# Bad Monkey vs every other boost pedal.



## Luke Acacia (Mar 12, 2013)

Hey guys 
I have never been into boost pedals in the past but recently in the studio we were boosting a 5150 and a PB2 with a Marshall Guv'nor (the old black ones) and it really turned my amp into a monster. Really brought out the beautiful mids while still not overpowering the other natural freq of the amps.

I want to buy one but the prices are higher than I would want to spend so I started looking into the Bad Monkey tube overdrives. I checked a few videos and they seem to do as good if not a better job than the TS9.

Does anyone have any experience with the Bad Monkey? If so, what did you find it boosted in your amp, how smooth/transparent was it and would you recommend it to others?

For $90 it seems well worth a try but if it sounds like farts then it just puts me $90 further away from the other boost pedals that I am looking into.


Cheers everyone.


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## Leuchty (Mar 12, 2013)

Lots of people around these parts have used them as a quick, cheap alternative to the glorified TS' with great results.

Also look at Hardwire OD, MXR Classic OD, Ibanez TS-7,

Or PM/text me if you want an MXR GT-OD...


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## noUser01 (Mar 12, 2013)

They are nice pedals. Some guys around here trash them but for a cheap TS style pedal they are pretty good. And hey, if a guy like Phil X swears by them then I'll trust his judgement.


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## TheDepthsWillRise (Mar 12, 2013)

Get a used Sparkle Drive for around $75. Has the TS sound, is very flexible, and just plain sounds great.


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## Ishan (Mar 12, 2013)

Check the Hardwire CM-2, it's a made in USA Bad Monkey with a few mods and a better bypass (relay based). Kick ass pedal IMHO.


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## ShadyDavey (Mar 12, 2013)

I got a Bad Monkey for £20 (brand new) and for the money it's absolutely beyond reproach. My only real criticism is that it has a very pronounced "mid hump" and could do with being a little more transparent. Thankfully there's an inexpensive mod that can (apparently) be carried out with ease which addresses both issues (quoted from a number of websites - I wish I could find a tech locally to do them for me!) 




> You can change C5 (.047uf) to a .1uf(mids cut) or .15uf(more mids cut) More cut equals more transparency. Since its a Tubescreamer clone as you know it has a slight mid hump this mod takes that out of the picture. Digitech did a good job of removing most of it but this takes it the rest of the way.





> Also you can change out C11 (22uf) to a 1uf if you would like to increase the bass on the pedal. I found the pedal to have plenty of bass on tap in the first place so I just left it alone.
> And lastly for cosmetic purposes I thought a yellow led looked alot better in the already green and yellow pedal I slapped in a yellow led. Plus it reminds me of a not so ripe banana


 
Original post with pictures:

http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/IbanezPsycho/blog/53932/

Also see the "BM to TS808" mod:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=75293.0;prev_next=next

Bottom line - it's a great clean boost but needs to some love to make it viable as a stand-alone pedal.


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## rug (Mar 12, 2013)

$90? No way dude. I bought mine for $45 new, and I've seen them for even less on Craigslist. For the price it's hard to beat.


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## Mprinsje (Mar 12, 2013)

it sounds good, but i prefer the tone of the boss SD-1, should be able to find one very cheap and since it's a boss it'll never break down.


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## BeyondDan (Mar 12, 2013)

I'm a huge defender/user of the Bad Monkey! I f***ing love this pedal! I tryed and own many other TS like the od808, ts9x keeley moded and the Boss SD-1, but i always came back to my old Bad Monkey. The SD-1 works great for the price but i tought the mid/high were too pushed with this one. The Bad Monkey have 2 tone knob (low & high) so it's very easy to get the tone you want. For the price (around 50$ CAD) you really should give it a try!!


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## UV7BK4LIFE (Mar 12, 2013)

I have a TS808 and after that I bought a Bad Monkey. The 808 was 6 times the price of the monkey. There's no way to justify that difference but the 808 does have a slightly better tone. 

The Monkey is good. The monkey is cheap. Get the Monkey.

But AUD 90 is too much, really.


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## Fromeasttowes (Mar 12, 2013)

I got one used from guitar center for $30 bucks and swiftly returned it. I'm just not a fan of boosts and my 6505+ has more gain than I'll ever need.


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## budda (Mar 12, 2013)

He's in australia, hence the price difference


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## BeyondDan (Mar 12, 2013)

Fromeasttowes said:


> I got one used from guitar center for $30 bucks and swiftly returned it. I'm just not a fan of boosts and my 6505+ has more gain than I'll ever need.



You don't put a tube screamer in front of a 6505 to obtain more gain....you do this to tightening it up! The gain all the way down and the level all the way up on the pedal (clean boost) and i tend to keep my gain at 4.5 - 5 max on my 6505. The key word is "tight" not "more gain"


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## FooBAR (Mar 12, 2013)

Luke Acacia said:


> Hey guys
> I have never been into boost pedals in the past but recently in the studio we were boosting a 5150 and a PB2 with a Marshall Guv'nor (the old black ones) and it really turned my amp into a monster. Really brought out the beautiful mids while still not overpowering the other natural freq of the amps.
> 
> I want to buy one but the prices are higher than I would want to spend so I started looking into the Bad Monkey tube overdrives. I checked a few videos and they seem to do as good if not a better job than the TS9.
> ...



$90 for a Bad Monkey is waaaaaaay too high...even for Australia.

Just checked on eBay AU, and there are a few for ~$50.


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## cGoEcYk (Mar 13, 2013)

CYBERSYN said:


> MXR Classic OD


I hated this one... I got one because it was cheap but it turned me off of OD/Boosts for a long time. It was essentially garbage for me. Even as an actual OD it sounded rough, worse than just running my clean tube channels hot enough to break up. Everything changed when I got a Maxon.


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## sugarman (Mar 13, 2013)

Joyo vintage overdrive is so cool


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## VBCheeseGrater (Mar 14, 2013)

Im using the Bad Monkey right now, it's kinda my "OD of the month". I like being able to adjust the lows and highs on separate knobs to set the right amount of tightness, and it's silky smooth compared to alot of ODs - especially apparent when used with cleans.

I really dig my Delta Labs Tube Driver too - just depends on my mood which OD i'll use

EDIT: yeah don't pay more than $49 for a new one - amazon has em


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## goldsteinat0r (Mar 14, 2013)

I have the SD-1. Its around the same price as the Bad Monkey and offers a lot more, IMHO. 

As a boost I've AB'd it with every kind of tubescreamer available and I prefer the Boss. It colors the tone slightly but I like it. It adds that mid-range whine and "gushiness" in a certainw way that the TS didn't, nor did any other boost I tried.


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## axxessdenied (Mar 14, 2013)

Visual Sound's Route 66 is a great tube screamer clone. You can get it as an OD pedal only or the larger one with OD/Compressor in one.


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## Philligan (Mar 14, 2013)

I have a Bad Monkey - for a boost it's great, it's got the same mid hump as a Tubescreamer (more or less), and I like the dedicated bass and treble knobs if/when I want to use it as a dirt pedal or in front of a clean channel.

It's a little more gritty than the TS9 I compared it to, and it did a better job of boosting than a Keeley-modded TS9 (Keeley mod takes out the mid hump). The only thing I've tried that I liked more is the Maxon OD808, and it destroyed everything. It was super tight, and instead of bring gritty it was super clear sounding, but still made my tone sound meaner and punchier.

Bad Monkey = quite good, especially for the money.

OD808 = hands down my favourite.


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## Sepultorture (Mar 14, 2013)

OD808 or Hardwire CM-2, love those pedals

the CM-2 has a little more flexibility for tone shaping than the OD808 for tone shaping before it hits the preamp


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## jc986 (Mar 14, 2013)

cGoEcYk said:


> I hated this one... I got one because it was cheap but it turned me off of OD/Boosts for a long time. It was essentially garbage for me. Even as an actual OD it sounded rough, worse than just running my clean tube channels hot enough to break up. Everything changed when I got a Maxon.



The Classic OD is the exact same pedal as the MXR GT-OD in one mode and exactly the same as the MXR ZW-44 in the other mode (there is an internal switch on the circuit board). All three pedals share the exact same guts. The only difference is the name and the casing.


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## Leuchty (Mar 14, 2013)

And are at 3 different price points.


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## BadSeed (Mar 14, 2013)

I had tthe bad monkey before I understood what it we supposed to be used for on a high gain amp. Tightening and brightening. Now that I have a couple other od pedals such as Macon od808, ts9 and joyo vintage overdive (which sounds damn close to the od808) and understand their purpose in boosting, I wish I hadn't gotten rid of it. Plus there's a quick mod that lets more highs though and makes the pedal sound muffled.

If didn't have a an MXR custom badass od and colossal modded sd1/808 on my the way to my house, I'd pick up another bad monkey!


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## Luke Acacia (Mar 14, 2013)

Im in Australia so the chances of me getting one new for $40 are very low and finding one second hand will probably take years! 
Although the ones on ebay for $60 look great, I swear when I looked the other day the cheapest was $90 though 

Cheers for the help guys!


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## FooBAR (Mar 15, 2013)

Luke Acacia said:


> Im in Australia so the chances of me getting one new for $40 are very low and finding one second hand will probably take years!
> Although the ones on ebay for $60 look great, I swear when I looked the other day the cheapest was $90 though
> 
> Cheers for the help guys!



Dude...if you're gonna spend $90 on a boost pedal, buy my Danelectro Wasabi OD (I'm in Melbourne).

Heaps, HEAPS more tweakable than most ODs...and a much, MUCH better buy than a Bad Monkey at $90. 

Or just wait for a Bad Monkey at around ~$60.
Here are a few I found within a few seconds of searching on eBay (NONE of these are mine, incase someone thinks I'm breaking a forum rule or whatever):
Digitech Bad Monkey Guitar Tube Overdrive Pedal (NEW) | eBay
DigiTech Bad Monkey Tube Overdrive Pedal | eBay
Digitech Bad Monkey Tube Overdrive Pedal - Authorised Australian Dealer | eBay


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## Forrest_H (Mar 15, 2013)

For the short time I've had my Bad Monkey, I've really loved it. I had a chance to compare it to a TS9, and the Bad Monkey (In my opinion) seriously outdid the TS9. Not only that, it was crazily cheap. I got mine for a $25 Guitar Center giftcard in a trade with a friend, used on Craigslist & Ebay I saw some as low as $30, and new it's like $45.


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## sylcfh (Mar 17, 2013)

I've only found one demo of the new BBE Gus G Screamer...

I want to try it.


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