I couldn't help it!

[Dave W]

Mineral spirits! It all makes sense now! 

[Pilgrim]

I think I once got some mineral spirits trapped in the wood, played hell with the finish! 

I've had more difficulty from spirits trapped within ME.

[Pilgrim]

The Bad Monkey is here - and my daughter didn't even remember she had it.  It was late Christmas Day before I remembeed that it should have appeared under the tree.

So - I got it - it's heavy!  I don't know if all Digitech pedals are heavy, but this one sure is.  I also discovered that it's the guitar Badder Monkey mod, but more about that in a moment.

I'll add pix this evening.....

Front panel and close-up:



Separate outputs for amp and effects:

Input side...


I tried it vs. the Boss SD-2, and it's definitely different.  Much more an overdrive, less tendency towards distortion, and with a lot of effect dialed in, definitely a tube OD sound.  In contrast the SD-2 I've been using is distortion, and using the Lead channel even with minimum effect, it's very aggressive. These are VERY different effects!

The Monkey seems to preserve the note attack reasonably well, which is definitely something I'm looking for. Whether the SD-2 does is something I'm still working on.

Here's the interesting side story - I finally realized that Humphreys made both guitar and bass mods - and I didn't know which one I had.  I dropped him a note on his website: http://www.haudiomods.webs.com/index.html and asked him if there was a way I could ID it.  He answered me within an hour on a Saturday, and told me to check the label location - on the side is bass, on the end near the DC input is guitar.

I emailed back and said mine was guitar - and I wasn't sure whether I should just play it or sell and go after a bass model.  Within hours, he offered to convert it to the bass version at NO charge!  His emails were pleasant and helpful, and he said I would be happier with the bass model.  I'll be sending it to him tomorrow - return postage and a thank-you gift both enclosed.

I'm thinking that all the very positive things said about Mark Humphreys in various reviews of his mods are very likely to be true!

[Dave W]

Now that's customer service. 

[Pilgrim]

Yesterday I received the Badder Bass Monkey back - and by great good fortune, it arrived about an hour before band practice!

My thoughts - I really like this unit.  It provides a very tube-OD sound, nice and growly, but without breaking up and getting into outright distortion.  With proper gain settings the initial note attack seems to be preserved pretty well.  For numbers like Jack The Ripper, it's perfect.  I also like it a lot on the Peter Gunn Theme - it adds a nice touch and grit to that classic bass line.

I'm happy with it.  I can see how some guys could end up using it for almost everything, but I won't be doing this.  However, I think it's in for a long stay on my pedal board.