How much for a not working Whammy Pedal?

[Beo]

I've always wanted one of these but never wanted to pay the bucks for them. We can't DIY our own, since it's digital with it's own proprietary IC. Locally, there is one for sale on craigslist for 80 bucks, in not working order. The owner suspects a problem with the switch which "no longer clicks" when stomped. I don't think I should offer more than 50 bucks. Does this sound right? By the sounds of it, this should be very "fixable", no?
Thanks,
Travis

[Earthscum]

http://www.smallbearelec.com/Categories.bok?category=Wah-Wah+and+Swell+Pedal+Parts%2C+Wah+Inductors

More like: How much for a brand new wah shell?

If you keep your eyes out at pawn shops and online, you can occasionally find a non-working wah for cheaper.

[theundeadelvis]

I'd go into the deal with the mindset of how much can I afford to give away. Just in case you can't fix it. For $55 you can get one that somewhat works: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DigiTech-Whammy-4-Power-Supply-/170699258603?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item27be77faeb#ht_500wt_1188

[Beo]

Weird... I'm not sure how to debug a tracking issue. But this is a good comparable, 50$ is probably the max for an injured whammy.

[theundeadelvis]

I've read the tracking can adjusted by resetting/calibrating the pedal. Pretty simple process I believe. IF that's what it really needs.

[davent]

In the past year i've managed to get a new in box Cry Baby (red fassel), still with plastic on, but declared to be non-working in the ad, for 17.50 plus shipping on ebay and another worn but sorta functioning (missing a foot and the badge but i have both on hand) for 16.50 plus shipping on ebay. (This one will be gutted.)

Had the new in box wah for year before i decided to fire it up to troubleshoot and it worked fine with no work on my part. Have to be extremely patient with ebay, i was getting notified daily as to the new wah listings and there aren't many great deals.

Local sales were always asking 70-80 dollars around here although the one ebay wah i did get ended up being pretty much local.

dave

[Processaurus]

Ask if they've tried to have it repaired, unsuccessfully.  If yes, then I wouldn't pay more than an interesting paperweight.  Digital pedals, unlike analog pedals, can be impossible to fix even by experts, because they are little computers inside.

[nexekho]

Have you ever seen a gut shot of a Whammy?  Way, WAY too complex to even consider repair.  Try a Boss Super Shifter or a Behringer Ultra Shifter, both have whammy control with a volume pedal if I remember correctly.  (never used that jack on my US600)

[FredB]

I had one of those.  I ended up trading it off.  The pitch shift sounded a bit harsh to me.  Like it was just  was playing back samples as 2x and the breaks between the start and end point of the samples could be heard.

The only only ones that have a  reputation for sounding good are the original ones, the Digitech WH-1.  Those are the only one effect gurus seem to be willing to work on or modify.  The second generation whammies have a bunch of tiny surface mount components on them.  There's little chance of doing anything there.

I am unsure as to what is meant by tracking problem.  I presume he meant the point where the foot pedal starts and stops the shifting effect.  I had to "recalibrate" the unit I had.  After much thought, I first accomplished that by grinding down the rubber stoppers on the foot pedal till it tracked as it should.  Then after making a few inquiries about it.  I learned about the internal software procedure to do this.  

I like the DIY idea for this, and suggest a good starting place would be getting all the data available about the original now discontinued chip in the WH-1, and working up a micro-controller program to emulate it.  Then the less gooder sounding units could be gutted,  and a DIY micro-controller board installed.  

[artifus]

a lofi diy method could be a hacked delay pedal that allows delay only out with no repeats and foot controlled delay time.

[Beo]

...
The only only ones that have a  reputation for sounding good are the original ones, the Digitech WH-1.  Those are the only one effect gurus seem to be willing to work on or modify.  The second generation whammies have a bunch of tiny surface mount components on them.  There's little chance of doing anything there.
...

I haven't done any research on the various models produced by digitech. This gives me pause for thought. The seller will accept $40, but maybe I'll spend more time looking for a WH-1 original.

[FredB]

I've been meaning to do the same.

They go for about $500 when you can find them.

[joegagan]

i know very little. but what i know, i know from first hand experience owning several versions. i have never played a wh1.
in 94 i bought a used wh2, was probably less than a year old at the time. if you listened really close, you could hear 'stair stepping' on pitch change, but overall it was practically indiscernible , especially in a live situation in the moment. sounded great, and the detune feature was probably the best chorus i've ever played live.


later that year i got suckered into spending big bucks on a valve FX digitech preamp/processor with floor controller. one of the main reasons i thought it was worth the $ was that it had 'whammy' as one of the features. what a disappointment. the whammy function sounded so crappy i refused to use it. i believe that digitech simply could not dedicate the chipspace resources to making a smooth action on the pitch change function, in the larger preamp config, what with all the delays, distorions, mixers, wah,  etc etc

i later sold the WH2 because i got tired of the plastic wings falling off and constantly having to open it up to re-solder a poorly designed mini- pcb adjacent to the main board that was only connected by three small solder lugs and would constantly shake loose causing a tremendous crackling noise through my amp at full vol every time our drummer deemed it necessary to kick the kick drum.

i have heard from aficionados that the sound of the wh2 is still very close to the wh1, makes sense to me.

i have subsequantly heard a number of WH4s, the good news is that the stair stepping that was SO awful in the Valve FX is far less. not as smooth as the wh2, but pretty good overall.

i hope no one is reading  this, but i consider the WH2 the sleeper good buy, crappy plastic enclosure wings and all.

[joegagan]

i have a friend with a WH1, looks like time for a real shootout.

-wh1
-wh4 ( we have 2 in the shop)
- behringer wahtchamcallit
- whatever else does a similar thing

[theundeadelvis]

I had never seen one of these (Behringer Ultra Shifter) before, but not bad for $50:

[Beo]

i have a friend with a WH1, looks like time for a real shootout.

-wh1
-wh4 ( we have 2 in the shop)
- behringer wahtchamcallit
- whatever else does a similar thing

That's awesome. I hope you get a chance to do this.