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[Slartibartfarst42]

I seem to be a bit confused about the effects I have already mentioned so I really would appreciate some help.
 
The Boss PS-6 makes you select the key you are playing in, presumably to make sure that the harmonies actually work and I saw this as a bit of a pain in the backside. The EHX and Digitech both appeared to be better because it looked like I simply played and the pedal sorted everything else out for me. I have since read a number of comments online that suggest this isn't the case and if for instance, I was playing in the key of Am and chose to play things like the Am pentatonic and/or A natural minor scales, some of the notes I hit would achieve a discordant result rather than a harmony. If this is true, what's the point of having a pedal that is supposed to be a harmony pedal if it doesn't always harmonize properly? Is this right and if so, would this suggest that the PS-6 is a better option after all?
 
My other question relates to the EHX Pitch Fork as I've read a number of reviews online that complain about an awful lot of hum coming from the pedal when connected to a 9v power supply. This is a concern to me because all of my pedals are powered in this way. Is this an issue with the Pitch Fork and if so, is it possible to get around it?

[Dave Sloven]

It's worth remembering that besides EQs, noise suppressors, and tuners pedals are generally 'toys' that you might use now and then but basically add up in money very quickly without necessarily being useful much of the time.

Besides an EQ think if there are any pedals you don't have that you would use a lot. For example, do you have a delay pedal, and are you happy with it? Is it something you would use a lot?  The same could be said for a wah. A good investment if your style of music calls for it, otherwise a bit of a waste.  A volume pedal can be very useful if you usually use the volume controls on your guitar to clean up while playing; otherwise it is a waste of money and very bulky.

Actually whether it will fit on my board and be able to be powered by my existing power supply is always a big issue for me.

These are the kinds of things I would keep in mind.  It's very easy to be tempted by gadgets.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I agree entirely and that is why I went to the expense of getting the Carl Martin Quattro; I use all of those effects quite a lot and they're all of good quality. The only other 'effect' I've bought is the Wah, which I also use regularly. Other than that my pedalboard just uses practical things like noise gate, EQ and tuner. The question you raise is an important one and is why I eventually discounted the idea of getting either a phaser or a flanger. Both would be great fun but I just can't see me using them all that much. The same logic eventually put me off the B9. I LOVED playing with it but I suspect that after a while, the novelty of having organ sounds might wear off and I'd be left with an effect that is only used sparodically and cost £160. I keep coming back to a harmonizer because it's something I can see me using, albeit not as much as my other effects but it really is the harmonizing and octave effects that I am primarily interested in rather than detuning and divebomb effects, hence my questions.

[Dave Sloven]

This is very much a case of do as I say rather than do as I do ... I'm very guilty of buying gadgets that I end up not using much.  I am currently building a smaller board that I will occasionally connect to the larger 'gadget' board when I want to play with toys and come up with more adventurous textures.

Basically the stuff on my main board will be the tuner, a Boss NS-2, a MXR M-80 D.I. (for when I use it with my bass) and then my effects loop (which besides the EQ and ISP includes my flanger, chorus, and delay running through a Boss LS-2 (to mix in some dry signal) followed last of all by a clean boost.  These seem to be the ones that are either on all the time or are two inconvenient to split over two board (i.e., the effects loop pedals).  The second board with consist of a wah, volume pedal, and two front end loops (again via a LS-2) connected to the first board via the loop on the NS-2.  I know this sounds ridiculously complex but it is a good way for me to keep the toys (which are mainly front end pedals) separated from my main rig so that I am not taking thousands of dollars worth of stuff to shows where I don't need them.  I may well use the two boards live if I start up a funeral doom band but it would have to be something slow like that for me to find time to use them all.  I can also put bigger pedals on it or pull stuff on or off without upsetting my main gigging board.  There are three 18V pedals on my main board (EQ, flanger, boost).

I haven't finished the smaller board yet - I've had really bad luck lately with sellers online, including a shortage of velcro for the two pedaltrain products I bought from different suppliers (the Pedaltrain Jr and the Universal Bracket kit) - but this should be the layout:



I can't imagine using more than this on a regular basis.  The other guitarist in our band uses wah; no point in both of us using it.  Of course I had to buy a second power supply (a Fuel Tank Junior), so it all gets rather expensive.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Well, both Digitech and EHX have now confirmed that their pedals are NOT harmony pedals regardless of what is said about them doing harmonies. They both play set intervals and as a result will go out of tune with some notes. They are strictly pitch shifters, which suggests that some of the labelling is a bit misleading as they do say that these pedals have harmony options. It even says so on the actual Whammy pedal! In fairness to Digitech, they did suggest the old Harmony Man as an alternative purchase, which would be completely accurate on single notes but as it's not polyphonic, would be useless on chords.  Unfortunately that's all I know about the Harmony Man at this stage so I've no idea if it's worthwhile or not.

EDIT: Having scoured my options it looks like without spending silly money on the Eventide, I have just two options:

Boss PS-6
I still dislike the idea of selecting key manually and I find the S-Bend feature horrible BUT, it is polyphonic so I can play chordal as well as single not harmonies.

Digitech Harmony Man
This one sounds better to me and offers more options but would it be frustratingly limiting only being able to play single notes?

I'm really torn on this one. I love the polyphonic nature of the Boss but in every other respect, the Digitech seems better. Any thoughts, especially from those who have tried these pedals?

[Toe-Knee]

Its expensive but this seems to be the best regarded option

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-EVENTIDE-PITCHFACTOR-INTELLIGENT-HARMONISER-PROGRAMMABLE-GUITAR-EFFECT-PEDAL-/320912841486

[seancorker]

I've been trying to think of what I want that is guitar related for my birthday next month and I'm just not sure. I don't need any more than the two guitars I have, I like my amp and the core effects I use are all great. It has crossed my mind to upgrade the Boss NS-2 for an ISP Decimator and it has also crossed my mind to change the Korg Pitch Black for the TC Electronics Polyphonic tuner but neither is really a pressing need. Another idea was to get a Boss GE-7 as at the moment the only EQ I use is on the amp and it strikes me that such a pedal could be really useful.

I do have two other ideas. One is to get the EHX B9 as I've tried that and it's a lot of fun but for £160, I wonder just how much I'll use it once the novelty has worn off. The other idea is to get some sort of pitch shifter/harmonizer like the EHX Pitch Fork but as I've never tried one of those and I'm not sure how useful it is in the real world of cover songs, improvised solos and covers bands. Does anybody have any experience of these pedals who could offer a perspective?

I loved the B9 up until I played a Maj7th interval and it made a horrible noise - I don't know why it struggles with that particular interval but its a deal breaker.

If you want to treat yourself, what about a set of top notch guitar cables and patch leads - it made a noticeable difference to my tone

[Dave Sloven]

I find the S-Bend feature horrible

Seriously?  It's called that?  Not sure if S-bend means the same thing everywhere in English, but here it refers to a toilet trap

edit: I watched a couple of videos of that S-bend thing and it sounds like shiteeee, so I guess the name is appropriate!!  Especially as a whammy.  I will admit that it can do some cool Devo style effects though in the following video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfWHqiCGW28

[Slartibartfarst42]

Seriously?  It's called that?  Not sure if S-bend means the same thing everywhere in English, but here it refers to a toilet trap

edit: I watched a couple of videos of that S-bend thing and it sounds like shiteeeee, so I guess the name is appropriate!! 

So you can see why I wasn't impressed!!! The ONLY advantage the PS-6 has over the Harmony Man is that it's polyphonic. Unfortunately, that is quite a big feature. If it wasn't my dilemma wouldn't be so diffitult.