How many forumites own whammy equipped guitars but don't use them?

arjunmenon · 2011-04-26T09:28:32+00:00

I know a fair share of people here own whammy equipped guitars yet don't use them or block them. Reasons?

How many forumites own whammy equipped guitars but don't use them?

singemonkey

Donovan Banks wrote: as for Biggsby's.. ptui..

? Played one or just conceptually?

A Bigsby's like a Les Paul: Old fashioned. Uncomfortable. Extremely limited.

But what it does, it does best, and it looks fantastic doing it ?

Yeah. Old Leo Fender and his confusion between vibrato and tremolo that's plagued us ever since. Vibrato arm. Vibrato tailpiece. Vibrato system. Gibson came up with Vibrola. They're all more accurate but they never seem to stick.

And I can't bring myself to say whammy bar. Sounds like something out of an ad for a hypermarket sale.

Riaan-Combrink

Hammeron wrote: Just by the way, who coined the term "Whammy bar", dare I say it was Mr. F. Zappa ?

Well, Wikipedia repeats the explanation I first remember hearing; guitarists started using the phrase with reference to the sound Lonnie Mack got from a Bigsby on the 1963 instrumental hit "Wham!".
But then I also recall reading that this is disputed, as (uncredited) sources used whammy bar in the 50s with reference to certain tremelo arms.

BMU

Good thread.

Early on I whammied like a demon (slayer influence.) But for many years I've blocked them 'cos I'm lazy. The extreme timewasting tedium of balancing the trem after a string change makes me never change strings. Ever. So effectively, a whammy KILLS my tone HAHA.

And I do love hearing what a heretic I am... y'know for playing Vai signature guitars with a blocked whammies. (I'm sure CAB will concur.) Sacred cow slaying is always fun.

PS - I should add, on my Ibby with an Edge Zero trem, I haven't blocked it. Yay Ibanez, they got it right. But I still don't use it 'cos it's not part of my style any longer. Maybe some day. They do add flavour in the right hands.

WantzChas

I use the tremolo bar on my Ibanez quite often, Satch, Van Halen, Slayer, Nightwish type stuff. Not so much on my PRS though. I can play around with it and torture the neighborhood's animals for hours.

DonovanB

singemonkey wrote:
? Played one or just conceptually?

Playing. It's awesome for small vibrato but it's so big and cumbersome.

Demon-Dave

I play a lot of Rockabilly/Swing, so I use mine all the time. Its quite essential to the overall sound.

LooneyAtTheGate

BMU wrote:
Early on I whammied like a demon (slayer influence.) But for many years I've blocked them 'cos I'm lazy. The extreme timewasting tedium of balancing the trem after a string change makes me never change strings. Ever. So effectively, a whammy KILLS my tone HAHA.

That is a big factor.. Knowing that my floating whammy equipped guitar will be unplayable for a while when changing strings can be demoralising.
Sometimes my strings would stay on until they consisted entirely of rust and organic matter! ?

arjunmenon

Chad Adam Browne wrote: It's kinda funny cause when you're playing heavier styles of music with really tight distortions that whole reverb effect the springs give is f***ing annoying. I put rubber tubes down the centers of my springs to prevent that extra resonance ? Nothing ruins a heavy track more than having the springs go "boowwmm" after every palm mute...

Lol ? I use a couple of tissues folded together and placed between the springs of the RG. My JS on the other hand has none of these issues

Donovan Banks wrote: ?
It's odd though cos I'm not knocking people who don't use them or like them, it just took me long enough to play without one.
A bad floating bridge can be quite horrendous. I've had a few below average ones and I cut my teeth on an Ibanez, before they got much better bridges.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

DonovanB

Arjun Menon wrote: Lol ? I use a couple of tissues folded together and placed between the springs of the RG. My JS on the other hand has none of these tissues

Fixed.. 8)

ZarK

Ibanez have always offered the best feeling and most stable whammy setups available (IMHO) ever since they started fitting the original EDGE tremolo. (Not to be confused with the EDGE III or other derivatives thereof...) To this day I have yet to encounter a bridge that can come close to matching an EDGE or LO-PRO EDGE... (The EDGE PRO was a fail imo but luckily its stability can be improved by doing some minor mods to bring them up to par.) The new Edge Zero resolves the string snapping/replacement issues related to Floyed Rose's in general but it doesn't have the same light feel that an Edge or LP Edge offers. Not even an original Floyed Rose can match these trems for stability and feel IMO.

P.S. I started using Floyed Rose fitted guitars in the early 90's and only stopped using them when I snapped my Jem's whammy bar in two at an audition in 2004. This forced me to start working on vibrato with the left hand for what ended up being a long while, which I'm very thankful for now. Only started using whammy bar technique again beginning of last year when I got my j-customs and subsequently replaced the broken parts of my Jem's LP Edge. The greatest feature of a great floyed rose is that once setup correctly and strings stretched, they do not go out of tune! Even my favourite hardtail with Sperzel locking tuners should not even try to compete with regards to tuning stability...

arjunmenon

ZarK wrote: The greatest feature of a great floyd rose is that once setup correctly and strings stretched, they do not go out of tune!

Excellent point and +1 on the Edge & Lo-pro.
My issues with the Ibanez vibrato units are:
1. They corrode easily
2. And they look damn ugly when they do
3. Parts are rarer than hen's teeth.

ZarK

Arjun Menon wrote:
ZarK wrote: The greatest feature of a great floyd rose is that once setup correctly and strings stretched, they do not go out of tune!
Excellent point and +1 on the Edge & Lo-pro.
My issues with the Ibanez vibrato units are:
1. They corrode easily
2. And they look damn ugly when they do
3. Parts are rarer than hen's teeth.

1. Very true. You have to give all the bridge parts a wipe-down after every session as to prevent/limit this. (Never a bad idea to clean the whole instrument after every session any way...)
2. My '91 Jem's bridge is starting to morph into something organic-looking but it hasn't affected it's function in the least...
3. Rich from Ibanezrules.com will most probably be able to sort you out with all the parts you may require, no problem.

Malkav

ZarK wrote:
Arjun Menon wrote:
ZarK wrote: The greatest feature of a great floyd rose is that once setup correctly and strings stretched, they do not go out of tune!
Excellent point and +1 on the Edge & Lo-pro.
My issues with the Ibanez vibrato units are:
1. They corrode easily
2. And they look damn ugly when they do
3. Parts are rarer than hen's teeth.
1. Very true. You have to give all the bridge parts a wipe-down after every session as to prevent/limit this. (Never a bad idea to clean the whole instrument after every session any way...)
2. My '91 Jem's bridge is starting to morph into something organic-looking but it hasn't affected it's function in the least...
3. Rich from Ibanezrules.com will most probably be able to sort you out with all the parts you may require, no problem.

1) Yes wiping them down is annoying, but worth it. I use string cleaner on mine when restringing to help strip off the gunk.
2) I'm convinced my '98 RG is going through the same morph, I'll replace the bridge when it starts shrieking in pain when I palm mute hard.
3) Yes, Ibanezrules is a great way to get all these parts. They are essentially an online Ibanez agent. With that in mind though the local agents can get these parts for you, and have all the channels they need in order to do so...It just takes alot of badgering...alot...

ZarK

Chad Adam Browne wrote:
ZarK wrote:
Arjun Menon wrote:
ZarK wrote: The greatest feature of a great floyd rose is that once setup correctly and strings stretched, they do not go out of tune!
Excellent point and +1 on the Edge & Lo-pro.
My issues with the Ibanez vibrato units are:
1. They corrode easily
2. And they look damn ugly when they do
3. Parts are rarer than hen's teeth.
1. Very true. You have to give all the bridge parts a wipe-down after every session as to prevent/limit this. (Never a bad idea to clean the whole instrument after every session any way...)
2. My '91 Jem's bridge is starting to morph into something organic-looking but it hasn't affected it's function in the least...
3. Rich from Ibanezrules.com will most probably be able to sort you out with all the parts you may require, no problem.
1) Yes wiping them down is annoying, but worth it. I use string cleaner on mine when restringing to help strip off the gunk.
2) I'm convinced my '98 RG is going through the same morph, I'll replace the bridge when it starts shrieking in pain when I palm mute hard.
3) Yes, Ibanezrules is a great way to get all these parts. They are essentially an online Ibanez agent. With that in mind though the local agents can get these parts for you, and have all the channels they need in order to do so...It just takes alot of badgering...alot...

...I've given up using the local shops to get replacement parts for Ibbys years ago after years of struggle. I did sneak a last attempt last year with exactly the result I expected. ZERO support and looong bull stories from each of the "majour" local shops I contacted... I received my parts from the states within 4 days... No long stories; No bull... Nuff sedd...

Malkav

ZarK wrote:
Chad Adam Browne wrote:
ZarK wrote:
Arjun Menon wrote:
ZarK wrote: The greatest feature of a great floyd rose is that once setup correctly and strings stretched, they do not go out of tune!
Excellent point and +1 on the Edge & Lo-pro.
My issues with the Ibanez vibrato units are:
1. They corrode easily
2. And they look damn ugly when they do
3. Parts are rarer than hen's teeth.
1. Very true. You have to give all the bridge parts a wipe-down after every session as to prevent/limit this. (Never a bad idea to clean the whole instrument after every session any way...)
2. My '91 Jem's bridge is starting to morph into something organic-looking but it hasn't affected it's function in the least...
3. Rich from Ibanezrules.com will most probably be able to sort you out with all the parts you may require, no problem.
1) Yes wiping them down is annoying, but worth it. I use string cleaner on mine when restringing to help strip off the gunk.
2) I'm convinced my '98 RG is going through the same morph, I'll replace the bridge when it starts shrieking in pain when I palm mute hard.
3) Yes, Ibanezrules is a great way to get all these parts. They are essentially an online Ibanez agent. With that in mind though the local agents can get these parts for you, and have all the channels they need in order to do so...It just takes alot of badgering...alot...
...I've given up using the local shops to get replacement parts for Ibbys years ago after years of struggle. I did sneak a last attempt last year with exactly the result I expected. ZERO support and looong bull stories from each of the "majour" local shops I contacted... I received my parts from the states within 4 days... No long stories; No bull... Nuff sedd...

I completely understand, unfortunately I can't get staff price on stuff from Ibanezrules though so I tend to stick with badgering ?

arjunmenon

Chad Adam Browne wrote: I completely understand, unfortunately I can't get staff price on stuff from Ibanezrules though so I tend to stick with badgering ?

Great ? Now i know who to badger locally for Ibby parts ?

I bought a 7 string Lo Pro off Rich Harris some time ago. Great service and he responded very quickly to my request. I paid through western union(because i'm not an SA citizen or permanent resident, hence no green ID book, and getting anything through the bank under such circumstances is a monumental mission). I had the bridge in about 6 days.

singemonkey

Arjun Menon wrote:
Chad Adam Browne wrote: I completely understand, unfortunately I can't get staff price on stuff from Ibanezrules though so I tend to stick with badgering ?
Great ? Now i know who to badger locally for Ibby parts ?

I bought a 7 string Lo Pro off Rich Harris some time ago. Great service and he responded very quickly to my request. I paid through western union(because i'm not an SA citizen or permanent resident, hence no green ID book, and getting anything through the bank under such circumstances is a monumental mission). I had the bridge in about 6 days.

You're not a permanent resident? But don't you live here? ???

Norman86

Permanent resident would be someone who's lived in the country for 5 years or longer! So Arjun probably hasn't lived here long enough to qualify for that status yet!

arjunmenon

singemonkey wrote: You're not a permanent resident? But don't you live here? ???

No & Yes. I want permanent resident status but Home Affairs will only give me that status (in my case) once:

1. I have been in the country for 7 yrs
2. Or if i have kids (asap preferably).

I'm working on #2 (and before anybody jumps on a high horse..it is for the right reasons).

singemonkey

Home affairs sucks.

You're married to a South African, right? Geez. A country with a major skills crisis, with masses of undocumented immigrants, and they still make people jump through endless hoops. Very annoying. The hell my Japanese buddy had to go through to get residence. It meant that he was almost indentured to his crappy job because in order to change he had to find employers willing to take on the whole work permit thing. And the guy has an engineering degree. >☹