Bad Monkey, Angler, Bogdan/Polish, Blueberry

bongomania · #1 07-02-2009, 01:56 AM

I recently gave full reviews of the Philosopher's Tone and the Holy Fire, and I used the other pedals shown here for immediate comparison. I don't have time or interest in doing a full write-up on all of them, but I figured I should post some general impressions since I've got them here.

The Bogdan/Polish Love is a hot little number. It has a very "lively" and hot tone, very punchy. The OD tone is kind of buzzy, but not obnoxious, and it sounds particularly nice if you roll off the highs via amp/cab. It's the only one of these that I would call "noisy" as in extraneous background hiss, but TBH it's not any worse noise than you'd get from cranking a real tube amp up to a similar level of drive. It has a wide range of drive, all usable and all retaining the low end quite well. As would be expected, the lows aren't as fat at high gain settings, but they aren't "gone". The one little toggle switch is like "nuclear blast engage". Extreme distortion. The most useful setting for fat light-dirt overdrive IMO was with the nuclear blast not engaged, and with the gain knob down between 9 and 10:00.

The Bad Monkey is pretty awesome. It's basically a Tubescreamer with added EQ. I found that by boosting the lows and cutting the highs, I was able to cop tones very similar to one or two settings of the Blueberry. The Blueberry stomps all over the Monkey when it comes to the high gain settings, where the Blueberry sounds like an angry SVT and the Monkey just sounds like a cranked overdrive pedal; but at the low-medium gain settings, the Monkey holds his own just fine. The overdrive dirt quality is smoother than the Polish, and the overall sound is less "cutting" than the Polish. But fatter. The EQ can be used to create some extreme/obnoxious tones for cutting through mixes as needed. With the low EQ not boosted, the pedal does seem to lose some of the lows.

The Angler is, to me, "The Baffler". I don't understand why grygrx loves it so much. It's a nice fat booster, similar to the Fulltone Fatboost, but when it overdrives it just sounds buzzy and unnatural. Rolling off the highs helped, but also basically turned it back into a booster rather than an overdrive. Again it's a great sounding boost, fat and articulate, but then so are a lot of other, cheaper, less rare pedals. I have tried and tried to find something unique about it, but...

I've commented on the Blueberry many times before. It truly is the only pedal I've heard that comes close to copping the grunt of driven power tubes. The only downsides are the price, the semi-rarity, and the fact that it rolls off the highs considerably, so if you wanted a bright cutting sound you won't get it. The Berry is fat, mean, wooly, and very dark. It really does deserve its coveted status, but only if you like what it has to offer.

The Bogdan/Polish gets major thumbs up from me for its lively/hot tone and versatility. The Bad Monkey gets thumbs up for its fat smooth tone and the fact that it gets awfully near certain settings of the almighty Blueberry. I guess I'd push the Polish if you like a brighter, more raw sound, and I'd push the Monkey if you prefer a darker, smoother sound.

dannybuoy · #2 07-02-2009, 02:15 AM

The Bad Monkey is indeed awesome for the price. I had a Humphrey modded one that sounded almost identical to the Xotic Bass BB that came to replace it. Pushing either one into a VT Bass gives the best overdrive I've ever heard.

I've always wanted to try a Blueberry, and having not much experience of tube amps, I'd love to k ow how it compares to the VT Bass at emulating power tube distortion.

nad · #3 07-02-2009, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

The Angler is, to me, "The Baffler". I don't understand why grygrx loves it so much. It's a nice fat booster, similar to the Fulltone Fatboost, but when it overdrives it just sounds buzzy and unnatural. Rolling off the highs helped, but also basically turned it back into a booster rather than an overdrive. Again it's a great sounding boost, fat and articulate, but then so are a lot of other, cheaper, less rare pedals. I have tried and tried to find something unique about it, but...

It sounds terrible alone. I didn't understand The Deal either until I tried it in a mix, and then I completely got it. Nothing I've ever used cuts through, and sounds as sweet, as the Angler in a band situation.

varunkapahi · #4 07-02-2009, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybuoy

The Bad Monkey is indeed awesome for the price. I had a Humphrey modded one that sounded almost identical to the Xotic Bass BB that came to replace it. Pushing either one into a VT Bass gives the best overdrive I've ever heard.

I've always wanted to try a Blueberry, and having not much experience of tube amps, I'd love to k ow how it compares to the VT Bass at emulating power tube distortion.

how much does a humphery modded Bad monkey cost? are they still available? are they reliable? where can i get one from?

dannybuoy · #5 07-02-2009, 06:01 AM

eBay!

Also, they pop up used all the time, so check the classifieds. The stock ones are also perfectly useable on bass (this is the one reviewed) and they sell for peanuts and you should be able to find one even in India.

varunkapahi · #6 07-02-2009, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybuoy

eBay!

Also, they pop up used all the time, so check the classifieds. The stock ones are also perfectly useable on bass (this is the one reviewed) and they sell for peanuts and you should be able to find one even in India.

thanks. its available here for cheap in India too, am just wondering about its bypass. i wasnt really a fan of the digitech BSW bypass system. anyone noticed any bypass tone suck with bsw??

varunkapahi · #7 07-02-2009, 06:19 AM

btw, like you can see in bongo's picture the drive is at max, when i tried it with my passive bass i could hardly get any drive out of it. i was thinking about putting it AFTER my vt bass preamp! you think after would work as good??
the modded one has more drive in it right?

dannybuoy · #8 07-02-2009, 06:58 AM

I don't know if the modded one has more drive or not, but I'm surprised you got hardly any drive out of it. Maybe you need to raise your pickup height? One of the things that makes it so good going into a VT is that the VT smooths out the harshness of the drive pedal going into... so putting it the other way around wouldn't be as good. Bypass is typical Digitech, get the Xotic BB if you want true bypass.

thekage · #9 07-02-2009, 07:53 AM

I love the tone and the punch I get running my Bad Monkey through the EHX Knockout. It takes shelves off of walls in my house.

bongomania · #10 07-02-2009, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nad

It sounds terrible alone. I didn't understand The Deal either until I tried it in a mix, and then I completely got it. Nothing I've ever used cuts through, and sounds as sweet, as the Angler in a band situation.

Ahh, that makes sense. Naturally my testing was all done at home. I'm still dubious about the buzzy clipping, but the boosted tone of the Angler is kind of upper-mids-forward, which would indeed cut well in a mix.

**grygrx** · #11 07-02-2009, 08:33 AM

Nice shootout views.

SoonerMatt · #12 07-02-2009, 08:43 AM

Very informative, Bongo. I've always considered a Monkey, since the price to punch is very appealing.

Valerus · #13 07-02-2009, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by varunkapahi

how much does a humphery modded Bad monkey cost? are they still available? are they reliable? where can i get one from?

Try one out, I had it and it was a good OD for the price (it was good regardless)

Bongolation · #14 07-02-2009, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

The Bad Monkey is pretty awesome. It's basically a Tubescreamer with added EQ.

Are you kidding?

The circuit is nothing like a Tubescreamer.

It's a DOD "Juice Box" converted to SMT when Harman consolidated DOD and DigiTech.

varunkapahi · #15 07-02-2009, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valerus

Try one out, I had it and it was a good OD for the price (it was good regardless)

can i order one off their website??

AJ Brown · #16 07-02-2009, 10:31 AM

They go for $95 + $14.90 shipping on eBay.

dannybuoy · #17 07-02-2009, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Are you kidding?

The circuit is nothing like a Tubescreamer.

It's a DOD "Juice Box" converted to SMT when Harman consolidated DOD and DigiTech.

Got the schematics to prove it?

AJ Brown · #18 07-02-2009, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannybuoy

I don't know if the modded one has more drive or not, but I'm surprised you got hardly any drive out of it. Maybe you need to raise your pickup height? One of the things that makes it so good going into a VT is that the VT smooths out the harshness of the drive pedal going into... so putting it the other way around wouldn't be as good. Bypass is typical Digitech, get the Xotic BB if you want true bypass.

+1 - The BM going into the VT is really nice. I wish I had more application for it.

Pilgrim · #19 07-02-2009, 10:53 AM

One note - Humphreys makes both a guitar and a bass version of the Bad Monkey. You can tell which is which by the location of the sticker he adds to the case. EDITED TO CORRECT EARLIER ERROR - THANKS, DANNYBUOY: (I think the guitar version has the sticker on the end, and the bass version has it on the side.) I have the bass version and highly recommend it - it allows good attack and note definition, which often isn't the case with OD pedals.

I have also spoken with him and he is a true gentleman, helpful and responsive to customer needs!!!

His Ebay page, which also lists Boss pedals and a Dunlop Wah:
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/humphrey...Q_fsubZ4370127

dannybuoy · #20 07-02-2009, 11:15 AM

Other way around I think - my bass version had the sticker on the side.