Guest Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I needed something to add a little grit/warmth and not having the required funds for a Valve drive etc took the plunge on a Digitech bad monkey modified by Humphry Audio for the grand sum of £50 including shipping from the U.S.A Very Very happy, at lower gain setting it adds a rich valve warmth full of natural harmonics with loads of bottom available, upping the gain all the way it can be gritty but it still retains the warmth. It also responds well to playing dynamics's digging in hard results in a grittier sound. Also its very quiet, ive not played a standard bad monkey but this is quality kit, it won't do hard fuzz type distortion but for adding warmth/mild overdrive its worth at least twice the price. overall 10 out of 10, Especially at the price :wub: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clauster Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I went for one of these on the strength of Steve's review. It arrived this morning and I've just managed to spend 30 minutes getting acquainted. Sound-wise I'm IMPRESSED! At the price it's an amazing tone. IMHO you'd need to spend at least double to get an improvement in tone. A nice valvey warmth through the gain range. I wouldn't say it's exactly tube like but it definitely doesn't sound solid state fuzzy. The low and high frequency controls are useful too. Really looking forward to next rehearsal so I can tie down "my" tone. Hardware wise - the Digitech case is built like a tank. I had the chassis apart this morning to look at the standard of Humphrey's work. I could spot two replaced components, but they're nice clean soldering jobs - I had to go looking for them, and they were only noticeable because the rest are uniform production line joints. The only place where this pedal loses points is when the case was put back together at Humph's one wire was trapped in the chassis joint, tearing a bit of the sleeve (not baring the wire, but could easily have done so). Overall 9/10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDM Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I've got a standard version of one of these. I originally bought it as a boost pedal for my guitar setup. But I decided to give it a go through my bass rig. It sounds great for that light overdrive tone IMO.What exactly does the Humphrey mod do? Are there any schematics out there for similar mods? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 (edited) [quote name='clauster' post='112531' date='Jan 2 2008, 07:39 PM']I went for one of these on the strength of Steve's review. It arrived this morning and I've just managed to spend 30 minutes getting acquainted. Sound-wise I'm IMPRESSED![/quote] PHEW! Glad you liked it, reviewing bass gear is hard, some people like MM bongo's mine lasted about 2 weeks! not sure about comparing it to a standard one as I've never had one but its cheap as chips for the quality and sound so you cant go wrong, i think the mods reduce noise and shift the voicing more into the bass range, mine is now a permanent addition to my sound ( playing through an EA combo) Edited January 3, 2008 by steve-norris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 i never notice any noises with my standard one, and loses no low end for me il stick with the standard which i got for £20 ta although id like to a/b them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clauster Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 [quote]i never notice any noises with my standard one, and loses no low end for me[/quote] I've never tried the standard pedal, but it gets some good reviews in the usual places. As I said above, I can only see a couple of components that have been replaced. It could be that they're just caps that have been changed to centre the high and low controls around frequencies that are more relevant to bass, rather than improve tone and noise. Standard or modded - I'd just like more people to know that this pedal is out there. It's GRRRRRRRREAT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boneless Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I have the SFX (Silent Fly) modded BM, and it's been a great buy. Have yet to test its full potential, but it sounds great. I used to have a Bad Monkey, but it broke and the mod is surely an improvement over it. The standard is already very good, just a little bit shy on the bass frequencies. The only thing I don't like about the Bad Monkey (both the standard and the modded one) is that's a bit dark sounding and doesn't have much attack, it's very, very creamy, which I like as well, but I'd like to get some treble out of it, but I have a Sansamp GT-2 clone which does that kind of job perfectly, so never mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 I have the SFX Monkey too, it's splendid. Not a terribly bright sound though, I agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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