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Fireguy8402 « Tubescreamer with 2 Band EQ »
Published on 11/19/11 at 13:19The Digitech Bad Monkey Overdrive is an overdrive with a couple little special touches. It has the basic features of most overdrive pedals, Volume, Tone and Gain. This pedal is basically a child of the Ibanez Tubescreamer but with both high and low EQ knobs it is a little more flexible than its ancestor, and half the price. Along with the regular output on the pedal, Digitech also throws in a Mixer Output with cab emulation.
UTILIZATION
This pedal has a solid metal casing and sturdy knobs, so it appears to be pretty sturdy. Digitech uses a little better switching mechanism than the Ibanez offerings in the same price range, however the Ibanez TS-9 is the strongest in this department. No issues on reliability after a few years of use. If the buyer is on a budget this is a much better version of a TS-9 than the TS-7. The pedal works great out front of an amp, and definitely do use an amp. After trying the cab emulated mixer output, I would never use it. This is barely better than plugging straight into the board, and probably just a marketing strategy to make the pedal look more appealing. No problem, just disregard this output and use the pedal how it was meant to be used, into an amplifier.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound quality of the Bad Monkey is actually better than the name would lead you to think. It works great as a boost into an already overdriven amp. It can achieve a light gain all the way up to a bluesy/rock drive on it’s own. The pedal is less responsive to dynamics than some pedals I’ve used, but it’s not what I’d call stale or inorganic sounding. The two band EQ really allows you to tailor the sound, and I don’t understand why more overdrive pedals don’t offer multi band equalization. It allows you to tame that mid hump that the pedal naturally has.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall I wouldn’t call this a great overdrive, but I would call it a great overdrive for the price and just an OK overdrive at any price. It lacks some dynamics of a more expensive overdrive pedal, but the bonus of the two band EQ would make it my choice over similar Tubescreamer type pedals. It works great as a solo boost or a near-clean boost, and decent as a standalone overdriven sound. The mid hump is present in the natural EQ of the pedal but can be worked around and dialed out using the high and low controls. If I were looking for an overdrive around this price market, I’d go for the Danelectro Transparent Overdrive which has similar features but an overall less processed sound, with the Bad Monkey coming in as second place. I’d place it well above the Boss varieties and it does the “Tubescreamer thing” better than Ibanez’s TS-9 and TS-7.
UTILIZATION
This pedal has a solid metal casing and sturdy knobs, so it appears to be pretty sturdy. Digitech uses a little better switching mechanism than the Ibanez offerings in the same price range, however the Ibanez TS-9 is the strongest in this department. No issues on reliability after a few years of use. If the buyer is on a budget this is a much better version of a TS-9 than the TS-7. The pedal works great out front of an amp, and definitely do use an amp. After trying the cab emulated mixer output, I would never use it. This is barely better than plugging straight into the board, and probably just a marketing strategy to make the pedal look more appealing. No problem, just disregard this output and use the pedal how it was meant to be used, into an amplifier.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound quality of the Bad Monkey is actually better than the name would lead you to think. It works great as a boost into an already overdriven amp. It can achieve a light gain all the way up to a bluesy/rock drive on it’s own. The pedal is less responsive to dynamics than some pedals I’ve used, but it’s not what I’d call stale or inorganic sounding. The two band EQ really allows you to tailor the sound, and I don’t understand why more overdrive pedals don’t offer multi band equalization. It allows you to tame that mid hump that the pedal naturally has.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall I wouldn’t call this a great overdrive, but I would call it a great overdrive for the price and just an OK overdrive at any price. It lacks some dynamics of a more expensive overdrive pedal, but the bonus of the two band EQ would make it my choice over similar Tubescreamer type pedals. It works great as a solo boost or a near-clean boost, and decent as a standalone overdriven sound. The mid hump is present in the natural EQ of the pedal but can be worked around and dialed out using the high and low controls. If I were looking for an overdrive around this price market, I’d go for the Danelectro Transparent Overdrive which has similar features but an overall less processed sound, with the Bad Monkey coming in as second place. I’d place it well above the Boss varieties and it does the “Tubescreamer thing” better than Ibanez’s TS-9 and TS-7.