DigiTech Bass Whammy

No Problems at all - It takes you about 1-2 minutes to read the short manual, but even if you dont't, it really should be no problem to understand how to switch through and control the effects by trial and error withing minutes. Very comprehensive Interface. No Editing of effect parameters included (except from the input level wich can be adjusted by using a small knob which is easily accessible without having to turn the unit over and except from the pitch being controlled by the expression pedal, of course), so no Problems with handling effect parameters as well.

I'm using this on a LeFay Midas custom built active 6string fretless bass and a Roland Bass Cube with a whole bunch of other effects. The unit doesn't seem to create any noticeable noise at all. I've been looking for this pedal in order to be able to create synthesizer sounds including extreme pitch bends, and it does this job extremely well. Most fun when used in pitch-shift mode (you only hear the pitched sound in this mode) in combination with an octaver and an Auto-Wah or (for some reason i couldn't quite figure out) set BEHIND an Electro Harmonix Bass Balls pedal for great Moog Sounds or combined with Flanger or Chorus set to high rate and depth values for Techno sounds. Offers a Harmonizer Mode in which you can bend up and down between a pitch above and a pitch below your original signal by using the expression pedal, mixed 50% with the original pitch. Great Synth sound as well in this mode. Third mode: Detune - a Chorus mode in which the micro-pitch shifting of the chorus can be controlled via expression pedal. In Regard to what I expected from this stomper, it's absolutely perfect. Smooth pitch bending. Slight tracking in Harmonizer Mode and minimal delay which to me seems hardly recognizable - which is why I don't give it a ten. If you're looking for authentic, pure, natural sounds... why are you looking through a bass whammy pedal review at all? Of course this doesn't make your fretted bass sound as if you were playing a fretless! Of course this sounds somewhat artificial! What did you expect? I mean - you wouldn't buy a ring modulator and complain that it sounds too dissonant, would you? If you're looking for pure natural Bass Sounds, go get an Eden Cabinet instead. If you're looking for synthesque sounds of all sorts and moog-bending, go for it! It's just perfect for this purpose! I've found it pretty easy to imitate synth sound like the bass line from "Barrel of a Gun" by Depeche Mode oder just about any moog sound with the whammy in combination with octaver/ electro harmonix bass balls or electro harmonix bass microsynth. For me, it's definitely a dream come true!

Seems pretty sturdy to me. Metal plating on the top and the bottom, plastic on the sides, though. Well, if you're lucky enough to get one of these these days i expect you not to try use it as a frisbee anyway.
Would use it on a gig without backup, simply cause a) I could't afford another one b) I would hardly even find another one for sale.

Didn't have to deal with them, yet.

Guys... I'm in love. This is it! I'm such a lucky bastard I managed to get one! I still can't believe it. Well, I mainly play funk and electronica music, drum & bass and hip hop, experimental sound and just about any other style (maybe except from country music). For the styles mentioned above, this pedal is a blast. If you're into these sounds, and happen to stumble across a bass pedal that's out for sale - GET IT! NOW! I've been playing bass for about thirteen years now and own the LeFay mentioned earlier, an Ibanez ATK, the roland bass cube, eh bass balls, zoom rfx 2000 (by the way: you're looking for an affordable vocoder? get the zoom!), EH Bass Micro Synthesizer, Korg DRV 2000. If it were stolen, I'd definitely hunt down the bastard that stole it for years if necessary and do some heavy violation of the Den Haag conventions on him. If it were lost... well it sure as hell won't be. I don't intend to lose this any more than I intend to lose my ears or feet. As far as I know, this pedal isn't comparable to anything else on the market. If you're planning on using some boss pich shifter with an expression pedal to imitate this - forget it. You won't even come close. It very much helps me in achieving the sounds I've been wanting to use for years and years.

super easy to use. 2 buttons and a expressiion pedal. Pretty cut and dry

I use a warwick corvette standard and a whole bunch of other pedals into an ampeg svt-4 pro head. The on ething that really stunk about this pedal and ultimately the thing that made me get rid of it was the active pre-amp. This pre-amp would distort even when turned all the way and I had my bas on passive. It had to be set up in a different fx loop so that it didn't suck all the sound out of my signal. I dealt with it like this and played it on stage for almost 2 years. One day I got suck of it eating my tone (when I got a fulltone bass-drive which I love that I wanted to hear more pure) so I sold it. In the end I loved the way this pedal sounded especially the detune/chorus (only being able to control the speed wasn't a big deal to me which sounded great and I loved turing heads doing some crazy pitch shifting but at the end of the day the pre-amp ruined it for me.

i lugged it around on my board for 2 years like I said and I really never had a problem with it.

no clue

I really loved this pedal and I do miss it but it didn't play well with others. It is without a doubt the smoothest pitch shifting you will find for bass with a fatty chorus to boot. The pre-amp was just a design flaw.

Fairly simple operation. I didn't get a users manual, but I figured it out pretty quick. You pretty much just toggle between effects and stomp the bypass when you want to go.

Overall I thought the sound quality was poor. The detune/chorus function is about the best sounding effect (it's to bad you can only control the speed). Next would be the pitch shift. Fairly fun to play with, but you have to use it in conjuction with other effects to make it worth your while. The harmony function tracks poorly and really cheapens up the sound of your bass. In fact, the whole unit seems to slightly delay the signal output. It's noticable enough to be annoying. If you are a "pocket" bass player that is meticulous about your timing and you don't want to sound like you are playing behind the beat, then don't use this thing. I'm not going to go through my entire bass rig setup, but I can assure you that I use only top of the line gear. oh yeah, there is also a slight loss of quality in the bypass mode, but that is minor compared to when the thing is on.

I bought it used and put it straight on the road to test it out. It went through about 20 shows with no problems. Then I sold it in the same condition I bought it in. The pedal is built tough. It does seem that if you needed to get into the thing, it would be tough. The plastic sides are glues in place.

?????

These pedals have made a huge increase in demand recently because they were only made for a short amount of time. I myself heard the hype, read reviews, and had my heart set on getting one. The fact is, the ideas in the unit are great. They just were not executed well enough for my taste. I think that if Digitech decided to continue production of the Bass Whammy, they could make great improvements. I don't believe that the Bass Whammy was a one hit wonder. It was more like a one time blunder. Definetly not worth what people pay for them these days. Luckily you can turn around and sell right back to the community for at least what you payed for it.

This pedal is simple--there are no knobs to use. Hold down bypass for toggle mode, hold down select for toggle select. Move the pedal, cycle through modes.

Hmm! Tough category! There is very little hiss or anything, slight loss of sound quality on bypass, but if you're playing with other effects or playing loudly and sloppily, it is transparent. The pedal gets very thin in some of its shifts. The octave up kind of strains the sound. The more drastic shifts you make, the worse chords will sound. If any overtones and/or chords are produced through the pedal while the sound is being modified, after some time a sustained note will waver.
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I use an Ibanez Ergodyne EDB600, through the bass whammy, to a hartke kickback 12 and fender little weird thing. My other effects are Boss bass overdrive, Ibanez Delay echo, and Electro-Harmonix Bassballs. When the bassballs is active, the whammy affect becomes corrupted. However, when Distortion is added to the mix, the overtones stand out very fuzzily, but clearly, resulting in ghostly arpeggios.
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The detune feature just adds another slightly out of tune playback in a chorus effect. Pretty simple, okay.
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Harmony features are fun. They are very punchy and sound the thickest of all sounds. When playing with the harmony, I often forget that I can bend the note, and just end up rocking a bassline with the 5th, third, or detuned 7th on.
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The only problem is the octave up pitch shift, really. Sometimes the pedal just gives out and sounds wimpy. Otherwise, it sounds rather big.

I bought this from some guy in Australia, used. So far it has been fine, and I would use it in a gig, but unsure.

hmm. Annoying. If you call customer service, they'll fool with you. One guy convinced me to buy the company's AC adapter and another said I didn't need it. However, I did need another AC adapter, so whatever.

I play punk ska music without any kind of effects, but have been fooling around with other styles for a while. It matches no style of mine yet, but could easily become a part of one. I have been playing for 5 years. This pedal I would try to find another of. I looked for about 2 months online after developing an obsession to test if I could reproduce some melt-banana guitar sounds on bass. So far, some progress. I played a new whammy 4 in a sam ash, and didn't see that much of a difference, but something I like better about this.
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I love this pedal. I tried so hard to get it that I don't think I could denounce it and feel clean. I have heard that the original whammy is better, and would like to evaluate the differences between it and my bass whammy. This is a fun thing. However, I haven't done anything remarkable yet, which I have never done with any effect. It is my best, so far, though. Run a loop of feedback through the amp (I do it with my echo pedal) and bend around the notes with this baby.

Very simple, however I haven't figured out yet how to change back and forth between two programs instead of going thru them all.

An Ibanez BTB bass, Ampeg rig.
No noise, tracking is better than average although it burps and flutters at extreme settings. Great detune!

It's built like a tank. I have no worries whatsoever.

It's definitely what I've been waiting to lay my hands on. I like all kinds of drasic pedals and this is perfect. Would like some better tracking of cours but with a distortion effect it pretty much covers the shortcomings.

pretty simple. it only took me a day to figure everything out; about a week to quickly make the changes i needed between songs.

i use it with the crate bx100. virtually noise free when guitar is kept away from the amp. the effects sound great. once in a while it will put out a tremolo sound that can be fixed with some EQ-ing. the detune feature gives a great reverb/fuller sound to a small amp.

very dependable. built very rugged to handle the rigors of the road (the majority is metal). its been beat around and its still going strong.

no problems with it yet!

great for all of the slower acoustic stuff all the way to some to the harder stuff i play. i use a jackson bass with an ibanez fuzz pedal through my crate bx100. i haven't found anything better, especially not for such a reasonable price. i would definitly buy another if something happened to this one. overall it's one of the best purchases i've made as a bass player.

This pitch shifter is quite simple to use; a little screwing around and you'll have it all figured out. Although there are many preset pitch changes and harmonies, if you have a couple of favorites, the unit will allow you to toggle between them, so you don't waste any time between songs during a gig.
Basic capabilities:
1) Shift pitch up or down up to an octave, with presets for certain notes (ie 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.) This means even though your singer can't sing a song in the original key, you can play it in that position on your bass, which is especially useful for songs which use the low E note, or when you pull off to open strings. Shifting down a 4th also makes your low E a low B, just like a 5 string.
2) Pedal type pitch shifting. This acts like a whammy bar - cool for dive-bomb type effects. 3) Harmonies. These add a note to your root note; eg. adding a note one octave above your root simulates an 8 string bass, adding one a fifth above your root is like a power chord.
The unit doesn't add noise, but does occasionally "warble" slightly, but not to a point where it is a significant problem.
Overall, I've been very happy with the unit, and find it especially good for helping the bassist to maintain the feel of a song when playing it in a different key.