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?

PeteM

Dingwall wrote: As a strat player I have not used a whammy for as long as I can remember. I almost pride myself on this fact, I think I was put off by the whammy antics of players in the 80s.

But I went to see Scott Henderson live last night (I have posted another thread) and he uses a whammy bar lots, it's a major part of his style. Now I don't particularly want to sound or play like Scott but I was blown away by the level of control that he had and how many different sounds he was able to get using it! So I am now wondering whether I have missed a trick here and that maybe I need to dig out my whammy and see what happens! Particularly in a 'live' situation in a 'one guitar' band. It really cuts through the mix and can really help fill those 'quiet' moments in songs.

I had a listen to the clip you posted and confess that I couldn't listen to the whole thing because I found the use of the whammy annoying.

Dingwall

To be honest I agree with you PeteM.

Scott has a very particular style that is not everyones cup of tea and a player that has taken me a while to appreciate. I think my main point was that a whammy can give you some extra colouring options as a guitarist which I personally have overlooked. I can also point out that I also noticed that with Scott's 'over'use of the whammy bar it left little behind for natural finger vibrato (which I am a big fan of)! So like anything finding the right balance is the key!!

IceCreamMan

Picked up a whammy today ,,,and damn i am having fun with it ..best lil money with the greatest return i have ever spent ..like a kid at christmas .....

it will stay...for now ....until my bandmates kill me ..then i may remove it to resurface at a later stage ?

guidothepimmp

Howd I miss this thread ???

I used to have only hardtails. Then a few years back I figured I NEED a whammy. So I got a Nuno sig. Guitars came and went, now ALL my guitars have whammys :-[

I'm getting into it more these days, nothing like some crazy train to get the ol whammy going ?

blues_addict

Subtle use of a whammy can by very... soulful... On the other hand there's nothing more irritating than having a guy in your band that just got a strat and thinks his whammy is his guitars handle to the door of cool ???

IceCreamMan

blues_addict wrote: Subtle use of a whammy can by very... soulful... On the other hand there's nothing more irritating than having a guy in your band that just got a strat and thinks his whammy is his guitars handle to the door of cool ???

ooooo you cut me so deep :'(

blues_addict

IceCreamMan wrote:
blues_addict wrote: Subtle use of a whammy can by very... soulful... On the other hand there's nothing more irritating than having a guy in your band that just got a strat and thinks his whammy is his guitars handle to the door of cool ???

ooooo you cut me so deep :'(

haha, sorry bro. The tell tale sign is if your fellow band members start throwing you with stuf... ?

kayDUB

blues_addict wrote: Subtle use of a whammy can by very... soulful... On the other hand there's nothing more irritating than having a guy in your band that just got a strat and thinks his whammy is his guitars handle to the door of cool ???

+1 SRV - Lenny comes to mind - one of my favourites! But seriously, are whammy's not the door of cool?? ?

Ray

Yes me.

Rocker-Gramps

I do a lot of instrumental stuff (mostly Shadows), and on just about all of their numbers, the tremelo,(whammy), is used. Any clean, laidback number sounds cool with a bit of Tremelo.

blues_addict

kayDUB wrote:
blues_addict wrote: Subtle use of a whammy can by very... soulful... On the other hand there's nothing more irritating than having a guy in your band that just got a strat and thinks his whammy is his guitars handle to the door of cool ???
+1 SRV - Lenny comes to mind - one of my favourites! But seriously, are whammy's not the door of cool?? ?

If you can play Lenny like SRV then by all means! Also I think it was done perfectly because the song is named after his guitar ?

Trubore

I have never used mine, it just doesn't sound "nice" to me....

Norman86

blues_addict wrote:
kayDUB wrote:
blues_addict wrote: Subtle use of a whammy can by very... soulful... On the other hand there's nothing more irritating than having a guy in your band that just got a strat and thinks his whammy is his guitars handle to the door of cool ???
+1 SRV - Lenny comes to mind - one of my favourites! But seriously, are whammy's not the door of cool?? ?
If you can play Lenny like SRV then by all means! Also I think it was done perfectly because the song is named after his guitar ?

And who is the guitar named after??

AlanRatcliffe

Norman86 wrote: And who is the guitar named after??

His wife, who bought it for him. I think you'll find the tune is for her, rather than the guitar he played it on.

blues_addict

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Norman86 wrote: And who is the guitar named after??
His wife, who bought it for him. I think you'll find the tune is for her, rather than the guitar he played it on.

I think that's debatable, regardless of what he said, lol... ?

arjunmenon

I'm super chuffed with my whammy skills the past few days.
I've finally managed the intro to Beck's Causer we've ended as lovers (that depressed whammy and volume knob swell)

Norman86

Arjun ?

Where have you been??

WORLDLYPUPPY

I like the whammy...but I don't tend to use it as much as what it is intended for. IMO most guys who don't (and I think most guys don't) because they are really looking for the tone more than the whammy. I think Gilmour is the smoothest whammy master of all....and his lever is trimmed down to about half the size of normal...so he gets the effect without the inconvenience...

BluJu

I took my strat in for a setup.
I didn't know what to say when the guy called me up saying "how often do you whammy?"
my reply was if you block that bridge I will block your face.

or something. I'm a terrible smack talker.

MIKA-the-better-one

I dont use any whammy..... I lock all trems.... I had a bigsby for awhile but I just dont like it.....