All user reviews of 5/5 for the DigiTech Bad Monkey

This is an analog distortion pedal. It's in the same vein as a Klon Centaur or a Tube Screamer, something midrangey without too much crunch. It's not rackable or able to be edited with MIDI. It's basically got your regular 1/4" in, and 2 outs (one for mixer, one for amplifiers.)

UTILIZATION

This effects pedal is pretty easy to use. It's got 4 knobs, one each for Volume, Lows, His, and Gain. With such a simple setup, it's easy to control and get the sounds you want without too much fiddling around. I think that the manual explains this all very clearly, though it's not necessary to figuring out the pedal.

SOUND QUALITY

I was under the impression that using this pedal would make the Klon Centaur seem like a waste of money. I was a little disappointed, to be honest. I think that the Klon is great because it's so transparent, and this pedal certainly is not so much. There's a slightly noisier element going on here, and it's not always good. I think that if you need a middle ground between a good overdrive and a light distortion, this might be right up your alley. In its own right, this pedal is pretty great. A great mid-emphasizing pedal, possibly just as good as a Tube screamer. I really like using this with a Strat or Tele more than a Les Paul, as that sound beefs it up too much (but not enough to really rock out, which is unfortunate). I like getting a great lead sound by cranking up the gain, or by rolling down the guitar volume to 8 and getting a tight, grooving rhythm sound. Great for sounding like Robbie Robertson or John Fogerty.

OVERALL OPINION

I definitely was a little disappointed in how little transparency there was on this pedal, but after awhile I came around and recognized that it's pretty good in its own right. It certainly is a bit more rockin' than the Klon, but not quite as dirty as a Tube Screamer can sometimes get. The sound is pretty great. I think that it's probably, at the end of the day, not gonna last long in my setup, but I'll enjoy it for now. I would certainly champion this pedal if I was asked about it.