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Whammy bars

fryBASS

fryBASS

Aug 8, 2006
884
3
New Haven, CT
#1
So I always kinda wanted a whammy bar on my bass. I just love whammy bars. I use it all the time on my friends guitar when i'm over his house, and I'd probably use it a lot on my bass too. :bassist: :hyper:

What I'm asking here is how exactly does a whammy bar work? I know it has something to do with moving the bridge around, but how exactly does it do it?
 
#2
Floyd Rose brings the bridge closer to the neck, so the string gets less tension on it and therefore a lower sound.

Others, like Kahler, put a bar over the strings, after the bridge (think Gibson bridge), where it presses on the strings normally. When you move it away, the strings get less tension and therefore a lower sound.
 
#3
well see, kinda what i was hoping to do was do some kind of ghetto home whammy bar thing. like my friend's guitar, the whammy bar broke, but you can still grab the end of the bridge and pull it up and down and still get the same effect.
 
#4
I don't think that's a good idea. Definately not the Floyd Rose tremolo. Those need to be precise, and you'd probably spend more money trying to get the parts for it than you would to just pay to buy one, maybe even have someone put it on for you.

Or you could just get a fretless. :p
 
#7
I bet your friend's guitar has a Strat Style floating bridge too? With those you can push on them and they'll change the pitch.

Kahler and Hipshot both make bridges meant to be used with a whammy bar. However, they are rather expensive and require routing.
 
#10
What about learning to do it with your hands, you can stretch the strings by gently pushing the neck out and pulling the body closer to you... For what the whammy bar is worth on a my starcaster, that works just as well. Although I know this will only get you part of the way there...but it may suffice in the meantime.
 
#11
Let's put it simply: No

A whammy works on the principle that the bridge is hinged in some fashion. The bridge actually pivots on this hinge, and depending on the design, may "float" by using the tension of the strings (and spring anchoring it to the instrument from the back), or may just pivot forwards, and be pulled back by springs on the rear of the instrument. This requires a special bridge that:
A) can handle the kind tension involved without buckling/folding/etc..
B) Has slots to pivot on (and corresponding points on the body)
C)A spring system (either below the bridge like most kahler trems), or on the back of the body like most conventional ones.

If you're interested, look here for one of the few actual bass tremelos:
http://www.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=4

Cheers.
 
#13
there are too many definitions floating in here!

Floyd rose is not a style of bridge! but a company that designed a locking tremolo system. That consists of 2 bolts in the bridge with the fulcrum in the center making it able to go up(sharp) or down (flat).

Standard had tail tremolo, found on a strat can only be used to lower the pitch of the note by pushing down on it.

Hardtails are found on les pauls, V, explorers, and most of all the gibson guitars. Most popular name is a tune-o-matic.

Hardtail string through body found on guitars like PRS adds "resonance" no tremolo available at all. This is what most basses rely on something similar to this, the closest thing you can get for a trem on a bass is a bigsby custom made to fit the bridge and have a very very strong arm to support the tension your looking at 500$ to start getting into this.
 
#15
MidnightLamp said:
Let's put it simply: No

A whammy works on the principle that the bridge is hinged in some fashion. The bridge actually pivots on this hinge, and depending on the design, may "float" by using the tension of the strings (and spring anchoring it to the instrument from the back), or may just pivot forwards, and be pulled back by springs on the rear of the instrument. This requires a special bridge that:
A) can handle the kind tension involved without buckling/folding/etc..
B) Has slots to pivot on (and corresponding points on the body)
C)A spring system (either below the bridge like most kahler trems), or on the back of the body like most conventional ones.

If you're interested, look here for one of the few actual bass tremelos:
http://www.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=4

Cheers.
Click to expand...

After seeing those prices you might as well string a strat with bass strings. :D
 
#16
Invalid Link Removed

much better price, works like a strat trem (as far as I can tell)

BTW, the floyd rose trem is a brand name from the company that first used locking clamps at either string end to retain tuning stability in bigger dive-bombs. also, they're more often set up fully-floating that strat-style trems.

the bar is simply an extension of the trem. a trem with a broken bar still works if you pull on the bridge portion some other way. A strat hardtail (not the trem kind) wouldn't work as a trem even if it had a bar.
 

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