A vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings. It adds vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the strings, typically at the bridge or tailpiece of an electric guitar using a controlling lever, which is alternately referred to as a whammy bar, vibrato bar, or tremolo arm.[1] The lever enables the player to quickly and temporarily vary the tension and sometimes length of the strings, changing the pitch to create a vibrato, portamento, or pitch bend effect. Instruments without a vibrato have other bridge and tailpiece systems.
The pitch-bending effects have become an important part of many styles, allowing creation of sounds that could not be played without the device, such as the 1980s-era shred guitar "dive bomb" effect.
The mechanical vibrato systems began as a device for more easily producing the vibrato effects that blues and jazz guitarists had achieved on arch top guitars by manipulating the tailpiece with their picking hand. Guitar makers have developed a variety of vibrato systems since the 1890s.[2]
A vibrato-equipped guitar is typically more difficult to re-string and tune than a fixed-tailpiece guitar.[3]
Though a guitar's "tremolo arm" can produce variations of pitch, including vibrato, it cannot produce tremolo (rapid modulation of volume). However it has become common practice for electric guitarists and manufacturers to use the terms vibrato and tremolo the other way round when referring to hardware devices and the effects they produce. This reversal of terminology is generally attributed to Leo Fender and the naming of his 1954 Stratocaster mechanical vibrato system as a "Tremolo Device for Stringed Instruments".[6][1] Additionally, the 1956 Fender "Vibrolux" guitar amplifier, used electronically generated tremolo that Fender called "vibrato". Other classic guitar amplifiers contain electronic "vibrato units" that produce a tremolo effect via a tremolo circuit.
Doc Kauffman patent application for his "Vibrola" device (see below) spoke of "producing tremolo effects" in 1928.
Other widely used names for the device include "vibrato bar" and "whammy bar", the latter attributed to guitarist Lonnie Mack's aggressive, rapid manipulation of the pitch-bending device in his 1963 song "Wham!"[7] It has also been called a "whang bar".[8]
Designs
Most vibrato systems for guitar are based on one of four basic designs:
Many other designs exist in smaller numbers, notably several original designs marketed by Gibson under the Vibrola name, which they also used for some licensed Bigsby units.
The world's first patented mechanical vibrato unit was created and designed by Doc Kauffman. The initial patent was filed in August 1929 and was officially published in 1932 under the title, Apparatus for producing tremolo effects.[9] Between 1920 and 1980 Kauffman collaborated with many pioneering guitar manufacturers including Rickenbacker, Gibson and Fender. In the late 1930s Rickenbacker produced the first commercial batch of electric Spanish guitars, utilizing the Kauffman "Vib-rol-a" as a stock option,[10] thus setting precedence for electric guitars produced by Fender and Gibson.
The Epiphone guitar company first offered the Vibrola as an option on some archtop guitars from 1935 to 1937. Epiphone sold the Vibrola as an aftermarket option as well.[11] This Vibrola was also used on some Rickenbacker lap steel guitars at around the same time and was introduced on their six string 'Electro Spanish' guitars beginning about 1937.
Some early Vibrolas on Rickenbacker guitars were not operated by hand, but rather moved with an electrical mechanism developed by Doc Kauffman to simulate the pitch manipulation available with steel guitars. The Vibrola distributed as an option with Rickenbacker Electro Spanish guitars was hand operated like the earliest Epiphone Vibrolas.[12] A later unit was created and used on Rickenbacker's Capri line of guitars in the 1950s, such as John Lennon's 1958 Rickenbacker 325. It was a side-to-side action vibrato unit (rather than the up-down action of later units) that was notorious for throwing the guitar out of tune, hence Lennon's replacing his with a Bigsby B5 unit[13] (Lennon's 1964 Rickenbacker 325 came fitted with a Rickenbacker Ac'cent vibrato unit).[14]
The first commercially successful vibrato system for guitar was the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece, often just called a Bigsby, invented by Paul Bigsby (US Patent D169120 filed in 1952, issued in 1953).[15] The exact date of its first availability is uncertain, as Bigsby kept few records, but it was on Bigsby-built guitars photographed in 1952, in what became its standard form.[16]
In several interviews, the late Merle Travis, for whom Bigsby designed his first vibrato, recalled the prototype as being built for him in the "late '40s". The design uses a spring-loaded arm that rotates a cylindrical bar in the tailpiece, varying the string tension to create vibrato and other pitch variations. The string tension is balanced against a single, short helical compressionspring, positioned under the arm pivot.
Blues-rock guitar pioneer Lonnie Mack, who considered Travis one of his three most significant guitar inspirations,[17] was known for using a Bigsby on his 1958 Gibson Flying V electric guitar.[18]
The Bigsby remains popular, especially on hollow-body guitars. It's available as a factory-fitted option on top-line models both hollow and solid-bodied from many makers, and as an aftermarket addition. It remains the only widely used design whose mechanism is entirely above the belly of the guitar body, making it particularly suitable for acoustic and semi-acoustic guitars.
Fender designs
Fender "synchronized tremolo"
Sketch of Fender synchronized tremolo from 1954 patent application
After the Bigsby, the next major development was Leo Fender's synchronized tremolo, the device that introduced the term tremolo arm (U.S. patent 2,741,146 filed in 1954, issued in 1956).[19] First released in 1954 on Fender's Stratocaster, the simple but effective design offers a greater range of pitch change than the Bigsby, and a better capability for up-bends. Fender wrongly labeled the arm as a "tremolo arm" rather than a "vibrato arm", conversely referring to the tremolo circuit on his amplifiers as "vibrato".[20]
Vibrato systems send a guitar out of tune when friction inhibits the vibrating length of string from returning to its original tension after a pitch bend. Fender's design is 'synchronized' in the way that the bridge saddles and string ends move together as one rigid unit, mostly eliminating sliding between string and saddle.
The unit attaches to the guitar's body with six steel wood screws. So the bridge can pivot smoothly about the screws, the upper portion of each one is unthreaded, they are not tightened all the way, and they pass through slightly oversized holes in the plate at the center of the design.
Bridge of synchronized tremolo
Rear view of synchronized tremolo. Note that there is provision for up to five springs. Only three are fitted here to allow for use of light strings, there being no other adjustment.
Six bridge saddles are held against this plate by string tension, individually adjustable both for height and intonation. Another of the components which make up the tailpiece consists of a solid block of metal, commonly made of zinc, but aftermarket products can be made out of materials such as titanium or brass (often like the saddles). The different compositions, as well as its mass, helps to determine the quality of the sound of the guitar. The block is secured to the base plate by three machine screws and resides in a cavity routed all the way through the guitar's body. In this cavity, up to five coil springs tether the end of the bridge block to the body, counteracting the pull of the strings, should this be the setup choice for the guitarist. There can even be differing sizes of tremolo arms in thickness depending on the date and country of manufacture.
The number and length of springs may be adjusted to set the neutral position of the bridge, determining the range of upward and downward pitch bending available. A bridge set to 'float' off the guitar lets the guitarist raise the pitch until the bridge presses against the body. Pitch bends are accomplished by pulling up or down on an arm screwed into the tailpiece block, usually free to swing.
The Fender synchronized tremolo is the most widely copied vibrato system. The original design is still in production virtually unchanged today.
The synchronized tremolo may have been the reason for the popularity of the Stratocaster among rock musicians in the late '60s and '70s. Owing to its superiority in aggressive use, all Fender guitars using any other vibrato system other than the synchronized tremolo were for a time withdrawn, to return to the catalog as classic or retro models in the '90s.
Fender two-point "synchronized tremolo"
Later models are pivoted about two specially shaped studs rather than a row of six screws. This development sacrifices economical manufacture for decreased friction at the pivot point.
Currently, the Fender two-point system is their standard and most popular design.
Featuring stainless steel block saddles since its introduction in 1986, the Fender two-point system has been redesigned with new vintage-style bent sheet steel saddles as of 2008. The Fender two-point system is available with two types of "tremolo bars": traditional "screw-in" type with a plastic tip at the end and deluxe "pop-in" type without the plastic tip.
Not to be confused with the similarly named Floyd Rose two-point locking tremolo, the two systems use the words two-point to describe entirely different concepts.
Fender floating bridge
The floating bridge featured on two Fender "tremolo arm" designs, both developed by Leo Fender subsequently to the original synchronized tremolo but overshadowed by it. Despite its not being the most popular bridge, there are benefits unique to guitars with this type of bridge (See 3rd bridge guitars).
The floating tremolo was designed by Fender for the Fender Jazzmaster, and first appeared with the release of the Jazzmaster in 1958. A larger, heavier and more complex vibrato mechanism than the synchronized tremolo and promoted over it by Fender as their premium "tremolo arm" mechanism, it never achieved the same popularity, though if properly set up according to Fender's recommendations, it held tune as well as or better than the synchronized tremolo unit.[citation needed] A major cause of the floating tremolo's increasingly poor reputation since its introduction is the far-increased availability and popularity of lighter guitar strings, which do not produce enough tension in standard tuning to compensate for the low break-angle over the bridge and, in the Jaguar's case, the exceptionally short scale length of 24 inches. This places relatively little downwards force on the bridge, making it unreliable in returning to the correct position after tremolo operation.[21]
The main difference is that, while much of the mechanism of the synchronized tremolo including the springs is accessed by removing a rectangular plate in the back of the guitar body, and is mounted on the guitar body in a routed bay extending behind the pickups, the entire mechanism of the floating tremolo is mounted on a roughly triangular chromed plate in the front of the guitar body, on the opposite side of the bridge to the pickups. The string tension is balanced against a single short helical spring, in compression rather than tension, mounted on the back of the "tremolo mounting plate". The spring is adjustable by turning a screw located towards the center of this plate.
The ferrule ends of the strings are held on the top of the guitar in a tailpiece plate called the knife plate, which emerges from the mechanism, rather than the strings vanishing into the mechanism as with the synchronized tremolo. It is the knife plate that is moved when the tremolo arm is operated. Unlike the synchronized tremolo, the bridge is not moved directly by the mechanism, but only by the movement of the strings, and is allowed to tilt to accommodate this movement. This is called a floating bridge.
The Fender floating tremolo also features a knob that enables the player to lock, and thus disable, the tremolo mechanism. This facilitates quick retuning in the event of a string breaking and strives to provide tuning stability similar to a fixed bridge guitar. In practice, the lock doesn't generally achieve as much stability as a fixed bridge, leading some players to replace the mechanism with a fixed bridge and tailpiece.[citation needed] The "floating tremolo" was greatly favored by some surf music bands, particularly for its ability to produce a pronounced and distinctive vibrato on a sustained chord without disturbing the tuning of the guitar. To fully achieve this benefit however, correct setup, as per Fender's recommendations, was essential.
In addition to the Jazzmaster, Fender used the floating tremolo on the then top-of-the-line Fender Jaguars, released in 1962, and also on the Fender Bass VI, released in 1961. Jaguar and Jazzmasters share the same bridge plate and string saddles, though Jaguar bridges (and the earliest Jazzmaster bridges) have taller legs. The two are functionally interchangeable and replacement parts for each are identical. The Bass VI bridge has a wider plate and longer intonation screws to accommodate bass string intonation, and the saddles have threads cut for larger diameter strings.[original research?] There have also been a small number of not very notable imitations by other makers, generally without the locking knob. Fender discontinued all floating tremolo models by 1980, but reintroduced both the Jazzmaster and Jaguar first as Japanese models in the mid 1980s, then as American-made reissues in the 1990s. The tremolo-equipped Bass VI was reintroduced as a US Custom Shop model in 2006.
An advantage or disadvantage, depending on taste, is string resonance audible at several fret positions where a simple relation exists between the length to the fret and the string length behind the bridge (for instance 48:12=4:1). At those positions, a high overtone rises in volume. This becomes clearer with an over-driven guitar sound. The overtone might sound odd, but it still has a harmonic relation to the note, so is not out of tune related to the open string. For staccato playing, it can be annoying.[opinion] Muting the strings behind the bridge with felt or other material solves the issue.[original research?]
The Fender Dynamic Vibrato (also colloquially referred to as the Mustang tremolo or Stang trem) was introduced in 1964 on the Fender Mustang, intended as a student model. It was also notably used on the Jag-Stang, a custom design by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain combining features of the Jaguar and the Mustang. Some late 1960s Mustangs were fitted instead with the floating tremolo, which was promoted by Fender as their premium unit, but later Mustangs returned to the Dynamic Vibrato.
The Dynamic Vibrato is still preferred by some lead guitarists above all other designs. It features a floating bridge similar to that of the floating tremolo, but the bridge is integral with the vibrato unit, unlike that of the floating tremolo, which is mounted separately. The strings are controlled by a tailpiece bar to which the vibrato arm is visibly connected, similar to the Bigsby, and the mechanism is installed from the top of the instrument, similar to the floating tremolo. It combines some features of all three basic designs.
The Dynamic Vibrato is often confused with the Fender floating tremolo, which it resembles. The original production runs of the two overlap by more than a decade, but the mechanisms are quite different. The existence of a few 1960s Mustangs factory fitted with the floating tremolo has probably added to the confusion. The concealed mechanism is in a chamber of a completely different shape and position, requiring an impractical amount of woodwork to convert from one to the other, and the mounting plate is of a different shape with different mounting holes.
The string tension is balanced against two medium length helical springs under tension, mounted on the underside of the tremolo mounting plate, one attached to each of the two feet of the tailpiece bar. Dynamic Vibrato units may be recognized by the integrated floating bridge and the stamps "Fender" and "DYNAMIC VIBRATO". Many but not all units also have the words "PAT PEND" or "PAT. NO. 3,241,418" stamped under the word "Fender". The Dynamic Vibrato was the last of the floating bridge designs Fender discontinued, with the Mustang in 1982—and the first they reintroduced, again with the Mustang, in 1990.
Other Fender designs
Fender Vibrato Tailpiece (or Fender Steel Vibrato) on Fender Bronco.
Still another design appeared on the student model Fender Bronco, released mid-1967. This was simply known as the Fender vibrato tailpiece, or sometimes the Fender steel vibrato. It was again designed by Leo Fender although he had sold the company by the time it appeared. Basically, a synchronized tremolo simplified to reduce cost, it had little popularity, and as of 2005[update] was the only Leo Fender vibrato arm design not available on any current Fender model.
In 1981 G&L released the F-100 guitar with a dual-fulcrum vibrato designed by Leo Fender, one of G&L's owners.
From the 1950s, Gibson offered either a guitar-shaped Gibson Vibra-Rest or a Bigsby option.[22]
Since the early 1960s, Gibson have marketed a number of vibrato system designs under the name "Vibrola".
Vibrola tailpieces include a licensed version of the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece, earlier version of Maestro Vibrola (or Epiphone Tremotone[23][24]) using roller bridge (U.S. patent 3,124,991 filed in 1961, issued in 1964),[22] and several in-house Gibson designs. The Gibson designs did not have the impact of the Bigsby and Fender designs, and have inspired few if any copies, but they competed reasonably successfully and continue to sell.
Gibson designs tend to have the mechanism surface-mounted on the belly of guitar, similar to the Bigsby, and are therefore equally suitable for use on acoustic guitars and especially on archtops. This reflects the Gibson company's history as the developer of the archtop guitars, and their continued strength and focus on this market, but carries over even to the designs used only on solid body guitars, such as the Short Lyre Vibrola used on some Flying V and SG models. While these do require some woodwork for installation (primarily drilling), this is minimal in comparison to the routing required for the more common Fender synchronized, floating, and dynamic vibratos.
The Gibson Vibrato, an earliest Gibson-designed vibrato systems, was a distinctive long tailpiece released in 1962 on some SG models. This mechanism later became known as the side-to-side vibrato (or Sideways Vibrola)[22] because of the position of the lever, which emerged from the side of the long tailpiece. This lever had only restricted movement up and down in a plane close to that of the strings, so its action was unlike that of the Bigsby and Fender units, and remains unique. It was also described as the "Gibson Vibrola Tailpiece" in Gibson documents, but this name can be applied to any of the Gibson vibrato mechanisms. It was not a success and is of interest mainly to historians and collectors. Also an earliest short vibrato, referred as "ebony vibratowith the inlaid pearl", was seen on the several Les Paul/SG Standard in the same year.[25]
The Deluxe Gibson Vibrato (or Gibson Deluxe Vibrola, etc)—another long tailpiece mechanism, released in 1963—replaced the Gibson Vibrato. Its vibrato arm and all subsequent designs adopted the action popularized by Bigsby and Fender. Short version of Deluxe Gibson Vibrola was fitted as standard to the 1967 reissue Gibson Flying V. Also, there are two other names on the Deluxe Gibson Vibrato: "Lyre Vibrola" nicknamed after the lyre engraved on the cover plate, which was fitted to Gibson ES-335 series as an option by 1964; and "Maestro Vibrola" renamed for keeping Maestro brand, which was an option on the ES-335 by 1967.
Most Vibrola tailpieces, including the Bigsby, Lyre and Maestro, exist in both long and short versions. The long version replaces a trapeze-style tailpiece, such as found on most archtop guitars, and transmits the string tension to the guitar side. The short version replaces a string stop style tailpiece, such as found on the original Gibson Les Paul, and transmits the string tension to the guitar belly, so short versions are generally used only on solid body guitars. Long tailpieces can be used on almost any guitar (an exception being the Gibson Flying V where there is no room for one), and both long and short versions have been used on various models of Gibson SG and Gibson Les Paul guitars.
The Gibson designs were less suitable for the sounds that the Stratocaster tremolo and its derivatives made possible. They have almost always been offered as extra cost options on guitars that sold better in non-vibrato versions. As a result, some versions are rare and command high prices from restorers and collectors. Gibson encourages this trend by refusing to sell reissue units as parts, offering them only on complete guitars (a policy similar to most guitar manufacturers). As of 2006[update] Gibson was continuing to offer Vibrola units as options on many models, but also offered a few Fender-inspired tremolo arms such as the Floyd Rose on some Gibson branded guitars (Nighthawk, M3), and a wider variety through their Kramer and Epiphone brands. Kramer have always fitted Floyd Rose trems as standard and this association continues.
Other designs
Rockinger tremolo system on Rockinger electric guitar
Other notable vibrato designs include the Kahler, Washburn Wonderbar, Hagstrom Tremar, The Semie Moseley-designed Mosrite "Vibramute", the Stetsbar, the crossed-roller bearing linear tremolo and the early Rockinger from Germany. This last company was contracted by Kramer to develop a new fine-tuning tremolo with Edward Van Halen. The Rockinger designs proved problematic and Van Halen ultimately came to favor the Floyd Rose tremolo.
The Mosrite Vibrato
Mosrite Vibrato (6-string neck, right side in photo) on Joe Maphis model
Semie Moseley developed the vibrato unit used on his Mosrite guitars from the basic concept of the Bigsby vibrato, but with many engineering improvements. The entire vibrato unit is top mounted. The strings feed through six holes in the upright plate at the rear of the unit (somewhat similar to the Fender Floating Trem) and the bridge is also rigidly mounted. But the string saddles are vertically mounted grooved "wheels" that roll with the string during vibrato usage, and also make palm muting very easy to achieve. Moseley advertised the unit as the "feather touch" vibrato, and the touch is exceptionally light with all but heavy gauge strings. Pitch stability is excellent. Moseley made several designs of the unit, the first being sand cast, with early versions having an attached string mute beneath the bridge (much like the Fender Jaguar) and a rather short handle. This he called the "Vibramute". Two years later, he slightly simplified the design, going to a die cast design, eliminating the mute (which more players complained about than favored) and lengthening the vibrato arm slightly. This incarnation, called the "Moseley", was used on all Mosrite guitars from that point on. The actual feel and response of the two different models is virtually identical, however. Moseley also designed a companion 12-string vibrato for the 12-string version of the instrument, and this may have been one of the only – if not the only – vibratos designed for use on a 12-string guitar.
Locking tremolo
Floyd Rose
Floyd Rose concept, using a blade edge pivot but otherwise based on the Fender synchronized tremolo. I is in pitch, II is a downbend, III an upbend.
Around 1979, Floyd D. Rose invented the locking tremolo. This vibrato system became highly popular among 1980s heavy metal guitarists due to its tuning stability and wide range of pitch variation. The original Floyd Rose system was similar to the Fender synchronized tremolo, but with a number of extra mechanisms. The first and most obvious is a locking plate on the head nut, tightened with a hex key that fixes the strings at this point after tuning. This provides extra tuning stability, particularly while using the vibrato arm—but it also prevents tuning with the machine heads.
Floyd Rose Pro kit, double locking with fine tuners. See the image description for the numbered parts.
Fine tuners have been provided as part of the bridge mechanism on all but the earliest units to allow minor retuning without unlocking the nut. It is rumored, but has never been confirmed that Eddie Van Halen had a part in the inclusion of the fine tuning unit. In a 1982 Guitar World interview for Van Halen's Diver Down album, Eddie claimed that he co-invented the fine tuners.
Nonetheless, a gift of a unit to Van Halen by Floyd Rose himself gave the unit instant overnight success and credibility. Still more stability was provided by the addition of a second lock on the bridge nut, making a double locking tremolo system that was more complex to set up. The double locking design is sometimes called a two-point locking tremolo, inviting confusion with the Fender two-point synchronized tremolo, which is a different concept and not a locking tremolo at all.
Many guitars equipped with locking tremolo systems have a cavity routed in the body beneath and behind the bridge, extending the range of motion, a concept first popularized by Steve Vai.
Floyd Rose or Floyd Rose licensed locking tremolo units are available factory fitted on many guitars, as well as complete aftermarket retrofit kits. Fitting the correct kit to a guitar already fitted with a compatible tremolo may be quite straightforward; on others a high level of woodworking skill may be required, or it may not be possible at all.
The Fender Deluxe "Locking Tremolo" (better known as Fender/Floyd Rose) is essentially a modified American "2-point tremolo" bridge with locking saddles and pop-in arm. Designed by Fender and Floyd Rose himself, this type of tremolo bridge was introduced in the early '90s on the Deluxe Plus and Ultra series guitars. The concept is primarily intended for guitarists searching for the features of a locking tremolo system without the need to perform routing on their instrument. Nowadays, the Fender Deluxe tremolo is available on American Deluxe, Plus, Ultra Series and many Custom Shop guitars. The whole assembly also includes a set of locking machine heads and an LSR roller nut for optimal tuning stability.
Floyd Rose also produces complete guitars with their tremolo systems - most notably with the Speedloader system, which eliminates conventional peghead tuners, leaving all tuning to the bridge end of the strings. They accomplish this without sacrificing stability by requiring strings that are produced to extremely fine length tolerances, essentially having two ferrule ends and no tail. As of 2006[update] the Speedloader system is the latest Floyd Rose design, but has yet to catch on to the degree Floyd Rose's original tremolo did.
In 2015,[26] the company began the commercialization of the FRX surface-mounting locking tremolo system, designed to fit exactly on Tune-O-Matic bridge guitars, but with a locking nut that is fastened to the truss rod cover. This model resembles the Washburn Wonderbar in that the springs and strings do not go through the body, thus eliminating the routing necessary to install the classic Floyd Rose tremolo in classic, fixed-bridge electric guitars.[27]
Locking synchronized
One of the most simplified ways to have a double locking tremolo system without making any major alteration to a solid-body electric guitar can be done by using a modified American Series 2-point synchronized bridge with locking saddles, a set of locking machine heads and a low-friction LSR Roller Nut. Fender's version of this system is also known as Fender/Floyd Rose (Fender Deluxe Locking Tremolo Assembly), as it was developed in conjunction with Floyd Rose.
Other locking systems
Several other "locking" type vibrato systems have been developed, but none of these have gained the popularity that the Floyd Rose or vintage Fender "tremolo" systems have. The most notable of these is the cam-operated Kahler Double-locking tremolo, which is similar in practical use, but not in design, to the Floyd Rose. Another system that emerged in the 1980s was the Steinberger TransTrem system (meaning Transposing Tremolo).
Ibanez have their own range of double-locking vibrato systems on their range of guitars. The Edge III tremolo, featured on their low-mid range guitars, is a very similar bridge to a Floyd Rose. It features a pop in/out arm and lower profile tuners. Another system is the Edge Zero, which has what Ibanez calls the Zero Point System. This system lets the guitarist lock the guitar's floating state for tuning purposes. There is also the Edge Pro tremolo with a very low profile. Possibly its most notable feature is that it is designed to take strings without the removal of the ball end (or stringing backwards with the ball ends at the headstock). The Edge Pro also comes in a version called the Double Edge Pro, which has piezoelectric pickups for acoustic sound.
In 2007, the Super-Vee company developed a double-locking vibrato system that requires no modifications to the body or neck of the guitar. This system received a patent for its "Blade" technology,[citation needed] which is based on what they call "frictionless action." This action removes the contact pivot point that other vibrato systems rely on, aiming to eliminate wear irregularities that cause tuning instability. Super-Vee also received a patent for their side-locking nut system,[citation needed] which does not require instrument modification.
The Steinberger TransTrem, like the Floyd Rose Speedloader, requires special strings that can only be used on the TransTrem unit. However, the TransTrem had the novel design that the bar could be pushed in to "transpose" the tuning of the entire unit to various other keys. The system saw limited use (mainly due to its high price and limited string availability), although Edward Van Halen had continued to experiment with the system. Notable Van Halen songs where the TransTrem can be heard include "Get Up" and "Summer Nights", from the album 5150.
Vibrato system additions
Various add-on gadgets strive to improve vibrato systems. An issue with nearly all vibrato systems is that bending one string can slightly drop the pitch of all the others—a problem not present on fixed-bridge instruments. One after-market tool, the Tremol-No, temporarily locks the vibrato mechanism. Two thumbscrews let a player choose between completely locked, downwards pitch only, or normal free movement.[28] One of the guitarists who was well known for using this gadget is Guthrie Govan, who had it as a standard feature on his signature guitar models from Suhr Guitars.[29][30] He has however since moved to Charvel guitars, and appears to have dropped it from his specs.[31] A few vibrato system designs also have various ability to "lock" the system's action: Steinberger TransTrem, Ibanez Edge Zero, Fender Floating/Jaguar/Jazzmaster, and the ChordBender.
Many vibrato systems can be set up in such a way that they allow for changing string pitch both up and down. Eddie Van Halen preferred instead to have his set up so it is flush with the guitar body,[32] which has two advantages: first, a broken string doesn't effect the pitch of the other strings, and it can accommodate attachment of a device called a D-Tuna to the bridge. This device can drop the low E-string down a whole step to D to extend the tonal variety of the guitar, even during live performance.[33]
Duane Eddy established his "twangy guitar" sound with a Bigsby vibrato on his Gretsch guitar. Classic examples of this are his recordings of "Rebel Rouser" and "Peter Gunn".
Lonnie Mack's "Wham!" (1963) is said to have inspired the nickname "whammy bar".[36][7] According to Neil Young, who, like Mack, favors the Bigsby, "Did I do that first? No, I didn't do that first. You've got to look at guys like Lonnie Mack. He showed everybody how to use a wang bar."[37]
Prior to Jimi Hendrix, many guitarists used the Fender or Bigsby vibrato to approximate the pedal steel or slide guitar tones found in Hawaiian or Country music. This early vibrato was actuated after striking chords or individual notes; lowering or modulating the pitch as the notes decayed. Hendrix greatly extended the use of vibrato. His studio tracks "Third Stone from the Sun", "Axis: Bold as Love", and "Voodoo Child" (among others) introduced his use of the Stratocaster vibrato. Live tracks such as "The Star-Spangled Banner", "I Don't Live Today", and "Machine Gun" featured vibrato to mimic rockets, bombs, screams and other sound effects—all within the context of blues-based psychedelic rock.
A more powerful and heavier use of the vibrato bar is the effect created by grabbing and shaking the bar violently. This style of playing occurs often in heavy metal leads. The band Slayer makes heavy use of vibrato bars; their 1986 song "Raining Blood" fully illustrates this style. They often combine vibrato effects with natural and artificial harmonics, to make a "screaming" or "squealing" sound. Slayer guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman began using these harmonic squeal effects in 1981.
Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin used a Fender Stratocaster with a "trem" on live versions of the song "In the Evening" to create a pitch change with every chord.
Lovebites guitarist Midori utilizing her guitar's whammy bar
Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave) used an Ibanez locking trem on many solos. On the track "Sleep Now in the Fire" from The Battle of Los Angeles, he uses the vibrato bar in unison with kill-switching[further explanation needed] to raise and lower the sound of the feedback from his amplifier. On the Audioslave track "Original Fire" from Revelations, he depresses the bar to slack and then taps the strings against the pickups and then releases the bar to raise the pitch of the sound. This emulates the sound of monkeys laughing.[38][bettersourceneeded]
Adrian Belew incorporated frequent use of the vibrato arm on his Stratocaster and Parker guitars. The vibrato arm is often integral to "sound effects" such as animal voices or industrial noises. On the track "Twang Bar King", from the album of the same title, he uses the "twang bar" in a particularly over the top way, effectively resulting in a parody of his own style and vibrato arm use in general.
Neil Young makes extensive use of a Bigsby vibrato in most of his electric-guitar work, producing an almost constant shifting of pitch in some solos, and simple chord-vibrato in rhythm work. This is accomplished by keeping a grip on the arm of the unit while moving the pick. This technique is prominent on his more hard-rock songs such as "Like a Hurricane", "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" and "Rockin' in the Free World".
Joe Satriani uses the arm on his Ibanez Edge Trem System often; most of the time to make his signature "Satriani Scream", where he plays a harmonic near the bridge on the G-string and raises the bar. It can be heard on many songs, including "Surfing With The Alien", "The Extremist", and "Flying in a Blue Dream". This technique is used by many similar guitarists of the genre including Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Brian "Head" Welch and James "Munky" Schaffer of Korn, and John Petrucci of Dream Theater.
Jeff Beck was an acknowledged[by whom?] master of the whammy bar. Arguably the best known example of his work is "Where Were You" from the 1989 album Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop.
Les Claypool (Primus) installed a Kahler "bass tremolo" on his main four-string bass, a Carl Thompson fretted four string bass guitar. He uses the "tremolo" to create the wobbling bass tone heard on "Frizzle Fry", "Nature Boy", "Too Many Puppies" and "John the Fisherman", along with other Primus songs and in solo work.
Andy Scott (Sweet) used the tremolo arm with his Gibson 335 and Fender Stratocaster. An example is the recording of "Sweet Fanny Adams/Desolation Boulevard", especially the "Sweet FA" end section.
Herman Li (DragonForce) used vibrato in almost all his guitar solos, producing several unique sound effects. "The Elephant" (first heard by Eddie Van Halen in the mid 1980s), where he turns the volume down, plays a note, raises the pitch with the arm and turns the volume up at the same time, creating a sound similar to an elephant's trumpeting. He also removes the arm and strums it across the strings, creating the "Pac-Man" noise, or runs it up and down the string, creating a "ghost noise". In the song "Cry For Eternity" he combines these, playing four pac-man noises, followed immediately by an Elephant noise.
Edward Van Halen used many distinct animal noises with his vibrato. He used the "horse whinny" at the beginning of Van Halen's 5150 song "Good Enough". The "horse whinny" is accomplished by striking an artificial harmonic and then raising the arm and then lowering the arm while applying vibrato to mimic a horse's whinny. He is also heard in the mid 1980s doing other animal noises such as "the elephant" to mimic an elephant trumpet.
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickups to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical signals, which ultimately are reproduced as sound by loudspeakers. The sound is sometimes shaped or electronically altered to achieve different timbres or tonal qualities from that of an acoustic guitar via amplifier settings or knobs on the guitar. Often, this is done through the use of effects such as reverb, distortion and "overdrive"; the latter is considered to be a key element of electric blues guitar music and jazz, rock and heavy-metal guitar-playing. Designs also exist combining attributes of the electric and acoustic guitars: the semi-acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars.
In music, tremolo, or tremolando, is a trembling effect. There are multiple types of tremolo: a rapid repetition of a note, an alternation between two different notes, or a variation in volume.
The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, or simply Floyd Rose, is a type of locking vibrato arm for a guitar. Floyd D. Rose invented the locking vibrato in 1976, the first of its kind, and it is now manufactured by a company of the same name. The Floyd Rose gained popularity in the 1980s through guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, Neal Schon, Brad Gillis, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Alex Lifeson, who used its ability to stay in tune even with extreme changes in pitch. Its tuning stability comes through the double-locking design that has been widely regarded as revolutionary; the design has been listed on Guitar World's "10 Most Earth Shaking Guitar Innovations" and Guitar Player's "101 Greatest Moments in Guitar History 1979–1983."
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously manufactured the Stratocaster since 1954. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top "horn" shape for balance. "Stratocaster" and "Strat" are trademark terms belonging to Fender. Guitars that duplicate the Stratocaster by other manufacturers are sometimes called S-Type or ST-type guitars. Many prominent rock musicians have been associated with the Stratocaster for use in studio recording and live performances, most notably Eric Clapton, Buddy Holly, David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Frusciante, Jeff Beck, George Harrison, and Tom Petty.
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Convention, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s. Its appearance is similar to the Fender Jaguar, though it is tonally and physically different in many technical ways, including pickup design, scale length and controls.
The Gibson ES-335 is a semi-hollow body semi-acoustic guitar introduced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958. It features a solid maple wood block running through the center of its body with upper bouts that are hollow and two violin-style f-holes cut into the top over the hollow chambers. Since its release, Gibson has released numerous variations of and other models based on the design of the ES-335.
The Bigsby vibrato tailpiece is a type of mechanical vibrato device for electric guitar designed by Paul Bigsby and produced by the Bigsby Electric Guitar Company. The device allows musicians to bend the pitch of notes or entire chords with their pick hand for various effects.
An archtop guitar is a hollow acoustic or semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with jazz, blues, and rockabilly players.
The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar by Fender Musical Instruments characterized by an offset-waist body, a relatively unusual switching system with two separate circuits for lead and rhythm, and a short-scale 24" neck. Owing some roots to the Jazzmaster, it was introduced in 1962 as Fender's feature-laden top-of-the-line model, designed to lure players from Gibson. During its initial 13-year production run, the Jaguar did not sell as well as the less expensive Stratocaster and Telecaster, and achieved its most noticeable popularity in the surf music scene. After the Jaguar was taken out of production in 1975, vintage Jaguars became popular first with American punk rock players, and then more so during the alternative rock, shoegazing and indie rock movements of the 1980s and 1990s. Fender began making a version in Japan in the mid-1980s, and then introduced a USA-made reissue in 1999. Since then, Fender has made a variety of Jaguars in America, Mexico, Indonesia and China under both the Fender and Squier labels. Original vintage Jaguars sell for many times their original price.
Paul Adelburt Bigsby (1899–1968) was an American inventor, designer, and pioneer of the solid body electric guitar. Bigsby is best known for designing the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece and proprietor of Bigsby Electric Guitars.
Floyd Rose SpeedLoader is a floating guitar bridge based on the Floyd Rose Original. In development since 1991, it was introduced to the public in 2003. This tremolo was developed in San Diego CA at AJ manufacturing by tool makers Jerry Morhman, Richard J Price, Steve Lamms, and Kerry L Stottlemyer under the direct guidance of Floyd Rose himself. With Richard J Price doing the majority of the design work and machining of the prototypes. Over 3000 hours and $150,000 were spent in developing this new ground breaking tremolo system and the first working unit on a guitar body. It inherited the locking floating bridge principle from the original version, but improved usability and diminished most of disadvantages that the Floyd Rose Original was criticized for, while adding the inconvenience of needing special-purpose strings. The Floyd Rose SpeedLoader is available in Tremolo, Fixed Bridge, and Convergent Tuning forms. However, the issues with strings became more apparent, as the specially made strings for the Speedloader were discontinued due to quality control issues. With no strings currently being manufactured, there is no way to properly string and set up any guitar with the Floyd Rose Speedloader. Customers have voiced their discontent with Floyd Rose for a lack of development of any parts that could remedy the situation.
A vibrato unit is an electronic effects unit used to add vibrato to the sound of an electric instrument, most often an electric guitar. Vibrato units may be individual stomp boxes or built into multi-effects units, but are traditionally built into guitar amplifiers. Vibrato units are particularly used in surf music.
A headstock or peghead is part of a guitar or similar stringed instruments such as a lute, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and others of the lute lineage. The main function of a headstock is to house the tuning pegs or other mechanism that holds the strings at the "head" of the instrument; it corresponds to a pegbox in the violin family. At the "tail" of the instrument the strings are usually held by a tailpiece or bridge. Machine heads on the headstock are commonly used to tune the instrument by adjusting the tension of strings and, consequently, the pitch of sound they produce.
A B-Bender is a guitar accessory that enables a player to fluidly alter the pitch of a guitar's B-string. This works by mechanically bending the B-string through the use of a series of levers and/or pulleys attached to an external lever that is controlled by the player.
The Kahler Tremolo System is an electric guitar bridge with a cam operated vibrato arm system. The original flat mount and stud mount models were invented and patented by Dave Storey and licensed to Gary Kahler. Gary Kahler shifted his business model to making Golf clubs in the 1990s, but went back to bridge manufacturing as of April 2005. Dave Storey went on to invent, patent, and manufacture his line of Dava guitar picks.
The Stetsbar Tremolo system is a vibrato bridge system for the electric guitar. Eric Stets developed the device in the late ‘80s, and patented it in 1995. He originally designed the device to provide a stable vibrato system that could retrofit to “stop-tail” guitars such as the Gibson Les Paul with no permanent modifications to the instrument.
Doc Kauffman was a lap steel guitar, electric guitar engineer, inventor and pioneer of the world's first patented guitar vibrato system. The patent for "Apparatus for producing tremolo effects" was applied for in 1928 and officially granted to Doc Kauffman on January 5, 1932.
A stoptail bridge used on a solid body electric guitar or archtop guitar is a specialized kind of fixed hard-tail bridge. Hard-tail bridged guitars use different bridges from those guitars fitted with vibrato systems.
A bridge is a device that supports the strings on a stringed musical instrument and transmits the vibration of those strings to another structural component of the instrument—typically a soundboard, such as the top of a guitar or violin—which transfers the sound to the surrounding air. Depending on the instrument, the bridge may be made of carved wood, metal or other materials. The bridge supports the strings and holds them over the body of the instrument under tension.
The Yamaha Corporation is a multinational corporation and conglomerate based in Japan with a wide range of products and services, predominantly musical instruments, motorcycles, power sports equipment and electronics.
↑ "(EPIPHONE TREMOTONE VIBRATO)". PTM. Vol.58, no.?. Piano Trade Publishing [etc.] June. 1961. p.11. EPIPHONE TREMOTONE VIBRATO for the guitar The exciting new sound in guitars is Tremotone vibrato by Epiphone. An Epiphone exclusive - this rich, ringing, vibrant effect adds a new dimension to guitar playing.
Duchossoir, A.R. (1998), Gibson Electrics – The Classic Years: An Illustrated History from the Mid-'30s to the Mid-'60s, Hal Leonard Corporation, ISBN9780793592104
Feather, Leonard (7 February 2017). THE BOOK OF JAZZ - A Guide to the Entire Field. Edizioni Savine. ISBN9788899914042.
Henderson, David (1 July 2008). Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child. Simon and Schuster. ISBN9780743274005.
Hunter, Dave (2004). Guitar Effects Pedals: The Practical Handbook. Backbeat. ISBN9780879308063.
External links
General
1967 Fender Service Manual giving instructions for adjusting the then current Jaguar/Jazzmaster (floating), Stratocaster (synchronized), and Mustang (dynamic vibrato) tremolos, with diagrams of each.
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