Vibrato systems for guitar

A tremolo arm, tremolo bar or whammy bar is a lever attached to the bridge and/or tailpiece of an electric guitar that can vary the tension and sometimes the length of the strings temporarily, changing the pitch to create a vibrato or pitch bend effect.

Naming controversy

Traditionally, electric guitarists have in some but not all instances reversed the usage of the terms vibrato and tremolo. The tremolo arm cannot produce what to anyone but an electric guitarist is known as tremolo, but rather it can produce vibrato and other variations of pitch. This unconventional terminology is generally attributed to Leo Fender. See vibrato unit for a detailed discussion.

Notable mechanism designs

Almost all tremolo arms are based on one or more of three basic designs:

The Bigsby vibrato tailpiece.
The Fender synchronized tremolo.
The Fender floating tremolo.

Bigsby

The first commercially successful tremolo arm was the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece, most often just called a Bigsby, and invented by Paul Bigsby. 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. 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.

To this day, the Bigsby enjoys some popularity, especially on hollow body guitars, and is available as a factory-fitted option on top-line models both hollow and solid bodied from many makers, and as an aftermarket addition (requiring some skill to fit however). It remains the only widely used design whose mechanism is entirely above the belly of the guitar body, making it the only design particularly suitable for acoustic and semi-acoustic guitars.

Fender synchronized tremolo

The next major development was Leo Fender's synchronized tremolo, the device which introduced the term tremolo arm. First released in 1954 on Fender's first legendary Stratocaster, the simple but effective design offers a greater range of pitch change in addition to a better capability for "upbends". Artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Steve Lukather, Eddie Van Halen and many surf music bands have used the synchronized tremolo to great effect, and has become part of the style. Many rock bands of all types have used the tremolo for all sorts of effects, especially as a vibrato over chords. One guitarist especially known for his use of the bar is Dave Gilmour of the rock band Pink Floyd. This can be heard on countless songs. The last chord of the Rush song '2112' (Grand Finale) is a common reference.

The Stratocaster tremolo is the most copied tremolo unit, and similar pattern units appear on many solid-body guitars by various makers.

Unlike the Bigsby, the synchronized tremolo moves the bridge nut as well as the tailpiece. After crossing the bridge, the strings pass through the body of the guitar. In similar fashion to the Fender Telecaster, when changing strings the new string is threaded through the body from the back. However, in the Telecaster the the ferrule end is held by a collar firmly anchored to the guitar body; In the Stratocaster, it is held by a moving brass block through which the strings pass. The movement of this block and the bridge produce the pitch variation, varying both the length and tension of the strings.

The original synchronised tremolo has been further developed by Fender to produce the two-point synchronized tremolo. As of 2006, this two-point system is their standard and most popular design, but they also offer models with the original classic design, as well as a few models with factory-fitted Bigsby units, and others with floating tremolo units.

Fender floating tremolo

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 mechanism than the synchronised tremolo, and claimed by Fender to be an improvement, it never achieved the same popularity.

The main superficial difference is that, while much of the mechanism of the synchronised tremolo is accessed by removing a square 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 accessed by removing a roughly triangular chromed plate in the front of the guitar body, on the opposite side of the bridge to the pickups. The mechanism is mounted on this plate.

The ferrule ends of the strings are held in a tailpiece plate on the top of the guitar, rather than vanishing into the mechanism as with the synchronized tremolo. Only this plate moves when the tremolo arm is operated; The bridge remains in place, and the tension but not the length of the strings is changed, in similar fashion to the Bigsby.

The Fender floating tremolo also features a sliding knob that enables the player to lock and thus disable the tremolo mechanism, allowing quick recovery of tuning in the event of breaking one string, and providing tuning stability with the mechanism locked that was intended to be similar to that of a fixed bridge guitar. In practice, this stability was not generally achieved, leading some players to remove the mechanism completely to produce a high quality "hard-tail" solid body guitar not otherwise available at the time.

The floating tremolo was greatly favoured 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, a fairly elaborate setup of the guitar was required after every string change.

As well as on the Jazzmaster, the floating tremolo was used on the then top of the line Fender Jaguar guitars, released in 1962, and also on the early Fender Bass VI, released in 1961. 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 in the 1970s, but have reintroduced some of these beginning in the 1990s.

Other Fender designs

In 1964, Fender introduced another tremolo arm design, this time called the Dynamic Vibrato Tailpiece. This was used on the Fender Mustang, intended as a student model, and notably on the Jagstang, a custom design by Kurt Cobain combining features of the Jaguar and the Mustang. Some late 1960s Mustangs were fitted instead with the floating tremolo, but later Mustangs returned to the Dynamic Vibrato.

The Dynamic Vibrato became known as the Mustang trem, and is still preferred by some lead guitarists above all other designs. It features a bridge that is free to tilt, but only the spring-loaded tailpiece is moved directly by the tremolo arm, the bridge being moved by the movement of the strings. The strings are wrapped around the tailpiece bar, similar to the Bigsby, and the mechanism is installed from the top of the instrument, similar to the floating tremolo. It thus combines some features of all three basic designs.

The Dynamic Vibrato is often confused with the Fender floating tremolo, to which it bears some superficial ressemblance and which was originally produced in a similar date range, but the mechanism is quite different. The existence of a few 1960s Mustangs factory fitted with the floating tremolo has probably added to the confusion. Closer examination reveals that the bridge of the Dynamic Vibrato is integral with the tremolo unit, unlike that of the floating tremolo which is mounted as a separate unit. The concealed mechanism is in a chamber of a completely different shape, requiring some woodwork to convert from one to the other, and the mounting plate is of a different shape with different mounting holes. Dynamic Vibrato units may also be recognised by the stamp "DYNAMIC VIBRATO", and the tailpiece consisting of a bar visibly connected to the tremolo arm, rather than the plate tailpiece of the floating tremolo whose arm disappears into the mounting plate between the B and top E string tails.

Still another design was used 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 was the only Leo Fender tremolo arm design not available on any current Fender model.

Rose locking tremolo

Around 1979, the locking tremolo was invented by Floyd Rose. The "locking trem" became highly popular among 1980s heavy metal guitarists due to its extremely wide range of variation and tuning stability.

Superficially similar to the Fender synchronized tremolo, the Rose system adds a number of extra mechanisms. The most obvious is a locking plate on the head nut, tightened with an allen key to fix the strings at this point after tuning. This prevents further adjustment of the pitch using the machine heads, so fine tuners are provided as part of the bridge mechanism.

Rose locking tremolo units are available factory fitted on some high-end guitars, particularly those by Yamaha, and as complete aftermarket kits. Fitting one of these kits 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.