In some instances, a used electric guitar may be fitted with a strange bar hanging from the bridge. The name for this bar is a tremolo, but it may also be referred to as a 'whammy' bar, a vibrato arm, or a wang bar.

Actually, you will find many electric guitars with the tremelo bar feature at any Guitar Center store. While new models are popular, vintage used electric guitars with intact original equipment are the most valuable.

During the late 1940's and 1950's, this device was introduced and developed for guitar players. The tremelo arm or bar is still produced on certain electric guitar models today. The intent of the guitar tremelo bar is to create a vibrato effect.

Vibrato is the production of pitch variation. However, tremolo is a variance in volume. The tremolo effect was already an electronic feature in amplification technology and was very popular. Indeed, the two sounded similar. However, the misnomer took hold and the tremolo name caught on for guitar players.

Two simple styles of such devices are the most common. In both styles, the strings are fastened to the rest of the guitar at the tailpiece and run over the top of the bridge. There are springs that allow the bridge to move or "float" where the tailpiece and bridge meet. In one style, a rotating tube is used along with the springs; in the second style, the bridge and the springs are simultaneously operated.

The pitch of any note played with the guitar can be changed by moving the articulated arm in either direction. The springs are used to move the bridge either up or down to tighten or loosen the string's tension. In this way, the vibrato sound can be effected if the action is replicated either in a slow or rapid fashion.

The first musicians to use the tremelo bar include Leo Fender and Lonnie Mack, whose song "Wham!" might be responsible for the term "whammy" bar. Later users of this device include Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck. The tremelo bar has been used in new and innovative ways more recently by Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen.

I encourage you to go to a guitar center and try a used electric guitar with a tremelo bar. They are fun to play and you'll be quite surprised with the many variations of sounds that you can produce. Nothing beats tremelo bars on used electric guitars!