| Few parts of a guitar, if any, have as many different | | | | origins, but thanks to Leo Fender, what should be |
| names and terms used to describe it as the tremolo | | | | referred to as a vibrato arm is now referred to by |
| arm. The tremolo arm is an adjustable lever which is | | | | almost any other name. |
| connected to the bridge of the guitar. By moving this | | | | Today, most designers and manufacturers of electric |
| arm or lever, the bridge is raised and lowered, and by | | | | guitar and electric guitar related equipment reverse the |
| raising or lowering the bridge, the strings are | | | | meanings of these two words to avoid confusion |
| themselves raised and lowered. This slightly stretches | | | | within the world of the electric guitar, and so vibrato still |
| the strings, resulting in a change of pitch, and adjusting | | | | refers to a change in volume, whilst tremolo still refers |
| this up and down quite rapidly gives rise to the tremolo | | | | to a change in pitch. However, in other musical circles |
| effect, or rapid pitch bending. | | | | you will find that these words refer to each others' |
| Some of the names commonly given to the tremolo | | | | meanings. Although the most common form of a |
| arm include the tremolo bar, the sissy or wang bar, the | | | | tremolo arm is the traditional lever attached to the |
| slam or whammy handle, and also the whammy bar. | | | | bridge, there are two other main types of tremolo |
| Both the whammy handle and whammy bar are slang | | | | mechanism, in particular the Bigsby and the B-Bender. |
| terms used for a long time, and have since given rise | | | | The Bigsby is a mechanical vibrato effect which |
| to the idea of a 'whammy', being a slang term itself to | | | | involves a metal bar being placed some way up the |
| describe the action or effect of a rapid change in pitch, | | | | neck of the guitar. |
| and in some cases there are now electronic devices | | | | The strings are wrapped around this bar, and the |
| or facilities built in tot eh amplification equipment | | | | player can adjust the pitch, in other words, creating the |
| connected to electric guitars that replicate the effect | | | | tremolo effect, by rotating this bar. The rotation of the |
| of a whammy without the physical use of a tremolo | | | | bar causes the change in tension and therefore pitch |
| bar to achieve it, instead adjusting the note | | | | of the strings, resulting in a similar effect. The B-Bender |
| electronically. In fact, the word tremolo, or rather its use | | | | is quite different, and the mechanism usually resides |
| within the context of this electric guitar effect, can be | | | | inside the guitar, and this, as the name suggests, is |
| traced back to one of the earliest leading designers of | | | | connected solely to the B string, so that this one string |
| electric guitars, Leo Fender. | | | | alone has the tremolo effect, giving rise to a sound |
| Although he was responsible for a huge amount of | | | | similar to that of a pedal steel guitar. |
| excellent design development where the electric guitar | | | | Of course, not all electric guitars have this physical |
| is concerned, it was also Fender who gave rise to the | | | | mechanism, although many do, and in some cases, the |
| popular misunderstanding of the term tremolo, and in | | | | tremolo arm can be added later, but in all cases, |
| particular the confusion between what tremolo really | | | | whether the effect is physically present or not, the |
| means, and the word vibrato. Technically, the term | | | | result can still be achieved electronically by using the |
| vibrato refers to the effect of a change in pitch either | | | | amplification equipment, the only downside being of |
| up or down the scale, and the word tremolo actually | | | | course that it is less tactile and more distant from the |
| refers to a change in volume. Both of these terms | | | | actual playing of the instrument. |
| have long historic roots in music notation and its Latin | | | | |