The Digitech Whammy II / Whammy Reissue

Now the Digitech Whammy is a pedal that has been coveted by guitar players ever since the likes of James Iah started piercing ear drums in the early 90's. The original inception of the Whammy was released (to critical acclaim) in 1992 (or so) and it really made a mark fast. The screeching pitchbending of the original Whammy is all over Siamese Dream, Superunknown, and a litany of early 90's metal records. Yet, for some reason the original Whammy died off. Word on the street is that it was costly to make, hence the second coming, the Whammy XP-100.
Now the XP-100 is a royal hunk of shit. It was (and is) made of plastic. It has convenient tap buttons so you can cycle through the features, but that doesn't matter because the plastic casing for the pedal makes it flimsy and inaccurate...steer clear of that piece. Totally worthless!
Then comes the Whammy II or the Whammy reissue (the name on the box depends on how close to the reissue date your purchase took place). This reissue is just that, a reproduction of the original, good, Whammy petal. This is the one to get.

Brand new the Whammy runs about $200, you should be able to keep it under $150 with a well played eBay buy. The Whammy has tons of settings (too many in my opinion), most of which are quite useful. It offers two full octaves (up and down) for pitchbending and a dive-bomb feature that takes your guitar right out of the range of human hearing (that can't be good for your amp). The harmony effects leave something to be desired. You can certainly find better harmonizers (try Boss' HR-1 Harmonist).
The hidden gems in the Whammy II are the octave effect and the chorus / detune effects. The octave effect is a simple octave above and an octave below effect. What is interesting is the expression pedal which moves the low octave up to meet with the root tone. The sounds created is totally unique. Somewhere between thrash metal and pedal steel (if you can imagine that). You can find far better octave effects on dedicated octave pedals, that said, as a free add on the octave sound is great; very "Fool In The Rain".
Then there is the chorus / detune; this is a killer freebie. There are two chorus settings, deep and shallow. Deep starts off as a serious chorus and, towards the toe, is an all out detune. It sounds so bad it is good. The shallow setting, on the other hand, is a money chorus. In the heel position, it does absolutly nothing but as you approach the toe you get a nice detuned chorus, nicer than most dedicated pedals. The quality of the chorus is not what makes the add on great, it is the control. I am yet to find chorus, flange, or rotary speaker effect that uses an expression pedal (and executes the effect well). This is that rare instance where they nailed the sound and the functionality / control.
Personally, I leave the Whammy in the "one octave up" and use it to create massive squeals when needed. The shallow chorus is my 2nd "go to" effect. The Whammy is a must have for any serious rock lead guitarist.

Notes: The Whammy II has a tendency to go "out of tune with itself". Make sure you read the manual on how to reset the pedal. Also, if you are not a pro the Whammy II is a great "get stoned and jam" effect.
Set your effects chain up like this and have a blast:
guitar--> distortion-->Whammy II--> digital delay--> amp -->smoke a joint -->play

RAT Distortion - King Of The Patch Chord Jungle

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