For those of you who use the Digitech Whammy...

[Disconnekt]

Which version or generation of the pedal do you use? Are there serious differences between transparency or tracking speed and accuracy between the generations? If you could have a different version, which would you get, or would you keep what you have?

I'm looking into buying one to use for a ghetto bass setup and also some octave and harmony effects, and I want to make sure I pick up the right one when I do eventually get it.

 

[006]

I bought mine on ebay, it was made in 2004. It said "brand new" and when I got it it still had the plastic wrapping on it and a price tag...but you can seal stuff up easily if you have a heat gun...Anyway...it has better tracking than the older versions, however, the old school Whammy-Wah one that Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine uses it uber cool, just because it has the wah on it as well. Try to get the newest one you can, the tracking improves everytime they release a "newer" version. I wouldn't get a different version altogether, but if I ever found the old Whammy-Wah one on eBay or anything, I'd definitely get it just to have one, even though I have no real use for it because I have an arsenal of wahs as it is, lol.

I played with it for a whole day straight using the harmonizing effects and also learning RATM solos, haha, but I never found an extremely useful place for it in any of my music. I you want to do "cleaner" bass stuff, and not really use the harmonizing portion you should check out the Electro-Harmonix POG pedal. It has the best tracking I've ever heard...I would guess 1 or 2 ms off-set. Check it out here. It's a bit more pricey than a new Whammy, but if you want something that'll do better sounding ghetto bass, that's your best bet other than more expensive rackmount units. Joe Satriani also used that pedal like crazy on his latest album, Super Colossal for guitars and he got a HUGE sound with it.

I use my Whammy for the ghetto bass method, and I run the wet output into my PODxt Live using the Bass Overdrive stomp model (PODxt v1.5 update, free) and it's pretty damn decent sounding. All in all, it's still not a real bass, so only expect to do some metal or rock with it where the bass is not very elaborate, if you stick to that you'll get decent results...if you try to do like slap bass n shit, you'll either die of frustration or laughter. Also, no matter how good the tracking is, it's still off. Regardless. With the newer ones it's a few milliseconds off, so it's really negligible, but the older ones are more noticeably off.

You don't need to buy it new though, get it on eBay man, just make sure it's the "Re-Issue" one, bright red.

~006

 

[Disconnekt]

Sweet, thanks man.

The Whammy 4 is the one I see the most... is that what you're talking about? (It's controllable by MIDI and stuff.)

 

[006]

Yes. Also I edited my post, you should look at it again, there is a pedal called the POG that you might be interested in.

~006

 

[greyskull]

I bought mine on ebay, it was made in 2004. It said "brand new" and when I got it it still had the plastic wrapping on it and a price tag...but you can seal stuff up easily if you have a heat gun...Anyway...it has better tracking than the older versions, however, the old school Whammy-Wah one that Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine uses it uber cool, just because it has the wah on it as well. Try to get the newest one you can, the tracking improves everytime they release a "newer" version. I wouldn't get a different version altogether, but if I ever found the old Whammy-Wah one on eBay or anything, I'd definitely get it just to have one, even though I have no real use for it because I have an arsenal of wahs as it is, lol.

I played with it for a whole day straight using the harmonizing effects and also learning RATM solos, haha, but I never found an extremely useful place for it in any of my music. I you want to do "cleaner" bass stuff, and not really use the harmonizing portion you should check out the Electro-Harmonix POG pedal. It has the best tracking I've ever heard...I would guess 1 or 2 ms off-set. Check it out here. It's a bit more pricey than a new Whammy, but if you want something that'll do better sounding ghetto bass, that's your best bet other than more expensive rackmount units. Joe Satriani also used that pedal like crazy on his latest album, Super Colossal for guitars and he got a HUGE sound with it.

I use my Whammy for the ghetto bass method, and I run the wet output into my PODxt Live using the Bass Overdrive stomp model (PODxt v1.5 update, free) and it's pretty damn decent sounding. All in all, it's still not a real bass, so only expect to do some metal or rock with it where the bass is not very elaborate, if you stick to that you'll get decent results...if you try to do like slap bass n shit, you'll either die of frustration or laughter. Also, no matter how good the tracking is, it's still off. Regardless. With the newer ones it's a few milliseconds off, so it's really negligible, but the older ones are more noticeably off.

You don't need to buy it new though, get it on eBay man, just make sure it's the "Re-Issue" one, bright red.

~006

hate to geek and correct you monsieur 006. but i was an uber rage geek in my youth, and tom morello uses the original issue whammy(wh 1)

,and not the whammy wah.

so there
nernernernernernerner

i got one too for those tom morello rip off noises and squealling pig sounds.
lol

 

[006]

greyskull, either way, at least he now knows there is a version with a wah on it.

Also, Disconnekt, if you want to guitar harmonies really well, you should check out this pedal. I saw a band just last week that used it. They had one guitarist and he did harmonies like In Flames, The Haunted, Arch Enemy, etc. and it sounded like two guitars perfectly. I went up to the stage when they were about to break down everything and go home and I noticed this one single blue ass pedal there. Then I searched for harmonizing pedal and it came up, it's the one. It does really great with harmonizing...I'm buying one pretty soon, it's probably something I would use more for harmonizing than my Whammy. Check out the sound clips, 12-string guitar to harmonizing to whammy effects. Pretty neat. About the same price as a Whammy also. I don't think it can do the ghetto bass though. The Whammy has this kind of...really digital sound to it when it harmonizes, this pedal sounds very natural, like I said it sounds like two guitarists and not a guitarist using a pedal.

~006

 

[greyskull]

greyskull, either way, at least he now knows there is a version with a wah on it.

Also, Disconnekt, if you want to guitar harmonies really well, you should check out this pedal. I saw a band just last week that used it. They had one guitarist and he did harmonies like In Flames, The Haunted, Arch Enemy, etc. and it sounded like two guitars perfectly. I went up to the stage when they were about to break down everything and go home and I noticed this one single blue ass pedal there. Then I searched for harmonizing pedal and it came up, it's the one. It does really great with harmonizing...I'm buying one pretty soon, it's probably something I would use more for harmonizing than my Whammy. Check out the sound clips, 12-string guitar to harmonizing to whammy effects. Pretty neat. About the same price as a Whammy also. I don't think it can do the ghetto bass though. The Whammy has this kind of...really digital sound to it when it harmonizes, this pedal sounds very natural, like I said it sounds like two guitarists and not a guitarist using a pedal.

~006

hehe oh yeah i totally didnt mean to ave a go at yas!!! thats not my stizzle ma nizzle !would love to try that boss box out!

 

[everybody's x]

I had a wh-1 for years and used the shit out of it. Got it for like $50 back in the day and sold it for $500

THANKS MR MORELLO


Last thing I did with it was run my vocals through it live for some crazy ass vocal harmony (it's pretty much a digitech vocalist with pedal on it) that went over well

 

[006]

Yeah I remember them being uber cheap back in the day. Now if you try to get the wh-1 or even the whammy wah version...you're looking to spend a pretty good penny on them. Even though the 4th gen has better tracking.

That BOSS box is pretty damn cool man. I'm usually not a fan of BOSS stuff at all...IMO they make some crappy crap and all it does is turn great amps into fuzz boxes, but their delays have impressed me a few times and now this pitch box has really got me cranking the 'ol idea factory back up. Can't wait to order it.

~006

 

[Disconnekt]

Thanks for the tips, everyone!

006, that EH POG looks to be a bit out of my price range and not quite the feature set I'm looking for, but the Boss PS-5 might be the ticket for me... from what I can tell, it'll do pitch shifting (single notes or chords) up or down up to 2 octaves, and you can hook up an expression pedal for whammy-like effects. There's a setting in the manual for simulating bass guitar, so I'm guessing that's about what I'm looking for. Plus, I really like the intelligent harmonizing... there's a sound clip on their site that just blew me away. Perfect tracking, even when the player uses vibrato and pitch bends. Even works post-distortion, according to Boss, so that would be great for convincing dual leads. And the kicker is, it's a lot cheaper than the Whammy. I'm going to head down to the local music store today to try one out. Big thanks for the heads up!

 

[HeadCrusher]

Kind of strange that you like the PS5 006 cause I tried that one a few weeks ago and to me it sounded like a fuckin synth or something... Really strange...

 

[006]

Well...HeadCrusher, thats the exact pedal that guy was using at that show, and I seriously thought there were two guitarists until I moved and saw the other side of the stage and to my surprise there was only a bassist there. I was totally blown away by that, call me wierd for that, but whatever. I had never heard anything other than rackmount crap do that so flawlessly and sound natural, thats why I went up to the stage to investigate. It sounded perfectly fine...as if there really were two guitarists playing harmonies. That alone was enough to sell me on it.

The PS5 can sound strange, you have to set it for the harmomies correctly and make sure the mode is set to harmonize. If it's pitch shifted it'll sound very odd, like a synth. The harmonizing feature was the main selling point for me, I'll be picking mine up in a week or two when it arrives at the store here I just ordered it from. Soundclips to follow for sure.

~006

 

[Disconnekt]

Kind of strange that you like the PS5 006 cause I tried that one a few weeks ago and to me it sounded like a fuckin synth or something... Really strange...

I just tried it at the music store, and the trick is, don't use the pitch shifter function. It's a polyphonic function, but with the versatility, you lose sound quality. The monophonic harmonizer function sounds MUCH better, and you can get a very non-ghetto-sounding ghetto bass with it... set the harmony note to -1 octave, and turn the mix balance all the way to effected. Voila... great bass sound with really fast and precise tracking. Beats the shit out of the Bender on the PodXT. Now, if you're after some really cool and unnatural-sounding octave effects, a la some of the solos on A Perfect Circle's first album, the pitch shifter function is great for that. After trying this pedal, it's a must-own, in my opinion. I'll be getting mine shortly... no need to spend the extra money on the Whammy for a built-in expression pedal and less versatile processing.

 

[theblackmoon]

non-ghetto-sounding ghetto bass with it...

 

[Gnash]

A while back, I used a Whammy on a lead, for one of my songs. I used the Digitech GenX with a whammy. I recorded it, then loaned the pedal to a friend. It fuckin' gets ripped off from him. I'm playing the song live now, so I had to buy a new Whammy. I'm just being careful, not to incorporate it on everything I write now! It's easy to get carried away! I have to play all the Dime and RATM whammy licks all the time now! That Super Shifter, sounds like a baddass pedal! I'm gonna order that real quick! One can NEVER have too many pedals!:Smokin:

 

[HeadCrusher]

Well 006 & Disconnekt, seems like I have to try that one again!

 

[006]

Fuck yes, I'm so glad I went to that show and heard that guy using it. I can't wait for it to come in.

~006

 

[HeadCrusher]

Actually I knew about that pedal for quite a long time already (Boss Pedals are quite popular around here) and considered buying it but I didn't have the opportunity to try it. When I went to a guitar store recently they had on of those Boss "Checkpoints" (all of their pedals wired up for testing) and I tested it and as I said was kind of disappointed. Well when I have time I'll go back there and try it again!

 

[006]

Yeah I know the display you are talking about..they have like all of the BOSS pedals together on a big display and hooked into like a little practice amp. I've never tried the pedal out for myself, I heard it at that show and that was good enough for me. Like I said, I had no idea there was just one guitarist until I moved and got to see behind the PA speakers and there was only a bassist on that side. I'm a big fan of real user demos rather than the menufacturer/developer demos of their products. Sure they can make it sound good...they made the stupid thing, but when you hear it being used by a regular joe and it sounds good, then you know it's worth buying. That's just me though.

~006

 

[HeadCrusher]

Yeah you're definitely right!
Go listen to the samples of the Les Paul Custom and the Explorer Gothic somewhere on the Gibson page - That was a good laugh, haha! Loads of various fx on the sounds, nobody could tell how that guitar sounds by listening to those samples!