Metal Warfare - Irish Metal Forum

Pitchshifter/Whammy pedals

Started by Giggles, September 06, 2019, 07:01:39 PM

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September 06, 2019, 07:01:39 PM
Been on a Buckethead spree for a while and wouldn't mind messing about with a decent whammy pedal. Any recommendations?
#1 September 06, 2019, 07:14:22 PM
Digitech Whammy 5 is top of the pile, if you're not concerned about its size.
#2 September 07, 2019, 10:03:07 AM
I got a whammy 4 recently and I love it. Dunno about the earlier ones but a 4 or 5 should be easily picked up on adverts for about 100 bones
#3 September 07, 2019, 12:45:59 PM
Quote from: Emphyrio on September 06, 2019, 07:14:22 PM
Digitech Whammy 5 is top of the pile, if you're not concerned about its size.

I can pick up a whammy 4 handy enough, any partical reason that the whammy 5 tops your list?
#4 September 07, 2019, 02:11:49 PM
It takes DC power so you can use it with a regular power supply so it doesn't need its own power adaptor. It's polyphonic and I'm not sure the 4 is. I had one and only sold it cos it took up too much real estate but I should have kept it for recording purposes. I got a TC Electronic Brainwaves recently and this has all the same functions in  a smaller footprint.

https://www.thomann.de/ie/tc_electronic_brainwaves_pitch_shifter.htm

The MASH footswitch isn't as precise as the pedal on the Whammy, obviously, but it does 3 voices whereas the Whammy only does two, if you're also looking at the harmony side of things.
#5 September 08, 2019, 07:16:27 PM
Cheers lads
#6 September 10, 2019, 03:39:55 PM
I've had both the 4 and the 5. The 5 is  miles better than the 4 in every single regard.

It takes regular 9vDc power instead of the 9vAC power the older models take. The older power supplies SUCK. I've thrown out 3 of them over the years as they are cheap wallwart designs that the cabling always breaks at the point where it meets the large plug. I have another Digitech pedal that uses them and I literally had it die on me mid tour only a few weeks ago.

It has less tone suck, I read they used better buffers or something like that. It tracks extremely well and does polyphonic shifting. The Whammy 4 and previous models definitely do not. If you like the  glitchy effect as a result of the poorer tracking there is a switch to "classic" mode on the whammy 5 too.

They're currently about 140 on thomann which is a great price too.
#7 September 10, 2019, 04:23:35 PM
I was gonna buy a whammy 4 second hand for about €80, but went for a whammy 5 for about €110. After reading your post, I'm very glad I made that choice  8)
#8 September 12, 2019, 10:46:03 AM
Been using the EHX Pitch Fork with an expression pedal hooked up.  Great craic.
#9 September 17, 2019, 10:38:13 AM
Lads a quick question from somebody who doesn't understand a lot about electricity:
The whammy 5 came in the post today, and the guy threw in a power adapter too. The pedal is 9v DC 1300mA, but the power suppy is a Boss AC adapter 9v 200mA. Is this power supply ok to use with the pedal? Will it affect the tone or anything?
#10 September 17, 2019, 12:06:36 PM
I had mine in a 500mA input of a power supply and it was fine. Not sure if 200mA is enough though.
#11 September 17, 2019, 02:39:10 PM
Once it powers on you should be fine. Can't damage a pedal by underpowering it (current/mA) either BTW it just won't work.
#12 September 18, 2019, 07:52:37 AM
Power supply working fine. Thanks again lads!
#13 September 18, 2019, 12:51:39 PM
The manual says power consumption is 265mA so I'd be wary of using less current, especially with digital stuff.
#14 September 18, 2019, 01:51:46 PM
Quote from: moose on September 18, 2019, 12:51:39 PM
The manual says power consumption is 265mA so I'd be wary of using less current, especially with digital stuff.

What kind of damage could using less current do? I bought it second hand and one of the leds don't light up, but I had already known about this. Could this be from the power supply he gave me?
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