Digitech drop tune

Lestratcaster

Has anyone got this pedal? I'm thinking of getting one as I regularly play in drop tunings (mainly c and b) and it's a little bit of a hassle tuning up and down from standard. 

I would prefer not to get multiple guitars esp if it's not really going to be toured with or gigged at the moment. I have a tele which I'd like to use for extra rhythm tracks in drop b so I'm wondering what the tracking is like and if there's any latency. I've seen a few bands use it live so if it works there it should be alright for me, right?

ICBM

The guitarist in my band has one - it works very well, exactly as you want. He uses it down as far as C# standard, so I would think drop B would be fine. With a bit of dirt on the amp it's more or less indistinguishable from a tuned-down guitar - no tracking or latency problems as far as I can tell, and I'm sure he would have noticed if there were.

BUT - it has a major problem with power supply noise on a shared supply, even with isolated outputs. It needs its own fully separate, directly mains-powered supply.

Actually he may be interested in selling it, since we've stopped playing any songs that need it… if that hasn't put you off it too much!

Lestratcaster

Hmm yeah I have read stories about it being noisy esp when off for some reason. I'm doing demos via a laptop and a Focusrite interface so could I use the pedal for that?

Ah well if he's interested in selling ask how much he'd want for it, this could be of major interest to me! 

Hoof

There's a couple of Morpheus Droptunes on Reverb if they're of any interest. Big footprint though.

Fortheloveofguitar

Hoof said:

There's a couple of Morpheus Droptunes on Reverb if they're of any interest. Big footprint though.

Avoid these they sound very poor and you doesn't track well at all 

absolutpepper

I had a drop. Really didn't like it. I found that outside of a half step down it sounded really unnatural and also the lag was far too annoying for me to cope with. If I'm concentrating on how it sounds too much then I'm not concentrating on the playing. I found it a great idea poorly executed

Lestratcaster

absolutpepper said:

I had a drop. Really didn't like it. I found that outside of a half step down it sounded really unnatural and also the lag was far too annoying for me to cope with. If I'm concentrating on how it sounds too much then I'm not concentrating on the playing. I found it a great idea poorly executed

How big/noticeable was the lag?

absolutpepper

Lestratcaster said:

absolutpepper said:

I had a drop. Really didn't like it. I found that outside of a half step down it sounded really unnatural and also the lag was far too annoying for me to cope with. If I'm concentrating on how it sounds too much then I'm not concentrating on the playing. I found it a great idea poorly executed

How big/noticeable was the lag?

For me, fairly...but on the small intervals it was more perceivable to the player in feel than in sound terms. The further you drop the more obvious it is in both feel and sound.

absolutpepper

I'd recommend trying before you buy...particually if you are dropping a few intervals

Lestratcaster

absolutpepper said:

Lestratcaster said:

absolutpepper said:

I had a drop. Really didn't like it. I found that outside of a half step down it sounded really unnatural and also the lag was far too annoying for me to cope with. If I'm concentrating on how it sounds too much then I'm not concentrating on the playing. I found it a great idea poorly executed

How big/noticeable was the lag?

For me, fairly...but on the small intervals it was more perceivable to the player in feel than in sound terms. The further you drop the more obvious it is in both feel and sound.

Hmm, the idea was to have my Tele in drop d on the actual guitar then set the knob to 3 semi-tones to have it in drop b. Most of the stuff I'll be doing is chords I think with small lead lines.

VJIves

I used one immediately after my compressor and didn't have any lag at all. Definitely preferred it to the pitchfork.

Lestratcaster

VJIves said:

I used one immediately after my compressor and didn't have any lag at all. Definitely preferred it to the pitchfork.

How far down did you drop it to?

Reckon I'll be ok for demo'ing and stuff? Not sure I'd use it to record with in a proper studio though. We tracked yesterday using the Tele physically tuned to drop b but the strings were 10's and a bit flappy. Sounded good though when double tracked against humbucker guitars.

VJIves

I went down the full octave, you get slightly more in the way of digital artefacts the further you go but it still sounds great. As long as it's getting the full 300ma it requires then I don't get any unwanted noise or latency.

guitarfishbay

3 semitones is a lot for any kind of tuning software, if you want it to sound natural that is.  And by natural I mean to sound like it was actually tuned that way to start with.  I've not owned a Drop pedal but I'm familiar with Melodyne which is arguably one of the most powerful ways to polyphonically tune sounds, and my experience is that 3 semitones won't sound natural anymore.  If you like the sound that's different.

VJIves

The other thing to keep in mind is that in a full band environment with cymbals and distortion, you'd be hard pressed to notice the difference.

guitarfishbay

It really depends on the goal.  If you just want to play a couple of songs in a set without taking a second instrument then fine.

The pedal costs £109 from what I can see, for recording a cheaper alternative would just be to get the nut cut for slightly thicker strings, 11-56 is usually fine on Fender scale instruments for drop C, or even drop B so long as you don't play like a gorilla.  YMMV - but I've not been unhappy with the performance when going back to 10-46 strings for standard with a nut cut for those strings.

Lestratcaster

Well this Telecaster is in standard tuning and strung with 10's. The band I'm playing for isn't at the stage where I can currently justify buying another guitar solely for drop b tuning. If it was then yeah I'd have a dedicated guitar towards it.

I don't really want to mess about with it by cutting the nut which is why I was looking around for a pedal. If the nut was wider for a 56 then surely a 46 in standard would be wiggling about a bit?

ICBM

Lestratcaster said:

If the nut was wider for a 56 then surely a 46 in standard would be wiggling about a bit?

Not if the groove is cut properly, with a smoothly rounded bottom. The string will still centre itself no matter how much wider the groove is.

I've cut them for as big a string as a 75 baritone string and it's still fine restrung with a 46.

Lestratcaster

Hmm, if I was to go down that route I'd want to cut the lower three string's nuts as I do a lot of power chord stuff. Then put a 56, 44 and 32 in there.
Sounds more hassle than its worth.

guitarfishbay

It's up to you.  Getting the nut recut professionally will most likely cost half or less what the pedal costs, and it will almost definitely sound better for recording with.

ICBM

I agree - I think the Drop is a solution for a gigging guitarist who doesn't want to take an extra guitar (or multiple ones, for more than one tuning/spares etc) for playing live. It sounds fine like that, but I wouldn't really think you would want to use it for any serious recording.