Bad Monkey or Bad Player

Bogwhoppit

Is it me, or does anyone else think the Bad Monkey pedal is harsh ?   I've tried it in a few amps with a USA strat and it just sounds 'harshy farty'.

 

Not that I'm challenging the myriad of users, let alone the 'super duper' named players, but even when taking into account my fucked hearing, partial deafness, ETD and relentless tinnitus, it still sounds - to my ears-  like a Monkey with tuberculosis.

Save me from my heathen thoughts and tell me where I'm going wrong, I just want my Bad Monkey to start behaving or 'its' going back to the fricking zoo

randomhandclaps

What have you been feeding your monkey?  That may explain the fartyness.

Bogwhoppit

randomhandclaps said:

What have you been feeding your monkey?  That may explain the fartyness.

Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake

 

thecolourbox

Is tuberculosis derived from Tubescreamulosis? Sounds silly but are you using the amp out rather than the direct out? Dint mean to patronise, just they don't seem the logical way around to me, and I've not been impressed with the direct out sound. Always sounded good to me on the normal mode though, into slightly driven amp

Bogwhoppit

thecolourbox said:

Sounds silly but are you using the amp out rather than the direct out? Dint mean to patronise,

Not silly at all, I did check myself.  Going through a really clean amp with the Monkey knobs around noon and the gain backed of to the 10,11 o'clock position I can get a faint Strat driven sound, but any more gain and it sounds like a solid state amp being driven hard - chopped waveform springs to mind.

thecolourbox

Hmm, is that with the gain up a bit on your amp? I think that's why i don't like the direct out, as the drive sound on its own isn't perhaps the best, but as a boost it does stuff to the amps drive, which may be better. There's a point on the Lil night train gain knob thing after which the gain really increases, i like to set the amp just below this point then use the monkey to push it past it.
Just another thought, its not actually one of those monkeys off the pg tips ads is it?

ICBM

Count me as not a fan either. I know a lot of people love them, but they sound very uninspiring and boxy to me, and I agree that they become farty and harsh if you turn up the bass and treble to try to get rid of the boxiness.

I'm not a fan of TS-type pedals in general though - other than into heavy scooped-sounding overdriven amps, where the midrange tone works well. But I don't even like the Bad Monkey as much as a normal TS-type for that.

I *much* preferred the Hot Head (which I'm guessing is probably DS-1 derived) from the same series.

Bogwhoppit

I think its use for me is in driving the front end of the amp. Tis a shame cause the green match's my carpet, in fact its so close I thought I lost it this morning until I tripped over it. 

monquixote

Like all Tube Screamer like pedals you will probably get the best out of it with the gain fairly low and being used to push a lightly driven valve amp. 

Dave_Mc

I like mine fine. Admittedly I just use it as a boost most of the time, but still. The way I dial mine in, anyway, it pretty much just sounds like a tubescreamer to my ears, though that might say more about my ears than how much it sounds like a tubescreamer. )

ICBM said:

I *much* preferred the Hot Head (which I'm guessing is probably DS-1 derived) from the same series.

I think it is. I think i looked it up over at freestompboxes and that's what it appeared to be. it sounds like a ds1 (again, to my ears ) ) anyway.

mike_l

I prefer it as a boost into a well driven amp. I'm not so fond of it into a clean/lightly driven amp.

daveyh

mike_l said:

I prefer it as a boost into a well driven amp. I'm not so fond of it into a clean/lightly driven amp.

I'm with Mike on this. I can get mine to sound crap, but can also easily get it to be excellent. I also want a bit of harshness in my sound.

ICBM

daveyh said:

I also want a bit of harshness in my sound.

I do too, but over the years I've found that I much prefer DS-type harshness to TS-type harshness .

guitarfishbay

Bogwhoppit said:

thecolourbox said:

Sounds silly but are you using the amp out rather than the direct out? Dint mean to patronise,

Not silly at all, I did check myself.  Going through a really clean amp with the Monkey knobs around noon and the gain backed of to the 10,11 o'clock position I can get a faint Strat driven sound, but any more gain and it sounds like a solid state amp being driven hard - chopped waveform springs to mind.

As other people have said it is much better used as a boost for an already dirty amp.  The gain sounds from the pedal are not great, but the pedal itself is still a good alternative to a normal TS type for boosting an amp.

IME, the best sounds are had keeping the level at unity or higher, gain below 10 o'clock and then adjusting the EQ to taste, though it is most happy when not straying too far from noon.  The main issue I have with the pedal is it has relatively little more volume to give by the time you get it to unity gain.  This tends to go for quite a few TS types IME, the only one I've tried that can significantly raise the volume is the Visual Sound Route 808 Circuit.

mike_l

daveyh said:

mike_l said:

I prefer it as a boost into a well driven amp. I'm not so fond of it into a clean/lightly driven amp.

I'm with Mike on this. I can get mine to sound crap, but can also easily get it to be excellent. I also want a bit of harshness in my sound.

Also it works best (for me) into a valve amp. To my ear it sounds shite into a solid state.

Flanging_Fred

I used to really like my Bad Monkey but. I got an old Arion overdrive on a whim and after that the BM just sounded like it had a sinus infection. I expect that if I picked another BM up again I'd probably like it but that cheap plastic Arion totally eclipsed it.

Then again I thought the Arion was better than my Paul Cochrane Tim as well so what do I know?

p90fool

I'm sorry, effects pedals are a dime a dozen, I'm more worried about the colour of your carpet.

Bogwhoppit

p90fool said:

 I'm more worried about the colour of your carpet.

Hey, what can I say, I'm a renaissance man

Maxi

I cant say im a big fan of the bad monkey but it does the job and for considerably less than a tube screamer . maybe if I was using it all the time and it was more important to my tone I'd shell out for a TS ...as an overdrive pedal I just dont like TS type , but to tighten up a flabby tone or to hot rod the preamp and give it some bite I probably would be happy with almost any cheap knock off .