PITCH RELATED FX

PITCH RELATED FX

There are many pitch related FX. For years they were so inaccurate that they were inconsequential.

They are now so good that they have become a collection of diverse pedals. 
The first is probably the Octave pedal but it was good enough to be a single category. I will leave it that way for now but may latter transfer the info to this multi-Post ...Post.

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DIGITECH FREQ OUT

Current Price $225.00 USD

I have often gone on and on about trying to find an OD that naturally wanted to swell the notes and chords and go into controllable feedback without the need to have an amp turned up to tinnitus volumes to create this effect.

Many have tried to do this and failed. A year ago I bought the pedal that Boss made to do this. Not only was it total crap... but Boss made themselves look like they had lost touch with reality and did a lot of harm to their reputation.

So how does it work. You can choose which frequency you want to feedback...then hold down the switch and 'poof ' you have it. You can set the effect on timer and it will do this automatically ..but in reality note of different lenghth and timing will be compromised. You can also turn off your guitar signal and it will work like an E-Bow.
You get a choice of  1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th harmonics...nat high, nat low, and even a sub octave.

One thing I noticed if the guitar signal is too clean it sounds fake. In the real word feed back comes from a dirty overdriven signal.

I waited from putting my order in Feb. to getting one in May..LOL

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

It takes awhile to go get the gain.and onset working. If the effect is too loud or comes in too soon or too late it will sound unnatural.
Leaving the switch on 'natural' gives you the random feedback of what ever harmonics are natural wanting to lift off from your attack on the note.
If you are sloppy and bang about rubbing or touching other strings it trys grap those sounds too.
This very minor but it can happen.
With real feedback I have never found those little issues mattered.
Do not get me wrong...this is a minor issue I found no trouble just being little more careful.
All the other selectable  harmonics work fine...but I see a rather limited use for some of  them.
If you do a downward gliss...it will pullout every note individually...this effect if quite cool.
The best I saved for last. The second harmonic patch is to die for. After a half hour developed a feel for the pedal and could pull out an octave leap from the box like I wa using a Marshall stack on 10!!!
So bottom line is it works really well does some cool things...you need a bit of practise to get the feel for it.It can be a bit robotic..or artificial if you do not tweak it right and you do not get a feel for it.
The good news is neither the tweaking or getting a feel for it is some frustrating discipline. The slowest of us may take a few sessions...but on average just jamming on your own with it a few times and you will have nailed forever.
In short this pedal is a total 5 Star piece of gear!!!

DIGITECH WHAMMY RICOCHET

The Digitech Whammy is quite simply an electronic means to do what the mechanical vibrato type bridge has been doing for decades. It has been around since 1989 when the VH-1was first introduced.

The VH-1

 It is only recently lost ground. Much of this is due to it's enormous size. It has always been expensive and early versions had pitch issues especially with chords. Ones made over the last 5 years have been totally pitch stable and all the functions are very smooth and effective.

Recent reductions and improvements in some high tech parts have reduced the cost to make them.

Older models have dropped a third and a new one is not only pedal board friendly but has dispensed with the treadle all together.
For those that gave it a pass before it is time for a second look.

$188.00 USD

$300.00 USD

$200.00 USD

 Bending strings and string vibrato have been a mainstay of rock technique since it was borrowed from the blues of the 50's. Vibrato mechanisms mounted on guitars have been with us since the 40's.

It makes sense that a pedal like the Whammy with a movable teddle or touch sensitive switch can be a winner.

















The Ricochet is small reasonably easy to use, a precise and accurate pitch shift and a sound free of   digital 'hash'.

The down side is they take some technique. If you are good on a Wah I think you will catch on fast. It is not the same ...it is just you have a natural affinity for this. If you are a half decent shredder just using it to destroy long sustained notes can work good too. If not I would make sure you tried one in person first. If it doesn't work  ..no shame. I know a guy who will blow your mind on bass and he can not get along with anything mechanical.
I am usually pretty good with things like Wah's so I might get one. Not soon as I am sorting out and getting my thing together for a Bluguitar Amp 1...building a speaker...and I have a Freq Out on the way.