Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

ArtieToo said:
I just opened mine up and looked . . . analog all the way. It uses a 14007, which is basically 6 mosfets on a chip, and 3 4580 dual op-amps. Then some various discrete transitors, caps, and resistors.

The 14007 is used for the bypass switching.
Click to expand...

Is it all surface mount?

Good review, BTW. Too bad I don't need another overdrive. LOL.
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

ErikH said:
Is it all surface mount?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, yes. The good news is, this thing sounds good enough that I see no reason to mod it. There are some "normal" sized caps that could be fiddled with though.
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

ArtieToo said:
Unfortunately, yes. The good news is, this thing sounds good enough that I see no reason to mod it. There are some "normal" sized caps that could be fiddled with though.
Click to expand...
It seems that all the big manufacturers are going that route. My MXR Wylde Overdrive is SMT as well. And like you with the BM, I don't feel the need to mod it in anyway.
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

I should mention, the setting of the level control is dependent on what you plug into. 3 o'clock worked great with my J-Station, but 9 o'clock worked better for my H & K. ;)
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

SMT doesn't mean that you can't mod it. It just means that you have to up the ante and buy a hot air station and learn how to work with SMT. It ain't easy, but it is doable. I've seen a friend work with it using a regular soldering iron and tweezers.
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

Mephis said:
How would one be for smoothing out/warming up a high gain amp?

I'm considering grabbing a tube screamer just to have in my bag of tricks. I'm either going to get one of those or an echo/delay.
Click to expand...


I have a bad monkey and Maxon tube screamer. I've used both in front of a rectifier I use to own and I've used them in front of the Krankenstein I currently use. I like both pedals a lot. They both work well with the drive channel of a high gain amp. They have different tonal characteristics, but both add something to the tone. I wouldn't use the gain channel without one or the other anymore. For the money, the Bad Monkey is an amazing pedal. Like with all pedals, make sure you keep a fresh battery in it.
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

Little update: This thing is power hungry. I got it on Christmas, and I just put my 3rd battery in it. Even the suggested wal-wart is 300ma. Thats fairly high for a pedal.
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

I have the wall wart that goes with it. My GF bought the Bad Monkey and the power supply as part of my Christmas stuff from her. She might be trouble in a bar fight, but she spoils me rotten.
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

i got one a while ago. really solid pedal. i like how when they first came out people really set it aside as a toy, but slowly people started buying them and now they're really popular.
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

Seems every one is selling their Tube screamers and going with the Bad Monkey.The reason I hear is the bass control. Can't you just dial in the Bass you need on the amp or not?
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

Its not quite the same. I believe the tone controls are pre-distortion. So you can dial-out a bit of bass to keep the signal from getting muddy, and still have independent control over the brightness. But even more important, the sound overall is just rich and complex. You can hear the slight improvement over my Tubulator, for instance. (Although, I still like the Tubulator.)
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

ArtieToo said:
Little update: This thing is power hungry. I got it on Christmas, and I just put my 3rd battery in it. Even the suggested wal-wart is 300ma. Thats fairly high for a pedal.
Click to expand...

Update to my update: It was bumming me out that this thing ate batteries so fast, and that it required a 300ma wall-wart. So, I took it in to work today to actually measure the current draw. A bass-player buddy of mine saw what I was doing and mentioned a website that lists current draw of many pedals. The website matched my findings . . . 17 friggin' milliamps!

I don't know why they call for a 300ma adaptor. My ole Boss wall-wart, rated at 200ma, is making my Bad Monkey hum along just fine. You can use about anything with this. (Make sure its negative on the center terminal and positive on the outside.)
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

even more gas!!!

damn yous, damn yous all to hell *in my best "Jay" impression*
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

another satisfied BM user here. I bought it when my twin tube was gettin fixed and love the thing. Now I run it after the TT to give that mid hump I like sometimes.
 
Re: Initial Bad Monkey mini-review.

skyking said:
another satisfied BM user here.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and whats funny is, prior to the BM, I'd use distortion for maybe 5 minutes every 6 months. My BM hasn't been turned off since I got it. Except when I sleep, and even then, I've left it on. (Thus the urgency for the wall-wart.) :D
 
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