digitech bad monkey overdrive pedal, Thoughts?

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sixxvanrose

sixxvanrose

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Looking for a good overdrive to drive-sweeten my tube amp alittle. I heard some good things, and just wanted to know if anyone had one, or had any experiences with the pedal. Seems like a steal at $49.95. I also had my eye on the mxr carbon copy, but digitech seems to have a decent delay as well. Never had any experience with their products.
 
it's excellent value for money, definitely worth buying one to have for different amps, mine sounds killer with the blue channel on my 5150 III
 
I'm still rolling with my bad monkey and a ZW -44 overdrive. What can I say, I guess i like cheapo overdrives? The ZW you can find used for like 40$ and is good for a low cut and tight grit. Bad monkey i find really dare i say, "transparent" in that it does not change my tone, just adds more clarity and detail (as i don't run gain very high). Almost like it fills out the sound. Can't really go wrong with it. The EQ also adds for more flexibility.
 
Bad Monkey fucking rules!! Have one on my board at all times. :rock:
 
PS- Gary Moore had one on his more recent board before his passing too. You can spot it in some of the shows on youtube! If that isn't an endorsement, what is? He let his fingers do the talkin..
 
Kapo_Polenton":ep8npabz said:
PS- Gary Moore had one on his more recent board before his passing too. You can spot it in some of the shows on youtube! If that isn't an endorsement, what is? He let his fingers do the talkin..
Click to expand...

+1,000 :thumbsup:
 
I had no idea that it was that popular! Wow, never realized alot of people use it. I'm so programmed to think mxr or boss right away..
 
boss shmoss... though I do like their pedals. MXR makes some good stuff too. Digitech is movin on up though! Their hardwire stuff gets good reviews. Along the same line, visual sound makes some nice stuff too!
 
I have a Bad Monkey, Zakk OD and a Carbon Copy.


As mentioned the Bad Monkey is particularly good for strait boosting where you don't want any grit or color added. Back in the day people used to use Tubescreamers to add distortion and boost the mids. If you run the Bad Monkey as a boost (gain=0, level=10) then you have a great OD for tightening riffs or solos - great for metal. It also has a 'high' and 'low' tone control for further shaping. Rugged as all get out.

The Zakk OD is cool too and functions similarly. I believe it is also a Tubescreamer variant. It, for me, adds a bit of noise and 'on the edge' sound that is pretty cool. Like all MXR pedals it is built very rugged.

The MXR Carbon Copy is an analog delay. Built well and sounds good. It has a far amount of tweakability. It is a bit expensive so if you are set on an analog pedal maybe look for a used one. Analog delays have a softer, rounder repeat and decay. They are also limited by the length of time you can stretch the delay (2 seconds I think). Great though for certain kinds of music/genres. Digital delays will have a bit of a harder (tighter) repeat and much longer delay times and other features/functions. I'm not really a delay guy so maybe someone else can expound further.

Here is my board with those 3 pedals....

87d1e1bd.jpg
 
I've seen a few carbon copies go routinely for around 100$ on the used market so I would think yeah, buy used. Personally, a delay which really has me interested in, is the visual sound garage tone axle grease delay. I mean 50$ you can't go wrong. It is digital but built with some of the tonal characteristics of a analog delay. The demos really impress me. Again, i think simple is better and less things to go wrong if you play live. Good observation on the ZW-44 by the way. noisy pig but has a nice gritty character to it if you want more grind.
 
Used to have a bad monkey, nice pedal. I preferred it for a boost. I didn't like it that much as the only dirt into a clean amp. So if you are going to use it as a boost, I think you will like it.
 
Yeah it is weak as a stand alone OD but it is awesome as a boost for a tad more or to tighten. I really find it transparent enough to not annoy me and that is all it needs to be. Had mine about 4+ yrs now I think.
 
Transparent , sight mid hump and great for some extra sustain . I like the gain on zero and vol on 5 to 8 depending on emg 81 or single coil strat . Bass and treble to taste . I run a JVM and works great for the crunch channel with both gains dimed on the pedal and amp , very modded plexi-ish ...
 
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