# you COMPLETE me!



## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

so...i was thinking...they make octave pedals that will play an octave higher (or lower) than the notes that you play...and they've now got a pedal that effective makes your guitar sound like a different tuning (morpheus droptune...the red pill or the blue pill?)...but...why hasn't anyone come up with a pedal that you can alter the pitch to a third or a fifth of what you are playing...effectively making it so that you can do a duel solo with yourself (as dirty as that sounds, i don't mean it that way)...

interesting thought...or is there one, and i just haven't heard of it yet?


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Boss HR2 Harmonist. Had one, hated it - very synthy sound and tracking not that great if you aren't super precise (I'm not.) Boss HR-2 Harmonist: Harmony Central User Reviews

BossArea - Boss HR-2 Harmonist


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Analog octave up/down units operate in a fundamentally different way than digital harmonizers. First, octave down units are decidedly mono. Attempt to play more than one note at a time, and you get chaos. Octave up units can handle more than one note, but you won't always like what you hear. They also produce a sort of dissonant ring-modulator side-effect when you bend notes. More importantly, both octave-up and octave-down units almost necessarily begin with a clipped signal, which isn't always what you want. Finally, because they can be, um, "distracted" by harmonic content in what you play, both tend to only work predictably and well once you get up above the 7th fret or so, and the harmonics-to-fundamental ratio is tipped in favour of the fundamental.

In contrast, digital harmonizers are polyphonic, and work from the lowest to highest fret. They also do not require the creation of a squared or otherwise clipped note to produce the extra harmony, and are able to give you a clean parallel note, which you then have the liberty to fuzz or not. There have not been many analog harmonizers. the example of the A/DA unit, reviewed here - http://hammer.ampage.org/files/Device1-4.PDF - will probably nicely illustrate why.

The analog compromise are "feedbacker" type units, which essentially track your note (again, monophonic) and generate a synthesized tone, rather than simply corrupting what you feed them. This category includes pedals like the quirky Boss DF-2 Super Feedbacker, and DIY projects like this one: http://hammer.ampage.org/files/EMMHarmoGen.PDF

While digital harmonies do come with a certain amount of lag time, that tends to impose much less restriction on one's playing style than analog dividers/doublers do. If you've never played with a harmonizer, give one a shot. They're a real kick in the pants. You instantly find yourself playing differently when another note is along for the ride.


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## megadan (Feb 5, 2006)

It's been around for a pretty long time now, it's called the Whammy pedal. 
Tom Morello of RATM is probably the most famous user.


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## prodigal_son (Apr 23, 2009)

I've got the Digitech DHP-33 (from 1994). Rack mount version of the WH-1.


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

third knob does the trick, no?


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## kohjinagata (Mar 16, 2010)

Electro Harmonix Hog
Bam
Thread over


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

i know i'm johnny-come-lately to this thread but here are a couple of options not mentioned:

[YOUTUBE]f_2EmtUzRu8[/YOUTUBE]

and 

[YOUTUBE]zeP4kQfWUXQ[/YOUTUBE]


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