DigiTech Whammy
The Whammy pedal is a digital effects pedal designed for guitar and manufactured by DigiTech. The Whammy was the first widely known effects pedal that could do foot controlled pitch shifting effects. The pedal emulates sounds that a guitarist normally makes using the vibrato (AKA whammy) bar on the guitar, but with a greatly enhanced pitch range and without tuning hassles associated with traditional vibrato bars. The pedal has minor issues in certain situations that produce audible digital artifacts in the audio signal. Notable users include Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Joe Perry, Dimebag Darrell, Tom Morello, The Edge and Nels Cline.
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[edit] DigiTech WH-1 Whammy
[edit] Overview
The WH-1 Whammy pedal, the original whammy, first engineered and manufactured in 1989 by IVL Technologies and discontinued in 1993, remains the most sought-after.[1]
[edit] Controls
It is controlled by a pedal for the pitch, and a single rotary knob that selects from 16 presets—five Whammy effects, nine Harmony effects, and two Detune effects.
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[edit] Notable users
Notable musicians who have made use of the WH-1 Whammy include:
- David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
- Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age
- Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave and Street Sweeper Social Club
- Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead
- Steve Vai
- Joe Satriani
- The Edge of U2
- David Bryant of Godspeed You! Black Emperor
- Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
- Noel Gallagher of Oasis
- Joe Perry of Aerosmith
- Dimebag Darrell of Pantera
- Kirk Hammett of Metallica
- James Iha and Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins
- Buckethead
- Nels Cline
- Dan Deacon, as a vocal effect
- Colin Drake of Pinhead Larry
[edit] DigiTech Whammy II
[edit] Overview
The DigiTech Whammy II featured a black chassis (in contrast with the series' now famous 'Ferrari red' colour).
[edit] Controls
It is controlled by an expression pedal and a button which selects the settings, which are nearly the same as the WH-1. Its effects are as follows:
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also has the ability to store one preset setting, which allows the user to choose any two modes and toggle between them using the setting select button
[edit] Notable users
Notable musicians who have used the DigiTech Whammy include:
[edit] DigiTech XP-100 Whammy-Wah
[edit] Overview
The XP-100 Whammy/Wah was more complex, incorporating both whammy and wah-wah possibilities.
[edit] Controls
It is controlled by a rocker, and a button which selects the 29 different presets; "Volume" effect, five "Wah-Wah" effects, six "Auto Wah" effects, eight "Whammy" effects, and nine "Harmony" effects.
List in categories (with modulation action of the pedal):
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[edit] Notable users
Notable musicians who have used the XP-100 include:
- Munky and Head of Korn
- John Scofield
- Mike Vennart of Oceansize
- Eugene Goreshter of Autolux
- Danilo Nikodinovski of Consecration
- Edwin Monney
- Johnny Renshusløkken of Enter Optional World
[edit] DigiTech Bass Whammy
[edit] Overview
The Bass Whammy was a Whammy pedal built for bass guitar. It featured same chassis as the DigiTech Whammy II, but blue. It features different harmony options than the other Whammy models.
[edit] Controls
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[edit] Notable users
Notable musicians who have used the Bass Whammy include:
[edit] DigiTech Whammy IV
[edit] Overview
The Whammy IV; the fourth edition, is closer to the WH-1 in terms of design but with several additional features, such as MIDI control and a 'Dive bomb' feature.
[edit] Controls
The controls are identical to the WH-1 controls, along with two new presets, "Divebomb" and "Droptune".
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Harmony effects
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[edit] Notable users
Notable musicians who have used the Whammy IV include:
- Tommy Kessler of Blondie
- Matthew Bellamy of Muse
- John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta and At the Drive-In
- Ed O'Brien of Radiohead
- Teppei Teranishi of Thrice
- Matthew Followill of Kings of Leon
- Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age
- Dean Fertita of The Dead Weather and Queens of the Stone Age
- Dave Baksh of Sum 41
- Cory Johnson of Impending Doom
- Troy Van Leeuwen of Queens of the Stone Age
- Ichirou Agata of Melt-Banana
- Dan Deacon
- Brendon Small of Dethklok
- Thomas Erak of The Fall of Troy
- Aaron Fink of Breaking Benjamin
- Buckethead
- Daniel Johns of Silverchair
- Jack White of The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather
- The Edge of U2
[edit] Modifications
In late 2008, effect manufacturer Molten Voltage devised a number of modifications for the Whammy IV pedal including Upper and Lower Pitch Limiter Controls which allow the player to set the limits of the expression pedal rather than using the octave presets.
In early 2010, Molten Voltage released Molten MIDI 2, which is cheaper than the original and has more features. Molten MIDI 2 is a programmable MIDI stompbox designed to control the Whammy IV, and gives users 5 new ways to control the Whammy. They can make looping arpeggios, with or without portamento, step through intervals not normally available on the Whammy (also with or without portamento), and step through the Whammy's presets settings. The new model is capable of being programmed manually or with a computer-based interface available on their website.[2]
[edit] Power Supply
The Whammy IV requires a 9V AC supply.
[edit] DigiTech Whammy DT
[edit] Overview
The Whammy DT; the fifth edition (released in 2011), is the first Whammy model to use polyphonic pitch shifting as well as a host of new features including true-bypass.
[edit] Controls
The controls are similar to the controls on the previous model, but one additional knob and two additional footswitches, one of which is momentary, have been added for the new "Drop Tune" section of the pedal.
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Harmony effects
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[edit] Power Supply
The Whammy DT is the first Whammy model to use a 9V DC power adaptor, all of the previous being AC.
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Ebay". Popular Items. http://popular.ebay.co.uk/ns/Musical+Instruments/Whammy.html. Retrieved 2008-03-03.[dead link]
- ^ http://www.moltenvoltage.com/molten_midi_2.html
[edit] External links
- Digitech's page on the Whammy
- Digitech Whammy Informational Site
- Harmony Central's page on the WH-1
- Harmony Central's page on the XP-100 Whammy/Wah
- Harmony Central's page on the Bass Whammy
- Harmony Central's page on the IV Whammy
- MP3 of Brendon Small using a Digitech Whammy IV
- DigiTech Whammy DT Pedal Review by Premier Guitar with sound clips
