First Impressions: JRAD Monkeyman Tweed Overdrive

I recently picked up a JRAD Monkeyman tweed overdrive pedal.

I think this is a fantastic tweed-tone pedal. Read on for my First Impressions, where I’ll try and demonstrate why.

What Did You Buy?

I bought a Monkeyman (or is it Monkey Man?) Tweed Overdrive, made by J. Rockett Audio Designs (JRAD for short). I got mine on the second-hand market.

I know very little about this pedal. When I try to Google this pedal, I mostly get back results for the 2024 action film directed by (and starring) Dev Patel. There doesn’t even seem to be demo videos of this pedal out there from the usual YouTube guitarists. I can’t remember the last time I bought a pedal that had such a low profile launch.

It was launched either in 2018 or 2019, and has largely disappeared without trace. It’s no longer listed on JRAD’s own website, and I couldn’t find any product listings in the places that I normally look.

It’s a very simple tweed-tone overdrive pedal. We get three controls:

• volume
• speaker breakup (a gain control?)
• spring reverb

There’s no tone control, no EQ controls of any kind.

I’ve no idea if it officially chases the sound of a specific tweed amp, or if it’s one of those pedals that’s chasing the tweed-tone vibe instead. Either are good to me 🙂

Why Did You Buy It?

I collect tweed-tone pedals. If it’s a pedal that recreates the sound of those early 50s amps, then I want to try it.

To be honest, this wasn’t on my list that I’m looking out for. I didn’t even know that it existed until it turned up in my eBay feed. I don’t recall ever seeing one of these put up for sale before. Surely I must have, though?

Once I found out that it seems to have been discontinued, I thought ‘what the hell’, and bought it. Really not sure if/when I’ll see another one of these.

My Rig Today

I’m playing:

• my Fender Telecaster (aka Mirage) and my Gibson Les Paul (aka GP)
• into my Axe-FX 3 (for the tuner and EQ toys)
• out to my pedalboard
• back into the Axe-FX 3 (for amp, cab, delay and reverb)
• out to my audio interface
• and into my DAW.

The Axe-FX 3 is running a (pretty much) final version of my 65 Clean pedal platform preset. You can learn more about it here.

On the pedalboard, I have the Ceriatone Centura, Lazy J Cruiser Deuce and JRAD Monkeyman in separate loops of my trusty Gigrig G2. This allows me to take the other pedals completely out of the signal path when I’m not using them, so that they cannot colour the tone in any way.

I’m using the Ceriatone Centura as my Klon klone of choice. To my ears, it sounds identical to my Klon KTR, especially when used in the classic clean boost configuration. That’s not something I can say about many Klon klones!

I’m throwing in the Lazy J Cruiser Deuce as an alternative way to boost the JRAD Monkeyman. More on that further down this blog post.

All the delay and reverb is from the Axe-FX 3. There’s no effects added in my DAW. I will have done some level-matching in post (details on the process here).

How Does It Sound?

Sounds Great Through The Blackface Clean Tone

This is one of those tweed-tone pedals that sounds really good through a typical Fender-style “blackface” clean tone. I have turned the Mids control on the amp up to 6; that seems to suit this pedal best.

To start with, here’s the JRAD Monkeyman with the bridge pickup of my Telecaster (aka Mirage). I’ve got the Speaker Breakup control at around 9 o’clock, and that’s all the gain that I need.

I could stop right there and call this blog post done. Straight out of the box, the Monkeyman is giving me a sound that I would happily use. It suits my Telecaster so well.

To my ears, that right there is a really nice tweed tone. I want to say it’s a “small box” or “little tweedy” tone, kinda chasing the vibe of a Champ perhaps … but I’ve never played a Champ, so 🤷‍♂️

For comparison, here’s a recent demo of the DanDrive Tweedy 5B3, which offers one of the best Tweed Deluxe-type tones I’ve ever had from a pedal.

Compared to the DanDrive Tweedy 5B3, the JRAD Monkeyman has that extra cut and upper-mids focus that makes me think of the smaller tweed amp and its smaller speaker.

I think they’re both great sounds.

No Tone Control Means It Can Get Muddy

If I switch over to the middle position of my Telecaster (humbucker neck pickup & single-coil bridge pickup together), the JRAD Monkeyman does struggle with low-end mud:

I wouldn’t say it’s completely collapsing with the low-end from my Telecaster, and I’m sure that’s a sound that someone has a use for. It’s not for me, though.

It’s not quite as bad if I switch over to my Les Paul in the middle position:

That’s a very thick, fat tone to my ears. I think there’s still plenty of note definition. Not quite enough for me, though: on the demo, you can hear how I’m struggling to play this tone well.

If I was a lead guitarist, I think it would be fun to slam the front of the JRAD Monkeyman with a clean boost and see if I could get a saturated lead tone out of it.

A Simple Tilt EQ Sorts Out The Mud

Thankfully, if (like me) you mostly play in the middle position on your guitar, a simple tilt EQ in front of the JRAD Monkeyman gets rid of the mud.

Listening back, while the mud has gone, I think there’s still a little too much low-end here. I don’t think this pedal’s tone and character really suit having a lot of low-end. I would probably turn the bass down on my amp and try again, to be honest.

In this situation, though, I prefer to shape the tone using a different technique …

Does It Klon?

Oh yes.

I think the Klon (and reasonably accurate Klon klones) are a great way to get the best out of the JRAD Monkeyman.

Here, I’m using my Ceriatone Centura in the classic clean boost configuration (gain around 8 o’clock, treble at 1 o’clock, and level just above unity). I’m still on my Les Paul, and still playing in the middle position.

I’ve dropped the Speaker Breakup of the JRAD Monkeyman down to around 8 o’clock. This is the sweet spot for me when I’m boosting this pedal.

That, right there, sounds really good to me. It’s still got that “small box” character that I heard when I was playing my Telecaster, just with the added fatness of my Les Paul’s humbuckers.

To finish, let’s try something different …

Boosting With The Lazy J Cruiser Deuce

I appreciate that the Klon thing isn’t something that everyone likes. Let’s swap out the Ceriatone Centura and put a Lazy J Cruiser Deuce in its place instead.

If you’re not familiar with them, Lazy J makes some of the most respected modern tweed amps around. Their Cruiser Deuce pedal isn’t an overdrive pedal as such; it’s specifically designed for boosting real tweed amps.

I’m running mine here with both sides enabled, Gain down around 10 o’clock, Volume just below noon, Drive just below 10 o’clock, Saturation just above 11 o’clock, and the toggle switch in the middle position.

Here’s how that sounds with my Les Paul in the middle position:

For comparison, here’s the JRAD Monkeyman again with a tilt EQ in front of it:

To my ears, they’re very similar – but not quite the same. I think I’m hearing a slightly thicker mid-range from the Cruiser Deuce, as if it’s a little more saturated. Maybe there’s a little more crunch there too?

The differences aren’t huge to me. I doubt I could tell them apart in a blind test.

Final Thoughts

This pedal has been a total surprise from start to finish. I didn’t even know it existed until a few days ago, and I’m very glad that I now do.

I think this pedal sounds fantastic with both my Telecaster and my Les Paul. It also offers me a different flavour of tweed tone too, giving me a great option to add to my collection.

Why did JRAD discontinue this? I’d love to know. Sure, the lack of tone / EQ controls might limit the appeal to some players, but that’s the only knock I’ve got against it. And that’s easily sorted by running a tone-shaping boost or EQ in front of it.

I think it’s a great tweed-tone pedal, right up there with the best that I’ve tried so far. Definitely a keeper.