Synth Wah Review

The knobs are straight forward until you start messing with the mode knob and then parameter assignment changes.

Ease of Use:	8.8
Sound:	8.4
Reliability:	8.6
Impression:	8.6
Overall rating:	8.6
Users rating:	8.1
Comments:	13

overall: 8.5

Featured review by: rampage51, on july 12, 2004

Price paid: $ 43.45

Purchased from: Ebay

Ease of Use: Totally easy for anyone that can read a manual. For this effect I highly reccommend reading it. The knobs are straight forward until you start messing with the mode knob and then parameter assignment changes. If you get it used like I did check the DigiTech website they have all of their manuals posted. // 8

Sound: I use this with a 76 Explorer or an Epiphone Les Paul Standard into a Line 6 Spider 210. No noise only a very very very small click when shutting it off. It is so small I only found it while recording it. Then I ran noise reduction and sampled it giving me a cool sound effect. Kind of like a hiccup. The effect is very strong, almost ployphonic. It totally takes over you guitar tone but it is a synth. The sounds are very nice, unique and attack sensitive. So you can create these falling synth tones and start them over at the beginning of each bar. Check DigiTech for samples. The Auto Wah is pretty lame the high end just hurts. But the synth voices are where it's at. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Not Boss but it is metal. The sping under the pedal is bent but it still works. // 6

Impression: I love it. I'am the only person I know who has one and uses it. it is great for Funk, sound effects and texture. I highly reccommend a Tremolo Pedal with it though. That way you can really make cool wavy synth sounds. Combine it with a slide, Whammy or EBow and you can really impress people. I do wish it had an expression pedal option. I love the idea that George Dennis Pedals have come with and that is adding an Expression pedal to most of their effects. That way you can do some really tight rythmic tricks. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on june 05, 2007

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Ease of Use: Very easy to use simply twist the type knob for different sounds. The manual is pretty good it explains quite well and it has a couple of good presets. It's really easy to use and I would definetly recommend this pedal. And everything is great. I would recomend full control all the time sounds really cool. // 10

Sound: I use a Gibson Flying V and into a Marshall MG15CD combo amp and it sounds really great It isn't noisy at all it is very good. The effects sound really cool on the clean settings of your amp and with distortion it sounds really cool, I can get the wah sound from Slipknot if I use the auto wah settings which are great. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Very usefull and reliable pedal only thing is a little bump on the knobs or a missed step can make the knobs loose but the knobs wont break. Not as durable as Boss but it's still great. Definetly would use it on a gig when needed to. And sometimes it doesnt't turn off corectly. // 10

Impression: I play most of the time metal like a7x or Trivium or sometimes Slipknot and I don't use it then except for a couple songs, but sometimes I jerk around and just play around with the effects and it's really great. I own a Line 6 spider III combo amp and Boss super overdrive. I would buy it again if got lost. I love the auto wah and synth effects on it well basically I love everything about thius pedal but I use auto wah the most. // 10

overall: 6

Reviewed by: Preid, on november 26, 2007

Purchased from: www.Gak.com

Ease of Use: Its simply a case of turning the setting knob to the desired effect. Put in your parameters, setting it up to respond to a certain force of play. Stomp and off it goes. It's all analouge which is a pretty bad for this type of effect. Expresion pedal optional. // 8

Sound: USA Tele+ S/H setup, Synth Wah, Laney AOR tube head, Marshall ATV 4x12. It's a well below average pedal from DigiTech which frankly shocked me. After hearing the samples on digitechs site I decided to purchase it. It has to be the first pedal if you're using lots of stomps as anything else that effects the signal will make this pedal react in a bad way. It's ok for home and studio where you have time to perfect the settings to your liking, it's so sensative. But Live it's useless! If you use say three of it's settings in different songs, you can dream on about getting them to come out Live. Everytime you Switch setting it requires some tweaking to what settings you have on paper. there's just no time at gigs to do this, you often have to just hope it'll perform. It doesn't respond well to feedback and often goes mental or doesn't react at all. it's worst flaw is at gig volumes, the bass goes through the roof when you turn it on. // 3

Reliability & Durability: It's been through some rough times and it's held solid. I'd happily gig without a backup. It's not quite Boss solid but it will take over exagerated stopms no problem. Battery life, even with a new battery lasts about 30 seconds tops so bring a christmas tree. // 8

Impression: I wanted it for some Daftpunk and general electro funk sounds, its alright but nothing to shout about. Ive been playing for 7 years almost. I wish id tried it in a shop first!!! If it were stolen i wouldnt be to fused tbh. I hate how a pedal so bad can come from a company that rivals Boss. Im ditching the digi and buying a Moog pedal for my synth effects. I wish it had a digital interface and analouge expression pedal! // 5

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: Jake-1125, on august 10, 2007

Purchased from: Borrowed From Friend

Ease of Use: Actual using this pedal is quite easy. Dial in the settings and stom to activate/deactivate. Now, finding the sounds you want takes some messing around. If you get this with an owners manual, i strongly suggest reading it. I didn't, So I checked out DigiTech's website. They have some excellent sound samples and they show you how to get those sounds. I'll give it an eight, only because it takes a fair bit of messing about to learn to use it // 8

Sound: I'm running my guitar into a Cry Baby (I rarley use the autowah feature on the synth wah), the synth wah, a Hot Rod Distortion and then into my amp. It's not noisy at all in the chain, and it doesn't seem to affect tone at all. The effects sounds amazing. Just hittng a chord with the "slow synth" Effect is powerful. You can also get a vowel-type sound, great for Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer" if you don't have a talkbox. The auto wah isn't too too bad, but nor is it overly good. The Cry Baby far surpasses it. The synth also has a second output jack that simulates a 4x12 cabinet speaker. The downside, and effect chained after this when it's plugged into that jack won't work unless the snyth is engaged. // 9

Reliability & Durability: It's solid metal, it's not breaking any time. I smashed my heel into it just 10 minutes ago and it freakin killed. I'm still bleeding. I'd gig with this, and I wouldn't bring a backup. the only downside is battery life. But an adapted, this thing eats batteries. If you don't have on, be sure to unplug the Input jack every time you stop using it, to extend battery life. // 9

Impression: I'm all over the map in terms of music, but this is one fun little pedal. Just sitting with it for 5 minutes gave me some new ideas for songs, and I even changed an old song I wrote to include an intro using this effect. However, where I allready have a wah pedal, I Don't use the auto wah effect in this, which limits it's usefullness for me, that is. If it were stolen, I'd have to apologize to my friend, and then we'd both beat up whoever stole it. I wish it was designed with a rocking pedal, to control the expression more. I love this, but I wouldn't go buy it unless it was something with a little more control. // 8

Reviewed by: unregistered, on february 13, 2008

Price paid: $ 70

Ease of Use: I have a high end rig and this pedal just simply amazed me. The depth and quality its tones floored me, it made playing fun again. Basically if you can actually play and know better than to expect polyphonic on a unit like this with a std. chord it's a fantastic pedal. I set up a sample setting and actually got great sounds on all "types" just by using the tone and playing with it. Young players just experiencing effects do not really get the technique required to take an effect and use it muscically. You do not strum through this unit you play throught thise unit. // 10

Sound: The sounds are lush and full on my rig. Yes, it does take your guitar nuance into outer space and sounds other worldly and I am glad it does. I was looking for that old Mutron III sound that Trower had used and some of the sounds I used to get on the various Envelope Filters I have had. This unir just amazed me with the heaviest hard core funk lines and synth swells. It is quiet and really if you are still suffering batteries without a pedal board maybe you should stay with Boss. I found this unit to have exception quality headroom and tone on my rig using a custom made strat type maple neck. This can take a single legato line and beef it up and when combinded with other modulators it created pure psychodelic weirdness in a good way. When I used it just playing some simple blues lines I almost had the guitar talking. Jamming with my loop station drum loops I had my wife up and dancing around with some heavy funk lines. I love this pedal it is not leaving my front end line ever! Really kids get the damn manual and understand what you are getting into. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This is far better constructed than Boss boxes which I always seem to have trouble with the switches engauging consistantly. This switch construction is much better. Anything can randomly fail, shit happens. I have had all my mountain of effects for years with no real failures I can recall in recent history. DigiTech is quality stuff, I like the hell out of it and I am seriously looking into their chorus and new flange as they are so freaking low priced. I was looking at units for $250 before I found this pedal, my God it's shocking really. I have been a Fulltone freak lately with the OCD, get one! I also had my crappy DS-1 modified by Keelley Electronics for $75, they have a web site do invesitgate, that pedal mod is just God damn awesome! // 10

Impression: If you are looking for a high quality wah trigger effect this does it all an more, buy it! I have been playing for over 30 years, heavy to blues and back again, I have had everything at one time or another and I have read terrible reviews on stuff I found to be just treasures. If your rig sucks and your guitar cheep, please guys work to improving the quality of your basic rig before you plug in a high tech pedal and trash it because your rig cannot handle it. One word of advice, forget the nonsense ands crap most go off on out there. If you need a good amp or guitar please in the name of God (Trower and Iommi) look into Carvin. I have the new V3 with the Vintage 4x12 and two of their custom beautiful worked guitars the sound is better than my previous Marshall/EC Strat fav at a 3rd the cost. This DigiTech pedal worked in my rig and sounded rather amazing in any combination or by itself. Do not use it for keeping your guitars tonal quality use it for experiementla coolness, other stuff is better suited for preamping and such. Oh yeah I am currently upgrading my pedal board and power supply. I am running a Carvin Dc-135 3 single coil mahogoney and maple neck strat and a DC-400 Les Paul split coil type guitar. Front line into the amp is the DigiTech Synth Wah into a Morely Vai (model 1) Wah, the Fulltone OCD, into a Loop Station. Loop 1 currently has a Electric Mistress Flanger, a Univibe and Boss DL5 which I am in the process of upgrading. The V3 amp is God Hammer the versitility of that amp is amazing. I play down a full step with 10 to 50's and my tone is a bone crusher. // 10

Comments

[deadline27]

i love it, got one yesterday....takes a bit of mucking around but you can get some awesome sounds out of this thing...check it out!!!!

[jcs5234]

didn't like this thing...check out the modulated wah on the electro-harmonix the worm

[OfantesOvFire]

I tried this out at a Guitar Center and it was awesome! It's got all these weird sounds. The different synth effects are really cool. Haven't got one yet but I hope to buy one soon.

[hellview_666]

i love using this on a clean setting, but as soon as i turn the distortion on, blimey o.O

[panhead4jesus]

is it possible to re-create a snyth sound with and envelope filter? i have an rp 80 with envelope but no snyth effect . if anypoe has any tips on how 2 get a snyth sound with it that would be great

[Bplay915]

I love this pedal ive had it for a while auto wah settings are pretty good

[JD Blue Venom]

ben moody setting (line 6 preset) and the human voice i can do its my life by bon jovi lol and i can mimick rou's synth from enter shikari with sweep echo and chorus FX's its the buisness!

[garboozled]

I have one of these and it is by far the coolest pedal i own. Not very usefull in general application, but cool as hell. As for the dude who wants to turn an envelope into a synth, you need very processed sawtooth distortion, not heavy just buzzy. and yeah adding distortion to this pedal can get ugly on anything other than the basic envelope. Paranoid Android solo is a good example of how to do this appropriately

[Preid]

This pedals rubbish, i gotta write a review

[broken fusion!]

I love how some people write a review, but just start talking about how good (they think) their setup is

[ethics gradient]

bought this pedal used for $50. wouldn't call myself a tone conouiser but i pay attention, and amoung all the trash you can spew out with this pedal, there are some amazing sounds. don't expect to just turn the knobs at random. read the manual. also, in my stupidity, i tried to hook up a random 9v adapter to it, because it eats batteries like crazy, and fried it. but luckily it has a rectifing diode on the hot side that acted like a fuse, so it only took a $1 part to fix it. only use a 9.6v 200ma adapter unless you want to throw this pedal away. i was lucky. don't make the same mistake.

[aenimafist]

I have had this pedal for almost a year now and only just realized that this is what Jim Root used in the intro to Prelude 3.0. He says it's the most creative piece of equipment he owns and I would have to agree that it can do some pretty amazing things.

[clshub1561]

does this pedal create the sound the nine inch nails does on the hand that feeds for the solo i really want to play that part and i got the right notes just no synth