Digitech Whammy.....A Lower Cost Substitute?

[Iris_Bassist13]

Okay,
I know this probably isn't the first, and probably won't be the last, but I'm bringing it up cause I need to know.

I'm looking online on Ebay and I see two current Digitech Bass Whammys each around 200 bucks (which will no doubt skyrocket once the clock gets lower).
I'm not blessed with a ton of money....so I was wondering if the regular guitar whammy is a suitable substitute. I've heard that it doesn't hold up the bass sustain as well, but I think I'm willing to sacrifice a little to save myself a couple hundred bucks.
Is it worth it buying?
and if you have the pedal/know Tool and have heard "Disposition" off the Lateralus album, can I get tone like that with the guitar whammy?

Helps por favor

Thanks
Iris_Bassist13

[Thunderscreech]

Originally Posted by Iris_Bassist13

Okay,
I know this probably isn't the first, and probably won't be the last, but I'm bringing it up cause I need to know.

I'm looking online on Ebay and I see two current Digitech Bass Whammys each around 200 bucks (which will no doubt skyrocket once the clock gets lower).
I'm not blessed with a ton of money....so I was wondering if the regular guitar whammy is a suitable substitute. I've heard that it doesn't hold up the bass sustain as well, but I think I'm willing to sacrifice a little to save myself a couple hundred bucks.
Is it worth it buying?
and if you have the pedal/know Tool and have heard "Disposition" off the Lateralus album, can I get tone like that with the guitar whammy?

Helps por favor

Thanks
Iris_Bassist13

1) Do a search. See, up there? the little tab that says "Search"?

2) The bass whammy is a bad idea because Expensive. We're talking they've gone for +/-800 bucks before.

3) Guitar whammy should give you a similar effect, but what Chancellor is doing is Octave up + a Third. You'll need something like a HOG for that, or you could just get a Guitar whammy a pitch-shifter of some sort, put them both in their own blend loop, and go for it.

[sonic assassin]

what he said ^^

[bigchiefbc]

Originally Posted by Thunderscreech

3) Guitar whammy should give you a similar effect, but what Chancellor is doing is Octave up + a Third. You'll need something like a HOG for that, or you could just get a Guitar whammy a pitch-shifter of some sort, put them both in their own blend loop, and go for it.

Actually, "Disposition" uses the harmony mode that sweeps between a 5th up and an octave up. From what I can remember, the only pedals that can accomplish this mode are the Bass Whammy, the XP-100 Whammy/Wah, the BP-200 Multi, the Boss PS-3, and the Eventide Pitchfactor (the last two require separate expression pedals)

[Thunderscreech]

Originally Posted by bigchiefbc

Actually, "Disposition" uses the harmony mode that sweeps between a 5th up and an octave up. From what I can remember, the only pedals that can accomplish this mode are the Bass Whammy, the XP-100 Whammy/Wah, the BP-200 Multi, the Boss PS-3, and the Eventide Pitchfactor (the last two require separate expression pedals)

Whoa. I did not know that. I probably got them confused, so hence...
And Why So Few pedals? Is a fifth not a popular shift?


Also, HOG does a fifth, but I do not know if it shifts Octave up to 5th up.

[bigchiefbc]

Originally Posted by Thunderscreech

And Why So Few pedals? Is a fifth not a popular shift?

Good question. I've always wanted to know why the regular whammy doesn't have the 5th/octave up harmony, because it is so damn useful and musical. It is my favorite whammy mode ever. It sounds awesome in solos.

Also, HOG does a fifth, but I do not know if it shifts Octave up to 5th up.

Nope, you can't sweep from a 5th to an octave with the HOG; believe me, I tried. Unless you could set the exp pedal to only sweep from halfway up to full up.

OP, if you really wants to play "Disposition", get the XP-100. You can usually get them for somewhere in the 100-150 range. That's what I'm using right now, and it works just fine. The lowest of the lows (like the B on a 5-string) warble a bit, but I rarely use it down there. But it will track low enough to do the octave sweeps on the drop D in Lateralus.

[megadan]

Agreed, I had an XP-100 and it did the Tool thing convincingly, especially with some dirt and delay.

[jumbo_steelie]

I've had the XP-100 for awhile and it sounded great doing disposition. It's been acting up lately, so I've been using a beat up whammy IV I got for cheap. It doesn't do the 5thup/1 up, but I haven;t jammed on that tune for awhile. I also just picked up a boss ps-3 for pretty cheap as well and plugged an expression pedal into it. It sounds not bad either, and the bypass is a little better than the xp, if that's even an issue. So try to score a PS-3 with an expression pedal if ya can'd find an XP and that oughtta take care of your tool pitch-shifting needs on a budget.

[jimmyjam]

Try searching for an XP1000 (note the extra "0")
I have one, and it does the XP100, XP300 and probably 200 and 400 but I can't remember what they're called. Very cool custom rebuilt pedal. Do a search, that's how I got mine... or try searching guitargeek.com

[5stringwonder]

The Akai Unibass does the 5th /octave up as well.

[Swimming Bird]

If you can drop the cash for the Eventide PitchFactor with an expression pedal, it's well worth it. You can go through years and all the other pedal pitch shifters that can make the sound you want, but the PF is the best pedal pitch shifter out there, bar none. Bass Whammy killer is what it is.

Now, if you're gonna go the cheaper route, don't do the Boss PS-3. I have it and it simply doesn't work well as a whammy.

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by 5stringwonder

The Akai Unibass does the 5th /octave up as well.

But can you pitch shift via expression pedal? IIRC, it doesn't do that.

Originally Posted by Swimming Bird

If you can drop the cash for the Eventide PitchFactor with an expression pedal, it's well worth it. You can go through years and all the other pedal pitch shifters that can make the sound you want, but the PF is the best pedal pitch shifter out there, bar none. Bass Whammy killer is what it is.

The PitchFactor is the best I've heard so far if the goal is clean, smooth, accurate, and polyphonic.

Originally Posted by Swimming Bird

Now, if you're gonna go the cheaper route, don't do the Boss PS-3. I have it and it simply doesn't work well as a whammy.

+1 - the real joys of the PS-3 are on the other modes. The PS-3 as a Whammy substitute can sound very "glassy" and unnatural. Of course, the Whammy doesn't sound that natural either, but I'm rather found of that quirky dirt it delivers, and it just sounds much better to my ears.

[Chronicle]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

The PitchFactor is the best I've heard so far if the goal is clean, smooth, accurate, and polyphonic.

+1

[Getaway Driver]

Molten Voltage makes a midi controller that can set the Whammy IV to the Octave up/5th up setting, as well as the other options the Bass Whammy had that the Whammy IV doesn't. Sadly, buying both the whammy and midi controller gets expensive, it's still cheaper than a bass whammy on ebay for the going rate of $700.

[MoltenVoltage]

Hi guys.

We also make an ultra-simple MIDI controller called None More Black which we can program to step through whatever settings you like. ($49.95)

Info is on this page:
http://www.moltenvoltage.com/molten_midi.html

If you just want to toggle between 5th up and Octave up harmony, NMB can do that. The controller sets the "virtual" position of the pedal. Each time you step on the button it will alternate between the settings. When you move the expression pedal, that takes over.

We can program it to do all sorts of other tricks, but there are a lot of people who just want that one thing.

No need to mod your whammy to use it.

We also do mods to the Whammy 4:
http://www.moltenvoltage.com/whammy_mods.html

We can add a pitch limiter control so you can dial in the low end of the expression pedal and get the 5th up > octave up harmony that way.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Thanks!

[groooooove]

i love my red guitar whammy. i only use the +2 octave or +/- 1 octave settings, though.

[JimmyM]

Let me also add to be patient. I bought my used Whammy IV for $125.