Let’s take this journey in semi-chronological
order, starting off with the most popular
blueprints for vibrato tailpieces of the past 60
years. The first widely available unit was the
Bigsby Vibrato, which inventor/luthier Paul
Bigsby introduced in 1951. It has a limited
travel, works best for down bends only, and
most players agree it alters the core tone of the
guitar it is mounted on. That said, it does its
thing pretty darn well, and has remained a staple
for retro-style players and rockabilly guitarists
in particular. Bigsby models are available for
use with just about any type of separate bridge
that would normally be paired with a trapeze
or stop-bar tailpiece, as well as Bigsby’s own
floating “rocker bridge”, and there are even
versions for Fender Telecasters. The simplest
Bigsby types—originally used on archtop guitars—
feature a round steel bar that rotates in
bearing-loaded cups at either side of its cast
aluminum frame. The strings’ ball ends are
held by pins affixed to the bar, and the detuning
action occurs when the player slackens the
strings by depressing the arm attached to the
roller bar. A single, side-mounted vertical spring
assists the roller bar in returning the strings
to pitch when the arm is released. More
advanced Bigsby models, such as the B5 (for
solidbody guitars) and B7 (for semi-acoustics)
also have a rolling “tension bar” under which
the strings pass on their way to the bridge. This
increases the break angle over the saddles, and,
along with it, the downward pressure of the
strings into the bridge and body.
Whatever type of Bigsby you encounter,
they all offer about the same amount of limited
downward bend—about a semi-tone at
best. A Bigsby isn’t for deep dive bombs or
Jeff Beck-style pitch mangling, but it’s great
for subtle but emotive vibrato effects. Set up
correctly, a Bigsby usually returns to pitch
pretty well, but the weak points are the components
it needs to cooperate with. The
bridge saddles and the nut need to be hitchfree
and in good condition to help keep the
tuning stable.
Arguably the most inspired—and
undoubtedly the most copied—vibrato unit
in the world is the Fender Stratocaster
vibrato, which remains extremely popular
today, both in its original and modified forms.
Originally dubbed the “Synchronized
Tremolo” (remember, it was created by the
same guys who called the tremolo effect on
so many of their amps “vibrato”), Fender’s
first vibrato was designed specifically for the
Stratocaster guitar, which debuted in 1954.
It’s an impressive and surprisingly intricate
feat of engineering, too, accounting for matters
of string height and intonation, sustain,
resonance, virtual body mass and more, all
in a single unit. The Strat vibrato’s six-screw
fulcrum point and rear-loaded springs enable
the kinds of serious down bends and, when
set up right, a semi-tone of up-bend too, that
just aren’t possible on a Bigsby. On top of
all that, it carries individual saddles that are
independently adjustable for both height and
intonation, something that even Gibson’s
hallowed Tune-o-Matic bridge didn’t achieve.
A Strat vibrato needs to be in good condition
and set up right (usually by a professional)
to provide its best return-to-pitch
capabilities, but when properly maintained
and partnered with a nut in equally good
condition, it’s an impressive performer. Even
with all of Fender’s clever engineering regarding
the inertia block (or sustain block) that’s
mounted to the bottom of the bridge plate
to replace lost body mass and compensate
for weaker string/bridge/body coupling, this
tailpiece still alters the tone of any guitar it
is mounted into. For many players, the resultant
compressed, slightly “rubbery” attack
and easy bending feel are part of the appeal
of the Stratocaster, and have certainly become
a component of classic electric blues tones.
Others hear a loss of solidity and resonance
in this, and some—Eric Clapton, for one—
even go to the extent of locking their Strat
vibratos in place by jamming a wooden
wedge between the block and body.
Some later Fender Stratocasters, as well
as guitars from other makers, have also carried
updated versions of this vibrato design.
Most often seen on the American Standard
Stratocaster and, later, American Series Stratocaster
(but also in designs from the likes
of Wilkinson, Gotoh, and plenty of others),
these units feature block-style or die-cast
stainless-steel saddles, dual pivot posts
(rather than six screws), into which are set
the knife-edge slots of the bridge base, and
modified saddle height and intonation
adjustments. The aim here is to improve
the performance of the original vintage Stratocaster
vibrato, and some players also hear
what they describe as a little more clarity or
definition in the tone of guitars equipped
with these updated units. Shop around, and
you’ll find a dizzying array of variations on
Fender’s seminal vibrato unit. Many of them
offer arguably enhanced performance,
although the original item still works perfectly
well for countless guitarists.
Even before the arrival of these modified
Strat designs, however, the Floyd Rose and
other “double-locking” vibratos were introduced
in the late ’70s, and became hugely
popular in the wake of Eddie Van Halen’s
extreme dive-bombing maneuvers. For a
time, the deep-bend performance and
impressive tuning stability of these vibratos
were requisites of heavy rock, and it seemed
like few guitarists of the genre could do without
a Floyd or Kahler system, or some
licensed version of the same. These totally
re-engineered designs were revolutionary
not for their own inherent sound, but for
the sounds and playing styles they enabled.
They were—and still are—complex mechanisms
compared to the vintage-style Strat
vibrato they evolved from, and require a lot
of moving parts to do their jobs. With a double-
locking vibrato, the strings are locked
down at both ends using screw-down clamps.
The bridges typically offer extended travel,
as well as some modification of the fulcrum
point of the traditional Strat vibrato, often
seen as a two-post and knife-edge system
not unlike the more modern Fender units
mentioned above. The fact that strings are
secured at both the nut and saddle, however,
means that restringing and even retuning
can be a hassle (although fine-tuners in the
saddles help out a lot here), and they can be
difficult to set up in the first place.
Some locking vibratos have a reputation
for a being either thin or bright sounding
(or both), but when correctly installed they
are usually sonically neutral. In any case, the
types of guitars that have them are most
often used with high-gain distortion for heavy
rock and shred playing, so tonal considerations
will usually be assessed as such. Ultimately,
a player’s decision whether to go
with a Floyd or not will usually have more
to do with functionality than tone.
One of the most popular modifications
of the vintage Strat vibrato comes in the
form of the Paul Reed Smith vibrato. This
system, originally manufactured for PRS
by Mil Com, seeks to address two of the
main drawbacks of the ’50s unit by offering
wider travel and improved tuning stability.
Some elements aimed at achieving
this include string ball-end seats that are
drilled deeper into the underside of the
inertia block (resulting in less dead string
length behind the saddles), and the notching
of the six pivot posts to receive the
knife-edge-fine holes in the base plate. PRS
also recognized, as did the double-locking
brigade, that a big part of a vibrato’s efficiency
has to do with the hardware at the
other end of the neck, and have included
a friction-reducing graphite-style nut and
locking tuners to complete the package.
Along with these popular vibratos, a few
other less-hallowed designs have also seen
use through the years. Gibson’s Maestro
Vibrola, a simple bent-steel-spring tailpiece,
proved more effective (and remains more
popular) than the short-lived and more
complex Sideways Vibrola that preceded it.
Fender’s “new and improved” Floating
Tremolo, as seen on the Jazzmaster and
Jaguar is still a favorite of many surf, garage,
and indie players, while the somewhat awkward
little Mustang vibrato unit has its fans,
as does the single-spring Burns Vibrato,
which saw use on some entry level ’60s
Gretsch models, such as the Corvette. Simple
or complex, however, most classic-style
vibratos can only work their best when the
strings move smoothly across the nut slots
and saddles as you move the bar. So keep
those slots slick and clean and your saddles
smooth and tight to ensure reliable performance
as you wiggle that whammy to add color
and drama to your sound.