AS THE
DIGITECH
WHAMMY is well into
its third decade of existence, the list of
notable artists that have used the effect
has grown substantially. Besides those I’ve
already discussed in this article, Pantera’s
Dimebag Darrell, Jonny Greenwood of
Radiohead, Kevin Shields of My Bloody
Valentine, David Gilmour, Steve Vai, and The
Edge are all well-known Whammy players
who have contributed substantially to the
effect’s lofty legacy (I’ve undoubtedly forgot
to mention someone’s favorite Whammyist,
but that’s the way it goes, so don’t send
too many angry emails). The fact that it is
still so popular and continues to inspire
so many guitarists speaks to the wealth of
sonic possibilities that lurk within it, as well
as to its interactive nature, which makes
it very satisfying and tremendously fun to
manipulate in real time. DigiTech constantly
updates the Whammy with new features, and
the company has recently begun expanding
the Whammy family of effects by releasing
individual elements of it a la carte in compact
stompbox format, so it would seem that this
iconic effect still has much to offer, and will
undoubtedly be inspiring musicians decades
from now.
Photos via Wikimedia by (from top to bottom) April AshfordForsythe, Alterna2, Nojo13, Joep Vullings, 3x0=3, Chris Watts
22
TONE TALK //
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Masters
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