Is There a Better Tube Overdrive Than The Bad Monkey? (at it's price)

[Ben Harmless]

I know the pet pedal around here use to be the Nobels OD-1 (I think). I don't know if they stopped making it or not, but there were folks that swore by theres. I see Nobels pedals around every once in awhile, but they always look super cheesy to me.

I try not to judge the book by its cover though.

[Verne Bunsen]

I like the SD-1 with the C6 cap removed to open up the tone. If you crank the gain, it will suffer from a bypass-bleed-through or whatever you want to call it, basically the gain bleeds through on your signal when the effect is bypassed. I don't worry about it though because I use it for very mild gain and it hasn't been an issue. If it's problematic for you, the mod to remedy it is supposed to be pretty simple.

[bluemud928]

a good friend ordered 2 dano drive pedals,1 for him,1 for me.both are being returned.in this forum i've read that they're a great ts style pedal,that they've kicked monkey butt,that they're warm,etc...we could'nt find a store that carried them, we went for it anyway... geeez,that pedal sucked.i used it thru a champII at a small gig. cold, harsh,brittle.the pedal,not the weather. my buddy put his thru a 15 watt bad cat,same ****.i tried real hard to find a setting i liked and i failed.i guess the drive is a rock styled pedal.i play blues.this experience has stopped our order of the dano t.o.. for comparative purposes,i use a vox valve-tone,bad monkey,sparkle drive,catmods daddy-o,dano fab distortion for clean boost and a bbe treble boost.i've given away a load of od's in the past.my buddy has settled on a keeley bd,ts-7 and some clean booster. this reply is a perfect example how we all hear differently. the video shows me the timmy is worth every penny.

[FenderGuy53]

+8 for the Cool Cat Danelectro Duo: CO-1 Drive and CTO-1 Transparent OD. Both are the cat's "meow" for my dollars.

I owned a Bad Monkey briefly, but never got "wow"ed by it.

[spameister]

The tone just seems overly "hyped" to me. It's either too dark or too bright.

+1

I used to have one on my board, and now it lies in the pedal graveyard behind my amps. Only worked well for me in some certain circumstances. Also, I dropped it and the gain pot broke so it's stuck on either full or no gain.

[Soopajeanmi]

Sold 2 barber LTD (black and SR) and stopped using the bad monkey after I got my dano transparent overdrive. It's awesome.

[Nub]

I had a Bad Monkey for a while, I didn't think it sounded very good by itself. It sounded good as a "fat" boost after my other pedals, but I suspect most of that was the Barber Small Fry running into it & the Orange Rocker 30 after it. There are a lot of much better sounding TS-flavored pedals out there, for just a little more money.

I also tried a Dano TOD recently... like the Monkey, I just couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Even if it had sounded good to me, though, the placement of the knobs would've been a deal breaker. And I didn't think it sounded much like a Timmy at all... YMMV.

[Colt W. Knight]

I have the monkey and a Rocktron Austin Gold OD, the Austin Gold blows it out of the water, but it was 59$.

[ProToneThinline]

This monkey thread made me curious, so I dug out my Bad Monkey to re-visit the tone. I was quite surprised - the Monkey did a much better job at low/meduim gain (sweaty) OD than my CC Drive. It took a few minutes to dial in the tone controls. Too much of either bass or treble, and the tone does get too "hyped", but once it's dialed in, it's very cool. I was surprised at how smooth and natural you can make it sound.

[TheDragonReborn]

+8 for the Cool Cat Danelectro Duo: CO-1 Drive and CTO-1 Transparent OD. Both are the cat's "meow" for my dollars.

Just got back to TDPRI after a few months abscence. I heard of these two Dano pedals
before but this thread made me order the both of them! Paid just under 60 Euro's for
both, inculding tax & shipping.

Can't wait to try them!

TDR

[FenderGuy53]

Originally Posted by TheDragonReborn

Just got back to TDPRI after a few months abscence. I heard of these two Dano pedals
before but this thread made me order the both of them! Paid just under 60 Euro's for
both, inculding tax & shipping.

Can't wait to try them!

TDR

As far as OD pedals go, these two Cool Cats are Dano's flagship pedals. It's great that you were able to grab the originals and not the reissues. Great value for not a lot of cabbage. I think you'll be pleased.

[mrcrappypantson]

I checked out some comparison videos between the CTO-1 and the Timmy after I heard some of those rumors going around. CTO-1 is in the mail now. Thanks everyone.

[FenderGuy53]

Originally Posted by mrcrappypantson

I checked out some comparison videos between the CTO-1 and the Timmy after I heard some of those rumors going around. CTO-1 is in the mail now. Thanks everyone.

Firstly, the Germandude demo was slightly biased toward the Timmy (the EQ setup was disparate in the demo); however, the CTO-1 still held its ground.

Secondly, those rumors have now morphed into established facts! Both Dano pedals were successfully reverse-engineered and confirmed to be clones of the Fulltone OCD (CO-1 Drive) and Paul Cochrane's Timmy (CTO-1 Transparent OD).

[richey88]

Originally Posted by k tone

I have tried numerous different OD's on my board. The latest being the Dano TOD. The Bad M always makes it way back. I have a Maxon OD-808 (boost) into a Bad Monkey (gain>75% - crunch) that has been on my board for months now. That pair never leaves even though I am constantly shifting everything else around!

Me too k-tone. I had the CC drive for quite a while and really wanted to dig it. Was able to get some cool tones out of it on home recordings (using external EQ's, reverb, etc.) but got nothing but screechy annoying tones live no matter the setting. The Monkey is a mainstay on my humble pedal board. Would like to try the TOD, but now use the BM and boost with an LPB-1 for solos and stack sometomes with a Guyatone OD-2 (also nice for the price, lotsa mids though. It does sound nice with the BM in front of it, noisy as hell, but in a live bar type situation who cares). I also have the CC fuzz and really dig that pedal by itself or boosted w/ the LPB.

[telekaster1999]

Its hard to beat the monkey.

[TyPierce]

Originally Posted by hou35male

Digitech Screaming Blues pedal. When I A/B'd them together, the Bad Monkey was way to "muddy" compared to the Screaming Blues. And I think it was only ten dollars more!

RJ

Same experience I had! The BM sounded too muddy, indistinct and fizzy - like it was adding dirt around the notes instead of the grit being an organic part of the notes. The SB can be a bit harsh depending on pickups, but it's easy enough to just roll back the treble and rein it in.

It also seemed to have a bit more clean boostness on tap than the BM, for those that are into that sort of thing.

But yeah, I A-B-ed them, too, and greatly preferred the Screamin' Blues.

Also, the two Dano Cool Cat pedals - Drive and Transparent Overdrive - are great budget choices.

[Nub]

Originally Posted by JohnK24

Gotta say the MXR Classic Distortion (or Distortion III - same box, different paint/name)...great pedal, less mid hump, nice top end. Almost zenlike in higher gain settings if you dial the tone knob in right (2-3 oclock). I just snagged one off ebay for $30. ymmv

A huge +1... I snagged a Classic Distortion a couple of weeks ago, and it's definitely a keeper.

[davidge1]

Originally Posted by TyPierce

The BM sounded... like it was adding dirt around the notes instead of the grit being an organic part of the notes.

That's exactly why I like it! With the gain down fairly low, it just creates a nice fullness to the sound, but the sound of the notes isn't changed very much. To me, that seems more like what a clean amp does when you turn it up loud. Either way, it's just a great sound to my ears.

[r.jones1116]

Originally Posted by telekaster1999

Its hard to beat the monkey.

Try spankin' the monkey. (sorry, couldn't resist)

[richey88]

Originally Posted by Brandon Butler

I love the Bad Monkey, and I am not the only one! I gave one away to a forum member not to long ago - Here is the very one gave away being used with a flying v into a Blues Jr.



As of right now, I don't know of an overdrive pedal that can beat the Bad Monkey at this price. I am open for suggestions and sound clips/videos. I am very curious to know! Keep it at $50 and under, guys!

Nice....no, very nice playing brah. YOU ROCK! I gots a Blues Jr. and a Bad Monkey.....have V gas now! That axe sounds very nice.