Review of the Digitech Whammy by The Man in the Jar Features of the Digitech Whammy Construction - This is a very solid unit. The all...
Review of the Digitech Whammy by The Man in the Jar
Features of the Digitech Whammy
Construction - This is a very solid unit. The all-metal construction lends it a good weight that means it will stay put on the floor. The finish is a gorgeous deep red.
Ins and Outs - There's a jack for guitar input and a midi input for remote control. There's a "wet added" and a "dry" out. This means you can run an "effected" signal to one amp and an unchanged signal to another or blend the two through a mixer or recording desk.
Power - 9 volts AC! This means you must use the included power supply or you're in trouble. No batteries in this baby.
Controls - There are 17 presets which fall into 3 categories; Whammy (6), Harmony (9) and Detune (2). These each have an indicator light and are arranged around the central knob - spin the knob and the unit skips through the selections. There's a single on/off footswitch and of course the treadle (or pedal) which controls the extent of the chosen effect.
Sound of the Digitech Whammy
Going round the presets:
Whammy 2 Octave Up - Quite an extreme sweep which is nice for putting a "scream" at the end of mid-register runs;
Whammy 1 Octave Up - Less severe and easier to control and sonically compatible with more of the fretboard;
Whammy 1 Octave Down - This feels more natural as the note lowers as you press on the pedal (as it does when you press on an on-board vibrato arm or whammy bar);
Whammy 2 Octave Down - Again the two octave sweep drove me to the middle and high register. With the two octave presets everything happens twice as quickly as the treadle moves through its set arc, this requires calf-cramping levels of foot control to maintain a credible sound;
Whammy Dive Bomb - Does what it says on the tin. A Stuka Dive through three octaves ending in that wet, flabby sound of slack strings against the pick-ups;
Whammy Drop Tune - This takes the input note down two semi-tones. It's therefore tightly controlled by the treadle. It opens up some intriguing possibilities - fancy a Dropped D bridge in the middle of your solo?;
All of the Harmony options listed below work between set musical intervals which you can find on the fretboard to give you an idea of the sweep of the bend and its musical uses;
Harmony Octave Up / Octave Down - Takes the harmony note between the two octaves. This gives a nice Japanese feel to the sound;
Harmony 5th Down / 4th Down - Gives a harmony note between a fifth and a fourth below the note played;
Harmony 4th Down / 3rd Down - Gives a harmony note between a fourth and a third below the note played;
Harmony 5th Up / 7th Up - Gives a harmony note between a fifth and a seventh above the note played;
Harmony 5th Up / 6th Up - Gives a harmony note between a fifth and a sixth above the note played;
Harmony 4th Up / 5th Up - Gives a harmony note between a fourth and a fifth above the note played;
Harmony 3rd Up / 4th Up - Gives a harmony note between a third and a fourth above the note played;
Harmony Minor 3rd Up / Major 3rd Up - Gives a harmony note between a minor third and a major third above the note played;
Harmony 2nd Up / 3rd Up - Gives a harmony note between a second and a third above the note played;
Detune Shallow - Gives a slight out-of-tune shift;
Detune Deep - Gives a substantially out-of-tune shift to the note.
As this is a digital unit it can become overloaded if presented with too many source notes at once.
Overall Impressions of the Digitech Whammy
If you can't be arsed to frig about with floating Floyds, string and spring adjustments, locking nuts and vibrato arms the Digitech Whammy will provide an excellent emulation through several variations. For a clever and inventive player this little box of tricks will be a bone fide goldmine. For the "straight" player the Harmony presets will bear the most fruit, especially single guitar bands trying to cover harmonised guitar parts. It's not quite like having Scott Gorham standing next to you but it does add the right kind of flavour. And with the treadle allowing you to flip-flop between intervals the level of interest you can add to otherwise single note lead runs is high.
Buy the Digitech Whammy
Construction - This is a very solid unit. The all-metal construction lends it a good weight that means it will stay put on the floor. The finish is a gorgeous deep red.
Ins and Outs - There's a jack for guitar input and a midi input for remote control. There's a "wet added" and a "dry" out. This means you can run an "effected" signal to one amp and an unchanged signal to another or blend the two through a mixer or recording desk.
Power - 9 volts AC! This means you must use the included power supply or you're in trouble. No batteries in this baby.
Controls - There are 17 presets which fall into 3 categories; Whammy (6), Harmony (9) and Detune (2). These each have an indicator light and are arranged around the central knob - spin the knob and the unit skips through the selections. There's a single on/off footswitch and of course the treadle (or pedal) which controls the extent of the chosen effect.
Sound of the Digitech Whammy
Going round the presets:
Whammy 2 Octave Up - Quite an extreme sweep which is nice for putting a "scream" at the end of mid-register runs;
Whammy 1 Octave Up - Less severe and easier to control and sonically compatible with more of the fretboard;
Whammy 1 Octave Down - This feels more natural as the note lowers as you press on the pedal (as it does when you press on an on-board vibrato arm or whammy bar);
Whammy 2 Octave Down - Again the two octave sweep drove me to the middle and high register. With the two octave presets everything happens twice as quickly as the treadle moves through its set arc, this requires calf-cramping levels of foot control to maintain a credible sound;
Whammy Dive Bomb - Does what it says on the tin. A Stuka Dive through three octaves ending in that wet, flabby sound of slack strings against the pick-ups;
Whammy Drop Tune - This takes the input note down two semi-tones. It's therefore tightly controlled by the treadle. It opens up some intriguing possibilities - fancy a Dropped D bridge in the middle of your solo?;
All of the Harmony options listed below work between set musical intervals which you can find on the fretboard to give you an idea of the sweep of the bend and its musical uses;
Harmony Octave Up / Octave Down - Takes the harmony note between the two octaves. This gives a nice Japanese feel to the sound;
Harmony 5th Down / 4th Down - Gives a harmony note between a fifth and a fourth below the note played;
Harmony 4th Down / 3rd Down - Gives a harmony note between a fourth and a third below the note played;
Harmony 5th Up / 7th Up - Gives a harmony note between a fifth and a seventh above the note played;
Harmony 5th Up / 6th Up - Gives a harmony note between a fifth and a sixth above the note played;
Harmony 4th Up / 5th Up - Gives a harmony note between a fourth and a fifth above the note played;
Harmony 3rd Up / 4th Up - Gives a harmony note between a third and a fourth above the note played;
Harmony Minor 3rd Up / Major 3rd Up - Gives a harmony note between a minor third and a major third above the note played;
Harmony 2nd Up / 3rd Up - Gives a harmony note between a second and a third above the note played;
Detune Shallow - Gives a slight out-of-tune shift;
Detune Deep - Gives a substantially out-of-tune shift to the note.
As this is a digital unit it can become overloaded if presented with too many source notes at once.
Overall Impressions of the Digitech Whammy
If you can't be arsed to frig about with floating Floyds, string and spring adjustments, locking nuts and vibrato arms the Digitech Whammy will provide an excellent emulation through several variations. For a clever and inventive player this little box of tricks will be a bone fide goldmine. For the "straight" player the Harmony presets will bear the most fruit, especially single guitar bands trying to cover harmonised guitar parts. It's not quite like having Scott Gorham standing next to you but it does add the right kind of flavour. And with the treadle allowing you to flip-flop between intervals the level of interest you can add to otherwise single note lead runs is high.
Buy the Digitech Whammy
