DigiTech HammerOn

The name is the point. A hammer-on is a left-hand technique where you fret a higher note without picking it; the HammerOn does the same job with pitch shifting, so a single picked note can leap to another interval under your foot. In DigiTech's demo with MonoNeon, the company describes the pedal as one that "melts into your technique just like a traditional guitar or bass hammer on/pull-off"¹.

The controls and modes

The HammerOn gives you seven modes, selected with a Mode button². Three of them are named in the reviews: Hammer On, Impossible and Sequence².

Hammer On mode is the default. You select a note for the pedal to shift to, and each press of a footswitch pitches your note up or down to whichever octave or interval you set⁵. The two momentary footswitches are the heart of it: one jumps an octave up, the second jumps two octaves up, and because they are momentary the shift lasts only as long as you hold them, like a hammer-on followed by a pull-off⁵.

The Pitch 2 footswitch also works in conjunction with the Mode button across the Hammer On, Impossible and Sequence options².

Impossible Mode

Impossible Mode is not new to DigiTech. It was carried over from the iStomp-era Impossible Pedal, and DigiTech's artist page on Adrian Belew notes that "The Impossible Mode has now made its way into the new DigiTech HammerOn pedal"⁸. Belew, a longtime Whammy player, did not yet have the HammerOn on his pedalboard when that page was written, though DigiTech expected it would not be long⁸.

Sequence mode and note runs

Sequence mode is where the HammerOn stops behaving like a technique substitute and starts behaving like a player. You can program sequences of two, three or five notes, fully programmable with no presets, so whatever notes you want⁷. Hit a single note and the pedal shifts to a different note each time, which DigiTech's demonstrator at NAMM described as "like a delay modulation and a hammer on" combined⁷.

Guitar World's reviewer found this opens up lines you would otherwise have to practice for years:

One thing to keep straight: the speed control does not set how fast the pitch shifts. Guitar Pedal X notes that the speed function applies to Trill Auto-Repeater sequences, with universal tempo, not to the pitch-shift interval itself⁹. The shift is instant either way.

Power and connections

The back panel is simple: a single 1/4-inch input, a single 1/4-inch output, and a 9V DC jack⁵². It draws 300mA⁵², which is well beyond what a typical analog pedal pulls, so give it its own outlet on a power supply rather than sharing a daisy chain with low-current pedals. There is no battery compartment⁵. Guitar Player notes the adapter is included².

How it differs from the Whammy Ricochet

The HammerOn's closest relative in the DigiTech line is the Whammy Ricochet, a compact pitch-shifter introduced in 2016 that put the Whammy pitch-shifting effect into a small pedal¹⁰. Guitar World's reviewer notes the HammerOn "bears a striking resemblance" to the Ricochet, though slightly taller and distinctly wider⁵.

The functional difference is the shift response. The Ricochet ramps to its target pitch over a timed interval, mimicking the motion of a whammy bar being pushed down; the HammerOn shifts instantly, the moment you tap⁹. Guitar Pedal X frames the HammerOn as an evolution of the Ricochet format that brings it closer to the original Whammy's fuller feature set⁴, with its sequence mode, Trill Auto-Repeater and Impossible Mode adding up to the "seven pedals in one" claim³.

What reviewers said

Reviews have been positive and consistent about one thing: the HammerOn does something other pedals do not. Guitar World's verdict lists "does something totally unique" among its strengths⁵. Guitar Player's Jimmy Leslie went further:

He described the pedal's creativity factor as absolutely off the charts². Guitar.com's Richard Purvis reviewed it in August 2025 at £219/$299⁶, and a later Guitar.com piece on the Boss XS-1 Poly Shifter used the HammerOn as the comparison point for the new Boss pedal¹¹.

On price, Guitar World lists a launch price of $279.99⁵, while Guitar.com's reviews give $299⁶¹¹. Both are listed above with their dates.

A demo worth watching

Premier Guitar's NAMM 2025 video with DigiTech's demonstrator walks through the pedal's functions, including the sequence mode's two-, three- and five-note programmable progressions and the Trill Auto-Repeater with its tempo knob⁷.

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Videos

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Questions