I had to buy the TS pedals to only then realise I don't like them.I do love the Boss overdrives. Songs are where it's at though, yr right.I'm a child of the cusp of 70's into eighties.Too many great songs to admire.
Hey. Thx for the comment. Yep it’s all about songs. Guitar pedals can be amazing for making a band sound distinctive and that’s a really valid thing but you have to have the songs first in my mind
This was the first pedal I got (second hand) when I started learning electric guitar in 2015. It was out of production by then but already had a forum reputation for being hyped... or rather, good value for what it does at it's price point but pay no more second hand than it's original list price because there's better stuff out there once you start paying more. Today I enjoy owning one for it's notoriety but it's not on my board... I think now I'd worry folks in the know would assume I'd gotten caught up in the hype and paid silly money for it! Like you Rob i'm just not into the tube screamer sound so I doubt I'll ever upgrade from this - but if I did I'd most likely go for the Wampler Triumph which is Brians take on the tubescreamer that blends Bad Monkey and SD-1 into one pedal; a best of both worlds in my view.
Hey man thx for the comment. Yeah to be honest I think it’s a fine pedal. It’s a bit of a reflection on where the whole guitar playing community is at. Consumerism has taken hold of it like it has everywhere else really!
Two things, I once owned an original ibanez ts808 tube screamer from around 1979/80 . I sold it purely because I bought a Fender M80 tube emulator guitar combo. This amp has the best valve overdrive circuitry built in I've ever heard. If Fender could build it into a pedal it would be the best ever.. just saying.
No pedal is an island - it just depends on the rest of your rig whether it works for you. I find my BM useful at times, it's fine when I just want a bit "more."
That’s absolutely correct. No pedal is I. It’s own right “special” it’s just a bit baffling to me the bandwagoning about pedals. Like in most cases I buy a pedal because I’m after the particular sound it offers fro a specific pedal. There’s no pedal I feel is a must have because it’s somehow popular. I just do t feel that is a good thing
im with you. i use mine only when already on the dirty channel. i dont like the sound of just tube screamers into pristine signal. i use it more as a tool within the context of an arrangement of a song, rather than for their sound. if i want a more distinctive distortion i use fuzz. nothing beats an amp cranked and people paying hundreds or thousands for a distortion pedal instead of an amp head i just will never understand.
I looked at my friends and listened to it, realized it sounded a little different than a tubescreamer and bought it. I had it modified less noise a little more bottom end with a switch. Go from a tubescreamer to this!!
@@TheGuitarEffect If I'm giving an Oscar that's positive. I agree with everything you are saying. Your perspective of not a big fan of ODs in general, as is mine, is definitely contrary to how most pedal buyers think. And the insane valuations on both pedals and guitars I find pathetic.
Ah OK! Well first of all thank you. I’ve thought a few times about making a video based on this phenomenon. But to be honest I think ageism is so rampant online that I’d just be called old man shakes fist at sky. The reason for all of this is the decline of bands in my opinion. Guitar is mostly people trying to emulate the tone of someone else playing at home. If you are trying to emulate someone else the gear they use all of a sudden becomes a massive commodity.
@@TheGuitarEffect Agreed with the being called an old man as I am too at 69. Different times. Simpler times. I think part of this drive is TV and shows like The Voice and other reality shows where everyone thinks they can make money in music easier than a regular job. Or on RUclips. I joined a Facebook group a few weeks ago named Pedalboards of Doom. 164,000 members. That will give you a real sense of things. You want to see a plethora of OD pedals, that's your place! And discussions of which pedal is better or is this pedal any good? Too many choices! The strive for the perfect sound that is better achieved at practicicing more.
@@TheGuitarEffect By the way, that FB page got so addictive for a couple of weeks, I saw a photo of a deep fat fryer for sale on a local Buy Sell Trade page and it had knob on it and looked to me like an effect pedal until it took about 10 seconds to realize, "Wait....that's a kitchen appliance!" It becomes this narrow minded focus on pedals if you spend too much time with it.
Hey. So I reckon if you have a tube screamer to his isn’t goi fro sound that different. If you run the amp dirty and boost it with the TS and the on board boost on the origin I’d actually say get a delay as you probably have gain covered. (That’s totally subjective though) If f you wanted to get a different flavor of gain maybe look at a Fuzz.
I found one in a Pawn shop for $60, and got it for $45....had no clue what it would sound like .. Was playing a Telecaster at the time... I liked it, the Band liked it .. but I i had a chorus, wah and a delay with it as well..... Sold it when I got my Digitech RP 1000...
Hey Glann. Thx for the comment. Honestly I think it’s totally worth €60. And great that you got it for €45. We don’t really have pawn shops to speak of in Ireland. It’s a totally fine OD pedal. Just not something that I personally would get excited about.
I bought most of that series of pedals when they came out in the 1990s, and they're all fun and useful in their own ways. Grunge, Death metal, the punk one Bad Monkey etc, but they're not worth 300 euro. Any player that decides to pay $$$$ for a garden variety pedal just because some "hero" says they use it, expecting that money will get them closer to being "as good" as that player needs to have a good hard look at themselves and practice their guitar playing more than thinking about pedals. Great players sound great though whatever gear they're plugged into.
Hey. Thx for the comment. I was particularly impressed by the delay they had in this format. The diver one. Was great for the time. Yeah I totally agree about the “Hero” thing. Like, yes you need a TS into a fender amp to sound like SRV. But any TS will do. A 1980s 808 is not going to make you sound any more like SRV than a modern mini TS. More to the point neither will make you write better songs!
Hey. Thx for the comment. I’m playing straight into a Koch Studiotone 20 head. Using the emulated output straight to my interface. I use it for all my demos. There’s a demo on my channel. It’s one of the first ones I ever made.
Try a JuiceBox, with a already crancked Amp, Awsome, for me the Father of Badmonkey, but more transparent sounding, i have boot, i prefear Juicebox, overdrive is next level, is distortion..
I'd still say as far as pedals everyone probably has to have a tuner and probably "should" have an eq and some noise gate tho' :) The rest is up for debate :D
Like KDH said, "Guitar players are stupid." It's funny watching people fall prey to the hype machine and market manipulation. Digitech makes some great stuff. But, as far as overdrives go, their Tone Driver and Screamin' Blues pedals are MUCH better than the Bad Monkey.
Hey. Thx for the comment. So I think it’s a bit click baitish and sensationalist to call guitarists stupid. And I’m aiming that statement at KDH and not you. The reason I say that is they are no more stupid than anyone else that is over influenced by consumerism. It just so happens in this case it’s consumerism in the realm of guitar. But in thoery it’s no more stupid than consumerism in fashion or beauty etc. However I do find it sad that consumerism is kind of the opposite of art and music is art and as such it has no place here. IMHO Regarding the other two pedals. Given the fact that the Screamin blues is a blues driver type of thing I’d probably prefer it to a bad monkey. But to be honest I’d prefer a blues driver to a tube screamer so both copies are doing what they are supposed to. So I wouldn’t say one is better than the other it’s just which suits your needs better. I think the fact that the tone driver has multiple modes sort makes it a different thing. And thus not really comparable. That’s just my thoughts though.
Guess what? It depends on your personal taste. For me, yeah, it is all that, and then some. YMMV. Who cares? Try one and see how it goes. Don't listen to self-appointed YT pundits. By the way, there is one very exceptional feature in the Bad Monkey: The pedal has a separate mixer output in addition to the regular amp output. This means it can be used as a direct box for going straight through house. I've used the feature many times, by necessity. I don't think any other OD pedal out there has such a capability. For that reason alone, I will always have a Bad Monkey on my board.
Hey. Thx for the comment. So of course it depends on your personal taste. I couldn’t agree more. I do think with a mid boost overdrive pedal, they are so ubiquitous that personal taste comes into it a bit less because a tube screamer is a tube screamer and that’s what I feel this is. All be it with more flexibility in the EQ. The emulated output is a fair call. I should’ve mentioned it. It’s a very useful feature. I think calling me a self appointed YT pundit is a bit loaded though. I make RUclips videos about my experience with certain pieces of gear. No one HAS to watch it. No one HAS to listen to what I say. It’s entirely up to the viewer. I’m not forcing my opinion on anyone.
I agree completely. I think it's also worth noting that what you get out of a pedal is largely dependent on what amp you're running it into (tube amp, solid state, hybrid shoebox, modeler, etc) and what kind of guitar you're playing. I picked up a used Bad Monkey for a little over $100 at a guitar show. I think that's the high end of what they're worth. My initial assessment was that it's very much like a Tube Screamer, but with more versatility in the tone control. The direct out is a great feature though, as is the ease of changing the 9v battery, which I didn't discover until I played a gig where I only wanted one pedal and didn't want to hassle with extra cabling. For that reason alone, the Monkey is now my "grab and go" pedal for practices and auditions.
Great demo!….thank you Irish Russell Crowe ✌️
You’re welcome! All my best. Russel O Crowe
Funny!
I had to buy the TS pedals to only then realise I don't like them.I do love the Boss overdrives.
Songs are where it's at though, yr right.I'm a child of the cusp of 70's into eighties.Too many great songs to admire.
Hey. Thx for the comment. Yep it’s all about songs. Guitar pedals can be amazing for making a band sound distinctive and that’s a really valid thing but you have to have the songs first in my mind
This was the first pedal I got (second hand) when I started learning electric guitar in 2015. It was out of production by then but already had a forum reputation for being hyped... or rather, good value for what it does at it's price point but pay no more second hand than it's original list price because there's better stuff out there once you start paying more. Today I enjoy owning one for it's notoriety but it's not on my board... I think now I'd worry folks in the know would assume I'd gotten caught up in the hype and paid silly money for it!
Like you Rob i'm just not into the tube screamer sound so I doubt I'll ever upgrade from this - but if I did I'd most likely go for the Wampler Triumph which is Brians take on the tubescreamer that blends Bad Monkey and SD-1 into one pedal; a best of both worlds in my view.
Hey man thx for the comment. Yeah to be honest I think it’s a fine pedal. It’s a bit of a reflection on where the whole guitar playing community is at. Consumerism has taken hold of it like it has everywhere else really!
Two things, I once owned an original ibanez ts808 tube screamer from around 1979/80 . I sold it purely because I bought a Fender M80 tube emulator guitar combo. This amp has the best valve overdrive circuitry built in I've ever heard. If Fender could build it into a pedal it would be the best ever.. just saying.
Hey. Thx for the comment. I’m not aware if f the M80. I’ll look it up. Thx
@@TheGuitarEffect they are quite rare, I still have mine 😁
No pedal is an island - it just depends on the rest of your rig whether it works for you. I find my BM useful at times, it's fine when I just want a bit "more."
That’s absolutely correct. No pedal is I. It’s own right “special” it’s just a bit baffling to me the bandwagoning about pedals. Like in most cases I buy a pedal because I’m after the particular sound it offers fro a specific pedal. There’s no pedal I feel is a must have because it’s somehow popular. I just do t feel that is a good thing
im with you. i use mine only when already on the dirty channel. i dont like the sound of just tube screamers into pristine signal. i use it more as a tool within the context of an arrangement of a song, rather than for their sound. if i want a more distinctive distortion i use fuzz. nothing beats an amp cranked and people paying hundreds or thousands for a distortion pedal instead of an amp head i just will never understand.
Hey man. Thx for the comment. Sing it!!! Thousands on an overdrive pedal. Mental.
I looked at my friends and listened to it, realized it sounded a little different than a tubescreamer and bought it. I had it modified less noise a little more bottom end with a switch. Go from a tubescreamer to this!!
Hey. Thx for the comment. It does indeed sound a little different from a tube screamer and that’s a great thing in terms of versatility.
thank you turn up the bass and gain,. power chords!@@TheGuitarEffect
The Oscar goes to the review of the internets most disillusioned and contrarian perspective of overdrive pedals as well as erroneous valuations!🏆
Hey. So I don’t understand whether you are having a pop at me in this comment or at the guitar community at large?
@@TheGuitarEffect If I'm giving an Oscar that's positive. I agree with everything you are saying. Your perspective of not a big fan of ODs in general, as is mine, is definitely contrary to how most pedal buyers think. And the insane valuations on both pedals and guitars I find pathetic.
Ah OK! Well first of all thank you. I’ve thought a few times about making a video based on this phenomenon. But to be honest I think ageism is so rampant online that I’d just be called old man shakes fist at sky.
The reason for all of this is the decline of bands in my opinion. Guitar is mostly people trying to emulate the tone of someone else playing at home. If you are trying to emulate someone else the gear they use all of a sudden becomes a massive commodity.
@@TheGuitarEffect Agreed with the being called an old man as I am too at 69. Different times. Simpler times. I think part of this drive is TV and shows like The Voice and other reality shows where everyone thinks they can make money in music easier than a regular job. Or on RUclips.
I joined a Facebook group a few weeks ago named Pedalboards of Doom. 164,000 members. That will give you a real sense of things. You want to see a plethora of OD pedals, that's your place! And discussions of which pedal is better or is this pedal any good? Too many choices! The strive for the perfect sound that is better achieved at practicicing more.
@@TheGuitarEffect By the way, that FB page got so addictive for a couple of weeks, I saw a photo of a deep fat fryer for sale on a local Buy Sell Trade page and it had knob on it and looked to me like an effect pedal until it took about 10 seconds to realize, "Wait....that's a kitchen appliance!" It becomes this narrow minded focus on pedals if you spend too much time with it.
What pickups do you have in this Telecaster? Sounds great
Hey. Thx for the comment. They’re just the standard mex pickups that came in the classic series as far as I know.
@TheGuitarEffect I bought a Gibson 2015 Pro special with push- pull pickups burstbuckers. Searching for an overdrive distortion pedal for it
What amp are you playing?
@@TheGuitarEffect Marshall origin 20watt. Original Boss chorus Jap And Ibanez tube screamer 1980s
Hey. So I reckon if you have a tube screamer to his isn’t goi fro sound that different. If you run the amp dirty and boost it with the TS and the on board boost on the origin I’d actually say get a delay as you probably have gain covered. (That’s totally subjective though) If f you wanted to get a different flavor of gain maybe look at a Fuzz.
I found one in a Pawn shop for $60, and got it for $45....had no clue what it would sound like ..
Was playing a Telecaster at the time...
I liked it, the Band liked it .. but I i had a chorus, wah and a delay with it as well.....
Sold it when I got my Digitech RP 1000...
Hey Glann. Thx for the comment. Honestly I think it’s totally worth €60. And great that you got it for €45. We don’t really have pawn shops to speak of in Ireland.
It’s a totally fine OD pedal. Just not something that I personally would get excited about.
I bought most of that series of pedals when they came out in the 1990s, and they're all fun and useful in their own ways. Grunge, Death metal, the punk one Bad Monkey etc, but they're not worth 300 euro. Any player that decides to pay $$$$ for a garden variety pedal just because some "hero" says they use it, expecting that money will get them closer to being "as good" as that player needs to have a good hard look at themselves and practice their guitar playing more than thinking about pedals. Great players sound great though whatever gear they're plugged into.
Hey. Thx for the comment. I was particularly impressed by the delay they had in this format. The diver one. Was great for the time.
Yeah I totally agree about the “Hero” thing. Like, yes you need a TS into a fender amp to sound like SRV. But any TS will do. A 1980s 808 is not going to make you sound any more like SRV than a modern mini TS.
More to the point neither will make you write better songs!
What amp are you using, sounds Amazing
Hey. Thx for the comment. I’m playing straight into a Koch Studiotone 20 head. Using the emulated output straight to my interface. I use it for all my demos. There’s a demo on my channel. It’s one of the first ones I ever made.
Try a JuiceBox, with a already crancked Amp, Awsome, for me the Father of Badmonkey, but more transparent sounding, i have boot, i prefear Juicebox, overdrive is next level, is distortion..
Hey. Thx for the comment. Don’t think I’m aware of the juice box I’ll check it out.
I'd still say as far as pedals everyone probably has to have a tuner and probably "should" have an eq and some noise gate tho' :) The rest is up for debate :D
Hey man. Thx for the comment. Yeah those particular pedals are very useful alright.
I mean, it's a TS with a two band EQ. It's alright by me, but I bought mine new for like 30 quid, so anything over 50 seems extortionate
Exactly. For €30 it’s a perfectly acceptable TS. It’s nothing to write home about at all. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
Had one and sold it just before the hype. Twas grand
Yep. As did I a few years ago. And yeah…. Grand
Like KDH said, "Guitar players are stupid." It's funny watching people fall prey to the hype machine and market manipulation. Digitech makes some great stuff. But, as far as overdrives go, their Tone Driver and Screamin' Blues pedals are MUCH better than the Bad Monkey.
Hey. Thx for the comment. So I think it’s a bit click baitish and sensationalist to call guitarists stupid. And I’m aiming that statement at KDH and not you. The reason I say that is they are no more stupid than anyone else that is over influenced by consumerism. It just so happens in this case it’s consumerism in the realm of guitar. But in thoery it’s no more stupid than consumerism in fashion or beauty etc.
However I do find it sad that consumerism is kind of the opposite of art and music is art and as such it has no place here. IMHO
Regarding the other two pedals. Given the fact that the Screamin blues is a blues driver type of thing I’d probably prefer it to a bad monkey. But to be honest I’d prefer a blues driver to a tube screamer so both copies are doing what they are supposed to. So I wouldn’t say one is better than the other it’s just which suits your needs better.
I think the fact that the tone driver has multiple modes sort makes it a different thing. And thus not really comparable.
That’s just my thoughts though.
Guess what? It depends on your personal taste. For me, yeah, it is all that, and then some. YMMV. Who cares? Try one and see how it goes. Don't listen to self-appointed YT pundits. By the way, there is one very exceptional feature in the Bad Monkey: The pedal has a separate mixer output in addition to the regular amp output. This means it can be used as a direct box for going straight through house. I've used the feature many times, by necessity. I don't think any other OD pedal out there has such a capability. For that reason alone, I will always have a Bad Monkey on my board.
Hey. Thx for the comment. So of course it depends on your personal taste. I couldn’t agree more. I do think with a mid boost overdrive pedal, they are so ubiquitous that personal taste comes into it a bit less because a tube screamer is a tube screamer and that’s what I feel this is. All be it with more flexibility in the EQ.
The emulated output is a fair call. I should’ve mentioned it. It’s a very useful feature.
I think calling me a self appointed YT pundit is a bit loaded though. I make RUclips videos about my experience with certain pieces of gear. No one HAS to watch it. No one HAS to listen to what I say. It’s entirely up to the viewer. I’m not forcing my opinion on anyone.
I agree completely. I think it's also worth noting that what you get out of a pedal is largely dependent on what amp you're running it into (tube amp, solid state, hybrid shoebox, modeler, etc) and what kind of guitar you're playing. I picked up a used Bad Monkey for a little over $100 at a guitar show. I think that's the high end of what they're worth. My initial assessment was that it's very much like a Tube Screamer, but with more versatility in the tone control. The direct out is a great feature though, as is the ease of changing the 9v battery, which I didn't discover until I played a gig where I only wanted one pedal and didn't want to hassle with extra cabling. For that reason alone, the Monkey is now my "grab and go" pedal for practices and auditions.