Digitech Whammy modification

[Luafcm]

I broke a high e string this morning and I'm pissed off about it.(I'll try not to cry though). I turned on my pedal board and activated the tuner. Unfortunately, I forgot that the Whammy's default operation is 'on' after power up. I was sending a pitch shifted signal to my tuner. With the amp off, I couldn't tell the Whammy was on, and forgot to step on it.

So like a moron, I blew the high e off trying to tune up with an pitch shifter active.

So, that sucked. It's been a minor nuisances until this happened. I was bringing the guitar into work to give to a friend. I thought I'd quickly check the tuning, and now I look like a real chump. Because i am, I guess.

I'm going to mod my pedal so that when it is powered up it will be 'normally off' instead of normally on. Has anyone tried or heard of this being done before? I'm sure I'll figure it out but I'd like some pointers if you have them!

 

[MF_Kitten]

placing a tuner after a whammy like that is just lazy, dude!

either place the tuner first in the signal chain, or use the whammy´s dry-signal output which is meant for the tuner!

 

[Luafcm]

Hi hear what you are saying, but the Whammy is not a permanent part of my pedal board. In fact, it spends most of it's time at home. This means that it isn't going to get velcro'd and definitely isn't going to be put after the tuner.

If it was a permanent part of my board, I might put it after the tuner, but it still wouldn't solve the annoyance of having to step on it every time I power up the board. It's default operation should be off, anything else just isn't cool at all.

Anyway, that's a pretty easy solution, but I'm not after a work around! I think this is a design flaw, and I'mma gonna corectify the shit out of it!

 

[Customisbetter]

placing a tuner after a whammy like that is just lazy, dude!

either place the tuner first in the signal chain, or use the whammy´s dry-signal output which is meant for the tuner!

/THREAD

 

[MF_Kitten]

yeah, i stress that part again: the whammy has two outputs: one wet, one dry. just use the second one with the tuner instead.

and i guess the easiest thing to do would be to quit being lazy and just turn it off when you power on. it´s just a stomp button.

you seem to be looking for technical solutions to an attitude problem, dude. always make sure everything is ready for use the way you want it to when you power up, or you´ll have some nasty surprises when playing live or practicing!

edit: when recording with my first band, there was one time where i was getting ready to track the guitars. the cleans in this song had a really deep and resonant flanger on it. i had hooked my flanger pedal up wrong, however, so i didn´t get any guitar signal, just a loud-ass howling noise. what had happened? i had hooked the flanger up TO ITSELF, and then the second output went to the amp. it was basically just a feedback loop! so i got this insanely loud monstrous modulationg howl that sounded like Satan´s wolf or something! anyways, that was just because i didn´t pay attention to how shit was hooked up, and just wanted to get done with it quickly. once i started being meticulous, i never had problems like that again.

 

[Luafcm]

Ok, thanks for the flame. Good times.

Yes, the Whammy pedal has a dry out meant for tuners. That's a very clever observation and I thank you for your input. My tuner is part of my signal chain, you can see that in the pic (that's kinda why I posted it for you, MF_Kitten). Re-wiring the pedal board just to use my Whammy is mentally lazy. Take the Whammy out, and I no longer have a dry output for the tuner to monitor, except at the end of the chain at the DD-3. So that idea is not a good one. But trust me, I do understand what you are saying.

I think I'll take the really lazy approach to the problem and try and find a schematic and rework the internals of the Whammy. I'm just not sure if it is a hardware, software, or some kind of relay bank that sets the default operation. I'm hoping I can pop out a normally open relay for a normally closed one, or something to that effect. Anyone??

Here's the main point of this thread to re-iterate:
Is there a way to switch a pedals operation from "normally on" to
"normally off".

Cheers

 

[Customisbetter]

No. That pedal is entirely digital. you would have to find the gate that switches on when it gets power and add another diode gate apparatus in there to get it to not turn the first time.

a lot of work, maybe not even possible.

 

[Brewtal_Damage]

just in case, check under the rocker pedal, it has 4 rubber feets, it affects pitch as the pedal is not all the way back, as it's supposed to be.

 

[Luafcm]

No. That pedal is entirely digital. you would have to find the gate that switches on when it gets power and add another diode gate apparatus in there to get it to not turn the first time.

a lot of work, maybe not even possible.

I was thinking the exact same thing. But, I figure a logic inverter is a very simple upgrade. Feed it power off the rail, ground it and run the single in, it comes out inverted.

The problem is if that signal is anything more then just an 'on state' condition. I might not want it to always be inverted because it might interfere with the midi capability. Chances are that it flips logic level every time the button is stepped on as well.

That's more or less what my research is finding. Unfortunately I can't find a schematic, so I'll take it apart tonight. The fact that it is entirely digital is probably why there is no real demand for a schematic.

I'm not about to put a logic analyzer on this thing to get a mod done, I'm hoping there is an easy fix. If there is, I'm sure I'll figure it out. If not, I'll continue to do what I have been doing... just stepping on the pedal.

Thanks!

just in case, check under the rocker pedal, it has 4 rubber feets, it affects pitch as the pedal is not all the way back, as it's supposed to be.

I left my keys under the chicken... just like I said I would.

 

[xtrustisyoursx]

that's a really stupid design element. What if you had to go through your entire pedal board and turn them all off when you powered up?

 

[j3ps3]

umm. why don't you just keep your tuner as your first pedal in your signal chain?

 

[Luafcm]

The reason I don't rearrange the pedal order is because I have the tuner attached to a pedal board. I don't want to pull the tuner off of the board and place it physically in front of the Whammy because it looks real pretty right where it is. That and I'm lazy.

 

[j3ps3]

The reason I don't rearrange the pedal order is because I have the tuner attached to a pedal board. I don't want to pull the tuner off of the board and place it physically in front of the Whammy because it looks real pretty right where it is. That and I'm lazy.

Well you don't need to. Just do it with the guitar cables.

 

[All_¥our_Bass]

Regardless, the default setting being "on" would be annoying with any pedal.

 

[MF_Kitten]

i think the easiest solution for you would be to turn it off first. imagine if you broke the damn thing trying to change that one thing?

 

[astrocreep]

Why not mod it for true bypass, you'd get the result you want whilst possibly improving your tone?

 

[Ben.Last]

I haven't used my whammy pedal in a while as I don't currently have an amp but I seem to remember that the pedal, rather than defaulting to "on", actually turns on in the on/off position that it was last put in, regardless of whether the pedal was on of off. In other words, if I remember correctly, if you unplug the pedal while it's switched off, then press the switch, it will be turned on when plugged back in.

Again, it's been a while, so I could be totally wrong.

 

[Luafcm]

i think the easiest solution for you would be to turn it off first. imagine if you broke the damn thing trying to change that one thing?

That's a very valid point, and I would be more then capable of doing just that! I think I'll just step on the button and slowly walk away from it. If I can't find the actual schematic, then I'm not going to touch anything in there. I opened it up last night and there was nothing in there but IC's and a strange voice that said, "Zuul".

Why not mod it for true bypass, you'd get the result you want whilst possibly improving your tone?

I am totally listening... what do you mean exactly?, leave the pedal in an 'on state' and just switch the whole signal path on and off by bypassing the Whammy? Goddamn that is way too obvious for me think of. That's brilliant. I'm going to look into this! Thanks bro!

I haven't used my whammy pedal in a while as I don't currently have an amp but I seem to remember that the pedal, rather than defaulting to "on", actually turns on in the on/off position that it was last put in, regardless of whether the pedal was on of off. In other words, if I remember correctly, if you unplug the pedal while it's switched off, then press the switch, it will be turned on when plugged back in.

Again, it's been a while, so I could be totally wrong.

It's actually a momentary push button in there right now. It likely sends a digital signal to an edge triggered device to turn the unit on and off. Totally electronic.

 

[Customisbetter]

^Yeah the True bypass mod requires another push switch and looks pretty silly IMO.

 

[Luafcm]

^Yeah the True bypass mod requires another push switch and looks pretty silly IMO.

It does? I was thinking that since the pedal will be on anyway, I'll just leave it on. I'll pull the existing switch out, and put a Fulltone stomp in there. I'll just make it switch 'wet out' signal in and out of the path. I won't need the original switch in there.

The pedal is always on until you turn it off, so there is no need to retain the original switch. One switch, and looks the same. The only real mod that would need to be done (other than some simple wiring) would be to rewire the indicator LED over to the Fulltone switch so that you can visually tell wich state it's in. Now, it will stay off for good once it's stepped on (well technically it will be on, but bypassed). When I power it up it will be in whatever condition it was left in. That works perfectly for me!


..and yeah, tru bypass to boot! FnA!

...just thought. I think I need that switch for calibration. Maybe I'll wire in a mini-push button and move it into the battery compartment and leave the new switch in the old location.

Yea dude, I think I do need both switches, but I shouldn't need to have them look silly.