Drop Guitar Effects Pedal

This is a surprisingly good stomp box. Well packaged, very well priced, sturdy construction, easy to use, and comes with its own 2A, 9V DC power pack. This is useful given that the Drop draws a fair amount of current; although sitting in Position 2 on my pedal board, directly after my Boss Tuner, the TU-3 can provide the Drop with the required power. Oh, yeah; and it's also a true bypass pedal i.e., it will sit connected on a pedal board with no power and still allow a signal to pass clean through it, unprocessed of course. As one of a range of Digitech "whammy" pedals, the Drop seems to be the best option for a guitarist (or bassist) who needs to detune to a lower standard tuning, quickly and easily, whilst, of course, not actually retuning their guitar (or bass). I've now had the opportunity to test the pedal extensively and, as a guitarist and bass player, I can provide the following assessment; all based on a lot of Rockdown home use and at a series of band rehearsals. First up, it's not for those who expect sound perfection (and neither you should at this price). I found that the Drop can transpose pristine clean guitar and bass tones but, if you listen closely, there is definitely a loss of sound quality. However, this varies depending on the sound. I think that this is a matter of personal taste but IMHO such expectations should be aligned with significantly more expensive equipment. Indeed, as the Drop has no perceptible latency, some sound deterioration is inevitable and, from what I can tell, "Nobody Knows" you are even digitally dropping on the fly (just you!). However, the chances are that you are a guitarist (or bassist) who is playing with a certain degree of bite, grit, dirt, overdrive, distortion, "scream", fuzz, etc. If so, this little stomp box will probably exceed your expectations; as it certainly did mine. Simply put, in terms of sound quality, I could Drop my guitar by a semitone (Eb) or a tone (D) and the "new" standard tuning sounded great. Then it was down to C and "baritone" B, again with very satisfying results. It goes a lot further but I can't say that I tested these lower registers to any great degree (although I am sure that they will be fine). Note: the Drop allows you to change standard tunings (e.g., E standard to Eb standard, etc.), but will not cope with alternate tuning changes (e.g., E standard to the equivalent Drop D). If that's what you need, buy a Variax. Finally, and being a bass player, first and foremost, the most impressive aspect that I have encountered to date, was during my band's final pre-pandemic rehearsal in 2o2o. To the best of my knowledge, the Drop is intended for use with a guitar, not a bass (for which there is a blue Whammy). However, on this particular occasion, the Drop was playing host to my bass playing (which, being "rock" influenced, has a little dirt in its tone). In essence, I decided to Drop a few tones, on the fly, and play, as if tuned to my usual E standard. Hence, I played a couple of tracks in "D" and finally in "C". Not only did my fellow band members fail to notice anything "out of the ordinary" but personally, I was seriously (and I mean seriously) impressed with my bass tone. In summary, unless you are a perfectionist (in which case you are looking way below the required price point), this is a remarkable little pedal; if, that is, your requirements, as a guitarist, are to Drop a standard tuning both quickly and easily. And, as above, if you are a bass player with similar requirements, then this is a stomp box that is well worth looking at. In summary, HIGHLY recommended. ~ Notes ~ [1]: IMHO, the Drop is for use in a live environment where on the fly standard tuning changes are required. [2]: However, I wouldn't use it to record and it is certainly not a substitute for carrying say three quitars tuned to E, Eb and D standard. [3]: Similarly, if you are constantly playing in lower registers e.g. Eb standard down to B standard, get yourself a 5-String bass or a Baritone guitar (as needs must).

This is a really good pedal - I saw it demoed by death metal guitarist Ola Englund at a guitar clinic, and was really impressed. It allows you to down tune your guitar at the flick of a switch without having to retune any strings - which is especially vital if you have a Floyd rose on your guitar and haven't got another guitar tuned lower. It does it a semitone at a time - so if you are in the usual E tuning with one turn of the knob and hit the switch and you are down at Eb tuning, another turn and you are at D etc. It drop tunes all your strings at once so if you want to do, say drop C, then you will need to down tune the top string first. I've found there is no lag with the pedal in operation (although make sure it is the first pedal after your guitar in the chain otherwise it may not work as well), it sounds brilliant - the sound still sounds very natural with it on and you don't seem to lose any sound quality. I've also tried it with Rocksmith on the Xbox and it works a treat. You do need to have the sound up fairly loud though as otherwise it sounds a bit odd when you can hear the stings playing something different to what is coming out the amp. It also looks fairly bomb proof - it is a nice solid metal case, well constructed. I've heard of several bands using these live and finding them robust on the road. All in all, whether you are a gigging musician or a home player, this is a must own pedal! Or you could buy loads of guitars instead and have them all tuned differently...

I bought this pedal to supplement a Boss Harmonist 6 I am using on my pedal board. The Boss does great intelligent harmonies (which is what I bought it for), but can also do pitch shifting. However, without an additional expression pedal, the boss can only do "UP" or "Down" pitch shifts by pressing the pedal down. There is no "on the fly" control of the sweep speed. I needed a pedal with a treadle! Hence the Whammy! - it has a great reputation for being the top dog for this sort of thing, so I ordered one. First impressions were of great build quality, and of a relatively compact, solid feel. All the controls feel high quality, and inspire confidence! The treadle action is smooth, and stays in position when left toe-up or toe-down. I suspect this may loosen with use, but can always be tightened up again by tightening the treadle pivot points! Small, accurate pitch shifts are difficult, as others have said, but I suspect the pedal was not designed for this, and is not what I bought it for, so this can be forgiven. This pedal does do exactly what I bought it for - and is great for quick whoops, ludicrous bends, as well as sustained playing in a raised (or lowered) pitch! The octave and de-tune modes are also great! As others have said - it's great for confusing/annoying other band members (and the audience!)....Works best in front of the amp, rather than in the effects loop - which is the opposite of the Boss Harmonist I mentioned earlier. (this sounds great in the loop, but truly dreadful in front of an over-driven amp!)

It’s a decent and iconic pedal, the detune works and tracks really well but isn’t great for practicing as you can hear the standard tuning of the actual guitar whilst hearing the digital tuning at the same time which gets very annoying, particularly for clean tones. Better for gigging but not practicing when using detune. The Whammy part itself works very well and tracks nicely. Only buy it if you desperately need it. Definitely try it first too in a shop before buying to see if you like it. There’s the Whammy V which only utilises the whammy side which I recommend. Looks and feels great, nice weight and the pedal itself moves well. Also it only takes a power supply so no batteries :-( Overall - 7.85 /10

Its a mini whammy in a nutshell. Packaged well, beautiful design and will in turn add a magnitude of arsenal too your playing. Whether looking for intermitant slow bends or screaming divebombs going flat out soloing it has your back all the time. You Can go up or down, numerous octave settings and also you can adjust the rise and fall of each mode. Epic creativity awaits. Check out the videos on youtube and see for yourself. An instrument on its own. Few second notes - are skeptical of the button (me initially) and i can see why. The whammy is iconic however having played both no difference. i think having used this now for a week its awesome and feels built too last. Will be a permenant fixture on my board. There is a lot of give for the money also being £40 less then the original whammy. Besides the whammy is huge, attracts dust more and this works so so easy. Also you are in turn going too put more pressure on a pedal then a button in my eyes; this in turn questioning which would survive the end of time. for fans also you can also convert this pedal into the original whammy mode. BE WARNED! This will require a 300ma 9volt cable (most small Boss pedals are 100ma speaking as a novice) there are a lot of reviews that suggest unwanted hum and interference. This will play a part if not the adaptor, i tried running off a 250ma and it provides significanct humming. Saw other reviews wasn’t sure if the problem at hand? BUY ONE BUY ONE BUY ONE!

Even if you don't use The Whammy DT on stage, this pedal is great fun to have, if only to use it at home. If working out favourite tracks that may be in lower or higher tunings, it saves time retuning your guitar as all you need do is select tuning level on the pedal. The harmony side of the pedal is great just like the previous versions using the Expression Pedal to change Harmomy intervals. With the Whammy DT both sides of the pedal can work simultaniously, with is a great bonus. One of my fav's is Shallow Chorus on the Whammy side and Octave Up on the Drop Tune side which gives one of the best 12 String Guitar effects on any pedal I have used. Also there is a momentary switch, which momentarily turns the Drop Tune effect on or off to create hammer-on or pull-off style shifting effects. The Dive Bomb feature is brill. See Jimmy Page use it (older version) on the new Led Zeppelin DVD, 'Celebration Day' on the track - Nobody's Fault But Mine, he also uses the Whammy on 'Trampled Underfoot', but the new pedal is capable of so much more. Switchable True Bypass and DSP Bypass Modes and Midi compatable. Any guitarist who has had a previous version Whammy should definately take a look at this new Whammy DT. Works well with clean and distorted guitar. Tracking is not totally 100 per cent at times but hardly matters too much in the scheme of things. I am a pro guitarist and will find space soon on my pedalboard. Great Fun!!!

After gigging with digital systems, I have found joy in good old amps and pedals again. I still needed the ability to detune one or two steps fornthe odd song though and rather than swap guitars or transpose on the neck I thought I'd give the Drop a go. It works really well and the latency at half and a full semitone drop is almost imperceptible. Obviously the more detuned you go the latency increases ever so slightly. It's a great small pedal and quite low profile. It works best as the first pedal in your chain. No tone colouring or loss of volume in use. The octave effect is really nice too. For me it's a necessary utility pedal. I didn't need the full Whammy pedal functions, and due to its size and odd power requirements it's not always an easy pedal to integrate into a small to medium board. They seem to hold their value well too on the 2nd hand market.

Whilst I wouldn’t use it for session work and studio recording, it’s made playing in a band that uses both drop D and drop C tuning very easy. Almost un-noticeable at two semi-tones. Also useful if you like lighter gauge strings and don’t want to be playing spaghetti live. Fantastic bit of kit that truly proves technology has moved on and the game has changed. Love it.