Tremolo owners... sell me on it.

Tommygunn · #1 02-27-2010, 11:46 AM

I want a trem on my refin/fretless project. But I was thinking it would be cheaper and easier to just get a BadAssII. No routing and no waiting.

So why is a trem so much better? (other than the things the badass can't do)

Vids help

SpamBot · #2 02-27-2010, 11:53 AM

Just about anything you can do on a tremelo-equipped bass you can do on fretless, you just do it in a different way. So, unless you want divebombs, stick with the BadAssII.

Btw, it's a vibrato bar, not a tremelo. This is commonly confused as Leo F himself made the mistake in the Stratocaster's marketing. Just keep in mind tremelo is a volume modulating effect and vibrato is a pitch modulating effect.

Tommygunn · #3 02-27-2010, 12:03 PM

Well even Kahler calles it a trem so I'll call it a trem

SpamBot · #4 02-27-2010, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tommygunn

Well even Kahler calles it a trem so I'll call it a trem

MIJ-VI · #5 02-28-2010, 01:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tommygunn

I want a trem on my refin/fretless project. But I was thinking it would be cheaper and easier to just get a BadAssII. No routing and no waiting.

So why is a trem so much better? (other than the things the badass can't do)

Vids help

A vibrato assembly on a fretless bass?

IMO the BA II would be more practical and would offer better tuning stability.

The next time you're at a music shop, pull a Strat off the wall, play around with its vibrato system, and gauge for yourself how useful it might be on a fretless bass.

IME vibrato tail-pieces are OK on fretted instruments for making chords shimmer but are not needed on fretless basses.

They de-stabilize tuning, are more complicated to set up, are more expensive, and might limit string options on an electric bass (they may not accommodate heavier roundwounds or flatwounds).

Deluge Of Sound · #6 02-28-2010, 02:16 AM

You could also call it a whammy bar.

Tommygunn · #7 03-01-2010, 05:13 PM

I've heard that they actually don't have real big problems with tuning stability.

Bump for more views.

Darkstrike · #8 03-01-2010, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MIJ-VI

They de-stabilize tuning, are more complicated to set up, are more expensive, and might limit string options on an electric bass (they may not accommodate heavier roundwounds or flatwounds).

I've used many strings, rounds and flat, in many guages, even to BEAD on my Kahler trems.

With zero tuning stability issues, too.

But yes, they are expensive, and they aren't as easy to set up as a badass, or Fender bent plate etc...

I wouldn't bother with one on fretless, considered it before, could do a neck swap with one of my basses to test it...

Tommygunn · #9 03-01-2010, 05:47 PM

If, in the near future, you could do a neck swap... that would be cool. I'd like to know. I do all kinds of stuff on my fretless, just doing the stuff while dive-bombing/pitch-shifting IMO would be cool. Claypoolish. It seems cool in that one vid of that guy that has the half fretted/half fretless with the trem.

Seeing a BadAssII runs for $100 new, $60 used and the Kahler I can get for $99 new... not that big of a leap financially but it would be a long wait (from what I've heard) getting it all set up and such while the BAII would take me prolly 5 min.

Mark Olson · #10 03-01-2010, 07:15 PM

I have a Kahler 7410 on my Gibson SG Bass and I love it. I don't know if it's true, but I have heard the other Kahlers can go out of tune if you palm mute, which I do a lot, so I went with the 7410. No problems staying in tune, and I use the vibrato very heavily.

But in all practicality, what kind of music are you playing? I'm the frontman of my main band, and we do all my original material which is written around my intense style of playing, so I can get away with it, but if you're going to be taking a backseat to a guitarist or playing punk songs or Red Hot Chili Peppers covers, I'd say the trouble of installing a vibrato wouldn't be worth it; either it's a tone tool that you use extensively in your own music or it's just a cheap novelty.

Also, unless you're a qualified guitar tech, I would not recommend installing a vibrato system on your bass yourself. It's not like installing a Badass bridge. You really want to have a neat job done on the routing, and if your bass is like mine you may need a shim, and a luthier will know best what materials to use for one, etc. Luckily I've got a guitar tech that does these things for me, but for you to pay a qualified luthier to install a vibrato costs a bit of money.

Mark Olson · #11 03-01-2010, 07:20 PM

You can hear the 7410 all over this mini rock opera I'm writing for two basses and drums:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...bandID=1043598

Tommygunn · #12 03-01-2010, 07:42 PM

Well I play punk cause it's my favorite, but I never take a backseat to a guitarist. I've had problems finding bands because of this. I can't sing so I could never be a front-man, I'm more of a John Entwistle front-man... there tonally but not literally in the front. I want to build music around bass, as I already do but it's all punk. My uncle is a cabinet-maker for a living (carpenter) and he has the tools so he could do it for me for cheap/free. That and I am buying tools of my own and he is giving me lessons (I'm trying to get into bass building, this parts build is to get my feet wet) and by the time I get the trem I might have the tools and lessons.

So... to recap. I'd love to a mini-Claypool, but there is no market for one. So I play punk. How I see it is that the world can only handle so many [mainstream] solo/front-man bassists. As of now you have Geddy, Les, and Wooten as real mainstream.

Man I'm bad at answering questions, I hope something in that helps.

TheBasicBassist · #13 03-01-2010, 07:51 PM

Wooten?! Mainstream?! lol.

Tommygunn · #14 03-01-2010, 07:55 PM

Eh... I don't know much bout him anyways. I'd think the flecktones mainstream....

SpamBot · #15 03-01-2010, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tommygunn

Eh... I don't know much bout him anyways. I'd think the flecktones mainstream....

siggie.

Rickett Customs · #16 03-01-2010, 08:01 PM

Had bought my first Kahler in 1991. Found that I didn't use it much, even once the novelty wore off. But lets face it, Claypool and Wooten really didn't use theirs much either, but hey if that's going to be you niche, then by all means.....

Tommygunn · #17 03-01-2010, 09:11 PM

Well I can always take the arm off and it works as a fixed bridge. On my brother's squier strat he gave me, I rarely use the trem arm on it... but it's still fun to have

Mark Olson · #18 03-01-2010, 09:11 PM

This is neither here nor there, but I don't think punk music really exists anymore. There's a lot of stuff people attach that name to, but pop punk is really an oxymoron, crust punk to me is just even more angsty emo, etc.

So anyways I think I understand what you're saying, but I'm still not envisioning you having any use for a vibrato. Do you have audio files of any music you've written? How useful a vibrato is on bass depends a lot on what kind of tone you use and stuff like that. Or if your playing is very riff oriented, like a lot of bass playing is, it's really hard to find a use for a vibrato while doing that.

Darkstrike · #19 03-02-2010, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tommygunn

If, in the near future, you could do a neck swap... that would be cool. I'd like to know. I do all kinds of stuff on my fretless, just doing the stuff while dive-bombing/pitch-shifting IMO would be cool. Claypoolish. It seems cool in that one vid of that guy that has the half fretted/half fretless with the trem.

I'm bored today, so I'm working on it, right now.

Funkinthetrunk · #20 03-02-2010, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamBot

Btw, it's a vibrato bar, not a tremelo. This is commonly confused as Leo F himself made the mistake in the Stratocaster's marketing. Just keep in mind tremelo is a volume modulating effect and vibrato is a pitch modulating effect.

If Leo called it tremolo, I'll call it tremolo.