DigiTech DBM Bad Monkey Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal

I'm using it with a valve Fender Blues Jnr & a solid state Hughes/Kettner edition blue 30watt combo. Guitars are classic 60s Strat, modded Squire strat with Seymour Duncan P/Ups (lil 59 humbucker at bridge), Fender Toronado with SD P/Ups and a few others. This thing always sounds absolutely superb - smooth with a capital SMOO but gritty enough at extreme settings if thats what you're after. It's solid state quiet, hiss is negligible. If you're thinking about a TS9/808, try this first. It's a quarter of the price and you certainly won't be wasting your time.

This thing is a brick - heavier than equivalent Boss - over 2lbs - and a quality build. I'm confident it will last for years. I use 2 O/Ds in my live rig (the other is a TC Electronics Vintage O/Drive)so I do have a back up. I'd be happy if I had to just take the Bad Monkey though. Battery change is the new Digitech style with spring loaded pins. Must be the easiest yet.

This pedal has to be the bargain of the decade. You can pick it up on-line for less than £25.00 and for that you're getting a noticeably fine product. My TC Electronics Vintage overdrive pedal cost me 4 times as much, and as good as it is, it ain't 4 times better. Infact, it's hardly better at all - maybe a little more transparent but actually less warm.

 

As long as you like the sound of your rig, you'll love the sound of the Bad Monkey. It retains your guitar/amp sound, but makes it warmer & wider. It feels like an exotic Fulltone OCD pedal, in that the extra drive seems to come from the amp rather than being an obviously imposed sound altering device stuck in the middle of the floor. This is especially true of my valve amp, though the solid state H/K isn't far behind..

 

It's not a pedal for metal, but blues/classic rock and maybe even country sounds are brilliantly served.

 

I'd replace it in a heartbeat if it went walkabout. If I hadn't already got another 2 o/drives, I'd run two for different drive levels.