Modifying a Digitech Whammy WH-1

[John Egerton]

Hey guys...

I have a whammy pedal in my rig and when i enable it with the rocker to the off position it acts as though the rocker is moved forward slightly, so that my guitar isn't at the normal pitch to begin with....

its weird becuase I never remember it being like this...

I opened up the pedal thinking that I could move the led further away from the LDR inside however they are both fixed in place, which makes me wonder how the thing stated doing this in the first place...

Can anyone reccomend somehting that I can do to try and rectify this problem?

[Higgie]

Thats what Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave said. Something like "Even when rolled off it still effects my sound" which is to him, what makes it so unique. And if it's an original WH-1, I wouldnt go about modifying it

[dr]

...I built a 4-channel true bypass box for four of  the pedals in my pedal box that I wouldn't dream of modifying-it works great!...

[loki]

i guess tom morello was referring a coloration of the sound, not actually a pitch shift... it could be that led and ldr are not anymore in the same position as they were (pedal might have had some accidents)...
i remember the XP100, which i owned at some point. had a way to calibrate the rocking pedal, you can try and see if also the VH1 has it

[Higgie]

Toi my knowledge the WH-1 can't be 'calibrated' like the XP100 and WH-4.

[Johnny G]

my wh-1 seems to be fine with returning to normal when you put the heel full down
i an still hear it having some effect but its not a pitch shifting effect, just a slight degredation since its still processing the sound, its just pulling it out at the same pitch

personally i wouldnt dream of modifying mine. just about every opther pedal i have has been modified but not my whammy. its about the only pedal i have that has any "vintage value"

[jmasciswannabe]

I don't know about the wh1, but I have had the same problem with the wh4. When I popped it open I found that the pedal attaches to a strip of plastic? that goes between the led and ldr. THe plastic is dark on bottom and gradually lightens up. I tried adjusting the rocker itself and the plastic strip, but could never get it perfect by the time I got it all boxed back up. Best of luck yo you!

[Johnny G]

WH4 is a completelly different beast to the WH1 when it comes to the pedal. one of the major things i hear about as a difference between the two is that the treadle action on the WH4 needs to be readjusted alot. while the WH1 doesnt have the option to sort it out since it doesnt really need it.

for some people this is more of a reason to shell out the money than the sound is or so ive seen