In some instances, a used electric guitar may be fitted with a strange bar hanging from the bridge. The name for this bar is a tremolo, but it may also be referred to as a 'whammy' bar, a vibrato arm, or a wang bar.

In fact, stop in at any local Guitar Center store and you'll find many electric guitars featuring the tremelo bar. Newer models are popular, but the most valuable are vintage used electric guitars with the original device intact and functional.

During the late 1940's and 1950's, this device was introduced and developed for guitar players. The tremelo arm or bar is still produced on certain electric guitar models today. The intent of the guitar tremelo bar is to create a vibrato effect.

Vibrato is the correct term for the pitch variation used by guitar players, but tremolo (actually a variance in volume), was introduced in amplification technology first and thus guitar players continue to use the misnomer tremolo for pitch variation.

Two styles of this device are the most popular and both devices work very simply. The strings are fastened to the guitar via the tailpiece. The strings are run across the top of the bridge. Within this bridge and tailpiece combination are springs that allow the bridge to move or "float". One style uses a rotating tube in conjunction with the springs. The other style operates the springs and bridge synchronously.

With the attached arm in motion and pressed either up or down, the device can alter the pitch of the notes being played on the guitar. As the springs guide the bridge up or down, this tightens or loosens the tension on the string. Thus, the vibrato effect is perfectly achieved when repeated slowly or rapidly.

Some of those who pioneered the use of the tremelo bar include Lonnie Mack (whose song "Wham!" may have led to the moniker "whammy" bar) and Leo Fender. Innovators of the use of the device in later years include Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck. More recently guitar wizards Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai have taken the use of the device to new levels.

You should try a used electric guitar at a guitar center near you, because used guitars are fun to play and produce an amazing variety of sounds. Used electric guitars with tremelo bars produce a sound that is distinctive and impossible to match on any other instrument.

Browse hundreds of used electric guitars at The-Guitar-Center.net. Featuring the net's widest selection of electric guitars from names like Fender, Gibson, Gretch, Martin, Ibanez, and many more! [This article may be freely reprinted provided all links are kept in place.]