Q&A for How to Use a Guitar Whammy Bar

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What does a whammy bar on a guitar do?

Nicolas Adams
Professional Guitarist
Nicolas Adams is a 5th generation musician of Serbian Gypsy descent and the lead guitarist of the band Gypsy Tribe. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Nicolas specializes in Rumba Flamenco and Gypsy jazz and playing the guitar, Bouzouki, Balalaika, and piano.

Nicolas Adams

Professional Guitarist

Expert Answer

A whammy bar loosens or raises the tension on the string to give it a different note. Usually it is used like a flourish or a color tone to give the song a slightly different feel. People use it to start on a half note or quarter note, and then come up to their notes to give it a special sound. They usually drop the note down, but depending on the whammy bar and your guitar, you may also be able to pull up on it to raise the note.

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Question

My whammy bar dosen't go up, what should I do?

Community Answer

Make sure it is not stuck. You can check it by removing the back cover. Or it might just be your guitar, some whammy bars are just not designed to go up, only down.

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What if the whammy bar goes up but not down?

Community Answer

Is it too loose or too tight? It could also be an issue with the bridge. If you try tightening and loosening and it doesn't help, take it into a music shop that does repairs and ask them to take a look.

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Question

My guitar is not capable of mounting a whammy bar. Is there any other way to imitate the sound?

Community Answer

Just move and bend the string(s) manually to change the pitch. (Essentially a whammy bar just bends the strings for you.)

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How do I use a digital guitar tuner?

Community Answer

Turn it on and pick each string individually, then as you tune it should have colors or a bar of some sort that goes up or down, indicating how close you are to being right with your tuning.

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Who invented the tremolo arm?

Community Answer

Floyd D. Rose invented the "tremolo arm," a.k.a. the locking vibrato, in 1977.

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Can the whammy bar affect the tuning?

Community Answer

Yes, heavy use of the whammy bar will make your strings out of tune. But you can purchase a Floyd Rose tremolo to keep them from going out of tune. Floyd D. Rose created the Floyd Rose tremolo, which prevents the strings from going out of tune.

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Question

When I pull my whammy bar either way, the pitch of the note doesn't change! And no, I'm not tone deaf.

Community Answer

You might need to loosen the screws on the board a slight bit, so that it can bend when you pull the whammy bar.

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