bad monkey vs. sd-1

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bunghole

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for boosting an old randall rg 80 112 sc combo (needs more gain for more brutal / high gain metal styles)

don't recommend any other pedals - these are both cheap and generally get good enough reviews. and are easy to find. As of right now, I can get a BM for 25 bucks and an SD-1 for 30.

go
 
I have not compared these 2 side by side, in fact its been a while since I tried an SD-1. But the Bad Monkey was smoother than the SD-1. The SD-1 seemed to be grittier.

So it really depends on what you want....
 
BM is smoother and a "better" eq, sounds "better" in bypass mode and is more tweakable.

The SD1 has this typical attack/edge though . . .
 
I much prefer the stock SD-1 for boosting a high gain amp. But I like the BM for boosting a clean/semi-dirty amp for vintage stuff.
 
thing is, the two guys with SD-1's haven't responded, but the one with the bad monkey has
 
duesentrieb":2tgou8ih said:
BM is smoother and a "better" eq, sounds "better" in bypass mode and is more tweakable.

The SD1 has this typical attack/edge though . . .
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+1
Another question to ask yourself is if you like pedals with a mid boost or not. The BM has the mid boost - good, bad, or indifferent.

I much prefer the BM. Before I bought the SD-1 I had read how dynamic is was for a dirt pedal, yada yada yada...but I just didn't find that. IMO the SD-1 is a little sterile compared to the BM. The BM has a real good "feel" to it, but I should add it depends on the amp; some boosts work great with some amps and not with others. The BM sounds amazing in front of my angry hippie and hg jose to get more "brutal" tones, but it sucks in front of my Uberschall IMO. The SD-1 I had for awhile just didn't do anything for me with any of the amps I had at the time (Uber & OD100). It basically emasculated them :m9: .

Overall, I found the BM to "blend" with my amps much better, whereas with the SD-1 it seemed very obvious there was a pedal there and it didn't let my amps shine through enough. I'd say give the BM a shot first, but who knows the SD-1 may gel with that amp just perfect.
 
The bad monkey is more flexible and probably the best bang for the buck od out there. It's not the be all end all by any means but it's fairly transparent if you want it to be and it can get in the ball park of what most folks would want out of a tube screamer style od. The sd-1 is pretty much a 1 trick pony, it has a very aggressive almost cocked wah quality to the mids unless you bury the tone knob. But for a very metal sounding boost it is really good. I remember reading a post somewhere a long time ago where the sd-1 was described as having that Fear Factory Demanufacture tone. Not really a FF fan but that guitar tone on Demanufacture has that biting kinda SS tone that is inherent in the sd-1. If it was me I'd pick the BM because the Randall probably has plenty of teeth already, but if you want some metal as fuck tone the will make babies cry and kill your neighbor's lawn the sd-1 would be a better choice. :D
 
the bad monkey is far more versatile than the sd1. i dont think you could go wrong with either one..but there is far less a chance of you being unhappy with a bad monkey.
 
Nigel Tufnel":29brp1go said:
If it was me I'd pick the BM because the Randall probably has plenty of teeth already, but if you want some metal as fuck tone the will make babies cry and kill your neighbor's lawn the sd-1 would be a better choice. :D
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yeah, the Randall (when turned up) gets to thrash territory (or at least high gain "heavy" metal ala Mercyful Fate circa Don't Break the Oath"), but sometimes I would like to have a brutal tone when I want to play some Suffocation. And I don't like Fear Factory , and I do like the option of more mids - so I think I'm sold on the Bad Monkey

unless of course a Dano Fish n Chips would serve me better for what I'm looking for
 
bunghole":198axvvx said:
Nigel Tufnel":198axvvx said:
If it was me I'd pick the BM because the Randall probably has plenty of teeth already, but if you want some metal as fuck tone the will make babies cry and kill your neighbor's lawn the sd-1 would be a better choice. :D
Click to expand...

yeah, the Randall (when turned up) gets to thrash territory (or at least high gain "heavy" metal ala Mercyful Fate circa Don't Break the Oath"), but sometimes I would like to have a brutal tone when I want to play some Suffocation. And I don't like Fear Factory , and I do like the option of more mids - so I think I'm sold on the Bad Monkey

unless of course a Dano Fish n Chips would serve me better for what I'm looking for
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BM would be a good choice, it's nice to have that bass knob, sd-1 can be too thin without mods. For super heavy stuff I would go with an od insead of an eq.
 
I havent used the BM, but the sd1 is good for boosting an already driven amp... if you want it for a soft overdrive to a clena amp.. its not that great imo.
 
what about distortion pedals as a boost?

again, its the combo version of the randall rg80es

thoughts on Metal Zone, DS-1, digitech grunge, etc?

cheap distortion pedals
 
bunghole":3llv9awa said:
what about distortion pedals as a boost?

again, its the combo version of the randall rg80es

thoughts on Metal Zone, DS-1, digitech grunge, etc?

cheap distortion pedals
Click to expand...

?????
 
bunghole":hxigpy86 said:
bunghole":hxigpy86 said:
what about distortion pedals as a boost?

again, its the combo version of the randall rg80es

thoughts on Metal Zone, DS-1, digitech grunge, etc?

cheap distortion pedals
Click to expand...

?????
Click to expand...

I've had good luck and not so good luck boosting with stock Metal Zones. Seems like the older ones were much better, but I digress...The eq on the Metal Zone is really cool and effective. If you went that way I'd get a modded one to get rid of the nasty cocked wah tone.
 
bunghole":3smsr83w said:
what about distortion pedals as a boost?

again, its the combo version of the randall rg80es

thoughts on Metal Zone, DS-1, digitech grunge, etc?

cheap distortion pedals
Click to expand...


Listen the sample of a modded the MT-2 (MT-2 Sustainia Tri-Gain Plus) by monte allums. With the switch at the lower position you get a very thick overdrive sound (don't know as a boost but it must kill on clean channel)

Sample:


Mod: http://www.monteallums.com/pedal_mods.html#bossmt2Plus


I'm seriously thinking about buying a used MT-2 and doing the mod on it, you can get it mod by Monte Allums too.
 
For boosting output, it doen't really matter which one you choose. They both have Level dials, so that's all you need. OD pedals add output, not gain, when used for boosting a gain channel.
 
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