Digitech Hot Head – Reunited with an Old Flame

I’ve been on a bit of a Digitech kick lately — probably triggered by the renewed attention Josh Scott gave the Bad Monkey a few years back. That video seemed to single-handedly pull the old Digitech drives out of obscurity, and it reminded me just how much fun those pedals were.

A couple of weeks ago, I revisited the Screamin’ Blues — a pedal that’s often described as a BD-2 with a two-band EQ. Well, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it a lot. It nails those classic Blues Driver tones and then goes even further, reaching into territory that even the Boss can’t quite manage. More than that though, it stirred up something even more powerful than great tone: nostalgia.

Back in my formative guitar years, I bought three of these Digitech pedals — the Bad Monkey, Screamin’ Blues, and one more mysterious third pedal. Over time, I convinced myself I’d outgrown them. They got shelved, forgotten and one got traded away in the endless cycle of gear acquisition. But after finishing the Screamin’ Blues demo, I realised how wrong I’d been to underestimate them. I jumped straight onto eBay to see if I could reunite the trio. A few bids later, the orange box — the Hot Head — was on its way to me.

There’s a little twist to that story, but we’ll come back to that later.

Orange Means Distortion

The Hot Head is Digitech’s orange overdrive, and let’s be honest — when we see an orange drive pedal, our minds immediately jump to one thing: the Boss DS-1. Much like green being the official colour of a mid-hump overdrive - It’s the benchmark, the reference point, the orange distortion pedal. Whether the Hot Head is based directly on the DS-1 circuit or not, I can’t say for sure, but it definitely shares some DNA. And, like the Screamin’ Blues compared to the BD-2, it also fixes a few of the shortcomings.

The DS-1 has been the first “real” pedal for countless players. It’s cheap, it’s everywhere, and when you stomp on it for the first time, it makes a very noticeable difference to your tone. But by today’s standards, it’s not exactly a refined circuit. The tone control, in particular, is famously limited — turn it one way, and you get mush; turn it the other, and it’s fizzy bees in a tin can. There’s a narrow sweet spot in the middle, and that’s about it.

The Hot Head solves that problem neatly with a two-band EQ. The bass control gives you proper tonal flexibility — roll it back for a nasal, almost megaphone-like drive tone, or crank it up for thick, fuzzy bottom-end saturation. The treble control acts more like a global tone knob, but even when rolled right back, it doesn’t get overly dull or woolly. It’s a massive improvement over the single, uninspiring DS-1 tone control.

Gain for Days

The gain range on the Hot Head is excellent — from a gritty, pushed-clean edge all the way to a full, raging distortion. To be fair, the DS-1 can do this too, and it often gets unfairly dismissed as a one-trick pony. There’s actually a lot of subtlety hiding in that circuit if you take the time to explore it.

Now, I’ll be honest — when I was shooting the demo for this one, I wasn’t quite feeling it at first. I’ve never been a huge distortion guy. I tend to prefer more natural, amp-like overdrive tones. That compressed mid-range of most distortion sounds don’t quite hit the same as they did when I was a spotty teenager, plugged into a practice amp alone in my room. Hey, I call that some personal growth 😂

But when I listened back to the recording… I started to get it. There’s something really satisfying about the tone of this pedal. It’s aggressive without being brittle, and it has a lively, responsive feel that keeps it fun to play. I genuinely think the Hot Head might be one of those hidden classics forgotten to the sands of time.

A Strange Twist of Fate

Right, so about that little behind-the-scenes story I mentioned earlier.

When I first started my channel, I actually had a Hot Head. It was one of the pedals I used to keep the weekly demos flowing, but back then, Digitech pedals were completely out of favour and worth next to nothing. I ended up trading it away to fund something new — which seemed like a great idea at the time.

That old Hot Head had a distinctive little chip in the paint, just above the controls on the top-left corner. Small, barely noticeable, but quite unique in its own way.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, when I jumped on eBay to find the cheapest Hot Head I could. I threw in a few bids without thinking too much about it, and one of them won. After the listing ended, I took a closer look at the photos… and there it was. That exact same chip, in the exact same place.

Surely not?

When it arrived, I pulled it out of the box and inspected it. Now, I can’t say with absolute certainty that it’s the same pedal — but it looks identical. I’m pretty convinced I’ve been reunited with my original Hot Head after all these years. A proper full-circle moment.

Now, of course, I’m on the lookout for the rest of the series. I have no real logical reason to for this, but who doesn't like a collection, eh?

Final Thoughts

I’m not going to tell you the Hot Head is a forgotten masterpiece that deserves a place alongside a Klon or a King of Tone. But it is a solid, versatile drive pedal and a very worthy alternative to the DS-1 for anyone chasing those classic distortion tones.

If I had to rank the Digitech drives I’ve covered so far, it would probably go:

Screamin’ Blues > Bad Monkey > Hot Head.

That’s not to say the Hot Head is bad — not at all. The other two just edge it for me personally. But who knows? Maybe you’ll plug one in and find your own bit of 2000s magic inside that bright orange box.