Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

Ya know, mine's not that clean but I know I coudl still do well on it and I just can;t bring myself to let it go!!!:boggled:
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

LOL...and I thought people were nuts when they were bringing $400. I would be willing to bet not one of those buyers could tell the difference in a blind test.
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

Ayrton said:
LOL...and I thought people were nuts when they were bringing $400. I would be willing to bet not one of those buyers could tell the difference in a blind test.
Click to expand...

I don't know bro...I did a blind test with my WH1 and a reissue WH4, mostly because I was hoping they'd be the same and I could cash in on my Wh1, keep the WH4, still be happy and make some scratch...it was very obvious which was which...
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

Fair enough, but does the older one sound 5 times as good?
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

WOW! Last time I was looking at them they were $400 and I passed on them. $800? When is Digitech going to do a reissue that does the originals justice? I know some parts aren't made anymore, but I'm surprised they can't change the circuit around to accommodate different parts.
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

the_Chris said:
WOW! Last time I was looking at them they were $400 and I passed on them. $800? When is Digitech going to do a reissue that does the originals justice? I know some parts aren't made anymore, but I'm surprised they can't change the circuit around to accommodate different parts.
Click to expand...

It's not really a "some parts"...it's the whole brain that actually produces the harmonys and pitch bends...

They go up and down...I remember a time watching them go for over a grand fairly often then in less than 3 months less than $400...it just depends on how bad more than one guy on ebay wants it and it also depends on who just might have recently put out a record/gone on tour with one...
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

My bassist has been looking for one, so I'm aware of the market craziness for these. So the parts for "the whole brain" of the WH-1 are no longer manufactured? With demand like this, why wouldn't DigiTech (or whoever made them originally) start making them again?

- Keith
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

KGMESSIER said:
My bassist has been looking for one, so I'm aware of the market craziness for these. So the parts for "the whole brain" of the WH-1 are no longer manufactured? With demand like this, why wouldn't DigiTech (or whoever made them originally) start making them again?

- Keith
Click to expand...
I'm guessing he's looking for the Bass Whammy? Specifically for the coveted 5th-8va and 5th-6th harmony bends? If so, I believe the XP100 does them in a pinch, or until he finds a bass at a good deal...
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

drew_half_empty said:
god i hate jack white

this is all his fault
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God I love Jack White (although I associate him more with the POG than the Whammy), and I think it's Morello's, Dimebag's Gilmour's, Vai's and Satriani's fault. ;)
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

PFDarkside said:
I'm guessing he's looking for the Bass Whammy? Specifically for the coveted 5th-8va and 5th-6th harmony bends? If so, I believe the XP100 does them in a pinch, or until he finds a bass at a good deal...
Click to expand...

Yeah, he's looking for the Bass Whammy. Justin Chancellor (Tool) is all over the place with his Whammy. The XP-100 isn't as expensive?

- Keith
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

Not nearly as expensive, but I assume the tracking must be better on the bass model. If he wants to cover a few of the Whammy songs in the meantime, it'll do it...

I think Digitech is selling enough Whammy 4's that they don't need to invest the capital to have a supplier produce a new chip. I think it's like BBD's, once there was finally enough interest, they started making them again, but the vintage ones are sought after.
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

i seriously doubt that the pay-off would be enough to make profit for them to charter a big company to make a chip for that application. chances are, no one else would really use it unless it was a copy. in the electrical engineering world, things get axed because there is something that is more functional.
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

Here is why...from Analogman's FAQ on the Whammy Pedal:

Why does everybody seem to prefer the old wh-1 Whammy over the new one?
The Whammy II had redesigned "improvements" made when over the original whammy when it was released. The biggest mistake was putting the input gain control in there - if you don't get the adjustment "just right" then it will not track the input pitch properly and, even if you do get it right, as the input decays the pitch tracking will eventually lose its "lock" on the signal.

The original WH-1 Whammy had a special circuit that the Whammy II does not (thus no "input level" control), allowing almost any input signal level to be dynamically scaled so that the pitch tracking can "lock on" faultlessly. This also meant that as the signal level decayed, the pitch would remain locked due to the scaling action. The Whammy II loses lock on the signal as it decays, resulting in a highly unpleasant "warbling" sound which you may have noticed if you've used one.

Why was the whammy modified?

The old red Whammy was probably changed because it was quite expensive and not selling as well as it could be. On most newer mass-marketed pedals, the price/cost is the main feature. In reality, the Whammy-II ended up costing almost as much (and even more in some areas) and people didn't like it nearly as much. It had some cool features (you didn't have to bend down to change modes, and it had the "toggle" feature to switch between your two favorites) but it did not SOUND the same, and it was a little less robust than the original version.

How about the reissue whammy?

It seems that they did not use the exact same algorithms as the original so they still don't sound quite as good. The original manual has a note Copyright 1990 IVL Technologies Ltd, looks like they were the ones who designed this pedal for DOD. You can find the manual on www.digitech.com.
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

Why on Earth they didn't use the same exact algorithms on the Whammy is beyond me. IVL Tech and DigiTech must realize how profitable an accurate reissue would be, even if it cost a little more than the original.

- Keith
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

Why haven't one of the boutique pedal makers knocked off the original?

Lack of parts, cost or both?
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

KGMESSIER said:
Why on Earth they didn't use the same exact algorithms on the Whammy is beyond me. IVL Tech and DigiTech must realize how profitable an accurate reissue would be, even if it cost a little more than the original.

- Keith
Click to expand...

IVL may just not want to or the level of margin on profit with something like this might not be enough for them to bother doing it.

Between the first units and the newer ones the market has exploded in regards to chip design. I almost wonder if there's not enough money at stake to be worthwhile for them.

It may also be that the design has parts that are cobbled from other designs which they're no longer allowed to license out for whatever reason.
 
Re: Man, WH-1 Whammies and Bass Whammies are getting out of hand!

i have a whammy II that someone gave to me, but i have never used it. Is it really that bad?
Also couldnt you just open it up and jump the input gain circuit to eleminate the issue?
What kinda power supply does it need, i dont want to pay $30 from digitech for a wall wart i can get at radio shack for way less.
 
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