Whammy Pedal Tips and Tricks Please

not_the_dj

So a Whammy V should be landing here today courtesy of @meltedbuzzbox.

I had an older version years ago but only really used it as an octave up effect for U2s "With or Without You" with an E-bow...and then I got a Micro Pog for that and the Whammy was too big to have a permanent place on my gigging board.

So tips,tricks, examples of Whammy playing please so I can get the most out of it.

Also are these best early on in the FX chain, that makes sense to they'll get a clean signal?

octatonic

I use mine for lots of single note riffs, with it shifting an octave below in the down position, then sweeping up to an octave above for an accent at the end of a phrase.

As with all things- less is more- Tom Morello already exists and anytime someone overuses a Whammy people will think you are copying him.

mr_air

I really like using the 1 octave up setting just slightly for bending effects. It really sounds great clean with some delay and modulation. It can make me trip over the same two chords in quite some time.

not_the_dj

Oooo, I like this..

meltedbuzzbox

muse and rage against the machine are quite prominent users of a whammy. 

Zero by the smashing pumpkins has a whammy solo on it (worth a listen). 

I had the whammy first in my chain, I think @GavHaus has somewhere in the middle. 

Try using the harmony mode Especially with an ebow, that can be fun

GavRichList

@Octatonic pretty much hits the nail on the head. I too use it to embellish a phrase, and also for synthy noises. @meltedbuzzbox is right; I have my 13th in a line of 21. After all my drive and modulation stuff, but before delays and reverb* (well, kinda...after the Eterna, before the Supermoon).

2:23 onwards in this track I use it all the way to the end.

Gassage

GavRichList

Oh, My Iron Lung too, obviously

Gassage

Re the DG clip I just posted...it's the only footage I have ever seen of him using 0001

english_bob

One cool way to use it is for small interval bends- anywhere between a semitone and a major third. Incorporate that in your single note playing and you'll be able to do stuff that you shouldn't be able to- bend a string up a tone, then use the whammy to bend it another tone. Subtle (unless you choose to make it un-subtle- the wider the interval the more obvious it becomes that it's a "trick"), but very cool, and will have the guitar players in your audiences doing double takes.

On my Behringer PS-600 if no expression pedal is plugged in on the whammy mode you can use the footswitch to control the pitch bends and one of the knobs sets the time delay to move between pitches. When it's set really short you can get an odd, glitchy kind of near-instant stepped pitch change that sounds a bit like that autotune "Cher effect". Might be harder to do that with the whammy, but you might get close.

hubobulous

Best use of a Whammy I know of is Satriani on 'Searching'. He incorporates it into the riff to make it sound completely different to most uses, (a la Tom Morello), that I know of.

Starts at 27secs:

UnclePsychosis

Get the first two rage against the machine records.

Mainly because they are awesome but also because there's whammy all over them.

not_the_dj

@GavHaus that's a great track. Nice one.

GavRichList

Ah, ta. Seems to go down well live. Our attempt at a power ballad! Ha

not_the_dj

....well that's a lot fun. I've been getting all woobly and shimmery with added whammy

not_the_dj

http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj563/not_the_dj/D9D4BE60-A01C-4F4A-B453-D9BF1D94D014_zpslyuluu0n.jpg

meltedbuzzbox

is that all inside a diago showman?

not_the_dj

meltedbuzzbox said:

is that all inside a diago showman?

It is indeed. I had a Morley Volume pedal in that position until a few hours ago, straight swap in/out for the whammy. I might jig it around a bit as this was just to give it a test.

meltedbuzzbox

thats what I was using until yesterday. I had to drill a hole in the side of the case to accommodate all the pedals. 

hope you are having fun with the whammy mate.