Digitech Whammy 5

This has less of the unpleasant digital artefacts of previous models, the new chords mode is a dramatic improvement and I tend to leave it on this setting all the time, although still not 100% perfect and the odd glitch is heard - its essential that the guitar is in perfect tune, or else the Whammy will introduce even more artefacts and warble as it shifts between notes. The true bypass is excellent and saves hassle with the soldering iron, no need to invalidate your warranty anymore

Well made & sturdy, just be careful to not overdo it, as the effect can become very tiresome very quickly!

Essential gear for all those Steve Vai and Satriani fans.

Quick delivery from Thomann to the UK, brand new stock and well packaged.

I've always wanted one and finally I bit the bullet and bought one.

I couldn't really tried it yet, as it was sent with the wrong power supply set and I don't want to risk losing the warranty, as Thomann sent it with an adapter which the manufacturer didn't approve and it is clearly not suitable for safe use. I checked that the exact same pedal can be shipped with two different sets of heads and power supply depending on the market, I don't understand why Thomann took the risk to sell me a pedal with the 2 pin head, when the manufacturer has a proper set with the 3 pin head and Thomann knows that in the country where I reside the official sockets are the UK type ones (they added a cheap adapter to the shipment).

Update: I contacted the manufacturer and they sent me a proper adapter head for free, top notch customer service at Harman. I will definitely buy more products from them.

I've been a longtime Whammy user. Have had the original WH-1, couple of the WH4 and now the WH5.

Came badly calibrated, but once I got it right (and it took time and emails to the Digitech customer support - and the support was quick and good) it is very good!

The new polyphonic ("chords") mode is really useful, tracks quite well. The "classic" mode does not sound the same as WH4, so you need to get used to it all over again. Also it seems that the "chords-mode" messes with your signal when activated. I have a Zvex Fuzz Factory before the WH5 and when I activate it heels-down in the octave up/down mode the Fuzz sounds changes a lot, like when you insert a bad buffer in your chain!

Looks like it's built like a tank but I hope the mode-selector knob has been made more sturdy than on the WH4. I managed to brake it off two of my old WH4 units... Be careful.

In short; a classic effect with new features and new harmonic intervals, but with room to improve!

I don't use this thing a whole lot, but it's one of those things that every guitarist needs to have access to. Rage Against the Machine (if you're into that kind of thing), David Gilmour, and Johnny Greenwood have all put this to very good use. This does "My Iron Lung" very well...the "classic" mode is great for replicating the glitchy sounds of the original, and the "chords" mode is good for if you want something more precise or want to play multiple strings together. No lag or tracking issues. Use detune for a super thick chorus sound. I thought about buying the upgraded model, but read some less-than-stellar reviews, so I decided to stick with this. Like I said...I don't use it a whole lot, but I'm very glad to have it.