november-2011

With the Whammy DT, Digitech builds on the simplistic, rugged design of the original while rearranging the control set a bit.

My first encounter with the DigiTech Whammy pedal was while listening to Pantera’s Far Beyond Driven album. With pitch bends flying every which way over the limit of guitar string tension it was clear that there was something more than Dimebag’s virtuosity was at work. And as bands from Radiohead and The Smashing Pumpkins embraced the effect in wildly varying ways, the effect became a huge success.

The original Ferrari red WH-1 was hard to miss on a pedalboard—with an expression pedal on the left and controls for Harmony, Detune, and Whammy effects on the right of the unit. Later versions added wah, auto-wah, and bass whammy, though the original remains highly sought-after for its straightforward simplicity. With the Whammy DT, DigiTech builds on the simplistic, rugged design of the original while rearranging the control set a bit. More importantly, it adds several controls and capabilities that enhance versatility, including expanded tuning capabilities and improved pitch tracking.

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This do-it-all wah machine gives you the power to alter the tone, sweep style, range and boost to suit a multitude of musical situations.

We’ve come a long way in the wah world. For a long time, vintage wahs did one thing. And if you don’t like that one thing you were pretty much out of luck (apart from collecting every known variety, which many of us did anyway). And while wah makers have come a long way in making them more tweakable—especially in the last 15 years or so—the T-Rex Gull is impressively versatile. This do-it-all wah machine gives you the power to alter the tone, sweep style, range and boost to suit a multitude of musical situations.

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Though there's a plethora of delay pedals on the market, the control scheme on a Boss DD-7 is very common.

Whether you’ve got a barebones analog box or a feature-packed digital model, your delay can do a lot more than add ambience to your sound. Here we walk you through everything from basics like signal-chain placement and dialing in traditional sounds to looping and precise tempo matching.

Delay pedals are among the most popular effects around, and the reason is simple: A delay pedal not only gives your sound a professional sheen and adds a three-dimensional quality—even when set for a discreet, atmospheric effect—but it can also produce a wide variety of not-so-subtle sounds and textures, ranging from ear-twisting rhythmic repeats (à la Eddie Van Halen's “Cathedral") to faux twin-guitar harmonies and live looping.

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