Bad Monkey vs Boss DS-1

I have a Bad Monkey and love it, but sometimes i would like a little more crunch. I'm thinking about getting a DS-1. Will this do the trick or should I go with something else?

I'm not much of a fan of the DS-1. To my ears it sounds too "fizzy" and thin. I would recommend the Proco RAT instead. Keeley modifies the DS-1 and these are supposed to be much better, but I have no firsthand experience one way or the other.

The DS-1 is a great pedal, if you're a tweaker. You don't need to send it to Keeley or similar modders if you're handy with a soldering iron - there's A TON of info on the internet on exactly what to mod to make that pedal sing. You can even get the rundown on what exactly Keeley does to the DS-1.

If you don't mind modding your Bad Monkey, about $2 worth of resistors from Radio Shack will give you more grind. It won't turn it into a Metal Zone, but that's probably the last pedal in the world that I'd recommend.

The Rat is a cool pedal if you get one with the right chip (LM308N). However, it's COMPLETELY at the other end of the spectrum. There are a lot of peds in between that might have sufficient gonzo for your needs.

One of my favorite "afterburner" pedals is the Danelectro Fabtone. I just run the gain on almost zero. You can get these for dirt cheap. They also sound extra excellent with just a handful of parts swaps. The biggest plus is that the Fabtone is exceptionally quiet for a higher gain pedal, IMO.

The DS-1 is almost a fuzz pedal with certain settings, though as mentioned if you swap out one or two resistors for different values it can beef up the low end quite nicely.

If you're going to go with a Rat you should look for an old used one. The new ones are made in China and are really poor quality. Keeley won't even mod them anymore as a result. From his website:

"We are no longer selling new RAT II pedals because of the VERY Poor quality that we see them in. They are now made in China and the workmanship is the worst I've ever seen. We would have to redo/replace so many things that the cost would increase by at least $45."

The BM and DS-1 are two different beast altogether. I've never heard anything good about a stock DS-1 either but two alternatives to them would be the marshall governor and the Pro Co rat. Keep in mind that those pedals are distortion pedals while the BM is a tubescreamer is an overdrive pedal. Look up the difference.

From the looks of it your budget isn't very big. If your looking for a good tubescreamer pedal like the badmonkey I'd reccommend the Ibanez TS7 Tubescreamer. Its a TS9 in plastic housing. IO know cause I have both. Good luck.

Did you mean SD-1???
http://bmimages.jr.com/productimages/BSSSD1.PNG?FTR=7&CELL=175%2C175&QLT=67&CVT=jpeg

The SD-1 is like a Bad Monkey or a Tube Screamer with a more pronounced mid range. I have the Monkey and the SD-1 and I'm leaning toward the SD-1 for the midrange growl. Both are very organic and tube-ish.

I read your post and I thought immediately that you reversed the two consonants. SD vs DS.

The SD-1 has a lot more edge than the Monkey. $49.95 everywhere. I luuuuuv my SD-1.

John

The BM and DS-1 are two different beast altogether. I've never heard anything good about a stock DS-1 either but two alternatives to them would be the marshall governor and the Pro Co rat. Keep in mind that those pedals are distortion pedals while the BM is a tubescreamer is an overdrive pedal. Look up the difference.

From the looks of it your budget isn't very big. If your looking for a good tubescreamer pedal like the badmonkey I'd reccommend the Ibanez TS7 Tubescreamer. Its a TS9 in plastic housing. IO know cause I have both. Good luck.

I understand the difference between an overdrive and a distortion. I guess my primary concern is if the DS-1 was weak and would duplicate what I can already achieve with the Bad Monkey.

The DS-1 has much heavier distortion than the Bad Monkey to my ears.

never tried a bad monkey but, i've owned a DS-1 for many, many years. it makes a great door-stop with it's rubber feet.

alternatives to them would be the marshall governor


From the looks of it your budget isn't very big.


See my thread about Guv'nor vs. the Daddy-O. If the budget is indeed small, you will find your answer in that thread...

Did you mean SD-1???
http://bmimages.jr.com/productimages/BSSSD1.PNG?FTR=7&CELL=175%2C175&QLT=67&CVT=jpeg

The SD-1 is like a Bad Monkey or a Tube Screamer with a more pronounced mid range. I have the Monkey and the SD-1 and I'm leaning toward the SD-1 for the midrange growl. Both are very organic and tube-ish.

I read your post and I thought immediately that you reversed the two consonants. SD vs DS.

The SD-1 has a lot more edge than the Monkey. $49.95 everywhere. I luuuuuv my SD-1.

John

The SD-1 is a real sleeper, isn't it? While the DS-1 is pretty labor intensive to get sounding good, the SD-1 is simply a killer. There's clearly a reason why the FullDrive II and Landgraff pedals are somewhat extensions of the SD-1 (versus a TS). The handful of changes between a TS and the SD-1 are enough to make the Boss variant a bit more aggressive.

I have a BM and a DS-1, as my only two pedals, and they are awesome separate or together. I see no need to mod either of them. I got both of them used for $65 total, which is such a value compared to what you get for spending two or three times as much. The DS-1 is distortion indeed, and the pedals complement each other perfectly.

I noticed that the OP asked twice if the DS-1 is weak/wimpy, etc...

Not sure what would really dictate that, but I'll try to give my perceptions, for what they're worth -

A stock DS-1 gives the impression of having much more distortion than a TS or clone (such as the Bad Monkey) because of the scooped mids and heavy compression when the pedal distorts. The stock tone control can sound very tinny and weak (IMO) for these reasons.

The stock opamp chip in the current DS-1's is typically viewed as inferior. It's actually counter-intuitive as to why this is. It's because the chip is a higher fidelity Mitsubishi chip that the originals didn't have. Despite what you may read online, hi-fi chips are generally bad in pedals, IMO. A somewhat "blurry" chip like the original Toshiba actually kills some of the fizz in the stock circuit. The good news is that the new ones can be de-fizzed by carefully selecting 2 replacement clipping diodes.

If you tweak the stock tone circuit for flatter response, the DS-1 really fattens up remarkably (2 resistors and 2 or 3 capacitors). Swapping 2 diodes will get you even closer, and replacing a single capacitor (C3) with a .033 uF one will take the last of the fizz out, and really bring the pedal home. If you concentrate on these 3 areas, the rest of the suggested mods that all of the big names do are very slight or degrees of overkill, IMO...

...The only reason that I keep bringing up the issue of tweaking a DS-1 is because so many guitarist do end up using it as a doorstop. For this reason, you can grab used ones for next to nothing and tweak them.

A stock DS-1 is weak, IMO. No shortage of distortion, but all the wrong kind...

I understand the difference between an overdrive and a distortion. I guess my primary concern is if the DS-1 was weak and would duplicate what I can already achieve with the Bad Monkey.

Sounds like you need a pro co rat then. It goes from a light TS growl all the way to full out fuzz. It has alot of different tone varieties.

If its down to the BM or DS I'd say BM. 99% of pedal boards I see have a TS or a clone. You'll probably end up getting one anyway sooner or later.

The BM is an overdrive pedal, and the DS-1 is a distortion pedal.
Different sounds. I don't use my DS-1 that much, but I use my BM the most, then my DS9. I like the DS-1, but I have not found what to use it for yet.