DIGITECH BAD MONKEY PEDAL. REAL DEAL OR HYPE? KLON KILLER? ZEN DRIVE DESTROYER? YOU DECIDE!

Suddenly everyone is Talking about the BAD MONKRY from DigiTech. Is it a great pedal or is it hype? Can it do the same job as a LKON? A ZEN DRIVE? A KOKO BOOST. a TUBE SCREAMER or a BOSS OVERDRIVE?
Can it just Overdrive or can it do more? Does it work on a clean sound and an already driven Sound? The Digitech Bad Monkey has been around for a long time but is no longer in production. Will Digitech Bring it back and do a re issue? Has Josh Scott made us re think pedals?
The Bad Monkey Tube Overdrive gives your amp a boost just when you need it. It has been compared to the TS-808 but with having the unique ability to smooth out the distortion by use of the low and high EQ controls. Most overdrive pedals give you one tone control knob thus limiting your tonal options. You asked for a pedal that will maintain your guitar's distinct tone and DigiTech delivered! With its rugged design, separate mixer and amp outputs, and amazing tonal options, this pedal truly is a Bad Monkey. From Blues to Rock to everything in between, it will give you that amazing overdriven tube amp sound that will keep begging you to crank it up!
Features Level boosts the output level of your guitar signal. Low adjusts boost and cut of bass frequencies. High adjusts boost and cut of upper harmonics. Gain provides smooth tube amp distortion to your sound. High adjusts boost and cut of high frequencies. Dual Outputs. The Amp output is for connecting directly to a guitar amplifier. The Mixer output features Cabinet Emulation circuitry for connecting directly to a mixing board or recording device.

[@ParaBellum2024]

The main point Josh was making is not that the BM is as good as the Klon. It's that the Klon is no better than a Bad Monkey.

[@ParaBellum2024]

@@joen5970 Can't blame people who own Bad Monkeys trying to make a fast buck. It'll be interesting to see if there's any change in eBay's "sold prices" for them though.

[@Nobody92421]

Agreed. Although I should sell my "vintage" Bad Monkey w/ box before folks wise up.

[@gordon9177]

Who's the Klon?

[@slimturnpike]

Exactly!

[@eertje01]

Exactly this! To celebrate this weird fenomenon I sold my bad monkey at a 275% profit 🎸. Bought a TC Zeus and EHX East River Drive instead without losing any money 😂

[@slimturnpike]

A lot of people seem to be missing the main advantages of the Bad Monkey. It's very different from a Tube Screamer. Twice the gain to begin with. Has bass and treble EQ rather than just 'tone', and most significant of all, it has a mixer output with a separate circuit that allows you to go direct through the house board if you need to or want to. I've played dozens of gigs with DJs where all I bring is a Bad Monkey, a wah and a reverb and go straight through the board. Try doing that with a TS ; sounds like complete shite.

[@eddiecarter9831]

I've used the mixer output direct into recording mixer, and I got great results as well. Guitarists seem to miss out on gems like this by getting wrapped up in hype.

[@slimturnpike]

@@eddiecarter9831 It's surprising how solid the mixer output is, balanced impedance and cab sim alongside everything else. It's one heavy pedal.

[@tomlangron2532]

I bought mine years ago for about $80 Australian, as it met my three main requirements: - It was cheap'ish - It got good pretty reviews sound-wise - It had both a bass and a treble control I've had and gigged with it for years now and I love it. For whatever reason, it seems to react to my setup in a good way that all the other overdrive pedals I've tried just don't. It also works really well with a Boss DS-1 In front of it. Another nifty feature is the second output which acts as a speaker emulator, you can plug from this output into the mixing desk if you need to. I've not tried this, so I can't comment on the sound quality.

[@jdubya2006]

Thing is, you can analyze the sounds between different effects all day but once you get into that shitty bar for the gig, NOBODY will notice what your using because the sound of the band drowns out all the nuances.

[@indiedavecomix3882]

This all day long. The beer filter really processes sound differently. 😂

[@chopperdeath]

EQ changes everything. It’s called an “equalizer” for a reason.

[@mrcoatsworth429]

The point of Josh Scott's video was that you don't need fancy boutique or vintage pedals for a good tone, because most overdrive pedals have extremely similar circuits. So the question really isn't " is the bad monkey the real deal or hype"? It's more like "is everything else hype"? And the answer is a big, fat YES. Can't believe people failed so miserably to interpret Josh's message. For the love of god, people, don't buy a bad monkey for 500 bucks! Buy something affordable! That is the whole freaking point! You know that harley benton overdrive? Yes, it can do that, too! You don't need a Klon and you don't need a bad monkey!

[@jansabarth9466]

The funny thing is, now we will have two types of Bad Monkeys: the pre-hype productions (these will be tha valuable ones), and the the post-hype reissues (these will just be re-issues..) 🤣🤣🤣

[@UCS0608]

Good point!!!! 🤣

[@malcomjhy]

My first pedal ever! Bought it back 2009/10 and I still have them till today. So good!

[@mixc8]

Same here! Brought mine down town NYC @ J&R music. And Oddly enough I rarely used it back in the day, I decided to pull it out the other day and surprise I went on You Tube and all this hype around it LOL Glad I never sold it.

[@malcomjhy]

@@mixc8 with the right amp it can be so good and can get some unique tone.

[@acatwiththreenames3658]

I think the point Josh was making is that we as guitar players like to fall for the hype about TS-10's, klon's, KoT's, and all the rest and ignore great sounding pedals just because someone said they weren't great. Thousands of pedals have been made and great tone may be more affordable than a klon. As I once heard Josh say on his show, if it sounds good, it is good.

[@md770]

If you pay over $50 for this pedal, you’re a fool, this pedal has been slept on for 19/20 years and because you fools got it in your head that the BM is the be all end all of over drive, you deserve to get a bad case of buyers remorse when it’s not doing what you convinced yourself it was going to give you the tone you thought it was going to. I bought the Moskey Golden horse for $30 off Amazon and it sounds just as good as any pedal from any big name maker or boutique maker. I like the Donner, Moore and NUX pedals, they maybe Chinese made but they sound great and don’t break the bank.

[@tonybrown7847]

I’m actually impressed

[@sosweet666]

Man your playing is amazing!

[@marvinmartin3438]

Dude, I picked up a Bad Monkey for $300 and I gotta tell ya, it's worth every cent. I can't stop- playing it. Just sayin

[@CQJR007]

Came for the pedal, stayed for the playing.

[@leonbrownmusic]

Thank you!

[@sassulusmagnus]

Depending on how you set them, you can probably get just about any two overdrive pedals to sound reasonably close. The idea that they all sound the same, however, goes out the window once you have spent some time exploring the full range of each one's circuitry. Excluding clones, of course, which should sound basically the same all through their range.

[@duncancartledge1667]

Independent controls for Bass/ Treble really open up a pedal. TC Dark Matter is another great example, can be bought used really cheap but a really versatile pedal.

[@theelderskatesman4417]

any overdrive with good tone control can emulate any other. which was exactly the point. It's ALL hype.

[@leonbrownmusic]

No idea. But the point being made in the video that started all the Bad Monkey hype was that it doesn't really matter what you have but how you use it so don't over think it ;-)

[@shader26]

Ive recently seen this and JHS doing si I,ar tests and the BM holds its own. So I dug mine out, and I though I like the pedal, with my amp, guitar, and playing style it wasn’t holding up against the Zendrive. Maybe with a different amp, and I can test more, have a number of amps, but with my Budda SD-45 is a marked difference and BM doesn’t come out on top. It’s a great pedal (obligatory “for the price” mention) but nope. This was just testing alone, but I’ve noticed too something about the zendrive in a band mix makes it cut beautifully. Could be I’m not dialing the BM good enough, but I’ve tried many settings. Again, nothin wrong with it, but Zendrive (originala Her ida) Beats it badly.

[@riffwizardsupreme]

i put off buying a bad monkey for years because either there was a cooler homebrew fuzz or i had my head up my ass about wanting the chinese variant. now i have to wait for people to make clones

[@mrcoatsworth429]

there are clones all over the place. Just buy some cheap tube screamer clone or other overdrive. That's Josh Scott's entire point. Jesus, what's wrong with people?

[@yopp3.016]

It's just an overdrive.

[@boloki72]

The Klon has different diodes for clipping while the bad monkey is actually a different design from the TS, SD, and other wannabes OD circuit which have a filter for tone control unlike the Bad Monkey which has additional opamp stages for its active tone control and which Josh is trying to prove is that he can easily emulate the tone from the other pedals because of the active Low & High Tone Control of the Bad Monkey and it has a mixer out a cab sim which the Klon doesn't have.

[@kenmasters007]

Sounds great... Ride the hype!

[@pappyprimetime7510]

I can hear the strings in the room just as much as the amp.

[@joemarshlljmp]

Crushed pearl teal - 100 1/2 - Gary Moore

[@paulvigos1]

bad monkey is GREEN the bad monley pedal CAN NOT EAT ANY BANANAS the famouw Greek Canadian guitarist is PHIL X (aka XENIDIS)

[@matthewearl9824]

You copied my answer

[@sesarsehatsantoso8459]

Wow nice playin man.

[@deanallen927]

Maybe it's.......wait for it..........JUST ANOTHER GOOD SOUNDING OVERDRIVE???????? THAT'S ALL IT IS!!!!!!! IT'S NOT A MAGIC BOX FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION!!!!!! IT'S WORTH ABOUT $50!!!!!!!!!!! GOD, YOU PEOPLE!!!!!!🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[@dominicijavier1575]

damn a thousand pounds? is this really how much this pedal sells now? I got mine years ago at just 50 pounds if converted.

[@mulefan1977]

Great video. What model guitar is it you are using?

[@leonbrownmusic]

Thank you. No idea on the model number but it's a through neck ibanez RG

[@Musicology1975]

Amazing👍🤟🎸

[@AdaSoom]

I'm cool with my bd 2 😅

[@indiedavecomix3882]

So: green, 14, and the Canadian Greek guy is obviously Jimmy Page. Writing my thousand pound check as you read this...

[@Richardgreenmusic.]

The sauce

[@charlesadams1729]

great!

[@profiteer_nl8950]

The answer is. Green 4 on a good day Josh scott

[@treastonschmuckley5111]

Does digitech make a tuner he can use?

[@Fender420]

Mad Bunkee

[@VinceMusicianG]

i found one for $100 but is it worth it

[@VinceMusicianG]

im not sure

[@turnfordguitars]

A bad monkey!😳 I'll give you £20 million for it! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@prettyugly6089]

Had one for years. The only thing that compares is the BOSS BD-2W

[@j.b.4867]

Is this the US or Chinese version?

[@-thirteen]

In a world of pedals that are amazing and nowhere, why?

[@jamesnortonofficial1566]

Still a 50 dollar pedal 😂

[@Thirdgen83]

My Keeley-modified Tube Screamer sounds better.

[@matmarchi]

Surfing this wave to get views is just dumb imo. Sorry.

[@szaki95]

Wake up people, there's nothing magical about an effects pedal or amp, most of your sound is shaped by the speaker.

[@RPSartre01]

It's a garbage pedal - there I did it. Don't waste money on this plastic crap.

[@TheFlutecart]

I never cared for such a drive. I like a clean boost into the crunchy tubes. I don't play with my guitar Vol cranked knob up all the time. If I need more dirt it's fuzz time or an amp style pedal. To me, the Bad Monkey is just another fancy tube screamer like so many others. I get why folks dig it but it's not for me. I have it gutted, swapping op-amps, caps and diodes.

[@JRose342]

The $29 Amazon Mosky Golden Horse sounds better imo

[@IndyRockStar]

i don't care what anyone says, the Bad Monkey has nothing on my Klon.

[@Supernautiloid]

Not gonna lie...even tweaked I think this pedal sounds like ass. Definitely not my thing. But whatever floats your boat I guess. 🤷‍♂️

[@godbyone]

Doesn’t sound like a klon at all of Josh’s jams sound Al Like

[@Whatever22ification]

Look at the settings he was using when comparing pedals. He changed the settings to match the pedals tone.

[@brucehayes7251]

​@@Whatever22ification I'd hate to imagine the thought that went in to setting the pedal tones.

[@mrcoatsworth429]

You've got it backwards. All drive pedals sound almost alike.

[@craigpimlott204]

The joyo drive sounds the same set up right ..I’ve got two of the original bad monkeys with mint boxes ,after I saw Phil X use one years ago ..but to say they’re worth that much now after the JHS video is just stupid .not a month ago you couldn’t give em away .I tried selling one of mine months ago nobody wanted it …

[@CHill-uh1fg]

Id say you wasted your money, sounds cheap and generic. Here's some good advice buy a good amp,and ya don't need pedals.

[@julesbailey6770]

Looks a lot like my blue DOD blues overdrive, but mine sounds gooder 🫠

[@UCS0608]

Josh says it: loud is more good!! 😁

[@FuckPedophileBiden]

Sounds like ass but I don't blame the pedal.