digitech whammy?

[toyL]

after hearing satriani and vai do the whammy thing, I finally broke down last year and got the digitech pedal...my problem is that I can't seem to get a grip on it...I can tune way down and fake a fair "bad-horsie", but that's about all I can pull off...I need some suggestions--anything will help...I would like to be able to use it more the way satriani does...thanks.

 

[Krystof01]

Is it the whammy 1 or whammy 2?

 

[toyL]

I don't know the difference...I bought it new in 00'...the manual says they built it like the old one and added midi, dive-bomb, and LEDS...

 

[detuned6]

the whammy 1 has whammy and wah settings. Whammy 2 has only whammy effects -its also built alot better than the first. I play around w/mines once an a while but couldent find use with it in my last band(no one in the band liked it, it didnt fit into our style)

 

[Krystof01]

I don't think the whammy 1 has wah effects. Toyl you deffinatley have the newer 2. The whammy 1 is more vintage, more analogue sounding, the 2 has a more digital sound and extra effects like the dive bomb.

What I will say is only play one note at a time. It's not for use with chords (I guess you've figured that out yourself).

I don't listen to satriani or vai but I don't think it will be an integral part of their sound throughout. The problem with the whammy is it sounds quite extreme (certainly with the 2 octave up or down). use it in moderation and you really need the backing of a band to put it in context. Played by itself it can sound so gimmicky.

Maybe you could explain the sound your after and I may be able to advice on how you can obtain it. Remember these other guys will use it coupled with other effects and all the rest.

 

[charger]

close to, but not quite on topic

it's not satriani or vai-like at all, but have you ever heard the guitar on the intro to "my iron lung" by radiohead? now that's a cool use of a whammy pedal (original version).

 

[toyL]

thanks Krystorf, charger and detuned6...at 2:51 in statriani's 'surfin with the alien', he cuts loose with some killer whammy--where on my digitech can I find "that" effect...I know his whammy is on hisguitar, but, there must be a comparable preset on mine...I can't really say that I'm after a particular "sound"...after many hours of playing around with the silly thing, I've only come up with one little riff/melody that I like...I hate being stumped by something I know has potential...

 

[Shreadzilla]

Well, all I can say is the WHAMMY PEDAL is named that because it "can" mimic the sound of a dive bombed floydrose,etc,
but it is more of a pedal controlled,pitchaltering /harmonizing/effect.
The guy in RAGE against the machine,[Tom Morrello?] used it alot, I don't think Vai or Satriani use it to do Whammy bar stuff, they just use their bars,
Satriani uses one alot on his new live DVD, [which kicks ass]
on songs such as BORG SEX, for a kind of octavish screaming jumping harmony effect.
Anyway...

 

[Krystof01]

Toyl: well I listen more to Radiohead and U2 that use it more moderatley so can't really help on particular uses. What you may want to take a look at are the links below.

These are harmony central reviews but you might be able to get some info (I haven't time to search through myself) or you could e-mail some of them I guess.

Read through all three pages to this as it got also modes of operation and in action:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Reviews/DigitechWhammy/

http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/Data/DigiTech/Whammy_II-01.html

http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/Data/DigiTech/Whammy_Reissue-01.html

http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/Data/DigiTech/WH1_Whammy-01.html

 

[vox]

Vai uses it to get super high notes and special effects, make harmonics scream in strange ways etc.

 

[jrlemonz]

There were 3 whammy pedals, the 1, 2 and the sp550 or something. I have the sp550 ( i know the number aint right, but its something weird like that, not 1 or 2) one, and thats the one with the wah models. The other 2 are basically the same. The whammy 2 is a recreation of the whammy 1 with the dive bomb effect. They just went back to the old style whammy 1 with the 2, instead of evolving it more like they did with the sp550.

Jake