Digitech Whammy Home

Digitech Whammy Features

The Digitech Whammy was first introduced in 1991 and has swept the guitar industry ever since. Originally designed by IVL Audio, the Whammy has been heard on countless records and graces the pedalboards of millions of guitarists worldwide to this day. The Digitech Whammy is a pitch shifting pedal that also features harmony and detune functions. These functions are controlled by a built in expression pedal, similar to a wah, and allow the guitarist to alter tuning or harmony pitch in real time with their foot. No pitch or harmony style unit has made an impact this large on guitarists.

From octave up to octave down or 5th to 3rd part harmonies, the Digitech Whammy is the most useful pitch correction tool for guitarists and is functionally perfect for live, studio, or home use. The harmonies are natural sounding and track unbelievably fast, the dive bomb function lets you pound away without going out of tune, and the detune mode yields a rich, deep chorus for those sparkling clean runs or your best power ballad melody. Added to everything else, you can control the Whammy functions via any sort of MIDI controller and there is a dry out for going direct or simulating stereo freak-out madness. Nothing short of nuclear holocaust can stop Digitech Whammy. The latest version of the Digitech Whammy pedal has added MIDI control and a divebomb function to the already impressive list of features. The Whammy features nine different harmony functions, two detune modes, and six different whammy functions. Here is a rundown of the front panel functions.

Harmony Effects

  • One octave down - one octave up
  • Fifth down - Fourth down
  • Fourth down - third down
  • Fifth up - seventh up
  • Fifth up - sixth up
  • Fourth up - fifth up
  • Third up - fourth up
  • Minor third up - third up
  • Second up - third up

Detune effects

  • Shallow
  • Deep

Whammy Effects

  • Two octaves up
  • One octave up
  • One octave down
  • Two octaves down
  • Dive bomb - three octaves down
  • Drop tune - two semi-tones down

All of these functions on the Whammy are controlled by the expression pedal. That means you can use the 2nd up-3rd up to simulate pedal steel licks or you can shift between a minor 3rd and a 3rd for quick bend lines. The Detune function adds a beautifully chorused sound that on the deep setting can yield Uni-Vibe style effects as well as a super wet chorus sound. The Whammy functions allow the player without a tremolo to dive bomb like they had a Floyd Rose as well as create screeching high notes that can put a hole in the toughest eardrum or super low detuned notes for thunderous riffage.