a hip thing that only enhances the usability of this already nice pedal.

Many diff clipping options could be incorporated here.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I modified it with a mini-toggle switch to select between an OD mode (with asymetrical clipping) and a faux-RC Booster mode.

The BM is a fantastic pedal bone stock - it doesn't need any mods. But, the addition of a mini-toggle to incorporate 'Landgraff' clipping or 'AC'/'RC' Booster modes is a hip thing that only enhances the usability of this already nice pedal.

Many diff clipping options could be incorporated here.

Can you explain the tonal benefits of asymmetric clipping?

 

[gtrwrks]

Difficult to describe in aural terms maybe. Symetrical clipping is where both the top and bottom of the waveform is distorted/"clipped" in the same manner - same visual shape of wave distortion if you were looking at it on a scope. Asymetrical clipping is where the top half of the waveform is clipped in one manner (a certain visual shape that equates to some sound) and the bottom half of the wave is distorted in a different manner.

This can get vague and there are myriad variables to consider or that could be introduced. Generally, symetrical clipping is seen as and can be smooth and even, while asymetrical clipping can be 'rougher', thicker, punchier - because one half of the wave is 'less distorted' than the other half.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[markb]

symmetric clipping = original tube screamer
asymmetric clipping = Boss SD-1

Sonically, the Boss sounds a bit more raw and edgy than the Ibanez. Some describe this as "hair". Doing sounds with words is not easy.