Whammy Bar Tricks

[RoRK]

Good thread Daniel! Never really used the whammy except for very, very simple stuff. It'll be great to add more dynamics to my playing.

My Q is this - which whammy bar do I have if I've got a MiM Strat, purchased about a year ago? And what are its pros and cons?

Thanks in advance.
RoRK

 

[Marksman]

3) another cool 1 is ala vai, juz abuse the bar and scare the crap out of any none guitarist around you, den when your done, play an open g chord and tell them your guitar is still in tune(haha, most of the time mine still is)

If you were using a non-locking trem and pull that off, that'll REALLy scare them. :lol:

 

[ShredCow]

My Q is this - which whammy bar do I have if I've got a MiM Strat, purchased about a year ago? And what are its pros and cons?

Thats a vintage trem right?

Don't expect crazy whammying out of it, like dive bombs from hell or 6 fret pull ups....

However, it can be made quite stable... look at jeff beck. But you need to have a good setup, and possibly upgrade your nut and/or tuners.

 

[j_m_s]

MIM strats should be vintage trem.. i intend to change mine to a gotoh fr!

 

[Ized]

the routing work will be crazy man......

 

[BloodSolo]

I have an ibanez rg ... but the whammy cant be use anymore ... it make my strings go out of tune .. everytime i do whammy thing ... the string will start to get out of tune ... i tried to lock the nut but still the same ... i change the springs also the same ... anybody can help me ??? i really want to play the whammy ....

 

[ash_88]

hey bloodsolo wad trem are u usin on ur rg? if its the lo-trs or lo-trs2 well its kinnda of norm.those trems arent stable.

 

[RazrAsh]

which model is your rg??? and if its the trs or(god forbid) the ilt trems, u've pretty much got to change the trem....

 

[ShredCow]

Its a TRS. No can do Bloodsolo. Live with it till you can upgrade.

Please don't go and buy "supplements" like a Tremsetter. The issue is the trem so best to get that sorted out.

 

[infinitemellon]

once thing i noticed is that when i whammy after playing a note. The note tends to die off very fast. As in theres no sustain. Is there any way to correct this problem? Or is it just that my guitar isn't properly set up? Would a sustainer or compresser help things out? Thanks.

 

[ShredCow]

Sounds like a setup or technique issue more than a lack of gear.

Even on clean, sustain shouldn't be affected by whammying.

Anyway, what do you mean by "whammying"? Gentle vibrato?

 

[Ized]

It depends on how you use it. obviously when u pull the bar up the strings will get super close to the pickups and the magnetic attraction from the pickup's pole pieces will cause your sustain to die off.

its all about balance la. usually when i whammy i wont do too extreme stuff, if not the whole thing just degenerates into noise (esp with alot of distortion).

Especially if your guitar has low action, the sustain dying off thing is more likely to occur if you like to use your whammy bar alot.

hope that helps

 

[infinitemellon]

erm no not gentle vibratos thats for sure. more like full scale dive bombs lol. maybe its like ized said about the magnet thing. still wish it could sustain more tho 8O

 

[ShredCow]

sometimes, sustain doesn't go with certain techniques.

 

[kerplunk182]

you know after reading this, i don't feel like changing my floyd rose bridge already... But it's a hassle changing the strings

 

[UncleJohnny]

just wondering. lets say i wanna do extreme whammy stunts, can i use a sustainer and like hold the note with the sustainer while i go about my whammying? lol i know it sound like major overkill but...

 

[ShredCow]

just wondering. lets say i wanna do extreme whammy stunts, can i use a sustainer and like hold the note with the sustainer while i go about my whammying? lol i know it sound like major overkill but...

Yes but when you divebomb, the string will move away from the sustainer since it goes slack...

Anyway, it IS major overkill to get a sustainer if you want your whammy tricks to last forever... those that will work with a sustainer aren't practical for freq usage.

 

[fenderrules]

i dunno wether anybody has tried this trick before, but ill go ahead and share. discovered this trick while i was playing my axe today.

while doing a really fast pull off riff...something like this..i always like to do my pull offs on the G string.

hammer on and pull off the note as quickly as you can. i use my index finger as an anchor on the first note while it supports my ring finger as it hammers and pulls off the second note.

heres a personal favourite of mine.

G-7h9p7--

do this riff (or any other as long as it has a pull off in it), and while doing it, press down the whammy bar slowly. it somehow gives the falling effect. best used with heavy distortion.

sounds like zakk wyldde IMO.

cheers

 

[XN3K]

Hi Guys, like everyone here, Im a whammy bar addict since the 90's and a lot of what has been written here as far as techniques are concerned are true and really great to execute. I have never own a non-floyd rose guitar in my life. anyway. my favorite thing to do is pressing the bar down with my left hand then picking the G string (with my right hand) then using my left thumb to get that harmonic thingy at just above the Bridge Pick up before pulling the bar up for that High pitch Satch effect ) I went crazy over this ever since i got my JS100 in 1997 heh! really easy

 

[kentheman2000]

I simply love the trick where by u make ur notes gurgle...
ie. everytime u pick a note, u depress the bar and pick it and then release it at the same time. Play that on a minor scale and it sounds oh so cool! as if it's gonna puke anytime soon!