Good question..........and I've heard them called vibrato bar, trem bar, wigglestick, and p.o.s. won't-stay-in-tune.
All this talk about whammy bars made me wonder who started the name? Some people like EC call them wang bars which I think sounds improper. Whammy bar sounds a bit more like it but I wish I knew who named it. I brought my own WB into work today because I wanted to put it on the huge vice they have downstairs in building maintenance so that I could lower the main "bar" down some. When in place the bar is too high so I put it in the vice and bent it down more level with the guitar body...I think...I hope... The angle on my other whammy bar is even less and slopes way into the body of my Classic 50s Strat. I might need to pull that one back up slightly but having a bar that is lower is nice cause you can keep the bar in your hand while you play. Being too high you can't. Anyway...I just had whammy bar on the brain.
Guitars/Bass - MIM Fender Classic 50s Strat, MIM Fender Standard Strat, Squier Classic Vibe 50s Tele, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Epi '56 Gold Top Les Paul, Martin DSR acoustic, Sigma Martin Auditorium electric/acoustic, Squier Jazz Bass.
Amps/Cabinets/Modelers - Model 2558 50 watt Marshall Silver Anniversary Jubilee combo w/ Celestion Vintage 30s, 4x12 Marshall cabinet w/25 watt Greenback Celestions, Fender Blues Junior w/ a couple of Billm mods, Line 6 POD 2.0, Roland Micro Cube
Pedals/Effects - Cry Baby Classic Wah, Boss TU-2, Boss NS-2, Boss RC-2 Loop Station, Ross Compressor, MXR Micro Amp, Danelectro FAB Echo, Danelectro FAB Chorus, Danelectro Chicken Salad, Marshall Guv'nor Plus, Marshall Echohead, Duhvoodooman's Zonkin' Yellow Screamer, Digitech Digiverb, Digitech Bad Monkey, Dunlop Fuzz Face, Homemade Loop Bypass pedal, Duhvoodooman's Sonic Tonic (Maxon SD-9 clone +), Voodoo Labs Superfuzz
Good question..........and I've heard them called vibrato bar, trem bar, wigglestick, and p.o.s. won't-stay-in-tune.
Guitars
Wilburn Versatare, '52 FrankenTele(Fender licensed parts), Fender USA Roadhouse Strat, Fender USA Standard B-bender Telecaster, Agile AL 3000 w/ WCR pickups, Ibanez MIJ V300 Acoustic, Squier Precision Bass,
Amps
Ceriatone Overtone Special, Musicman 212 Sixty-Five, Fender Blues Jr., Peavey Classic 30, Fender Super Reverb, Traynor YCV-40 WR Anniversary w/ matching 1x12 ext. cab, Epiphone SoCal 50w head w/ matching 4x12 cab (Lady Luck speakers), Avatar 2x12 semi-open back cab w/ Celestion speakers
Pedals
Digitech Bad Monkey, Digitech Jamman, DVM's ZYS, Goodrich volume pedal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremolo_arm says:
The term "whammy bar" is believed to derive from Mack's 1963 instrumental hit, "Wham!", in which Mack made liberal use of the Bigsby.
The Law of Gravity is nonsense. No such law exists. If I think I float, and you think I float, then it happens.
Master Guitar Academy - I also teach via SKYPE.
I thought it came from the 1970's game show Press Your Luck where the contestants would yell out "Big bucks! No whammys!".
No?
George Michael?
***********Running away now****************
Guitars: 2008 Gibson SG Classic, 2006 Gibson Les Paul Standard LE, 2002 Gibson SG Supreme, 2001 Gibson Les Paul Studio Plus, 1996 Les Paul Studio Gem, American Deluxe Double Fat Strat, Bluesville "Super" Strat Copy, MIK Fender "Limited Edition" Tele, JD Bluesville "Night Pilot", Yamaha AES 820, Steinberger Spirit GT Pro, Taylor 355CE, Ovation 1897 Adamas, Ovation CC057 Celebrity
Amps: Axe FX centered rack rig, Mesa 4x12 cab. Germino Club 40, Johnson JM150 Millennium, Johnson JM250 Millennium, Gibson Titan Medalist Frankenstein.
Effects: Tonebone Trimode, EH Holy Grail, Boss CH-1, Dunlop Crybaby Classic, Framptone Amp Switcher, THD Hot Plate, Yamaha AG Stomp Acoustic Processor, Boss BCB-60 Pedal Board.
Frank Zappa introduced the term 'Whammy Bar' to me way back... down at Joe's Garage.
Gearlist:
Electric: Ibanez 'AS103', Fender Dlx Nash Pwr Tele, Fender Squier '62 JV Strat, Squier '51, Squier 60's Classic Vibe Strat, Epi Elite LP Studio, Hagstrom Swede Acoustic: Larrivee LV-03RE, A&L AMI, Yamaha FG340-T Bass: Yamaha BB 450 Amps: Roland JC-120, JC-50, Peavey Classic 30, Fender Super Champ XD Pedals: Marshall Guv'nor Plus, Danelectro Cool Cat Drive, Transparent Overdrive, Digitech Digiverb, Bad Monkey, Ibanez TS-9, Boss AC-2, CE-5, CS-2, DD-3, DF-2, DS-1, FV-100, GE-7, OC-2, PSM-5, SD-1, TU-2, DVM~BYOC 'Lush Puppy' Chorus
But then it might have been the other one. Now, what was his name againOriginally Posted by Plank_Spanker
Electric: Fat strat > Korg PB > TS7 > DS1 > DD-20 > Cube 60 (Fender model)
Acoustic: Guitar > microphone > audience