Bass Tremolo?

I had one for a little while, it was really cool I thought. Learning to use it tastefully is a real learning curve, but there's a lot you can do with it, or just add a bit of a shimmer for feel.

It's also quite easy to play finger style while holding it the whole time given hand positioning. It's also very easy to overuse it however, the temptation is always there to constantly patter away at it.

 

I've NEVER heard it sound good on bass and with the exception of a VERY few guitarists (Vai, Satch, EVH and one or two more) to me, it's WAY overdone, cliche, tastelessly annoying and old hat. Not to mention it kills sustain and tuning/setup becomes an all day project.

 

I can tell you've never used one. It does not kill sustain, and it takes about 30 seconds longer to tune a bass with one on it.

I have one on one of my basses. No desire to put it on any others, but it's fun and you can do some cool stuff with it. I use mine to simulate a fretless and slide bass, and it's cool for doing dive bombs and harmonic tricks.

Oh, and why do they still call it a tremolo? Tremolo is a rapid on/off while vibrato is a rapid pitch change. So it's a vibrato bar, not a trem. Yet they still call it a trem...go figure.

 

Ummm no

 

Yeah I've always wondered about the name too Actually I have played one and anytime you reduce the solidity of string anchor points, sustain by laws of physics is reduced. Solid mounting (hardtails) sustains more than spring mounting (tremolo bridges). I was really referring to the setup of a Floyd type setup on guitar as being a pain (cutting the ball ends off, clamping, tuning, tuning again and then tuning). I imagine a bass setup is a little simpler.

 

You're argument is compelling but what specifically are you "unmmm no"-ing?

 

I'll be honest, I've always wanted one on one of my basses. But maybe that's just the Primus fan in me talking.. haha

 

Carvin, I believe, made a bass with a whammy from the factory.

 

By such a slight amount that you'd need sound analysis software to tell the difference.

 

Actually the difference was VERY noticeable to me. Even more noticeable than guitar.

 

I've got one on a bass that has a ridiculous amount of sustain. It ain't the whammy.

 

Ok. Enjoy!!

 

Did someone qualified install it? It sounds to me like the person installing the the whammy bar messed up. It's very easy to do when you have to drill into the wood. Precision matters when you have to drill into the bass (or guitar) and the slightest mistake can ruin the sound, or sustain in this case. I asked a luthier that I can count on and he strongly noted those points.

Even if the whammy bar was installed correctly you still have to factor in any mistakes you may have made while playing. After all we are only human and everyone makes mistakes.

Enough of that though, I want a whammy bar on my bass but I'd rather have it installed on a custom made bass or a backup of some kind. If the person installing it messed up then I at least have a bass to play.

 

for tremolo, I like playing the harmonic on the 5th fret of one string and the 7th fret of the next higher-pitched string - these are unison harmonics. When you play this and then detune one of the strings (or tune it slightly higher), not even by a semitone, you can get an epic tremolo... distortion helps a lot

 

You probably don't know Les Claypool? He uses a tremolo on his bass(es) as well

 

I had one back in the 90's (an ash bodied G&L El Toro)...

i found it cool but of limited usefulness.... but overall it made little difference in sustain tone etc compared to the 10-15 G&L's i was building everyday.....

ANY botched install will jack up a good bass my suspicion is that the installed on the poorly performing bass previously mentioned simply stuffed it in there without compensating to the height as the are a little taller that a bent - metal fender type, and with an un-shimmed neck, getting low action basically puts the saddles down on the deck..... SO they probably just shoved 3-4 cut pieces of business cards in the neck joint to make it "work" and sold their "polished turd" to the next guy... happens everyday

 

You used to work at G&L? Awesome!

 

They did back in the 80s until mid 90s. They don't use kahler product anymore. I know Warwick custom shop can make you one. I had some gas about a thumb 4 strings with a kahler trem but well ... I don't know if I have a need for a 4 strings ... but I have some ideas that I don't know if it could work.

Outside of Warwick I think only custom shop builder would do something like it.