Can The Drop REPLACE a BARITONE? • BO/013

Can we take a 24.75” scale guitar (Gibson scale) which is tuned to E standard and can we use The Drop to go SUPER low? 

The DigiTech Drop is a polyphonic  drop tune pedal that allows you to drop your tuning by 7 semitones (or 7 half-steps), all the way down to a full octave. There is also a dry signal option on the full octave.  

POLYPHONIC 
Unlike a typical octave pedal, the drop can produce more than one note at a time, meaning it can reproduce not only multiple notes that make up a chord, but also does a pretty good job of the overall harmonic content of an electric guitar. 

WHAT IT DOES 
From E standard, you can pitch the whole guitar down in these increments - E flat standard, D standard, D flat standard, C standard, B standard, B flat standard, and A standard. Beyond that we have a whole octave down.  

STUFF TO CONSIDER 
- There is slight latency. Especially when used in front of a modeller which already has very slight latency. Together the latency can be felt. Not enough to bother me, but the picky-Petes out there might have issues. 
  
- On the lower side of things chugs are a bit soft and aliasing / tracking errors become more prevalent  

- If playing at low volume, original, naked string notes harmonize and can be distracting. Up the amp volume to fix that. Or only play an octave down. Headphones are the ultimate solve.  

- As good as it pitch corrects such complex material, it does sound processed. It’s a sound. Not bad or good, it’s just there and audible. 

- the more complex the chords the more difficulty the box has. 

- For you contra-bass fans, pitching the low E of a bass down, doesn’t really work. The bass in this track standard tuned and played in unison.  

DOES IT REPLACE A BARITONE? 
Kind of. It’s a quick solution to going lower. It seems best for down-tuning very simple material, Single notes / power chords. 

Where it shines is as a momentary special effect in a section or part of a song. 

All that said, if you work with it’s strengths, you could base an entire project around this pedal.   

It doesn’t do what my actual baritones do, but I don’t think that’s the point of this box. I had A LOT of fun with the Drop and look forward to being creative with it. If you work with it, you can make some cool stuff. 

SOME TIPS IN USING THE DROP 
- works better when the guitar is in higher tunings - E, D, C. Gets muddy and tracks poorly the lower the source notes.  

- cut that bass, cutting bass on the amp settings or using a hi-pass in your modeller or daw helps with mud 

- mid boost after the the Drop (tube screamer or eq) to get a bit more clarity. 

- other than a noise gate, put all pedals after the Drop 
- minimize compound latency. Using it in front of a analog amp will yield the least latency. Into a modeller, then into a DAW is 3 x latency.  

- if bedroom playing, use headphones to eliminate naked string harmonization.  

- write to the Drop, don’t get mad if your existing material isn’t working with it. It likes tidiness and simplicity.  

The Drop • Digitech.com

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Be STOKED. Go LOW! 
Bunn

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