daveq Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 For a long time, I always thought that this thing was a joke. I wondered if it was for people who wanted to simulate a floyd dive but didn't have a floyd bridge. As usual, I'm late in understanding what it really is. From what I have read (just a product description from musiciansfriend) - it can be used to detune the instrument. Now, is this really true? Does it really sound the same as if you detuned 1/2 step or more? What do most people use it for? I've noticed that there are tons of professional guitarists out there using them but I don't know what they are using them for? Are the newer models any better/worse than the originals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 ok first things first ill giveyou a run down of the different modes andwhat they do. i have an origional so i dont have the divebomb patch that the newer ones have but i dont think im missing out much nehu there are 3 modes if you can callthem that. harmony, detune and whammy. harmony is exactlly the same as things like the Boss harmoniser except that you can change the pitch of the mixed note using the foot pedal. eg heel down it mixes in a fifth up, toe down it goes up to a 7th up etc this is 50% origional sound and 50% shifted sound. whammy just pitch shifts the note up by one or two octaves or down by one octave, two octaves or a second. this is 100% shifted sound, no mixing detune mixes the origional signal with a detuned signal. 2 modes, shallow and deep. on shallow the mixed signal can be detuned by 1 to 25 cents from heel to toe down. on deep it can go from 0 to 100 cents (ie a full tone) this WILL NOT sound like you've detuned your guitar by an entire step eg from E tuning to D tuning. its purpose is to create i kind of chorusing sound which imho if used well is really quite nice (i use it when i play slide guitar) the closest you will get to the sound of detuning your guitar like changing tunings is using the whammy option. and that doesnt really deal with even simple chords that well. this thing may have been origionally meant to be used as something to replace floyds but thats not what its become, its a whole lot more than that, just ask mr morello or agata of melt banana. there aint no floyd esque wankines there. as for the old Vs reissue it basically comes down to the size of your wallte. the wh-1 reissue is generally considered to be good but not quite as good as the origional for two reasons. theres a slight attack delay present with both of them but supposedlly its more noticable with the reissue. secondlly suposedlly the origional sounds better, more organic or any other cool buzz word people use. imho the origional still sounds noticablly digital but you need to expect that. i went for an origional for 3 reasons. one is that now have a job over my gap year but im still living at home, therefore no over heads therefore lots of disposable income. secondlly i think there's enough people say the origional is better to have some credence to the tale. thirdlly, i reckon that at the steady porice increase of these things they're only going to get more expensive. im looking into buying 2 or 3 more and just sitting on them for a few years. as with everything. its all a matter of opinion. go to a music store that has the reissue and play it. its close enough to the origional in most ways and has a couple new tricks. its also got thewhole midi thing going on so if that yanks your crank you're onto a winner hope all thats helpful man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Thanks for the info. It sounds like what I have now will do the same thing. I have a TC Electronics G-Major and I use the detune feature for a "kind of - sort of" harmonizer. It sounds very, very good but doesn't do everything a $2000+ harmonizer does. It basically thickens up the guitar and gives it a more polished/pro sound. I appreciate you taking the time to share that info. DaveQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanKirk Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 Have you ever heard Satriani's "Cool #9". He uses a whammy pedal in that. Sounds cool to me. Just thought I'd throw that in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swirlslave Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 yeah satriani really love the whammy , another good example is Rasberry jam if you got the Live in San Francisco DVD or CD, at the end of the song hes going insane with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sepultura999 Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 If you want to hear the whammy in action you have to listen to stuff by Rage Against The Machine. Tom Morello uses the whammy in the majority of the songs and does an amazing job with it I find. Or for the best example listen to Tom Morello's solo in the song 'Like A Stone' by Audioslave. -Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 thesolo is like a stone is really easy to play. theres no fancy finger work or anything in it but as far as im concerned thats not the point. playing its easy but coming up with it is the hard part. morello has managed to use the digitech on loads of albums and is always coming up with new things and ways to make it sound different Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sepultura999 Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 IMO Morello is one of the most creative guitar players. In fact, he's my personal favorite. I dunno why but his playing reminds me of hendrix in some way lol. I was pissed when I read that Jack White form the white stripes beat him in Rolling Stones top 100 of all time, but even that is just a popularity contest. If you don't believe that then tell me why Kurt Cobain is in the top 10. Anyways, if you want to hear the whammy at its best, you gotta check out Tom Morello. Don't check out his http://www.nightwatchmanmusic.com/ site for whammy stuff. That's his acoustic solo project. -Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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