JHS DigiTech Bad Monkey Mod

The JHS DigiTech Bad Monkey Mod is not a new pedal: it is a modification that JHS Pedals performs on the DigiTech Bad Monkey, the budget Tube Screamer-style overdrive DigiTech introduced in the mid-2000s and discontinued in the mid-2010s. JHS describes the result as "a crazy affordable overdrive that rivals some of the big boys," and says that after the mod, "you will be shocked by how solid this budget overdrive becomes."¹

What the mod changes

JHS states that its mod improves low end response, tightens up the mids, and tames the harsh highs of the stock Bad Monkey. On top of that voicing work, the mod installs a three-way mini toggle switch that offers three distinct flavors of gain, giving the player three voicings from the same pedal.¹

The changes break down like this:

• Low end: improved response, per JHS¹
• Mids: tightened up¹
• Highs: harshness tamed¹
• New control: three-way mini gain toggle for three distinct flavors of gain¹

The stock Bad Monkey already stood apart from the drives it is often compared to. DigiTech notes that it is "often compared to the legendary Ibanez Tube Screamer" but stands out by featuring separate low and high EQ controls, which give a much wider range of tone shaping than a single tone knob.³ For players weighing it against other Tube Screamer-style drives, the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 comparison covers the classic alternatives, and JHS's own take on the formula can be seen in the JHS 3 Series Screamer and JHS 808.

The three-way gain toggle

The toggle is the most visible change a player will see on the modified pedal. JHS says: "We also install a 3 way mini gain toggle switch for 3 distinct flavors of gain!"¹

Combined with the improved low end and tamed highs, the modded pedal can also sit in lighter territory: a review of an earlier Humphrey Audio-modded Bad Monkey, the "Badder Monkey" mod, found "it works great as a boost, too, and both the lows and highs have a HUGE sweep range."⁴

Stock versus modded

The Bad Monkey story, and why the mod exists

The Bad Monkey was launched in the mid-2000s as an unassuming Tube Screamer-style drive, known for its warm, tube-like tone and versatility at a budget price.³⁴ After DigiTech discontinued it, the pedal developed what DigiTech itself calls a "BIG cult following."³

The used-market story took a sharp turn after JHS founder Josh Scott endorsed the pedal on the JHS YouTube channel. Guitar World reported that the endorsement "would generate headlines, $500 asking prices and the guitar equivalent" of a pedal bubble, and Josh Scott himself called the episode "the most ridiculous thing that probably happened on our channel to date," noting the prices "were so ridiculous" for "a pedal that no-one's really cared about for 20" years.⁵ DigiTech's own spotlight says used prices climbed as high as $800 USD before eventually stabilizing.³

That mix of low original cost, cult status, and a price spike is exactly the niche the JHS mod serves: it takes a pedal that is still findable used and makes it perform closer to a modern drive, with the added gain toggle as the visible hook.¹ DigiTech and DOD later revisited the idea themselves with the DOD Badder Monkey, a factory-built take on the Humphrey Audio mod.⁶

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