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.

Actually, you will find many electric guitars with the tremelo bar feature at any Guitar Center store. While new models are popular, vintage used electric guitars with intact original equipment are the most valuable.

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 simple styles of such devices are the most common. In both styles, the strings are fastened to the rest of the guitar at the tailpiece and run over the top of the bridge. There are springs that allow the bridge to move or "float" where the tailpiece and bridge meet. In one style, a rotating tube is used along with the springs; in the second style, the bridge and the springs are simultaneously operated.

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.