Wide range of great sounds, with minor faults.

Great pedal overall. Obviously very wobbly at times when set to upper or lower octave, but this is expected for the time it was built. The reason the pedal has been rated a 4 is because of the brilliant chorus/ phaser effects. on the de-tune setting you can set a shallow or deep setting (shallow indicating a chorus effect - deep indicating a vibrato esque effect), if you ease off with your foot it then creates a decent phaser effect. Pretty versatile pedal.

Good, but WH-1 and WH-5 sound better

The WH-4 sounds good, but not as good as the original WH-1. The closest thing to the original is the successor to the WH-4: the WH-5 that has true bypass because that is the biggest reason I don’t have this in my signal chain: it is a big tone sucker even when off. Only a good buffer or a non-linear pedalboard (ground control & the likes) can eliminate the tone drain.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Perfectly alters pitch with no duplicate sounds

It's been a decade since the Whammy™ was introduced and now it has a permanent place on every professional's pedalboard. This is what has made the Whammy® a legend. Hit after hit, performance after performance, the Whammy™ not only adds to your playing, it creates new sounds, feelings and textures.

The Whammy™ is simple -- Take your guitar's sound and pitch shift it using a special algorithm, then control that pitch with an expression pedal. So easy and so expressive that it takes your playing to a new world of quirky squeals, monster dive bombs lower than any whammy bar and bends that can only be found on other instruments. It's no wonder why this single pedal is legendary.

Popular staple, worth it if you come across one for cheap

I'm not a big fan of digital pedals, and especially ones that are not true bypass, but this is a really iconic pedal that I've heard on several popular tracks. If you just need something to fool around with and get some wild sounds out of, it's worth plugging into from time to time. It has a really harsh digital fizz to the top-end of the signal, and unless you're into that or using another effect to take advantage of the sound characteristic, it falls short of similar yet more modern pedals. The technology is definitely showing its age these days, especially since these re-issues came out around the time all the "budget friendly" digital effects of the late 90s were getting a lot of attention by people that thought they could buy a pedalboard in a box.

Loved this pedal so much

This pedal is so fun. Not very practical for what I used it for, which was mainly copying my hero Dimebag Darrell at the time of use. I unfortunately had to sell it. I switched over to the GNX3000 which has all of the same exact effects and haven't looked back. If I ever get back into buying single pedals again, this is in my first 10 pedals I'm getting for sure.

Great whammy pedal

What else to say - this one is a legend. Tom Morello effects, great as a octaver pedal, or just for experimenting, 2 octaves up, etc...

5th Gen is better but the 4th has its place

I wouldn't suggest having this set up in your rig unless you have it in an effect loop. This will colour your sound in ways that aren't pleasant. It's a Whammy and it does its job for what you want to use it for.

A Toy, but hey!.. we like to play, don't we? :D

Indeed, this pedal is a bit of a gimmick, but it implements a nice touch on your trick-bag, so If you learn to use it, it can be useful. I bought it because I started to learn Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, and got a bit biased and "converted" ;) But I will get it again one day.

Unmistakable character with versatility!

So many great sounds, and so many great ways to use them! Even the digital tracking provides a pleasing crackle, used to great effect in Radiohead's "My Iron Lung." And you don't have to be Tom Morello to put those whistling octaves to good use; I like to use them like bells, chiming in for some new wave flavor. My favorite though is just a slight and subtle detune, cloaking your tone in satiny chorus.

"Pterodactyl noise*

Tom Morello called and said everyone could use a pitch shifter. Dimebag Darrell agrees too. The 2 octaves up setting is obnoxious but it's a key feature of this pedal and one of my favorites. The "detune" setting also makes for a great chorus effect that's not so sparkly sounding. Mine has a problem where if it's on, it always has some "wet" signal added. So i don't really use this pedal anymore, but when i did i had buckets of fun.