Why aren't more people doing a true bypass mod for the noisey whammy? From what I understand the signal is converted from analogue to digital to analogue even when the effect is turned off, and that is where the tone sucking occurs?
Check this out, there is even an extra switch you can put on for 50/50 dry/wet mix: http://www.rodrigoconstanzo.com/Whammy.html
alot of people do that to the red ones, but we all use the wh2. just use a bypass looper with a buffer and youll be good.
Poster is right. That is the easiest way to do it with the wh2. But if you are using the wh4 you have to check out molten voltage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2BLScrj9lw&annotation_id=annotation_45447&feature=iv
Is there a big difference between the wh2 and 4 other than the selection process (e.g. tone, tracking...)? I don't have a whammy, but am looking to get one some day.
The tone of the wh2 is by far sweeter than the wh4. Although it is a digital pedal it sounds less digital than the wh4. The price is higher, but it is worth the extra cash. I have both and the wh4 sits in the closet.
Quote from: ShockedAndPersuaded on July 08, 2010, 10:27:43 PM
The tone of the wh2 is by far sweeter than the wh4. Although it is a digital pedal it sounds less digital than the wh4. The price is higher, but it is worth the extra cash. I have both and the wh4 sits in the closet.
That is the truth. The wh4 sounds thin and the treadle travel is shorter and feels fucked up. Put them all side by side and you can tell that the wh1 is king but the whammy2 sounds real close and you can change settings without bending over. The xp100's can be had for cheaper than a new wh4 and those have a shit ton of settings. Volume pedal, shitty wah settings and more harmony settings.
Quote from: sour d on July 08, 2010, 03:40:56 PM
Poster is right. That is the easiest way to do it with the wh2. But if you are using the wh4 you have to check out molten voltage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2BLScrj9lw&annotation_id=annotation_45447&feature=iv
Whoa, that Molten Voltage is sweet!! Never seen it before, thanks for posting.
As far as the wh2 vs. wh4, there is no comparison. Don't buy the wh4, it's a waste.
Quote from: sour d on July 08, 2010, 10:36:56 PM
That is the truth. The wh4 sounds thin and the treadle travel is shorter and feels fucked up. Put them all side by side and you can tell that the wh1 is king but the whammy2 sounds real close and you can change settings without bending over. The xp100's can be had for cheaper than a new wh4 and those have a shit ton of settings. Volume pedal, shitty wah settings and more harmony settings.
Is the xp100 comparable to the wh2? What about the rp3?
Quote from: beebs on July 09, 2010, 09:29:32 PM
Is the xp100 comparable to the wh2? What about the rp3?
The wh2 is a much better sounding pedal but if you were going to buy a wh4 I would say save some money and get an xp100. It's the same pedal John Scofield uses for a whammy. The rp3's have a shit ton of effects that are tweakable to your liking and can be had for $60 all day on ebay. I would say the whammy quality is about the same as the xp100 then you get up to 3 seconds of delay among many other effects. RP3's are not pedalboard friendly but would be good for someone that wants to gig light or for home use. Hope this helps. I buy and sell pedals on ebay and craigslist all the time so I've had a chance to buy all different versions of of any type of pedal then line them up and see which ones are better than others. It's fun to throw down 8 different types of tube screamers and do blind tests with a couple people. Sometimes it's suprising which pedal someone will pick over all the others.
I may have to check out the rp3. It looks like there are a couple on the used gear section of gc for about 50 bucks each. Have you tried the boss ps-5? I'm looking for something that would let me make a funk siren/whammy dive loop (since I only play at home). And one last thing, when you add a true bypass, do you run your whammy after the comp? I think that Trey has his in a loop after his comp, but I don't really know for sure. Some of the schematics floating around have the whammy up front. Thanks.
Also, for the xp100, I found a guy out there that will mod the xp100 to be able to switch between all xp models (100, 200, 300 and 400). He calls it the xp1000. The xp300 space station seems pretty crazy if you're looking for some weird/trippy synth sounds.
I saw an Analogman modded true bypass Whammy2 on eBay once. It sold for ~$250
Quote from: beebs on July 10, 2010, 02:19:52 PM
do you run your whammy after the comp? I think that Trey has his in a loop after his comp, but I don't really know for sure. Some of the schematics floating around have the whammy up front. Thanks.
My whammy is in a loop after the comp
Quote from: beebs on July 10, 2010, 03:01:27 PM
Also, for the xp100, I found a guy out there that will mod the xp100 to be able to switch between all xp models (100, 200, 300 and 400). He calls it the xp1000. The xp300 space station seems pretty crazy if you're looking for some weird/trippy synth sounds.
Those xp1000's are cool. they go for like $350-400 modded. The only downside is you have to unplug the powersupply when you switch modes. I use a digitech ex-7 for the space station. Space stations are really fuckin cool.
Quote from: picture_of_nectar on July 11, 2010, 12:33:46 AM
I saw an Analogman modded true bypass Whammy2 on eBay once. It sold for ~$250
It can be done but not as easy to do as the other models because of the cheesy board mounted switches. Easier to just put it in a loop
I'm going to have to look closer at the ex-7. I may be deciding between it and an rp3. The whammy on the ex-7 sounds good, and then the space station is really awesome. Do you have the foot switch to switch between modes? I wish I had know about these crazy digitech pedals earlier on because they really let you do a lot of stuff that is way out there.
Quote from: beebs on July 11, 2010, 02:55:20 PM
I'm going to have to look closer at the ex-7. I may be deciding between it and an rp3. The whammy on the ex-7 sounds good, and then the space station is really awesome. Do you have the foot switch to switch between modes? I wish I had know about these crazy digitech pedals earlier on because they really let you do a lot of stuff that is way out there.
The whammy on the ex-7 is limited. Not many settings and the treadle has a short throw that's hard to get used to. I really like the leslie, univibe and space station settings though. Try it before you buy it.
Trey using a whammy in the style of morello. Just because we're talkin about whammys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLVxSnOlow0
Per your advice, I've ordered a used RP3 for $50. I think that delay function is going to set it over the top. Thanks man.
Quote from: beebs on July 14, 2010, 11:20:08 AM
Per your advice, I've ordered a used RP3 for $50. I think that delay function is going to set it over the top. Thanks man.
One of the factory presets has the delay being controlled by the treadle. You can play a few notes and then rock the treadle full forward and it will loop it then you can play over it. If you don't get the manual then digitech has it online.
Update on the RP3. This thing is awesome for me. Its got its share of problems in terms of volume drop and tone sucking, but I couldn't really ask for anything more for $50. I like the fact that there is a wet/dry mix on all of the effects. I've got a nice funk thing going with the whammy set to -1 oct and 30% wet mix. It's really close to GBOTT with a tube screamer, my amps vibratone, and the tone rolled of the bridge pickup. Plus its big and ugly.
Quote from: beebs on July 21, 2010, 08:59:03 PM
Plus its big and ugly.
That's the clincher right there :D
Quote from: beebs on July 21, 2010, 08:59:03 PM
Its got its share of problems in terms of volume drop
There is a level knob. There shouldn't be any volume drop. I can't remember exactly but there was like a level and presence or something. The round knobs. You and walker were talking about tremelo's, hows the trem on the rp3? And yes big, yellow, and ugly (but not big if that's all you use when you gig).
When the RP3 is on, I lose a little bit of volume despite maxing all of the volumes (there are 2 or 3 in the settings depending on what effects are on). The output knob affects the output of both the bypassed signal and the wet signal. I haven't really noticed the tone sucking so much when it's off, but to be honest, I have been playing with it so much that I haven't done any a/bing to see if I can notice a difference when it's out of the chain. Eventually I'll get a bypass pedal for it and keep the output set to match my bypass output and leave it on.
The tremolo is pretty basic. I don't think it would please most people here. I set it up so I could control the rate with the expression pedal. It is pretty neat, but the quickest tremolo setting is way too fast for my liking, so you really have to baby the pedal in the upper end of the range. It also seems to have a rounded tremolo wave, so it's kind of a smoothed on/off effect, not the sharp on/off you get with a squared wave.
I really like the phaser on this thing the best. It really hit the spot while I was jamming tonight. I was getting some really interesting deep ocean smooth type tones with the bridge p/u's tone rolled all the way off, a wah opened all the way up, ts, comp, and some delay. Just a very slight, slow phase was all I needed, but I have made presets to be able to control the rate and depth with the pedal.
I am getting some really incredible, interesting effects that I can color my jams with to emphasize what I'm trying to do. It's pretty amazing how having multiple effects available can exponentially increase the different sounds you're going for. I can't imagine having a full set-up. That would be awesome.
I felt the same way when I first came across the rp3. There is a lot of shit going on in those big yellow ugly fuckers. I think you can figure out the level problems by tweaking and saving your own user settings. It's almost like drinking pabst blue ribbon. Sure it's cheap and not as tasty as the microbrew, but eventually it gets you to the same place. Sometimes it's ok to slum it.
after reading everything about the rp3, i might go see if i can find my old rp7 just for the trem, phaser, whammy and/or maybe the delay. i'm assuming the rp7 has everything the rp3 has and then some. I used it for a little bit about 10 years ago then packed it up and i haven't seen it since. hopefully digitech has a manual online for it, cause i don't remember anything about it
Quote from: strangedesign on July 29, 2010, 07:35:34 PM
after reading everything about the rp3, i might go see if i can find my old rp7 just for the trem, phaser, whammy and/or maybe the delay. i'm assuming the rp7 has everything the rp3 has and then some. I used it for a little bit about 10 years ago then packed it up and i haven't seen it since. hopefully digitech has a manual online for it, cause i don't remember anything about it
If I'm thinking of the right one (big blue one) it has all the same stuff. Here's a link to the manual ftp://ftp.digitech.com/pub/PDFs/Discontinued/Manuals/RP7.pdf
sweet! thanks man!
It looks like you can edit the range of the expression pedal which would be nice for the trem.