Since the regular appearance of mechanical vibrato systems in the 1950s, many guitarists have used them-from Chet Atkins to Duane Eddy and the surf music of The Ventures, The Shadows, and Dick Dale. Ī vibrato-equipped guitar is typically more difficult to re-string and tune than a fixed-tailpiece guitar.

Guitar makers have developed a variety of vibrato systems since the 1890s. The mechanical vibrato systems began as a device for more easily producing the vibrato effects that blues and jazz guitarists had achieved on arch top guitars by manipulating the tailpiece with their picking hand.

The pitch-bending effects have become an important part of many styles, allowing creation of sounds that could not be played without the device, such as the 1980s-era shred guitar ' dive bomb' effect. Instruments without a vibrato have other bridge and tailpiece systems. The lever enables the player to quickly and temporarily vary the tension and sometimes length of the strings, changing the pitch to create a vibrato, portamento, or pitch bend effect. They add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the strings, typically at the bridge or tailpiece of an electric guitar using a controlling lever, which is alternately referred to as a whammy bar, vibrato bar, or incorrectly as a tremolo arm.

JSTOR ( April 2012) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ī vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings.

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