Hot Head Distortion Review

The Hot Head Distortion is a multi-purpose pedal for any music style where distortion is needed. Armed with flexible Low, High, and Gain controls, the Hot Head can dial in just the right tone for your setup.

Ease of Use:	9.2
Sound:	9
Reliability:	8.9
Impression:	8.8
Overall rating:	9
Users rating:	8.5
Comments:	44

overall: 9.5

Featured review by: Sanity, on september 24, 2005

Price paid: $ 64.05

Purchased from: Coda Music

Ease of Use: This pedal is very simple to use, 4 dials to twiddle with, very easy to get a nice sound out of it. The manual was very simple, it just ran through the parts of the pedal. // 9

Sound: I'm using it along with a Yamaha RG, Zoom 505 II, Marshall MG30DFX. Is it noisy? Damn right it is, in the good sense though, they should seriously consider changing the name from "hot head" to "holy s--t my hairs on fire." This pedal is a beast! The effects can sound a little weak at times, but thats very rarely. With this pedal you can go from hendrix to lamb of god, and stop off at led zepplin along the way, perfect pedal for any style of music. // 9

Reliability & Durability: This pedal is built like a tank, hard metal outer case and rubber on the bottom so it doesnt move a inch. I would definatly depend on it and go without a back up (who actually owns 2 of the same pedals anyway). // 10

Impression: It was a choice between this and the Death Metal, I chose this simply because it was cheaper, and I made the right choice. If it was stolen then I would kill who ever stole it and buy a new one with his money. Buy one! // 10

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: weezer713, on june 27, 2005

Ease of Use: // 10

Sound: I use a Fender Standard Stratocaster, (made in Mexico) and a (not-so-good, crappy) Squier Champ 15G amplifier. The amplifier didn't have great gain and I wanted distortion to play AC/DC and Metallica type music. The pedal worked great with my styles of music and my crappy amplifier. The effects always sound great to me. This pedal has a good range from light to heavy distortion. If you play really heavy metal, this pedal probably isn't for you. The pedal is also great for solos. // 10

Reliability & Durability: // 10

Impression: I have heard bad reviews from this pedal in the past but I think it works great especially for it's price. This pedal is a good match for people who play classic rock, and metal. I have been playing for about 15 months and this was my first pedal so I don't know how it compares to other pedals. If this were stolen or something, I would probably try others, if there were no better, I would get this one again. Overall, I'm pleased. // 8

overall: 8

Reviewed by: atommy_90, on november 27, 2007

Price paid: $ 63

Purchased from: Kitarataivas

Ease of Use: Hot Head is surprisingly easy to use. When you first get your Hot Head, I suggest you use the pre-sets described in the booklet inside the package and start to alter them, one small step at a time. Hot Head won't give you those Metallica/Megadeth low, bass filled sounds, but if you're more into rock and/or indie, Hot Head will work miracles for you. If you really need to find a negative out of it, it is that the knobs are super-sensitive and that's why you should always write down the settings you used. // 8

Sound: I have used this with my Marshall and a Chinese amp, and, surprisingly enough, it works very well with both of the amps. I've also used it with a Laney amp and, even though it didn't give the best sound that it could, it still worked rather nicely. I haven't tested it with any other guitars except my Squier Strat, but I don't think it would be too bad for any other guitars. The problem with the Hot Head is that it lacks the ability to give just slight distortion. It only gives a strong, sharp distortion or then the distortion just disappears. All in all, I think that Hot Head is very good for old school solos that need to be strong and sharp, but is not too useful in riffs etc. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I trust my Hot Head completely. I can depend on it nearly as much as on the fact that bio classes will be boring. No, seriously, Hot Head is worth the money if you need some power into your solos and need a reliable pedal. However, I would use a backup on a gig since they run out of batteries really easily. Or then just plug it in to the DigiTech charger. // 9

Impression: I play all kinds of music, as you can see from my profile, slow acoustic to hardcore metal. I believe this pedal is best for rock solos, but I guess it could be used in other genres as well. I've been playing for four years now, if you want, you can check out my profile (for proof) I own a DigiTech Metal Master, Squier Strat, a Chinese amp and a whole lot of other junk. If it were stolen, yeah, I'd probably buy a new one. I wouldn't be running to the store but I would still buy a new one. I love the simplicity of it and I hate it at the same time. It is easy to use but it only provides very simple functions and is hard to get different sounds out of it. I compared it to the DigiTech Grunge distortion thing, but this somehow was more what I was looking for. I don't think that DigiTech has ever made a crappy pedal, but this could have more range in altering the sounds it makes. // 8

Reviewed by: unregistered, on december 20, 2004

Price paid: $ 79

Purchased from: tunes music and audio

Ease of Use: The DigiTech Hot Head Distortion pedal is the one of the new X-series from DigiTech. As this is my first pedal of any kind, I didn't know what I was getting myself into but the thing is amazing! It was so easy to get any kind of sound out of it, you can get a touch of distortion for blues riffs or a pound of fuzz for playing Metallica, or anything in between, although I do recommened something a littel more geared toward metal is you play that type fo music. For me though, I play AC/DC, Stones, Nickelback, Creed all the good rock bands and to get the sound of their distrotion it is very easy. It has a gain control, level, low and high controls. Very simple to use, although the book doesn't tell you much, it is easy to figure out on your own, but if you want that perfect distortion tone, you will have to work for it. // 10

Sound: I play a Gibson SG Standard, through a Marshall MG100DFX and to get the sound of classic rock, it is very simple, and it sounds amazing. You see the amp is solid state so to get the perfect tone for classic rock distortion you need a tube amp, but since this pedel emulates the tube amp distortion I don't need another expensive amp, I love it! By the way it actually clears up the noise when I turn the distortion up really loud on the amp, but as for high volumes everything gets noisy and this in no exception. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This pedal is built to last. It is totally solid and amazing, I would definetaly gig without a back-up. It's made in the USA too so that means that makes me think it will last a long time, although I have only had it for 1 week but I believe in this thing. // 10

Impression: At first I wasn't going to get this pedal, as myself I try to get the most pure sound that I can, and if that means to play through an amp and use it's distortion then that's what I do. However the solid state Marshall just couldn't push the sound I wanted so I checked around in the store and looked at some other pedels and this one was the one that stood out and showed me that it could get AC/DC classic rock distortion which is why I love it. I only wish that it had a contour or morph distortion so I could quickly change from light classic distortion to heavy fuzz box distortion, but it's pretty close to perfect. // 8

overall: 10

Reviewed by: batiosilver08, on january 17, 2006

Price paid: $ 49.99

Ease of Use: // 10

Sound: I'm using The Hot Head with my Epiphone Les Paul Studio. I Love the sound of my guitar already, and this compliments it tremendously. The effects always sound great, and I've been able to make some simalar sounds of some of my favorite artists. From rock to blues. Great sound. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This pedal is great for reliabily. I find that I can always expect the same easy setup because this pedal is very straight foreward. In fact, it probably doesn't need a manual. Very dependable. // 10

Impression: I strongly recommend this pedal to, well everyone. It is not expensive, it is very reliable, it has great sound, and it is overall a great pedal. I have been using it for about 8 months and I havent been let down once yet. If it were stolen or lost, I would buy this again and perhaps another one for a backup. This pedal is great for basically all types of music, at least on the basic level, but everyone should check this out. // 10

overall: 9

Reviewed by: miketrigs93, on may 13, 2009

Price paid: € 40

Purchased from: Local store

Ease of Use: The controls are Level, Low, High and Gain. It's pretty simple really and easy to get the right sounds. It comes with a manual that tells you briefly how to change the battery, that's pretty easily and it gives some suggestions for various different sounds, which are OK but you really have to try things out with this pedal to work stuff out. Still though, very easy to use. // 10

Sound: I use an Epiphone Les Paul Standard with an HH amplifier [which isn't made nowadays] from 1980 so I assume it's a tube amp. Its distortion is too light for some heavier stuff that I like to play, so I bought myself this pedal. The distortion can be pretty brutal if you put the gain nob halfway, and the high and low (treble and bass) settings are pretty responsive, letting you get some ridiculously crunchy dry sounds with the high turned to say, 7, or nice bass-y tones turning low up. I tend to leave them at below 5 because I find it gets too much. I never move the gain setting past 5 as if you turn it up, not only the sound is incredibly noisy up but there's huge feedback. Still, you can get decent metal distortion with gain on 3, so that's not really a problem. With the gain super low it can just about get Led Zeppelin sounds, but for Zeppelin I use my amp's distortion which is a bit lighter and much more natural since it's a tube. You can get pretty good metal sounds, and if I turn the gain down a little (2 or 3) I can get a great 'Sweet Child of Mine' sound when I'm on the neck pickup. Oh, and when the battery is running low the sound is pretty weak. It also seems to fuzz up my clean sound a little, cos it's not 'true bypass'. On the whole, very good sound, a bit noisy and pretty brutal when you turn the gain up. Would be nice if it were a bit less mental and could offer some lighter distorted sounds. // 8

Reliability & Durability: It's pretty reliable and durable I'd say. I've dropped it once and it just got a little mark on the Orange paintwork, which really isn't a worry. I would use it in a gig without backup, but only if I put in a new battery beforehand. Also, I don't have another distortion pedal. // 9

Impression: I play mostly Led Zeppelin, a bit of Metallica and some Red Hot Chili Peppers and some stuff in between. It's good for Metallica, I turn it on for the chorus and solo of Dani California (with low gain settings here, of course) and it sounds good. I've been playing for nearly 3 years, and I've been playing this little thing for about 9 months, so I know it pretty well. It's a good match with my amp cos it's crazy distortion compliments my amp's light Overdrive.

Before I bought this... I didn't ask any questions, and I didn't even try it, but I don't regret it really. It's a good pedal, with a good price. Of course, if you want better pedals you should be looking at DigiTech Hardwire [they have true bypass! ], or Boss pedals. Still, if it was stolen... I'd probably save up for a Hardwire but they're quite a bit more expensive.

The thing I love about it is how responsive the controls are.. OK the gain is brutal past 5 but the high and low controls offer a pretty wide variety of sounds. I also love the Orange colour of it. Pretty epic.

On the whole a great pedal for the price. Recommended for those not looking to spend more than 50 euros/ 40 pounds. // 9

overall: 9.8

Reviewed by: Tokai ALS-48, on july 31, 2007

Price paid: $ 56.73

Purchased from: www.GAK.co.uk

Ease of Use: The DigiTech Hot Head is a very diverse distortion pedal. It can get sounds ranging fron a light fuzz to huge amounts of gain for soloing with the level and gain nobs. Using the 2 EQ nobs (low & high) you make your guitar wail the blues to turning it itno a metal monster. The intruction booklet is very useful, telling you what everythig does and where it is. Also inside the box there is a DigiTech product booklet which contains different settings for every pedal in there line up. // 9

Sound: I am using this pedal with a B.B. Blaster 10watt amp and a Tokai ALS-48 (the amplifier I have is terrible and I am hoping to upgrade soon). When I add in the Hot Head the sound it produces is Amazing! The effects are strong and you can emulate the sounds of many great guitarists with a little tweaking. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This pedal is built like a tank! The casing is made out of metal and it feels as heavy as a brick. I do not gig but when of if I do I would use a backup (but of course use fresh batteries). I have not had to deal with DigiTech personaly and hope that don't need to. // 10

Impression: I play Classic Rock, some improv. blues, and '70s-'80s style heavy metal such as Black Sabbath it fits my needs perfectly. I do not own any other effects pedals but will in the future. If it were stolen I would hunt the robber down, find him, hit him with my cricket bat and take the pedal back. If lost I would buy a new one. I had looked at reviews and videos of this pedal and the Boss DS-1 but this pedal is much more versitile and the tone sounded better. Overall a great pedal! // 10

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: evill22, on january 22, 2007

Price paid: $ 60

Purchased from: music store

Ease of Use: This guitar effect has a great distortion crunch to it. It has that kind of AC/DC not-too-distorted sound to it, but the 'crunch' sound it makes, sounds wonderful. It is very easy to use; it has level, high, low, and gain knobs. Very easy to figure out. It came with a manual, easy and understandable. // 10

Sound: I use an Epiphone Les Paul Special 2 and a Vox DA15 amp. With the amp on clean, and the guitar on it's bridge settings, the sound is that of AC/DC, and other 70's and 80's classic rock bands. I like to use the level about half way, and everything else completely up, and it sounds great. My Jim Dunlop Hendrix Wah pedal however, doesn't seem to work well with this effect. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I've never had a problem with this effect during the entire year that I've had it, and used it non-stop. I feel that this is an extremely durable pedal. Paint has chipped off in a few places, but that obviously doesn't affect the sound that this beauty continues to make. I would definitely use it in a gig without a backup, as I have in the past. // 10

Impression: My classic and modern rock style seems to be a perfect match for this guitar effect. Since the pedal came with an AC adaptor for the wall, it helps even more so that I don't have to go through batteries extremely fast like I would have to if there wasn't an adaptor. If it was lost or stolen, I would go out and buy the exact same pedal. My favorite feature, is probably the AC adaptor, and the sound, obviously. // 9

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: jd44, on july 23, 2007

Price paid: $ 60

Ease of Use: This pedal has four basic knobs that can be adjusted. It has a level, low, high, and a gain knob. The level changes the Level of distortion going to your amp. The low sets where the low frequency's are cut off, and vice versa for the high knob, and the gain give it distortion. Trying to find good sounds is a matter of trial and error, but it you will be happy when you find the sound your looking for. The manual comes with minimal instructions, but does include some preset sounds that you can also demo online on their website. // 8

Sound: I'm running this set up with a 160W Fender Stage 1600 Amp, and a Fender Strat guitar. This pedal produces a very nice sound if you have it on the right setting. You can get a variety of settings from punk to classic rock, and probably more if you played around with it for a while. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This unit is very reliable, it is big and bulky with it's metal case, which will protect the sound processor inside, however the battery life is shorter than I would like, and I would suggest buying a plug for it, or bringing extra batteries on a gig, but no need for a backup pedal really. // 10

Impression: I play a variety of music, but mostly alternative rock (even though that is such a broad genre) I can get a clean sound with a little dirt and sustain just fine which is what I am looking for. I have been playing for about two years and if it were stolen or lost I would probably buy it again. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on may 19, 2006

Price paid: $ 39.99

Purchased from: musicians friend

Ease of Use: It's easy to get a good sound out of as long you have it set up right which isn't hard to do at all. The manual that came with answered all my questions. This thing is good for AC/DC kind of rock. Maybe if you like Boston it may be good for you. I play hard rock/grunge/Metal/heavy metal/alternative/punk. And this suits all of these genres. // 10

Sound: I have an Epi LP Custom alpine white with a pair of Gibson Dirty Fingers in it which since I have the pickups I really don't need the distortion pedal but I still use it a good bit. It's noisy on high gain but its susposed to be of course. I love this pedal. I play some default and some Nickelback and this pedal suits both of them fine. This pedal is very good on all settings. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I would take this thing to a gig and wouldn't think twice to bring a backup. The only way it would fail on me is if I forget to replace the batteries, which by the way would be like me. But yeah this thing is fully gig capable so go buy urself one and tell ur friends to buy one 2 so they can be cool like you. // 9

Impression: I play many genres of rock and what not and I would marry this pedal if I could but sadly kentucky state law says that humans cannot marry distortion pedals. I've been playing I was 6 and I am 13 years old now and I'm about to turn 14. If it was stolen I would track the s.o.b. down and get it back. This pedals so good that I could understand why someone would steal it. I'd take this thing over a Dunlop, MXR, Vox, Ernie Ball, Budda, Ibanez, Bbe, Boss, or any other that I forgot! // 10

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: weezer713, on june 22, 2005

Ease of Use: // 8

Sound: I use a Fender Standard Stratocaster, (made in Mexico) and a (not-so-good, crappy) Squier Champ 15G amplifier. The amplifier didn't have great gain and I wanted distortion to play AC/DC and Metallica type music. The pedal worked great with my styles of music and my crappy amplifier. The effects always sound great to me. This pedal has a good range from light to heavy distortion. If you play really heavy metal, this pedal probably isn't for you. The pedal is also great for solos. // 10

Reliability & Durability: // 8

Impression: I have heard bad reviews from this pedal in the past but I think it works great especially for it's price. This pedal is a good match for people who play classic rock, and metal. I have been playing for about 15 months and this was my first pedal so I don't know how it compares to other pedals. If this were stolen or something, I would probably try others, if there were no better, I would get this one again. Overall, I'm pleased. // 8

overall: 9

Reviewed by: nextBIGthing1, on february 01, 2006

Purchased from: Troy House Of Music

Ease of Use: This pedal is incredible. Its easy to use, and it has a great range of sounds. From a little bit of Overdrive, to full blown "tear the walls down" distortion. You can play pretty much anything. There is no manual as such, but mine came with a little booklet of digitechs pedals and whats the best settings and set ups for them. For the hot head pedal it included the following: classic rock - the settings they provided proved perfect for finding that perfect classic rock tone. Solo - again, the settings they provided cannot be faulted. With a slight adjustment you can create your own unique sound. Brittish modern - although I don't play alot of brittish music, I've played a few songs and the tone has been brilliant. Country, blues - perfect for that blues sound, I've played a bit of Tommy Emmanuel, and it sounded great. I am yet to try anything of the country genre, but I'm sure it'd sound great. // 10

Sound: I have an Ibanez GRX20, and a Laney MXD15 amp. It sounds great with them, there is very little buzz when I'm not playing. This pedal is very loud. It sounds very very awesome playin some Sweet Child O' Mine at the highest level. (well, infact sounds great on all levels). This pedal gives me the sounds I want for most artists, unless they're using Chorus over the top of it. Even then, it sounds great. I play a lot of Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Metallica, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, Silverchair, Seether and Creed. It provides the tones for all of them, and many other things I've played as a one off. // 10

Reliability & Durability: The only thing I can fault this on is that it chews up the batteries like theres no tomorrow. I'm seriously considering buying the thing you plug into it. I would definately use it at a gig, but I'd have spare batteries on hand. // 7

Impression: I play a lot of heavier music, and some classic rock as well. This pedal matches my needs perfectly. I've been playing for about 7/8 months, and wasn't really willing to pay 200+ for a pedal I was going to use occasionally. I'm happy I've bought this because it stands up against the bigger named pedals I tried. I'd like to mention that I got this pedal for $89 during a closing down sale. It was down from $139AUD. At the time it was the main reason I got it, but after playing around with it for a week or two, I'm very happy with it. If I lost it, there is no doubt in my mind that I'd get another one eventually. // 9

overall: 10

Reviewed by: Ace Frehley, on january 04, 2007

Price paid: $ 81.9

Purchased from: Tselios-Greece

Ease of Use: This pedal is excellent! It's very easy to find a good sound out of it if you just play a bit with the low and high knobs, the manual is very easy and simple too. It also contains a few tunnings for you to have but I prefer my own. You can play different styles of music with this pedal. It's perfect for a shredder or even a rhythm guitarist. // 10

Sound: I'm using this distortion pedal with a Cort X-2 and a Marshall MG15DFX and though my amp is a Marshall, I like the pedals distortion best. It can be very noisy if we turn the gain to much. I can very easily get the sound of artists that I like such as The Darkness, The Answer, Nickelback, Creed, Wolfmother and AC/DC to name only a few. The distortion is excellent, as I said I like it a lot more than my Marshall amp. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I can depend on very much I have it only for 2 days but I believe it will last for a quite long time, it's a "tank" seriously it's made out of steal. I wouldn't use a backup in a gig but I'll always have a second battery in the back cause you never know what happens. // 10

Impression: I mostly play rock, rock'n'roll, hard rock and some metal, and this pedal suits everything. I've only been playing for 3 years but I can tell that this is a very good pedal. I really don't need anything else, this thing suits my styles and I'm satisfied with it. If it were lost or stolen I would rebuy it for sure, I can't play without it. I love the way you put the batteries in it, the rubber they putted underneath and above. I like to play with the gain control much. Overall this is a great pedal and I recommend everyone to buy it. // 10

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: lmchopper128, on june 26, 2006

Price paid: $ 40

Purchased from: Mister Money USA

Ease of Use: The Hot Head is very easy to use. It comes with a guide book to show how to get different sounds. It features different setting for different types of music in the guide. The manual is also easy to follow. It shows how to use each knob and how to change the battery. It is also easy to set the amount of distortion you want by changing the gain knob. It also feture both a low and high frequency control wich is easy to figue out and adjust. // 10

Sound: I am currently using an Ibanez Ex series with a Crate practice combo amp. I bought it because I was not satisfied with the distortion settings on the amp. The distortion effects sound greate. It work wonder with my Ibanez and the noise level is also good. This pedal is good for players who want distortion and play a wide veriety of music. I have play the guitar for 2 years and like to play diffent types from classic rock and blues to metal and punk. This pedal works good for all of them. // 9

Reliability & Durability: The hot head is very dependible so far. I have not had any problems with it and as far as I can tell is derable. I would use it on a gig but I would buy a power cord for it so I would not have to depend on the 9V battery. // 9

Impression: I play all type of music mostly rock and some blues. I am currently getting a band together and we mostly play alturnitive and punk with some metal. The DigiTech Hot Head is a good match. I have been play off and on for about 2 years. I would buy it again if it got lost or stolen. I like how it can acomidate a wide veriety of styles. // 9

overall: 4

Reviewed by: cheeseisthebomb, on february 15, 2007

Purchased from: Local Music Store

Ease of Use: This is simply the worst pedal you can get. It is impossible to get a good sound out of this thing. It came with a stupid manual, I didn't even explain what stuff meant (I already know what stuff means, but not everyone know's what "Gain" and "Tone" means). Needs editing patches. I do not know the firmware revision number, and it has not been upgraded. // 6

Sound: I took this thing back the first week I had it. I was using an Epiphone G-310, through a Marshall 30W amp. It is very noisy on all settings, so noisy you can't even tell when you change settings. You can't get any certain sound out of this, no certain artist, no pure effects. // 4

Reliability & Durability: I cant't depend on this thing at all. I wouldn't take this thing to a gig at all, I'd probably sell it backstage for dope money. This thing wasn't well put togather, and it ate up batteries FAST! I went through 2 9 volts in the one week that I had it. Boss pedals are very well put togather. 1 battery usually last 6-8 months on the Boss pedals. // 2

Impression: I play rock and blues. You would think that this would go good but it didn't. I've been playing about 5 years now, but when I bought this thing I'd only been playing about 3 years. I wish I had asked if this pedal was good or not. If it were stolen I'd yell "Take it and have a good day!". I hate how it was made and I hate the sound. None of the features were good. I picked this pedal because I didn't know what I was doing and I was stupid. Now I own a Boss Blues Driver that rocks. Don't waste your money on this stupid thing, or any DigiTech Pedal for all that matter. // 4

Comments

[wangmaster]

im off on ebay to get me one of them bastards

[wingedgopher]

is this comparable to a ds-1?

[fru_rocks]

^ i'd rather the DS-1 anyday

[Seph_Sepiku]

Sorry, I prefer the programmable pedals with 10 different fields of distortion, Delay, Overdrive, Composistion. You can just get more sound.

[sumfears]

I would try it but my brother and my friend both bought digitech pedals

and they both broke not long after....

i'll stick with Boss.....SD-1

[darkfire_storm]

i gotta say, i have this pedal, and after a while of use, if i accidentally bump the place where the power supply plugs into the pedal with my foot or something, it dies, and i have to screw around with it a little bit to get it to work. also, i found that it sounds better on a crappy bass amp than my behringer 15w practice amp. so it sounds alright, but its best on a good amp. hope i helped.

[darkfire_storm]

^^^^^
or at least an amp better than a behringer 15w practice amp... (not hard to achieve, really)

[SGMAN911]

this pedal is great for a classic rock/blues player, it is a great sounding pedal, but it is not cut out for death metal or even hard rock (thats why they have the death metal pedal by digitech)

[Thewolf_and_man]

What can i say... this pedal is my future i play ac/dc and metallica... and my distorsion + is never gonna be able to do the job for me... :P

[Thewolf_and_man]

well... now im a proud ower of it

[zacky gates]

can this pedal do uhh avenged sevenfold? or green day? or stevie ray vaughan?

[Ace Frehley]

I don't know I'm thinking of buying it.I'm stuck between this and the Hot Rod.

[OttovanZanten]

Bought it today, on my ride home i had some second toughts, because it didnt sound tooo great, but it was the Roland Cube, at home i plugged in, same guitar, other amp (Crate G160XL) it sounded SO GREAT i LOVe this pedal, if it gets stolen, i'm not gonna post about what im gonna do, cus writing it must atleast be illegal. ^^

[OttovanZanten]

fru_rocks wrote:

^ i'd rather the DS-1 anyday

do you mean you prefer this, or the ds-1?
i prefer this, bigtime :P

[Ace Frehley]

I bought it..Well guys it doesn't chew the battery much.It's normal the battery lasts for 18 hours!And I overall played for 5 and it's still fine.So you can use it on a gig with batteries!

[Jin12345678]

I'm wondering. If I change the pickups on my epiphone les paul custom and then play on this pedal, will it sound better than playing on this pedal with a normal epiphone les paul with stock pickups?

[OttovanZanten]

you will always hear other pickups if have good ears (also with not that great ears :P)

but i dont know the pickups on that epiphone, epiphone sometimes makes pretty decent pickups.

I dont know what kind of sound you are looking, and what that guitar sounds like with stock pickups, so i can't tell you, you might have to test some guitars with other pickups (on this stompbox)

Otto van Zanten

[Dirt Bag Boy]

this pedal is fairly good but unless you turn the distortion up it sounds more of like a warm, rhythm type sound to it but i feel it sounds fine especially through my 300watt mesa boogie

heckd.

[Ace Frehley]

Wow!Last time I posted my final comment was 1/1/07!Since then I haven't changed the battery and have also been doing a lot of rehearsals with my band!So I'll propably be using it with bateries!

[cheeseisthebomb]

This pedal sucks

[darkguitar189]

A month after I bought this I went to change the battery and one of the prongs in the battery plug broke off. It cost 10 bucks to get it fixed. It has good tone but I don't trust Digitech anymore because of the battery thing

[mi2tom]

[quote]fru_rocks wrote:

^ i'd rather the DS-1 anyday [/quoteTried the hot head at the store the other day, no way a ds1 can compare with this little beast, it's so much respnsive and much better than the ds1, I say this cos own a DS1

[leondb]

^^ I had the battery (+) prong rip too! On my Grunge pedal. And I only had the pedal for 3 months and changed it twice. I was disappointed, but needless to say, I love the Grunge and was thinking of picking up either a Bad Monkey or Hot Head for some classic rock. I recommend skipping out on batteries and buying the plug adapter. It's safer since Digitech makes the battery prongs so crappy!

[Kirdy]

darkguitar189 :
A month after I bought this I went to change the battery and one of the prongs in the battery plug broke off. It cost 10 bucks to get it fixed. It has good tone but I don't trust Digitech anymore because of the battery thing

r u serious i jus bought one! shit

[mason bartlett]

i own it and its alright i dont use it much but it gets good sound :p

[miker3030]

this pedal sucks

[sklthesaik]

Anyone know how to change the battery???? I got it as a hand-me-down, battery-dead, manual-free and charger-free..

[atommy_90]

sklthesaik wrote:

Anyone know how to change the battery???? I got it as a hand-me-down, battery-dead, manual-free and charger-free..

on the side of the actual press-down part youll find two metal bar-ish things. Press them both in and lift the press-down part up. There's your battery

[Ace Frehley]

Ok this pedal is good...not excellent.In some amps it sounds extremely awesome but In a peavy amp I played..pfff.man it sounded completely shit and sharpy.

[MetalicBlack86]

hey everyone....i own a DS-1....now i'm planning to buy a Hot head....According to my local music store....the owner mentioned that hot Head supposedly has a slightly heavier sound compared to the DS-1...is this true?....if not then what other distortion pedal should i buy that is a little more heavier sounding compared to DS-1...for as you know DS-1 is more of a classic distortion....so yeah...Please tell me whether there is any difference between DS-1 And the Hot head....Cuz i'm looking into buying the Hot Head...thanks

Metalicblack86

[Tabman91]

i got a hot head...ive had it for over a year now and it still sounds great..it has a little feedback when the gain is past 3/4 of the way. other than that it is a great buy

[A7XSoul]

hot head.....it does great for classic rock but it just cant do metalcore that good. it dosent give that much of a squeel on my pinch harmonics, and i like alot of squeeling. maybe its my amp, cuz it did great at the store.

[A7XSoul]

hot head.....it does great for classic rock but it just cant do metalcore that good. it dosent give that much of a squeel on my pinch harmonics, and i like alot of squeeling. maybe its my amp, cuz it did great at the store.

[bignick99]

i love this pedal, have the hot head the ds-1 and the jackhammer and the hot head blows them both out of the water, i mainly use it with my royal 8 practice amp and it sounds great but with my rocker 30 its not so good but then again with the r30 you dont really need a pedal.

[bignick99]

MetalicBlack86 wrote:

hey everyone....i own a DS-1....now i'm planning to buy a Hot head....According to my local music store....the owner mentioned that hot Head supposedly has a slightly heavier sound compared to the DS-1...is this true?....if not then what other distortion pedal should i buy that is a little more heavier sounding compared to DS-1...for as you know DS-1 is more of a classic distortion....so yeah...Please tell me whether there is any difference between DS-1 And the Hot head....Cuz i'm looking into buying the Hot Head...thanks

i would say the hot head is a touch heavier and a bit more usable due to having hi and lo tone controls rather than just the tone knob. but both are good noise makers, try them both but try and use the same guitar n amp in the shop that you own.

Metalicblack86

[archerygenious]

Has anyone noticed that the hot head sounds a lot like a fuzz pedal at high gain? I just got one and it sounds a lot like my Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz pedal

[fender456]

i want this thing for christmas, b-oches.

[legend shredder]

i got one of these and they're mad. i can get a very heavy sound out of it on my epiphone les paul studio played through a kustom 12 guage, but the only thing wrong wif it is that it went through its first battery in 30 minutes. then on my second battery i found out that if u take the cords out the power lasts longer, so im still on my second battery but the light isnt lightin up so its nearly dead, but i reccomend buyin the power cord, which i have to do when i get bak from goin overseas.

[.QOTSA.]

I reccoment this hands down, it made my 5 watt peavey valveking twice as nice, it gives you that nice solo tone. But i would say use it as a boost, not as your primary distortion, it sounds killer that way!

[Morbius77]

This is by far the WORST pedal I have ever used. It introduces so much signal noise that it is almost unbearable.

I know it is the pedal because it is the ONLY thing in my rig that causes so much interference. I would write a review, but there really is no point. I should have bought a Boss Ds-1 and been done with it.

[gerbil_mastr]

.QOTSA. wrote:

I reccoment this hands down, it made my 5 watt peavey valveking twice as nice, it gives you that nice solo tone. But i would say use it as a boost, not as your primary distortion, it sounds killer that way!

Thats actually what i started doing. the distortion is kinda fizzy. not good for death metal but idk it would probably work for some people i'm goin to check out the ds1 and some other distortion pedals today

[Ace Frehley]

I think it only suits well for classic rock and maybe some hard.Don't try play metal.

[mi2tom]

I owned a DS1 taiwan and the japanese as well, The DS1 japanese is definitely much much better than the taiwanese anyday but the HOT HEAD blows the japanese away in terms of gain and EQ response and clarity. And this darn thing do sound like a marshall stack and it also sounded good through a mixer. This pedal just like any other pedal sounded like crap through a stupid amp.