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Bad Monkey vs Route 808

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  • Bad Monkey vs Route 808

    Hey guys I tought to post my thoughts regarding these 2 pedals maybe it will help someone.

    First of all I love the Bad Monkey! I have had a few others more expensive and/or more reputable maker's pedals but always came back to the monkey (guvnor, SD-1, mojomojo to name a few)

    Nevertheless I kept searching for something "better" since everyone is bashing digitech's products so I bought used the Route 808. From what I had read it was a tubescreamer with more bass and more gain and great buffer so I thought what the hell..

    The way I use my overdrives is that I don't use much level to push further the amp but I mix the gain of the amp with the gain of the pedal (the amp is currently a marshall vintage modern and i don't think i'll be selling this one!)

    Anyway I have found that the following settings produce a VERY similar tone, similar enough that probably not even the bandmates can tell the difference:
    (oclock settings)
    BM: level 12 bass 2 treble 2 gain 2
    808: level 10 tone 10 gain 12 (bass switch on the normal setting)

    With these settings both pedals keep the bass response of the amp exactly the same no matter if on or off.
    The 808 does this without a knob only with the switch on the normal setting which I find very pleasing.

    The 808 has much more level, gain and treble available if you need them (also a lot more bass if you use the bass boost switch) but I don't think this is very important.

    The main difference between the pedals with these setting is that the BM sounds a little boxier a little more compressed and with a little less definition. Also the 808 has a much better buffer (the BM's buffer is not so good)

    To sum up the 808 is indeed better but not x4 times better as the price difference suggests but rather ~10% better.
    Of course most of us know that after a point you have to pay much more to get just a littlebit better tone!

    Well that's about it! Hope someone finds this useful and I am looking forward to your thoughts also.
    Last edited by mariosyjp; 11-21-2015, 01:10 PM.

  • #2
    Re: Bad Monkey vs Route 808

    Well you should have gotten the VS Garagetone Drivetrain instead of their Route 808 pedal to compare with the Bad Monkey from Digitech. The two advantages I guess the route 808 is the footswitch rated for 10 million hits & the truetone buffer, otherwise they are both based off ts808 design. The drivetrain should be cheap enough used along the monkey price range.

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    • #3
      Re: Bad Monkey vs Route 808

      Originally posted by Hank- View Post
      Well you should have gotten the VS Garagetone Drivetrain instead of their Route 808 pedal to compare with the Bad Monkey from Digitech. The two advantages I guess the route 808 is the footswitch rated for 10 million hits & the truetone buffer, otherwise they are both based off ts808 design. The drivetrain should be cheap enough used along the monkey price range.
      Why should I have gotten the drivetrain what are its main differences with the 808?
      I read in forums that it doesn't have the mid hump but I want the mid hump!

      Actually I love the 808 I don't feel that I need anything more out of a tube screamer type pedal.
      Last edited by mariosyjp; 11-21-2015, 07:41 AM.

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      • #4
        Re: Bad Monkey vs Route 808

        Its got a separate bass & treble knob like the bad monkey along with the visual sound buffer, so it would have been a direct comparison for it feature wise. And its priced along the same line as the bad monkey i think.

        I have the drivetrain & the open road od from visual sound. The open road is a nobels odr1 clone. Haven't compared either to bad monkey though. You ought to try the open road if you can find one, its different sounding than a 808 clone.
        Edit: the drivetrain has a mid hump alright, it can be dialed down by increasing the bass & treble knobs.
        Last edited by Hank-; 11-21-2015, 07:49 AM.

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        • #5
          Re: Bad Monkey vs Route 808

          I love Visual Sound pedals. I would say the 808 is definitely a better pedal than the Bad Monkey but in the end it's really about preference when it comes to sound. The buffer, the foot switch, and the fact it has more output than most tube screamer type pedals is the big difference. And as far as price goes, it is cheaper than many comparable boutique pedals.

          Pretty sure you'll be happy with it from the sound of things. I would keep the BM as a backup in case you ever have issues with the Route 808... Which, BTW, as long as nobody has tampered with it (ie: rehoused it or modded the circuit) it has a lifetime warranty. VS will either repair it or replace it depending on how badly it's messed up. I've already had to deal with their support team once before and they are awesome. They sent me a replacement for my Son of Hyde after I reported a reoccurrence of an issue they helped me with a few months prior and I didn't even have to ship back the old pedal. I'd explained I was in a tough spot financially and they said not to worry about it.

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          • #6
            Re: Bad Monkey vs Route 808

            i had the visual sound route 808. it was really quite similiar to my ibanez ts808. i got rid of both hahaha.
            Crash49 - my music on amazon and itunes
            http://a.co/8ht5Qes

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            • #7
              Re: Bad Monkey vs Route 808

              one thing I noticed though... while the noise floor of both pedals with the same audible gain, treble and level is approx the same, the noise of the 808 has a higher pitch which makes it more difficult to control

              EDIT: also the mids of the BM are THICK and FAT and its compression helps with the openness of my vintage modern

              the mids of the 808 are more detailed and the pedal is more responsive to dynamics but it is more open sounding EQ with less mids
              Last edited by mariosyjp; 11-24-2015, 08:03 AM.

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              • #8
                Re: Bad Monkey vs Route 808

                I love me some Monkey! I use mine with the mixer output, which cuts some of the high end. It was replaced on my main board with an 805 Overdrive, which has more drive range, and 3 band active EQ. Really the best light overdrive I have ever used.
                Administrator of the SDUGF

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                • #9
                  Re: Bad Monkey vs Route 808

                  I really don't know what's going on with the damn monkey I can never seem to find something "better" to replace it!

                  Is there anything similar in the tone (thick mids, compression, good bass)? The hardwire CM2 perhaps? or the drivetrain?

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                  • #10
                    Re: Bad Monkey vs Route 808

                    The CM2 is an option to try, you get to choose the type of buffer in it too I think. Have you tried the recent mxr stuff? Those are also worth checking out.

                    The drivetrain is nasally but not in your face kinda nasally. The bass control on it is like the ones found on bright british amps, doesnt really get flubby but adds punch. Its darker unlike the route 808. Keep the BM, ditch the 808, try the mxr 6 band eq next for a change, placed after the BM.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Bad Monkey vs Route 808

                      Originally posted by mariosyjp View Post
                      I really don't know what's going on with the damn monkey I can never seem to find something "better" to replace it!

                      Is there anything similar in the tone (thick mids, compression, good bass)? The hardwire CM2 perhaps? or the drivetrain?
                      Yes, the 805 Overdrive. The active 3 band eq allows you to add as much bass as you want, and dial back the mid hump if you want, too. It compresses as well as a Monkey, or even better. It replaced mine.
                      Administrator of the SDUGF

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                      • #12
                        Re: Bad Monkey vs Route 808

                        The 805 is a bad@$$ TS9…..

                        The Monkey is a cool cheap TS(
                        The TS7 with the hot switch is also very cool
                        The DX9 is a way flexible TS9
                        And the Rhino, and so on and so forth.

                        So many flavors of TS( there is something for everyone.
                        Originally posted by Bad City
                        He's got the crowd on his side and the blue jean lights in his eyes...

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