Whammy effect recommendations?

NelsonP

Looking for a small but decent pedal for the Tom Morello whammy effect.
Don't want anything too spendy but tracking needs to be decent.
Would prefer to avoid the large footprint of the original Digitech whammy.

If it can do octave up  / down stuff too (e.g. Lenny Kravitz) then that's a bonus.

Would be running it into the front of an Atomic Amplifire (I think - is this the best placement?)

What pedals should I be looking at?

roberty

I think Digitech have a patent on an all in one unit

Pretty sure the EHX pitch fork with an expression pedal will do the same thing:

https://www.ehx.com/products/pitch-fork/instructions

joetele

The Digitech Ricochet is I think a Whammy but in compact pedal format - and you get some pitch bending options by holding down the footswitch. It's a bit of a compromise for the smaller footprint but it might be what you're after. 

stickyfiddle

Honestly, just get a Whammy. The footprint is annoying, but nothing else comes close enough. 

Digitech did did do an Expeession factory that was a standard-way sized pedal, and I wold assume that would be close to the right thing but I’m not sure which modes it included - it was more limited than the full whammy for obvious reasons 

octatonic

stickyfiddle said:

Honestly, just get a Whammy. The footprint is annoying, but nothing else comes close enough. 

Digitech did did do an Expeession factory that was a standard-way sized pedal, and I wold assume that would be close to the right thing but I’m not sure which modes it included - it was more limited than the full whammy for obvious reasons 

This.

I still think the Whammy II is the best in terms of flexibility (being able to switch modes) but they aren't as hardy and the power requirement is irritating.

I currently have a V because it can be powered from a DC power supply (Voodoo Lab etc).

viz

Whammy 1 isn’t particularly large really

stickyfiddle

octatonic said:

stickyfiddle said:

Honestly, just get a Whammy. The footprint is annoying, but nothing else comes close enough. 

Digitech did did do an Expeession factory that was a standard-way sized pedal, and I wold assume that would be close to the right thing but I’m not sure which modes it included - it was more limited than the full whammy for obvious reasons 

This.

I still think the Whammy II is the best in terms of flexibility (being able to switch modes) but they aren't as hardy and the power requirement is irritating.

I currently have a V because it can be powered from a DC power supply (Voodoo Lab etc).

Same. I only use the octave modes (either harmony or 100% wet) but the V really is the king of pitch shifting, sound wise. It’s one of the major reasons I sold my Helix - if they get their pitchshifting patches sorted I’ll be first in line for another one 

roberty

I love my Whammy 5 too, FWIW.  I use the blend modes into my dirt pedals (4ths, 5ths and octaves)

jpttaylor

It might be worth looking at the Boss PS-6 - I've always thought the ability to blend in how much of the interval you want in the overall sound was really useful. The 6 tracks very well, the 5 not so much, so it's worth paying the extra if you're concerned about that.

octatonic

stickyfiddle said:

octatonic said:

stickyfiddle said:

Honestly, just get a Whammy. The footprint is annoying, but nothing else comes close enough. 

Digitech did did do an Expeession factory that was a standard-way sized pedal, and I wold assume that would be close to the right thing but I’m not sure which modes it included - it was more limited than the full whammy for obvious reasons 

This.

I still think the Whammy II is the best in terms of flexibility (being able to switch modes) but they aren't as hardy and the power requirement is irritating.

I currently have a V because it can be powered from a DC power supply (Voodoo Lab etc).

Same. I only use the octave modes (either harmony or 100% wet) but the V really is the king of pitch shifting, sound wise. It’s one of the major reasons I sold my Helix - if they get their pitchshifting patches sorted I’ll be first in line for another one 

Funny you say that- I love the Helix for most effects but not for pitch shifting and not for wah, so I'm building a mini board that sits on the front end of its with those two, a Tube Driver and a volume pedal.

NelsonP

Weird. Atomic just released a firmware update for the Amplifire 6/12 and the main feature of that appears to be a pitch block. Their timing is perfect!

Someone on the Atomic forum has already tested it and said that it tracks very well and they are going to be able to take their Digitech Drop and EHX Pitchfork off their board as a result.

So I guess I just got my answer!

Demo up already

Beexter

EHX Pitchfork works for me. I like the fact you can adjust the speed of the pitch change when using the momentary switching 

Sleepyscholar

stickyfiddle said:

Honestly, just get a Whammy. The footprint is annoying, but nothing else comes close enough. 

Digitech did did do an Expeession factory that was a standard-way sized pedal, and I wold assume that would be close to the right thing but I’m not sure which modes it included - it was more limited than the full whammy for obvious reasons 

I have a Whammy 4 but got annoyed at the size, so I got an EX-7, which is smaller (think Wah pedal). It comes with two Wahs, the old Digitech Space Station synth swell, a Whammy (which allows blending of effected and dry signal as you like, which the Whammy 4 doesn't), Univibe, Leslie and Flanger, It also comes with a bunch of distortion effects and cab sims (I never use them: make of that what you will). It has disadvantages. Some would probably say that the Whammy effect isn't quite up to that of the dedicated unit (don't notice that myself). It uses AC power, which is annoying if you don't have a power supply which can do AC 9V. And activation/deactivation involves pressing hard on the treadle, which is easy to do by accident at a gig.
I like it, though, as it gives me the Whammy I need, with the bonus of stuff like the Space Station, and Wahs if I need them.

Gulliver

octatonic said:

stickyfiddle said:

Honestly, just get a Whammy. The footprint is annoying, but nothing else comes close enough. 

Digitech did did do an Expeession factory that was a standard-way sized pedal, and I wold assume that would be close to the right thing but I’m not sure which modes it included - it was more limited than the full whammy for obvious reasons 

This.

I still think the Whammy II is the best in terms of flexibility (being able to switch modes) but they aren't as hardy and the power requirement is irritating.

I currently have a V because it can be powered from a DC power supply (Voodoo Lab etc).

I partially disagree about the Whammy II.    I love the button for selecting modes, but they put it in front of the on/off button - so when I tried one back in the day, I kept changing the mode when just wanting to switch it on.


To the OP - In all honesty, if you want a Whammy, get a Whammy.   I had a Whammy 4 - that was cool (also got a small midi-switcher made to cycle through the only presets I used)  these days I've upgraded to a Whammy DT (the biggest pedal ever made) because I wanted something 9V DC, and in past bands I've sometimes used the capo/detune function to save me bringing a second guitar/capo.