Whammy Tracking?

[Lonely Raven]

OK, so I played with the first Whammy pedal back when it was released. I thought it was neat, saw some use in it for Satriani/Vai type stuff (before they started using it, but as an alternative to the Eventide stuff I couldn't afford), but I never took one home.

So now, here it is 20 years later and they release an 20th anniversary edition in CHROME. I love chrome, as gaudy as it is, my pedal board is full of chrome. So that pushed me over the edge to finally get a Whammy.



I picked one up used from a forum member...it took him many weeks to remember to ship me the power plug as well...but anyways, I finally got it plugged in last night...and this thing is *terrible*. Just hitting single notes it tracks like an epileptic on auto-tune. It's like ring-bing-ring-ring-ring-bing-bing-bing-ring....

Is this the nature of the beast, or is mine not working correctly?

[JRC4558Dude]

Nope, yours isn't broken. That's just the way they are.

It may be that the treadle needs to be re-calibrated for it work as best as it can, but the poor tracking of the current Whammys is a well-known problem.

The original WH1 Whammy used propietary technology that Digitech had licensed from IVL Technologies. The new re-issues (which were introduced in about 2000 or so) don't use the same circuit and don't work as well as the originals. The originals sell for as much as $1000 nowadays.

[Lonely Raven]

Originally Posted by JRC4558Dude

Nope, yours isn't broken. That's just the way they are.

It may be that the treadle needs to be re-calibrated for it work as best as it can, but the poor tracking of the current Whammys is a well-known problem.

The original WH1 Whammy used propietary technology that Digitech had licensed from IVL Technologies. The new re-issues (which were introduced in about 2000 or so) don't use the same circuit and don't work as well as the originals. The originals sell for as much as $1000 nowadays.

Ahh, so much for the fancy 20th anniversary issue.

Thanks for the education!

[Pale Rider]

I've been thinking of getting one of these as well, more for psuedo-pedal steel effects-
I've never played around with one
should I just wait for the Morpheus bender or the Mooer Super Bender?
I had hear the Whammy 4 wasn't that bad at tracking

[VA_siCkBoy]

You could try to find a Whammy II cheaper than a WHI Whammy.
I don't think it sounds as good as the original, but it is better than the IV.

[Coldacre]

Originally Posted by JRC4558Dude

Nope, yours isn't broken. That's just the way they are. .

Sorry but that's simply not true. Mine tracks single notes perfectly, there is no jumping of pitch. The whammy IV is on many a pro's board, if they were as bad as you say they are nobody would use them.

I've AB'd between the original and the IV and the IV tracks multiple notes better than the original. There are Youtubes of this.

[danhappysalad]

Originally Posted by Coldacre

Sorry but that's simply not true. Mine tracks single notes perfectly, there is no jumping of pitch.

I agree mine works fine too.

[Adman103]

It depends on the mode- the whammy is not known for tracking perfectly, but some artists have used this in some pretty cool ways. Listen to the opening of Radiohead's My Iron Lung. That chewed up sickly sweet guitar tone in the intro is a whammy on the one octave up setting. (I think that was the setting...)

[JRC4558Dude]

Originally Posted by Coldacre

Sorry but that's simply not true. Mine tracks single notes perfectly, there is no jumping of pitch. The whammy IV is on many a pro's board, if they were as bad as you say they are nobody would use them.

I've AB'd between the original and the IV and the IV tracks multiple notes better than the original. There are Youtubes of this.

Fair enough. I should have said that MOST people find that the IV doesn't track as well as the original. My own experience with the IV was just as the OP described, in that it tracked horribly.

[Lonely Raven]

Originally Posted by JRC4558Dude

Fair enough. I should have said that MOST people find that the IV doesn't track as well as the original. My own experience with the IV was just as the OP described, in that it tracked horribly.

I wonder if there is a way to calibrate it.

It's too bad, I was really hoping the 20th anniversary issue would have the original electronics in it.

On the plus side, the two modulation settings are useful.

[Chugs]

I own a Whammy I and a Whammy IV and have never had any problems with the tracking on single notes. If the tracking is as bad as you say then it sounds like something isn't quite right.

[Lonely Raven]

Originally Posted by Chugs

I own a Whammy I and a Whammy IV and have never had any problems with the tracking on single notes. If the tracking is as bad as you say then it sounds like something isn't quite right.

Thanks, I'll have to see if I can send it in....the problem is, the guy who sold it to me failed to mention the holes drilled in the bottom of it...I assume to mount to a pedal board...

So after waiting 7 weeks for the power brick, I find it's not working well, and I probably can't send it in for repair/tune-up.

I'm half tempted to call this guy out on it (publicly)

[JRC4558Dude]

Originally Posted by Lonely Raven

I wonder if there is a way to calibrate it.

Here we are!

ftp://ftp.digitech.com/pub/PDFs/Manu...on%20Guide.pdf

[Lonely Raven]

Originally Posted by JRC4558Dude

Here we are!

ftp://ftp.digitech.com/pub/PDFs/Manu...on%20Guide.pdf

Hmm, reading through that, it calibrates the expression pedal, not the tracking...

I got very excited for moment, but I have a feeling that's not what I need.

Still though, I'll try it out tonight and see if it helps any. Thanks!

[eerock]

Originally Posted by Lonely Raven

Hmm, reading through that, it calibrates the expression pedal, not the tracking...

I got very excited for moment, but I have a feeling that's not what I need.

Still though, I'll try it out tonight and see if it helps any. Thanks!

The tracking can't be calibrated. Just make sure the Whammy gets a clear signal from your guitar. Fret buzz could mess with the tracking so be sure you don't have any. Single note stuff shouldn't warble at all..