Boss Gt8

using pitch shift to detune guitar down a 1/2 or full step has anybody had any luck doing this if so how?

If you are trying to tune your guitar down to Eb or D, it might be best to simply use a tuner and tune down instead of using a pitch shifter. Pitch shifters can be great! But there is inherent timbre and texture on the guitar when the strings are slightly looser with a lower tuning. It sounds incredible! An effect you might not get when using a digital pitch shifter to simulate the lower pitches.

The most amazing pitch shifting I've ever gotten is out of my Roland Guitar Synth.

https://www.roland.com/us/categories/guitar_bass/guitar_synthesizers/

Here's why...

Most pitch shifting effects apply to the guitar signal as a whole, which means all of the strings at once.

The Roland Guitar Synth / pickup splits the signal of each individual string and treats them separately. (6 different pitch shifters, so you can control each string's pitch separately). This makes a HUGE difference in the quality of the pitch shift effect.

Most importantly, chords come out sounding realistic! Rather than a weird fuzzy confused digital noise sound.

I tuned my whole guitar down an octave with it and it sounded totally realistic, no digital pitch-shifting artifacts you'd usually get when all the strings are processed together.

I'd like to do more with this tool the future. Never heard anything like it.

-Carl.