1. John petrucci • luther dickinson • warwick bass camp • ted greene
NOVEMBER 2013
NOVEMBER 2013
Titans of the
tremolo
A tribute to the vibrato bar’s
visionary inventors and players
premierguitar.com
10 Guitar & Bass Reviews
PRS S2 Custom 24 / Guild Starfire Bass / TC Electronic PolyTune 2
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Handcrafted Guitars & Mandolins. That’s what we do. Committed to a high standard of quality, Eastman Guitars uses only
premium tonewoods and the finest appointments. Alongside the talent and accomplishment of our designers and luthiers,
combined with our company philosophy, we continue one of the most fascinating musical traditions the world has known.
1
2
3
5
4
6
7
8
9
10
11
13
15
12
14
16
17
18
19
20
ACROSS
DOWN
4. Standard guitar tuning
8. one of the most innovative and
influential guitarists of all time
born 1942
9. In 1955 this 'man in black'
makes his first chart appearance
with "Cry Cry Cry"
10. 1968 The Beatles release a
self-titled album commonly
referred to as...
14. this guitar great wrote the
instrumental hit "Rumble"
15. In 1967 this music bible was
first published
18. 1967's "Magical Mystery Tour"
band
19. Eastman’s electric guitar line
20. Elvis Presley's last #1 hit in
November 1969
E10SS
1. Just Another Brick In (1979)
2. legendary singer of Queen passed
away November 24, 1991
3. Traditionally eaten on this
November holiday
5. November Music Festival in New
Orleans
6. born November 18, 1962 guitarist
for a pioneering bay area metal
band
7. this "Pink Moon" writer passed
away November 25, 1974
11. "Tiptoe Through the Tulips"
12. Eastman Handcrafted Guitars
and
13. An Eastman guitar referred to as
an “AR”
16. born November 12, 1945 he
began rockin' in the free world
17. Released "Anarchy in the UK"
(1977)
www.EastmanGuitars.com
AR805CE
No purchase necessary. Limit one submission per household. Giveaway limited to the first 100 submissions received. Please allow 6-8 weeks from the time your submission is received.
10. Tuning up
Life in the Key of Dorian Gray
BY shawn hammond
@PG_shawnh
N
Ivan Albright’s
fantastic “Picture
of Dorian Gray”
from Albert
Lewin’s 1945
film adaptation
of the timeless
Oscar Wilde
novel.
ot to get all hippie-dippy—I’m not the hugest fan of all that circle-of-life
crap—but isn’t it funny how we all do kind of fly in these mysterious orbits
around the invisible black holes of our history and genes and chemistry
and who-knows-what-else? Flung around our little universes, we try to forget about
mortality’s gravitational pull—try to focus on paying the bills but remember to let in
a little light from the imploding star of unrealized (and kind of stupid) dreams and
fantastically unexpected opportunities so it can feed new life springing up around us…
try to remind ourselves all that stuff composes the dynamics that make this prolonged
state of breathing and atria pumping the crazy, unpredictable, terrifyingly exhilarating epic psych-prog jam that it is. We’re always trying to find meaning and purpose
on macro and mondo scales—always thinking/knowing/wishing there are/were some
assurances after we’re compacted into the dense mass of elemental existence before
exploding into oblivion like the signal coming out of J Mascis’ wall of Marshalls.
Yeah, life can be heavy sometimes.
Speaking of circles of life and getting all we can out of it, 16 years ago my wife and
I were contemplating names for our first son. We wanted something unique—but
not weird enough that he’d someday blame it for sociopathic behavior. I kind of liked
“Dorian.” I hadn’t yet read Oscar Wilde’s brilliant novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, so
I must’ve been spending too much time on fretboard scales. My English-major brother
alerted me to the faux pas of naming your kid after a dashing, forever-young rich bastard who lives as scandalously as possible and actually enjoys watching his soul corrode
in a mysterious painting.
So yeah, we canned that idea. But over the years Wilde’s masterpiece became one of
my favorite books. Sometimes I regret being deterred. I mean, hardly anybody knows about its elegant prose
and dichotomous tale of debauchery and moral insight, so who would’ve given our kid crap for it anyway?
I still kind of like the villain’s name. But I don’t think it has anything to do with scales now. Maybe
it’s because we all struggle with the things Dorian did: Our nerve endings tell us to seek out everything
that’s pleasurable and easy, while our brains speak to us of practicality and self-preservation and maybe
some sort of philosophical or faith-based morality. Our hearts long for fantastic, paradoxical possibilities to avoid death and pain or prolong ecstasy.
But it’s okay to have some Dorian DNA in us—to want the best of this existence and never cease
looking for new experiences that brighten the tapestry of life. To not let routine and complacency
bleach its brilliance.
Most of us aren’t stupid enough to think, like Dorian Gray, that loyalty to nothing but the pleasure
center of our brain is a road worth following. But plenty of us are too busy, discouraged, complacent, or
incurious to find the grain of truth around which the black pearl of his warped philosophy grew.
I guess what I’m saying is it’d be a tragedy to become as dead to life’s new possibilities as Dorian was
to his conscience. The day you’re hardened to the cosmic hippie stuff and become indifferent to squashed
squirrels festering in the road or wide-eyed fawns eating in the grass outside the office window is the day
you start rotting inside. And you’re completely screwed if you don’t love that your kids helped you, say,
rediscover the same Metallica album you bought new at 15, or don’t laugh when they lambast mainstream songs you kind of like—right after asking you to download the Top 40 tune you hated in high
school. The day you think there’s nowhere new for your songs, tone, or playing style to go, you’re SOL.
… plenty of us
are too busy,
discouraged,
complacent,
or incurious to
find the grain
of truth around
which the
black pearl of
[Gray’s] warped
philosophy
grew.”
Shawn Hammond
Editor-In-Chief
shawn@premierguitar.com
8 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
premierguitar.com
11. Hunter Hayes
Martin player, 2 years
“For the love of music” is Hunter Hayes’ mantra that’s inscribed on the pick guard of
his Martin 00 Koa Custom. Learn how his love of watching country artists perform live
influenced Hunter’s sound at www.martinguitar.com/hunter.
Available Everywhere
12. FEEDBACK Loop
uses I have ever read. Usually
the articles on tubes get way too
technical for me and I get lost
in all the tech talk. This one
however, I understood and will
use as a handout to my guitar
students who want to know basics
about tubes. Very well done!
—John Hutchinson,
via premierguitar.com
With the Band
I met Derek on his first tour
with The Allman Brothers when
Dickey was still in the band.
Shortly after that, Derek was in
St. Louis with his band and called
up and asked about coming out
to Silver Strings Music to look
around. He was 21 by that point,
as I recall. He bought a very cool
old black Silvertone guitar and
an old Guild A-50, which Susan
[Tedeschi] had seen when she was
in town with Derek earlier that
summer, as a birthday present.
The Silvertone ended up being
the “Down in The Flood” guitar.
The ’65 Firebird V was one of
my personal guitars for about
30 years and is easily one of the
best Firebird Vs made, and still
in one piece. I was finalizing a
Firebird deal with Duane on the
day that he died, so this deal was
a bit of guitar “closure,” since
he never got to gig with his.
Derek has been able to pursue a
tonal direction that Duane had
planned on exploring, but did
not get the chance.
Regarding the ’69 Duane
Allman Marshall, I brought it
to the soundcheck for a Derek
Trucks Band/Eric Johnson
show on February 13, 2001.
I remember the date because
10 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
Susan had flown in that day for
Valentine’s Day, which was the
following day. Derek tried it out
backstage with his main SG, and
it was undeniably, the Fillmore
one. Very distinctive fullness and
sustain. Derek used the amp for
the encores when he, Susan, and
Mike [Mattison] sat in with Eric’s
band. George McCorkle and I
had several discussions about the
appropriate thing to do with the
amp when it was time to pass it
along, and we both agreed that
for a variety of reasons, it would
go to Derek. Over 10 years later,
we worked out a deal that puts
the amp where it should stay. I
am happy to hear that it was used
on this album [Made Up Mind]. I
still miss the Firebird, which was
one of my three favorite guitars
of the last 43 years, but I think
that the right guy has it, too!
Derek and Susan have also bought
several other old guitars and amps.
Do not miss seeing this band live!
Pete—great article. Here’s one
little tip I haven’t seen anywhere ...
1) Go to your amp manufacturer’s
website and download a PDF
copy of your tube chart. 2) Open
the PDF with Acrobat. 3) Use
the sticky note tool in Adobe
Acrobat to make notes on when
you changed your tubes and
with what brand/model and any
other settings, things to try in
what section, etc. 4) Save the
document. Now you have a log
of your tube changes and you
won’t forget what’s where and if
you want the same tubes or to try
something new.
—Jason Davis,
@jasondavismusic
4 1/2 hrs @ 35,000 ft
with @premierguitar
issue means pedalboard
overhaul is coming. Used
pedal sale at my place soon
—jteichel,
@teichel
via premierguitar.com
—Ed Seelig,
Silver Strings Music & Repair,
—James Hogan,
St. Louis, Missouri
via premierguitar.com
Thank you Peter Thorn and
Premier Guitar. This [Tone Tips,
October 2013] is one of the best
descriptions of tubes and their
@PG_shawnh your
“tuning up” comments in
the latest @premierguitar
are so on the mark. Case
in point, my pedalboard:
—Chip G.,
Great info. Don’t forget extra fuses
too! If you blow a tube it will
likely take out the amp’s fuse(s) as
well. Also, since failed tubes often
take out a tube socket resistor
(which is tough to change quickly
mid gig) you can always bring a
backup amp or a POD type device
to bail you out for those situations.
That being said having an extra set
of tubes is always a great idea!
Tube Talk
Socialize
with Us!
Keep those
comments coming!
Please send your suggestions,
gripes, comments, and good words
directly to info@premierguitar.com.
I bought the Mu-tron
III brand new. It was
my first effect pedal back
in the ’70s. It burned
through the batteries like
nothing else but sounded
so good. I sold it in the
’90s to a gentleman in the
Netherlands. The Dan
Armstrong Blue Clipper
was my only other box
until I bought a Small
Stone. The Clipper
plugged right into the
guitar, unless you had a
Strat. I called it the “Now
I’m Fripp” box.
—Thomas Voehringer
premierguitar.com
13. FOCUS LESS ON YOUR GEAR,
MORE ON YOUR MUSIC.
NeW
Bose® L1® ModeL 1s systeM
Our new L1 Model 1S offers the portability and flexibility of the L1 family — with
a new level of performance. With the Bose proprietary 12-speaker articulated line
array, it’s big enough to fill the room with 180 degrees of clear, even sound. At the
same time, it’s small enough to fit in your car and light enough to carry yourself.
Plus, with no speaker stands and fewer connections, it’s easy enough to set up in
minutes. You’ll focus less on your equipment and more on your performance.
To learn more about Bose L1 systems,
visit Bose.com/L1systems11b
or call 800-905-1852
L1 Model 1S
with B1 bass
premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 11
14. CONTENTS November 2013
P. 79
ARTISTS
64
32
John Petrucci
Tremolo Titans
79
Luther Dickinson
How the North
Mississippi Allstars
created their boldest
album to date.
95
Forgotten
Heroes:
Ted Greene
One of the most
influential guitar
instructors who
ever lived.
12 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
The visionaries of
vibrato, from the
mechanics to
the players.
Tremolo History
It’s as old as the human
voice, but when did it
become a guitar effect?
REVIEWS
136
140
145
149
153
156
161
164
168
173
Guild Starfire
119
WarwickBass Camp
A weeklong low-end exporation
set in the land of sausage.
“If you’re going to get into slide, you
need to put that pick down!”
Tausch 665
—Luther Dickinson, p. 79
TC Electronic PolyTune 2
Hayden Mini Mofo
Spontaneous Audio Son of Kong
PRS S2 Custom 24
ToneConcepts The Distillery
Devilcat Jimmy
NS Design CR5 Radius
Bearfoot Effects Model G
Above: Photo by Michael Weintrob
Practice makes perfect,
says the beloved
Dream Theater
mastermind.
47
premierguitar.com
16. On the Cover:
Contents November 2013
1930s Rickenbacher
Spanish Model B with
Kauffman Vib-Rola. Photo
by Robert Corwin
18
20
23
176
178
188
190
192
News Bits
Gear Radar
Opening Notes
Media Reviews
Staff Picks
Next Month in PG
Esoterica Electrica
Last Call
GEAR
28 Rig Rundowns
44 Modern Builder Vault
60 Vintage Vault
62 Bottom Feeder
76 Tone Tips
92 Guitar Tracks
Right now I’m listening
to some Bill Frisell
records including
Gone, Just Like a Train.
—David Bromberg,
Staff Picks, p. 178
14 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
Photo by Kat Osweiler
HOW-TO
110 Acoustic Soundboard
112 Guitar Shop 101
114 Bass Bench
116 On Bass
130 Mod Garage
132 Ask Amp Man
134 State of the Stomp
premierguitar.com
18. GO ONLINE
ONLY ON PremierGuitar.com…
Your guide to the latest stories, reviews, videos, and lessons on PremierGuitar.com
FEATURED
LESSONS
Access all of our lessons
online, for free, with
streaming audio and
downloadable, printable
notation PDFs.
BEYOND BLUES
Dorian vs. Aeolian
By Levi Clay
DIY Bass Setup, Trivium, and Black Crowes Gear Porn
In our latest DIY video installment, tech guru Tony Nagy shows us how to set up a 5-string bass. In
light of Vengeance Falls, Trivium’s Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu discuss working with Disturbed
frontman David Draiman, and we also get a closer look at the making of Only Slightly Mad, the latest
album from Dylan collaborator and Americana godfather, David Bromberg.
Black Crowes’ guitarist Rich Robinson had so many glorious instruments on hand when we
recently shot a Rig Rundown that we simply had to find a way to share them all with you. Check
out our exclusive gear gallery featuring his touring guitars and rig. (Flip to p.28 for a preview of this
amazing collection.)
STYLE GUIDE
Blues Progressions
By Mike Cramer
DIGGING DEEPER
How Many Chords
are There?
By Shawn Persinger
FRETBOARD WORKSHOP
Improving Your
Legato Technique
By Allen Hinds
Calling All Bottom Feeders!
Gear lust comes in all forms, and who doesn’t
love a good bargain? Will Ray’s Bottom Feeder
column has received great feedback over the
years, so we’ve decided to see what steals and
finds other people are playing. Send a highresolution photograph of your budget gear finds
to submissions@premierguitar.com. Don’t forget
to describe what it is, but also tell us where and
how you acquired your instrument and how
much you paid. We’ll feature the best finds in
a “Bottom Feeder: Reader’s Edition.” And don’t
worry about how cheap it is. After all, one man’s
trash is another man’s treasure.
16 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
premierguitar.com
19.
20. news bits
guitardom’s
top tweets
What kind of monster have
I become that I’m cheering
for Walt and Todd?!
Mark Hoppus,
@markhoppus
Great Scott! @Scott_Ian:
New Thraxagram relic
aka Evel Knievel
just in time for San
Bernardino tomorrow!
Jackson Guitars,
@JacksonGuitars
Experience PRS 2013
Private Stock. Limited
edition, only 30 made.
PRS Guitars,
@prsguitars
I played 2 of Jimi’s strats.
1 he gave to Frank
Zappa (still in Dweezil’s
possession) & a ’61 he gave
to Adrian Gurvitz.
both = unreal vibes.
Phil X,
@TheRealPhilX
The sound in our venue
tonight can best be
described as an echo
chamber!! You can come
back tomorrow and still
hear us from tonight!
Joe Bonamassa,
@JBONAMASSA
Production Thrasher has
passed the tests.... The
first big batch will be
shipping soon.
Randall Amplifiers,
@randallamps
18 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
AWARD
Todd Rundgren to Receive Les Paul
Award at 29th Annual TEC Awards
Carlsbad, CA – Legendary musician,
groundbreaking record producer, and electronic
music revolutionary Todd Rundgren will be
honored with the Les Paul Award at the 29th
Annual Technical Excellence & Creativity
Awards. The awards recognize outstanding
achievement in professional audio technology and
production and will be presented Friday, January
24 at the Anaheim Hilton during the 2014
NAMM Show held in Anaheim, CA.
The Les Paul Award, named for the revolutionary
inventor and esteemed musician, is presented
annually to honor individuals or institutions that
have set the highest standards of excellence in the
creative application of audio and music technology.
Russ Paul, son of Les Paul, will make the
presentation on behalf of the Les Paul Foundation,
sponsor of the award. Instituted in 1991, the
honor has been granted to such luminaries as Pete
Townshend, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Stevie
Wonder, Neil Young, and Peter Gabriel.
The TEC Foundation for Excellence in Audio
will also induct two new members to its Hall
of Fame—John Meyer and Hal Blaine. Audio
engineer and sound researcher John Meyer
co-founded and is CEO of Berkeley’s Meyer
Sound Laboratories, Inc. He will be recognized
for bringing groundbreaking developments to
the design and manufacture of the loudspeaker
and for his cutting-edge contributions to sound
reinforcement in the performing arts. Legendary
session musician Hal Blaine of the Wrecking
Crew played drums on more than 5,000 records,
TV jingles, and film scores. Career highlights
include hits for Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, and
dozens more.
namm.org
TOUR
Korn and Rob Zombie Announce
Co-Headlining Tour
Los Angeles, CA – Rob Zombie and Korn have
announced a co-headlining arena tour—the “Night
of the Living Dreads” tour—kicking off Sunday,
November 3rd in Reno, NV and encompassing
premierguitar.com
21. 17 dates across the U.S. before wrapping
November 26th in Bethlehem, PA.
On his upcoming co-headlining tour
with Korn, Rob Zombie notes, “Some of
the best times we’ve had on the road have
been touring with Korn, so we’re thrilled
to be doing it again!” Jonathan Davis adds,
“We’ve had a lot of fun touring and playing
with Rob Zombie over the years. It’s been
a while and those shows were so much fun.
We’re really excited about doing it again.”
korn.com
robzombie.com
roadshow
Taylor Guitars Announces
Domestic and International
Road Shows
El Cajon, CA – From California to
Malaysia, New Zealand, and Norway,
Taylor’s team of factory experts and
product specialists is circling the globe as
part of the fan-favorite Road Show series.
The Road Show will make stops at over
100 different authorized Taylor dealers
this fall, promising guitar enthusiasts
a night of insights on the company’s
guitar-making processes, body shape and
tonewood options, and the award-winning
Expression System pickup. After a series of
guitar demonstrations, guests are invited
to sample a variety of different models,
including the all-new Grand Orchestra,
along with rare and custom Build to Order
guitars, as part of Taylor’s “Petting Zoo.”
Admission to each Road Show is free.
The 2013 Fall Road Show schedule will
kick off in the United States with multiple
dates in California, followed by several stops
in Ohio and Indiana, with concurrent events
planned for the East Coast in Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, and Maine. While on the
Road Show page, fans can also enter for a
chance to win a Taylor Grand Orchestra
guitar. Introduced earlier this year at Winter
NAMM, Taylor’s Grand Orchestra delivers
the company’s biggest body shape to date,
producing a full-spectrum tonal range that
boasts great power, depth, and balance.
taylorguitars.com
premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 19
22. Gear radar
New products on the horizon.
5
2
1
4
3
1
2
fender
Starcaster
mcnelly guitars
Saint Nick Pickups
Resurrected from its brief
These handmade single-
tenure in the ’70s, the
coils have the punchy
3
Mooer audio
Micro DI
4
5
The Micro DI contains
PRS
DG Custom Heads
& Custom 2x12 Cab
Line 6
POD HD Pro X
Line 6’s latest all-in-one
balanced and unbalanced
Designed in conjunction
rackmount unit contains
Starcaster is Fender’s
nature of P-90s, and a
outputs, a ground lift,
with David Grissom, the
more DSP processing
only offset-waist semi-
modified construction
virtual cab simulation,
DG Custom 30 features
power, over 100 studio
hollow model. It sports
gives them a uniquely
and a gain switch—all in a
four EL84/7581 tubes and
and stomp effects, and can
a 9.5" fretboard radius
versatile tone in a
very small footprint.
the DG Custom 50 rocks a
serve as a studio interface.
and Fender Wide Range
humbucker size.
MSRP $99
quartet of EL34s.
Street $699
humbuckers.
Street $125 (add $10 for
mooeraudio.com
MAP DG Custom 30
line6.com
MSRP $899
black or gold)
$2,899, DG Custom 50
fender.com
mcnellyguitars.com
$2,999, DG 2x12 Cab $849
prsguitars.com
20 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
premierguitar.com
23. 9
6
10
8
7
6
7
cort
20th Anniversary
Artisan Bass
Series B4
dod
Overdrive
Preamp 250
The revamped, true-bypass
The Artisan B4 20th boasts
8
IK Multimedia
iRig Pro
9
10
Hughes & Kettner
GrandMeister
eastwood
Marksman 5
The iRig Pro is a universal
The 36-watt, EL84-
A replica of the 1957
mobile audio/MIDI
powered head includes
Magnatone Mark V
250 captures the sound and
interface that handles
H&K favorites like the
designed by Paul Bigsby,
a swamp-ash body, a
wild heart of the original,
both 1/4" and XLR cables,
Red Box DI output and
it features a chambered
5-piece neck constructed
but boasts an output that
has 48V phantom power,
power soak, but adds
mahogany body, 22-fret
of African wenge and
is significantly higher
and works with IK’s suite
MIDI functionality and
mahogany set neck, and
rosewood, an African wenge
and cleaner, giving it an
of music-creation apps.
programming for onboard
a pair of custom-designed
EW Alnico SCP90s.
fretboard, Bartolini MK-1
incredibly polished sound.
Street $149.99
reverb, tap delay, flange,
pickups and preamp, and
MSRP $149.95
ikmultimedia.com
phase, tremolo, and
Street $999
Hipshot Ultralite tuners.
digitech.com
chorus effects.
eastwoodguitars.com
MSRP $799
MSRP $1,499
cortguitars.com
hughes-and-kettner.com
premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 21
24.
25. Opening Notes
Lukas Nelson
August 3, 2013
Grant Park
Chicago, Illinois
Photo by Chris Kies
The frontman for Lukas Nelson
& Promise of the Real takes on
the 2013 Lollapalooza BMI stage
with his new main squeeze—a
near-mint, completely stock 1956
Les Paul Junior that he purchased
earlier this year.
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PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 23
26. Opening Notes
Bryce Dessner
August 3, 2013
Grant Park
Chicago, Illinois
Photo by Chris Kies
The National’s Bryce Dessner
brings it to an eager Lollapalooza
crowd with a 1965 non-reverse
Firebird he picked up on eBay for
a whopping $300. He outfitted
the ’Bird with a Bigsby and a set
of handwound Lollars.
24 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
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27. Opening Notes
Nile Rodgers
August 9, 2013
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
Photo by Rich Osweiler
Writer, producer, and player of
countless hits since the ‘70s, Nile
Rodgers works a crowd of San
Franciscans into dance mode
with his long-favored axe (aka
“Hitmaker”), the 1960 Strat with
a ’59 neck that he’s been playing
since the early ’70s.
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PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 25
28. Opening Notes
John Oates
August 11, 2013
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
Photo by Kat Osweiler
The Hall & Oates co-founder and
guitarist gets an ’80s-flavored party
rolling at the 2013 Outside Lands
festival with one of his favorite
guitars, a stock 2009 TV Jones
Model 10 equipped with a Bigsby
and a pair of TV Classic pickups.
26 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
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29.
30. rig rundowns
Rich Robinson
Black crowes
Longtime tech, Doug
“Red” Redler, showed
us the gear Rich
Robinson is using
on the Crowes’ latest
tour. A large portion
of the band’s gear
was damaged during
Hurricane Sandy and
Redler had to replace
nearly everything
in Robinson’s
touring rig. On this
leg, Robinson was
hauling everything
from relic’d out
Gibsons to Japanese
Zemaitis models, and
even a few Gretschs
and Teles.
This Japanese-made
Gretsch Black Falcon
was relic’d by Cobra
Guitars out of NYC.
Robinson tunes this
guitar to C–C–E–C–E–G
for “Shine Along” and
reaches for it anytime
he wants to wrestle
with feedback. All of
Robinson’s electric
guitars are strung up
with .010–.046 sets of
GHS Boomers.
His Teye La Mora
(not pictured) is tuned
to open-G and capoed
at the third fret for
“Remedy.” Built in
Austin, Texas, these
guitars feature very
intricate engraving
work and a somewhat
mysterious Mood
knob. Robinson plays
almost exclusively on
the bridge pickup—no
matter what guitar he
plays—with all the
knobs full on.
28 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
premierguitar.com
31. FACToid
Robinson’s hi-fi stereo
was the inspiration
for the design of
his Signature
Reason amp.
Top: Two EL34 output
tubes and five 12AX7
preamp tubes power
the 50-watt Rich
Robinson Signature
Reason amp. It also
contains a GZ34
rectifier and a tube
tremolo that Robinson
controls via an
expression pedal. The
2x12 cabinets are made
of Baltic birch and are
stocked with 50-watt
Eminence Private Jack
speakers.
Center: In order to
keep stage volume at
a manageable level,
both of Robinson’s
amps (on the left is a
50th Anniversary Vox
AC30HH with matching
cab) use Stage Craft
baffles. On top of the
effects rack is a pair
of Fulltone Tube Tape
Echoes (one for a short
echo and the other for a
long echo) and a Fender
Vintage Reissue ‘63
Reverb tank.
Bottom: All of
Robinson’s effects
are housed in a rack
that sits between his
amps onstage. The
drive section of his rig
consists of an ElectroHarmonix Big Muff and
four reissue Way Huge
pedals (Angry Troll, Red
Llama, Swollen Pickle,
and Pork Loin). The
next drawer houses his
modulation effects: a
Strymon El Capistan,
Way Huge Supa-Puss,
Uni-Vibe Stereo
Chorus, Flip Vintage
Tremolo, and a Demeter
Tremulator. He splits his
signal with a Framptone
3-Banger out to his Vox
and Reason amps (which
are both always on) and
uses a Strymon Lex for
his rotary tones.
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PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 29
32. rig rundowns
Jerry Horton & Tobin Esperance
Papa roach
We caught up
with Papa Roach
guitarist Jerry Horton
and bassist Tobin
Esperance for a
backstage hang
before this stop
on the Carnival
of Madness tour.
Horton explains
downsizing his rig
and collaborating
with Schecter on his
signature model,
while Esperance
discusses why he
removed the 3-band
EQ on his Lakland
basses and why picks
just aren’t his thing.
FACToid
Horton played a
Schecter C-1 in the
band’s breakout
“Last Resort” video
in 2000.
Jerry horton
Horton has rocked
Schecters for over a
decade and his signature
6-string is based on the
single-cut Custom Solo
6 with a few tweaks. He
requested a TonePros
AVT-II wraparound
bridge and swapped
the standard Seymour
Duncan Custom
Custom in the bridge
for his preferred JB
bridge pickup setup.
For the Carnival of
Madness tour, his tech
replaced the standard
19:1-ratio Schecter
locking tuners with
Grovers. The graphics
were codesigned with
a hot-rod artist from
Tennessee. One is tuned
to dropped C and the
other is C#. He uses
Dunlop Nickel Plated
Steel .013–.056 strings
and custom Dunlop Papa
Roach-designed .88
Tortex picks.
30 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
Horton once rocked a
four-amp setup that
included three different
Marshall heads and a
Vox AC30, but he scaled
down his rig for an early
2013 gig in Russia and
hasn’t looked back. He
now uses two Fractal
Audio Axe-Fx II units for
all his amp models and
effects and relies on a
lone expression pedal
for wah sounds and
controlling the amount of
overdrive/dirt on certain
patches on songs like
“Hollywood Whore.”
Following Horton’s
reduction motif,
Esperance is only
traveling with two
rackmounted Ampeg
amps. His main stage
head is a SVT-4 Pro and
the backup is a BR5.
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33. Tobin Esperance
Esperance relies heavily
on his custom Lakland
44-94 4-string models.
These look like standard
production models
at first glance, but
Esperance simplified
the control layout by
opting to ditch the
3-band EQ for a passive
sound because he
always had it on 10 and
was turning the wrong
knobs during dimly
lit shows. His 44-94s
also have a sleeker,
more modern-metal
look with all black
hardware. He currently
uses D’Addario strings,
gauged .050–.120.
Esperance never uses
a pick onstage, saying
he has better control
over tone and dynamics
when he attacks
the strings with his
fingertips.
Esperance keeps a tidy
house when it comes to
his pedalboard, which
only has three boxes on
it: a Jim Dunlop 105Q
Cry Baby Bass Wah, a
Malekko B:Assmaster
Harmonic Octave
Distortion, and a Boss
TU-2 tuner. A Voodoo Lab
Pedal Power 2 powers
his modest board.
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PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 31
35. A tribute to the visionaries of vibrato—
from the brilliant minds that concocted its mechanics to
the players who hooked us on its intoxicating effects.
W
hether it’s used to add a
shimmering vibe to a cloud
of ethereal chords, impart
a seasick feel to a surf riff, or unleash a
sonic assault of bowel-rattling divebombs,
the tremolo bar has played a huge role in
the guitar’s capabilities as an expressive
instrument. It’s difficult to imagine a
modern musical genre that wouldn’t sound
a lot different without the remarkable
range of textures that a deftly used tremolo
can yield. To celebrate the contributions of
this wonderful piece of hardware—and the
brilliant minds that made it possible—let’s
look at the tremolo systems that changed
not just the way guitar is played, but the
entire musical landscape since the 1930s.
First, some nomenclature: Although
many use the terms “tremolo” and
“vibrato” interchangeably, they aren’t always
synonymous. There are different types of
tremolo: On bowed string instruments,
tremolo can refer to rapid reiteration of
the same note, or movement between two
notes (sometimes called “tremolando”). This
explains why the fast picking at around
the 0:30 mark in Edward Van Halen’s
“Eruption” is often called “tremolo picking.”
But with some instruments, including
guitar and organs, “tremolo” refers to a
variation in volume—which explains why
famous amplitude-modulating pedals like
the Demeter Tremulator and Fulltone’s
Supa-Trem2 are named as they are.
Confused yet? That’s only half the
picture. Those who insist tremolo is a
volume-related musical effect will tell
you that, theoretically, vibrato refers
to pitch fluctuation. But try keeping
that straight in your head the next time
you’re playing a Strat outfitted with
Fender’s pitch-altering “Synchronized
Tremolo” through a Twin Reverb
equipped with the company’s deliciously
hypnotic volume-modulating circuit
labeled…“vibrato.”
The Good Doc’s Vib-Rola
The tremolo bar’s origins go back to
the 1930s, around the time the electric
guitar was born. In 1935, Clayton Orr
“Doc” Kauffman was aiming to replicate
the sound of a Hawaiian steel guitar. He
invented the Kauffman Vib-Rola, one of
the first incarnations of a vibrato tailpiece.
Initially, the Epiphone guitar company
had exclusive distribution rights, even
installing the Vib-Rola on some of its
acoustic guitars. Before long, though,
Rickenbacker (which still went by the
original German spelling: Rickenbacher)
took over the rights and began installing
Vib-Rolas on its Electro Spanish guitars,
as well as its lap-steel guitars. A little later,
the Rickenbacher Vib-Rola Spanish, a
variant of the Electro Spanish, featured
a bar-less, motorized version of the VibRola with knobs for speed and volume.
The Vib-Rola earned its place in the
annals of tremolo-bar history by ending
up on the 1958 Rickenbacker 325, which
John Lennon used as the Beatles began
their ascent to the pop throne. However,
because the Vib-Rola was seemingly
incapable of smoothly returning to correct
pitch after even light use, it never became
as timeless as the Fab Four’s discography.
When Lennon returned to Liverpool, he
went to Hessy’s Music Centre to have
the Vib-Rola replaced with a unit that
avoided many of the problems associated
with Doc Kauffman’s design.
Vibrato Goes Big with the Bigsby
Introduced in 1952 and patented in 1953,
the Bigsby vibrato was the first successful
production tremolo system. Although
exact details of its chronology are a little
sketchy, it seems legendary country picker
Merle Travis became friends with guitar
builder and fellow motorcycling enthusiast
Paul Bigsby in 1944 or ’45. At some point
Travis mentioned to Bigsby—who boldly
proclaimed he could fix anything—that
his Kauffman Vib-Rola-equipped Gibson
L-10 wouldn’t stay in tune. Though it’s
unclear whether Bigsby ever worked on
Travis’s Vib-Rola, historians believe this
interaction focused Bigsby’s mind on
developing a better vibrato.
However, according to vintageguitar guru Deke Dickerson,
Travis obtained a custom Bigsby
guitar—the first modern solidbody—
in mid 1948, years before getting a
Bigsby vibrato. It wasn’t until 1952
that Travis received Bigsby’s first
vibrato unit. The future Country
Music Hall of Fame inductee then
had the aluminum-alloy design
installed on his Gibson Super 400.
Bigsby’s first guitar design to come
equipped with the vibrato was the
doubleneck he built for country
guitarist Grady Martin in
October 1952.
It didn’t take long for
the vibrato system to
gain popularity among
guitarists worldwide.
John Lennon’s friend
Chris Huston, guitarist
for Liverpool band
the Undertakers,
had a Gibson
guitar with
a factoryinstalled
Bigbsy. Lennon
liked Huston’s
Bigsby so much
that, in May of
Left: A 1930s Rickenbacher Spanish Model B 6-string with a Kauffman Vib-Rola. Photo by Robert Corwin Right: Tremolo pioneer Paul Bigsby
finished work on this guitar for country session ace Jimmy Bryant on October 7, 1949, though it ended up going to Ernest Tubb sideman Billy
Byrd. The vibrato—which is inset to be flush against the guitar’s top—was added not long after the design’s introduction in ’52. Photo courtesy
of Bigsby/Fred Gretsch Enterprises, Ltd.
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PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 33
36. Though the
Fender Strat’s
“Synchronized
Tremolo” from
1954 is arguably
the most-used
vibrato system
in the world (see
the U.S. patent
diagram at right),
in the ’60s far
more players
were using the
trem found on
the company’s
Jaguar (left)
and Jazzmaster
guitars. Photo by
Tim Mullally
1960, Huston contacted Paul Bigsby to
request a unit for Lennon. One day in
1961, Lennon approached Huston with
the news that his Bigsby had arrived.
The pair went to Hessy’s and swapped
out Lennon’s Vib-Rola for the Bigsby.
There are many similar stories of music
icons adopting the Bigsby.
Bigsbys are often found on
hollowbody and semi-hollowbody guitars
because the vibrato mounts to the guitar’s
top and is less physically invasive than
other systems. The Bigsby’s spring-loaded
rocker arm attaches to a pivoting axle
that the strings wrap around. The pull
of the strings works in conjunction with
the pressure of the spring. When the
arm is pushed down, the bridge rocks
forward and the strings loosen, lowering
their pitch. When pressure on the arm is
released, the strings return to pitch.
Although Paul Bigsby’s design
improved on many of its predecessors’
shortcomings, it’s by no means a lowmaintenance piece of machinery. Pre1956 versions had a fixed-position vibrato
34 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
arm that got in the way
of strumming. Once the
swivel arm was introduced,
the bridge became much more popular.
Even so, if you pull the bar up, there’s
risk of the spring falling out. Additionally,
string changes can be tricky and more
time consuming than with some more
modern designs. But for countless
Bigsby devotees in genres ranging from
country to rockabilly to indie rock, these
inconveniences are a small price to pay for
the smooth, undulating magic of a Bigsby.
A Legend Is Born
Perhaps the most enduring and
influential vibrato for solidbody guitars
is Fender’s Synchronized Tremolo, one
of the many innovations introduced in
1954 with the debut of the Stratocaster.
Countless solidbody trem variations have
come and gone over the years, and nearly
all of them owe a lot to Leo Fender’s
masterpiece of engineering.
This design is what’s referred to as a
“floating,” fulcrum-style tremolo. It can
only be used with solidbody guitars, and it
features a base with a steel block connected
perpendicularly to its underside. This block
extends downward into a cavity extending
through the body. From the back of the
guitar, strings are threaded through holes
in the bottom of the tremolo block, which
is visible through a route cut in a plastic
plate. The same plate covers a shallower
cavity where three to five springs connect
the block to a “claw” screwed into the
body. The two screws securing the claw can
be loosened or tightened to adjust spring
tension and accommodate different string
gauges. The springs counterbalance the
pull of the strings and facilitate the floating
design, which can be set up to allow both
downward and upward pitch bends. It can
also be set up for down-only movement.
In fact, to ensure that the bridge can’t
go upward, some guitarists even wedge a
block of wood between the steel block and
the cavity wall.
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37.
38. Introduced
in 1965 on
the Mustang
guitar, Fender’s
“Dynamic
Vibrato” was
mechanically
similar to the
Jazzmaster/
Jaguar tremolo.
Its redesigned
bridge featured
saddles with a
single, deeper
string groove
that solved
many problems
with the prior
setup, making
it a popular
upgrade for many
Jazzmaster and
Jaguar owners.
Photo by Tim
Mullally
The Synchronized Tremolo also enables
action and intonation adjustments. Each
string has its own saddle made of casehardened stamped steel, and each saddle
features two screws for adjusting string
height. Behind each saddle is a screw that
moves the saddle forward or backward to
fine-tune each string’s intonation.
Despite all its advances, the Fender Strat
trem still has limitations. Under extreme use,
it typically has tuning issues. Some remedy
the situation by making sure their Strat’s nut
slots are smoothly cut and lubricated, or by
reducing the number of string winds around
the peg. Ultimately, though, some tuning
compromises are virtually unavoidable if
your playing calls for aggressive bar action.
Although today far more players
use Strat tremolos, in the late ’50s and
throughout most of the ’60s, Strat sales
were in a major slump and other Fender
models were selling much better. When
the Jazzmaster guitar was introduced in
1958, it featured what the company touted
as its “top-of-the-line” tremolo system.
Unlike the Strat, the Jazzmaster had a
separate bridge with six saddles, and the
mechanisms of pitch transposition were
mounted to a chrome plate set into a
shallow cavity on the guitar’s top. The trem
also had a slider to lock it in place to keep
the guitar in tune in case of string breakage.
36 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
In 1962 Fender debuted the Jaguar,
which used the same floating trem as the
Jazzmaster. Both guitars are infamous for
their troublesome bridge designs, which
often let strings slip out of their multiridged saddles under even moderate attack.
That said, the design became integral to
surf players, as well as guitarists who would
use the instruments’ unique appointments
as a foundation for more raucous styles in
later years. Today, many players replace the
original Jazzmaster bridge with a Mastery
or Tune-o-matic-style bridge.
In 1965 Fender released the Mustang
guitar, whose floating Dynamic Vibrato
shared similarities with the Jazzmaster
and Jaguar systems, though its bridge was
mounted to the vibrato plate. While the
Mustang’s bridge was similar to the one
on Jazzmasters and Jaguars, its saddles
featured a single, deeper groove that
alleviated many of the earlier design’s
problems. Introduced in 1967, the Bronco
student guitar used a variant of the Strat
trem called the Steel Vibrato, which had
two pivot points rather than six.
Gibson Sideways and
Maestro Vibrolas
Some of Gibson’s most coveted guitars
from the 1960s came with vibrato designs
that looked handsome but were fairly
impractical due to their limited range
and tuning issues. First available in early
1961 on ES-355s and Les Paul SGs, the
“sideways” Vibrola—so named because
its jointed, foldable tremolo arm moves
parallel to the body—is paired with
a Tune-o-matic bridge, and its pitchchanging apparatus is encased in a long
tray that extends from the bridge to the
strap endpin. Under the tray’s elegantly
molded cover, the handle connects to
a mechanism that moves two pistonlike springs on either side of the whole
assembly. When the arm is activated, the
springs alter the lateral position of the
piece to which the strings are anchored
(the section with the triangle-shaped
hole). According to Lin Crowson,
repair and appraisal specialist at Gruhn
Guitars in Nashville, the amount of pitch
variation possible with a sideways Vibrola
varies by the tension adjustment on the
two internal springs, though it can go
anywhere from one-and-a-half to three
full steps or more.
Available on Gibsons SG Specials in
late 1961, the Maestro Vibrola was quite
simple compared to other tremolos of the
day. Viewed from its side, it is essentially
a question-mark-shaped metal base that
attaches to the guitar top with three
screws. A separate piece of metal—the
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39.
40. Above: A vintage
Mosrite Ventures
model featuring
one of the earliest
Vibramute
tremolos.
Photo by Deke
Dickerson
Right: A set of
Original Floyd
Rose trem parts.
Photo courtesy of
Banzai Music
piece to which both the strings and the
vibrato arm are secured—slides over
the top of the curved “question mark.”
Pushing on the arm changes the curvature
of the base, thus altering tension on the
strings. Gibson later introduced a model
with a “Lyre” portion that extended from
the bridge to the endpin, similar to the
sideways Vibrola. In 1962, SG and SG
Customs were also available with a version
of the tremolo that had an ebony block
with art-deco-like inlays behind the bridge.
Both the Lyre and the block were purely
cosmetic additions. According to Gruhn
Guitars’ Lin Crowson, though the original
Maestro Vibrola and ebony-block versions
attach differently than the Lyre version, the
mechanisms of pitch transposition are the
same. All three offer a subtler vibrato effect
than other designs, with treble strings
being affected more due to their proximity
to the point of arm attachment. Typical
pitch changes can be from one-and-a-half
to two-and-a-half steps, depending on the
angle of the bar, string gauge, and how
much spring is left in the metal.
Semie Moseley—Apprentice
to the Stars
In the late ’50s, Semie Moseley—a former
apprentice to both Rickenbacker luthier
38 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
Roger Rossmeissl and Paul
Bigsby—started a quirky
guitar company called Mosrite,
which soon became a favorite of
many country and rock musicians.
One of Moseley’s first instruments was
a doubleneck he built for country picker
and TV star Joe Maphis in 1954. It featured
an aluminum Vibramute tremolo. The
Vibramute bears some visual similarity to
a Bigsby but is exclusively top-mounted
and has a foam-rubber string mute. Strings
are fed through a string stop, to which the
tremolo arm is connected, and mounted
to saddles with individual string rollers that
move with the string when the bar is used.
A few years later, Moseley changed the trem
to a die-cast design, did away with the mute,
added a longer arm, and called the resulting
model the Moseley tremolo. It appeared on
popular Mosrite guitars such as the Ventures
models used by the surf-instrumental icons,
as well as Johnny Ramone.
The Floyd Rose Revolution
In 1977 Floyd Rose designed a fulcrumstyle vibrato bridge that aimed to achieve
better tuning stability than Fender’s
design. The “double-locking” tremolo
that bears his name allows users to clamp
each string at the bridge and the nut.
The Floyd Rose played a significant
role in shaping the sound of ’80s rock,
facilitating over-the-top guitar histrionics
by allowing an unprecedented amount of
whammy-bar abuse while meticulously
maintaining the guitar’s tuning. In some
ways, the design is as integral to hard rock
and metal as Marshall and Mesa/Boogie
amplifiers, and high-output pickups by
the likes of DiMarzio and EMG.
Floyd Rose was inspired to develop his
bridge after applying Krazy Glue to his
Strat’s strings after they were tuned to pitch.
Before long the tuning problems returned,
so he tried a more permanent strategy: He
rented machinery to make locking nuts
and bridges. When Randy Hansen—an
infamous Jimi Hendrix impersonator and
noted whammy-bar abuser—got a hold of
the second Floyd Rose prototype, he found
that his guitar remained perfectly in tune
even after he stomped on the bar and then
tossed the axe in the air, catching it by the
bar. That’s when
Rose knew his device
would be a game changer—
though it was the next Floyd owner who
put the trem on the map.
Rose’s friend Linn Ellsworth of Boogie
Bodies was making guitars for Eddie Van
Halen, the world’s biggest guitar hero at
the time. Rose showed Van Halen the
unit and he was quickly sold. Rose struck
a deal with Kramer guitars to be the
exclusive distributor of the trem despite
the fact that the guitar manufacturer had
planned to use the Rockinger trem, a
locking-nut design that they had referred
to as “the Eddie Van Halen tremolo.”
Van Halen’s iconic, Floyd-equipped
“Frankenstrat” went on to become the
decade’s defining axe, and Floyd Rose
mania ensued.
The Floyd Rose consists of a floating
bridge and a locking nut. Unlike
conventional bridges that rely on the ball
end to keep the string in place, the Floyd
Rose necessitates cutting off the ball end
just above wrappings. The string end is
inserted in a saddle, and a small metal
block clamps the strings in place when you
tighten the 3 mm hex screw at the back of
the bridge (in the same location as a Strat
bridge’s intonation screw). Up at the nut
are three square pieces of metal, each of
which tightens down on a pair of strings
via another 3mm hex screw once the guitar
is tuned. When the strings are locked in
place, the headstock tuners have no effect
on tuning. However, small adjustments
(roughly a whole-step’s worth) can be made
via fine tuners at the rear of the bridge. One
downside of the fine tuners: Because of
their location, they can sometimes obstruct
a player’s picking hand, particularly if the
player rests their hand on the bridge.
premierguitar.com
41. The biggest pitfall of the Floyd Rose,
however, is that if it is set to float and a
string breaks, the whole guitar will go out
of tune. Because of this—and the fact
that changing a string on a Floyd Roseequipped guitar takes longer than on
many other bridge designs—many Floyd
users always bring backup guitars to gigs.
Kahler’s Threat to the
Kingdom of Floyd
Perhaps the most direct competitor to
the Floyd Rose was the tremolo designed
by Gary Kahler. In the late ’70s Kahler
premierguitar.com
had a guitar hardware
company called Brass Factory
that made brass versions of the
Fender trem and developed several
bridges with Fender. In the ’80s Kahler
changed the company name to American
Precision Metalworks and soon unveiled
the Kahler tremolo.
The Kahler trem had several
unmistakable Floyd-inspired design
features, including a locking nut and
fine tuners on the bridge assembly—
enough to warrant a patent-infringement
judgment against Kahler. Unlike the
Floyd Rose however, the Kahler is a cambased system—strings attach to a single
cylindrical cam inside the bridge housing.
Furthermore, Kahlers didn’t require
snipping the ball ends off of strings.
The battle raged between Floyd Rose
and Kahler throughout the first golden
age of shred, with many flashy players
pledging allegiance to one system or the
other. In the end, Kahler lost a patentinfringement lawsuit and the balance of
power went to Floyd. In 2005, however,
Kahler began manufacturing bridges
again under Floyd Rose licenses. To this
day, the company has produced over a
million trems.
Left: An example
of Kahler’s cambased lockingtremolo design.
Photo courtesy of
Banzai Music
Beyond Tuning Stability
As double-locking trems grew in
popularity, numerous aftermarket addons emerged. Some players who preferred
the vintage feel, low profile, and lesscomplicated operation of Strat-style
bridges turned to locking tuners and more
sophisticated and finely tuned fulcrum
designs by the likes of Wilkinson, or the
John Mann-designed bridges on Paul Reed
Smith guitars. Meanwhile, some shredoriented guitar brands developed their
own versions of the double-locking recipe,
as Ibanez did with its many iterations of
the Floyd Rose-inspired Edge tremolo.
Most of these, however, owed a debt to
Floyd Rose designs and were marked with
language such as “Licensed under Floyd
Rose Patents.” (continued on p. 42)
PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 39
42. Players Who Put Tremolo on the Map
S
ince the vibrato bridge’s invention nearly 80 years ago,
creative guitarists have used it to change the vernacular of
the electric guitar. Here we take a look at some of those
tremolo-bar pioneers and the sounds they created.
Bigsby Bouncers
To this day, the Bigsby
is one of the most
popular tremolo systems
on the market. It’s
a factory option on
guitars by Gretsch,
Gibson, PRS, and
others. Compared to
more modern tremolos,
the Bigbsy has a
relatively limited range
of pitch manipulation.
However, those who swear by it do so because fulcrum- and
cam-based designs with greater range simply can’t match the
subtle charm, vintage vibe, and unique timbres that the Bigsby
imparts. The image of a Bigsby-equipped hollowbody guitar
through a reverb-drenched amp has withstood the test of time.
The Bigsby is often the trem of choice for rockabilly,
country, surf, and indie rock players. Artists like Brian Setzer,
Chet Atkins, and Duane Eddy have all made great use of it.
Check out the warbles on Setzer’s “Stray Cat Strut” or his
rendition of “Sleepwalk,” the gently rocking chord punctuations
on Atkins’ “Mr. Sandman,” and the open-string Bigsby twang
on Eddy’s “Movin’ ‘n’ Groovin’.”
But when push comes to shove, the Bigsby can scream. Neil
Young, “The Godfather of Grunge,” has never been one to treat
the Bisgbsy with kid gloves—he mauls his Bigsby-equipped Les
Paul like a metal maniac on tunes like “Cowgirl in the Sand”—
and pretty much every other song at his live shows.
Fender Forefathers
The Strat’s Synchronized Tremolo system is almost as important
to music history as the guitar itself. It paved the way for
groundbreaking moments too numerous to count.
Perhaps the most memorable moment in Strat trem history
was Jimi Hendrix’s jaw-dropping 1969 performance of the “Star
Spangled Banner” at Woodstock. Jimi shook both guitarists
and music fans to the core with his erotic, violent whammy bar
attack, conjuring howling, swirling feedback and trills that divebombed into oblivion.
But it wasn’t Hendrix alone who immortalized Strat trem. From
delicate, faux-slide sounds to soulful melodic caresses, Jeff Beck’s
tremolo technique practically transforms the guitar into a new
40 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
instrument. The former Yardbird sets up his Strat trems so they
float, often gripping the bar with the tips of all his picking-hand
fingers while plucking stings with his thumb and performing
volume swells with his pinky. Listen to his tremolo bar work on
songs like “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” and “Where Were You.”
And let’s not forget the impact of Fender Jazzmaster and
Jaguar tremolos on the ’60s surf sound. The Surfaris’ Jim Fuller
and Bob Berryhill used Jazzmaster trem to fuel their megahit
“Wipe Out”, while the Surftones’ Dave Meyers warbled his
Jaguar’s tremolo to great effect on “Church Key.” More recently,
Nels Cline used Jazzmaster trem to great effect on Wilco’s
“Impossible Germany,” as did Kevin Shields on My Bloody
Valentine’s “Come in Alone.”
Gibson Vibrola Fans
The “sideways” and
Maestro Vibrolas
developed by Gibson
in the early ’60s weren’t
terribly popular due to
their limited practicality.
However, Jimi Hendrix
used a Maestro Vibrolaequipped Gibson Flying
V for “Red House,” and
today players such as Mike
Campbell (Tom Petty and
the Heartbreakers) and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy still have great affinity
for them. Campbell is often seen with a Maestro-outfitted Gibson
Firebird, and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy often wails the Maestro on his SG
Standard on live renditions of “At Least That’s What You Said.”
Mosrite Surfers
When Semie Moseley loaned a guitar to Ventures guitarist
Nokie Edwards for a recording, both the band and Moseley’s
Mosrite guitars skyrocketed to fame. When the band used the
instruments live to play hits like “Walk Don’t Run,” with its
tremolo shimmies on the held C note at the end of the iconic
riff and the chords that follow it, it cemented the Mosrite
tremolo’s place in whammy bar history.
Floyd Abusers/Gods
Using a standard Fender trem, Eddie Van Halen eviscerated
rock guitar fans with his paradigm-shifting 1978 instrumental,
“Eruption.” But his extreme pummeling of the bar soon led him
to embrace double-locking tremolos for better tuning stability.
By the second Van Halen album, he’d adopted the Floyd Rose
and ushered in a new era of bizarre bar antics that, along with
tapping and screaming harmonics, set the standard for guitar
premierguitar.com
43. mastery in the ’80s.
There are too many
examples to cite, but
the Floyd Rose-driven
insanity in his solo for
Michael Jackson’s “Beat
It” is perhaps most
indicative of his impact.
As the shred era
caught fire, the guitarist
David Lee Roth recruited
after exiting Van Halen
also carved a career out
of whammified sounds. Dissatisfied with the upward range on his
Floyds, Steve Vai used a hammer and screwdriver to chisel the area
behind the bridge of his Charvel “Green Meanie” so he could pull
the bar up further. He took advantage of this newfound range to
achieve stratosphere-scraping squeals on songs like the odd-meterlaced “The Attituide Song.” After joining Roth’s solo band, Vai
premierguitar.com
used the bar in combination with a wah pedal to create a wild
vocal effect on their first single, “Yankee Rose.” For many players, it
expanded the horizons of whammy use.
Interstellar Travelers of the TransTrem
Ned Steinberger’s TransTrem also offered a goldmine of riches
for outside–the–box artists like Allan Holdsworth, who used the
transposing vibrato to augment his already befuddling harmonic
tapestries for an effect similar to what synth players get with
a pitch wheel. To this day Holdsworth uses TT2 and TT3
TransTrems cannibalized from older Steinbergers on axes built
by Canton Custom Guitars.
Because of its complexity, some dismissed the TransTrem
a niche piece of gear for esoteric styles. But Eddie Van Halen
shattered such notions by employing the TransTrem in a
straight-up hard rock setting. Van Halen used a pin-striped,
TransTrem-equipped Steinberger GL on songs like “Get Up”
and “Summer Nights” from 5150, the first Van Halen album
with Sammy Hagar as lead vocalist.
PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 41
44. (continued
from p. 39)
Above: The
Stetsbar mounts
to guitars such as
a Gibson Les Paul
Junior without
requiring any
drilling.
Right: The
Steinberger ZT-3
guitar introduced
in 2008 featured
the third
version of Ned
Steinberger’s
innovative
TransTrem design,
which keeps
entire chords
in correct pitch
during use and
lets you lock
the bridge in six
different keys.
Below: The
Vibramate lets
you add a Bigsby
to Teles and other
guitars without
drilling new
holes.
Floyd Rose
developed new designs,
too, including the SpeedLoader, which
eliminated the time-consuming need to
snip off the strings’ ball ends, though it
necessitated buying proprietary strings.
Eddie Van Halen’s EVH brand also
released the D-Tuna—a simple device that
replaces the string-locking screw of a Floyd
Rose’s low-E saddle and that, when pulled,
instantly lowers the string’s pitch to D.
Ned Steinberger took the locking
and detuning concepts even further with
1984’s Steinberger TransTrem bridge. The
TransTrem, an evolution of his original
S-Trem design, appeared on Steinberger
headless guitars. It used special doubleball strings (though a single-ball string
adapter was later offered) and allowed
entire chords to stay in tune as the bar was
manipulated. Perhaps the most unique
feature of the TransTrem was that it
allowed you to raise or lower pitch with
the bar and then lock the bridge in place
in order to play in six different keys—as
far down as a perfect 4th (B-standard
tuning), or up a minor 3rd (G-standard).
Headless guitar manufacturers like Klein
made the TransTrem standard equipment
on their designs. After Steinberger stopped
producing TransTrem-equipped
guitars, the trems themselves
became hot commodities,
fetching upwards
42 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
of $1,000 on eBay. The scarcity and
expense proved to be a significant
impediment to headless guitar
manufacturers, who turned to alternate
solutions such as JCustom’s recently
released XS-Trem, a direct replacement
for the Steinberger S-Trem. Since then,
manufacturers such as Carvin have
explored headless guitars, including the
Allan Holdsworth HH1 and HH2.
In 2008 Ned Steinberger
introduced an updated version called
the TransTrem 3, which coincided
with the release of the Steinberger
ZT–3 guitar.
Going Where No Trem
Has Gone Before
For a long while, the evolution of vibrato
bridges seemed to coincide with the
development of more modern playing
styles. But many Les Paul and Tele fans
secretly longed to join the whammy
parade without sacrificing what they
love about those unique guitar designs.
However, those with vintage instruments
were apprehensive about permanently
modifying them, because any irreversible
modification would severely impact
a guitar’s value. Thankfully, many
innovations have come to market to
address these concerns.
Back in the ’80s Eric Stets wanted
a trem on his ’71 Gibson Les Paul
Custom but didn’t want to drill holes
in it. He subsequently designed and
patented the Stetsbar, which fits existing
bridges and doesn’t require any guitar
modification. He also offers versions for
Strats, Teles, and other guitar designs.
Meanwhile, the Vibramate kit lets
Bigsby fans mount the spring-powered
legend to the studs of a stop-tail bridge
without drilling. For Teles, you simply
swap your “ashtray” bridge assembly
with a modified Vibramate bridge that
fits in the existing holes. It connects to
a tailpiece secured by the strap endpin.
The Bigsby mounts on the tailpiece
rather than the guitar body.
To Infinity and Beyond
Though they’re the unequivocal
benchmarks of vibrato design, the models
discussed here are only the tip of the
trem iceberg in terms of sheer numbers.
Likewise, the players mentioned
are merely those most immediately
associated with each device them in the
broader guitar consciousness. Countless
other players have enriched our lives with
inventive, soul-touching vibrato work.
As with everything in our gear universe,
nothing will stop the wheels of change.
Given how far tremolos have come, it may
seem difficult to fathom where designs
could go next. But at least one company
seems poised on the brink of the future.
EverTune’s tension-monitoring bridge
wowed guitarists the world over in 2010
with its promise to never let a guitar go
out of tune, regardless of temperature,
climate, or heavy-handed playing. At
press time, the company told us they are
about a year away from offering a tremolo
version that’s sure to make waves.
And yet the designs we’ve come to
love, whether vintage or modern, are
sure to remain popular for a long time to
come. Whether you’re the one wiggling
that bar, or the one enjoying it from the
crowd, there’s no denying the power of
the tremolo.
premierguitar.com
46. Modern Builder Vault
Red Rocket Guitars
By Rich Osweiler
A
fter a busy decade of concentrating on
marriage, work, and kids, Matthew
Nowicki came to the frightening
realization that somehow he didn’t have a guitar
in the house anymore. For someone who started
playing at the age of 12, that just wasn’t a good
sign. He decided to get back into it, but couldn’t
afford the pricey guitars he was digging at the
time. So when he saw a banged-up vintage Tele
with a snapped neck and no pickups for $100,
he grabbed it. In just a few months, he taught
himself the art of guitar repair while working it
back into shape.
A friend of Nowicki’s loved the results of the
Tele project so much that he offered to buy the
guitar. Nowicki sold it to him and bought another
broken instrument. After completing this cycle
a few more times, Nowicki began designing and
building his own guitars from scratch, starting
with a batch of five. When he put up a website
Vintage Burst Commander
The elegant-looking Vintage Burst Commander is an eye-pleasing
presentation of top-of-line materials. Its chambered body is cut from black
limba and blanketed with private-reserve flame maple for the carved top,
while the black limba neck is topped with a ziricote fretboard that’s adorned
with abalone top and side dots. Nowicki went with more flame maple for the
head plate, pickup rings, and body and neck binding. For a bevy of versatile
tones, it’s packed with a pair of Imperial humbuckers from Lollar, as well as a
Graph Tech ghost system piezo.
44 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
touting his wares, within a few months he had
enough orders to build guitars full-time, which
the North Carolina-based luthier has been doing
for five years now. “It was kind of an accident that
it turned into a career,” he says.
The self-taught luthier has been making art
as long as he can remember and says it seemed
natural to start building guitars. “I’ve always loved
working with my hands and creating beautiful
eye-catching objects,” says Nowicki, whose college
major was sculpture. “When I was repairing
broken guitars, I kept having ideas for interesting
finishes, details, and shapes. There is a huge
amount of information out there to learn how to
build guitars, but like most things, the majority of
the learning happens by just keeping on building
with the attitude of trying to make the next one
even better.”
In this quest, Nowicki notes the importance of
sourcing quality components. “I like the standard
woods like mahogany, maple, and rosewood, but
I really believe that every guitar has a unique
voice,” he says. “Two guitars made from the
same materials will still have slightly different
tones because every piece of wood is different.”
The luthier likes using wood in interesting
combinations to create unique voices and looks,
but says the quality of the wood is always the
most important thing. “Beautiful wood is
wonderful, but it has to sound good, too.”
When it comes to electronics, Nowicki has
tried most pickups on the market. “Smaller
boutique builders really do create a superior
product,” he says. “Lindy Fralin, Jason Lollar,
Pete Biltoft and TV Jones make some of the best
pickups I’ve used.”
Most of Nowicki’s customers have very specific
ideas, so almost all of his builds are custom. It can
be time consuming since unique jigs and tooling
are needed for almost every instrument—but,
of course, it’s worth it. “Working with clients
to figure out their dream guitar is loads of fun
and always results in something interesting,” says
Nowicki. “I love thinking up new combinations
of colors, wood, and sound, and seeing the
instrument emerge at the end into something that
has a life of its own.”
redrocketguitars.com
Pricing &
Availability
Nowicki can be
contacted directly
through his website,
which also provides
information for the
dealers he works
with. Nowicki makes
approximately 30-40
guitars a year, but he
plans to expand and
recently took on a parttime assistant in the
shop. The current build
time for a Red Rocket
guitar is approximately
five months. Builds
average about $2,950
and Nowicki contends
that his guitars are
rarely more than
$4,500.
premierguitar.com
47. StyleSonic (Above Left)
This guitar features a body carved from solid, black limba,
adorned with cocobolo binding and checker purfling.
Its C-shaped neck is constructed from rock maple and is
topped with a premium-rosewood fretboard. The StyleSonic is loaded with a set of Lindy Fralin Blues Special
Strat-style pickups, which he says helps this axe deliver
“classic tones with an extra helping of rich and twangy
goodness, but no icepick highs.”
Ash Top Custom Atomic (Above Right & Inset)
Shaped like a Tele but with much more than meets the
eye, this mahogany-body Atomic is topped with intensely
figured ash that’s been finished with a vintage ’burst and
then dressed with a thinline-style parchment pickguard.
Going with flame maple for the neck, Nowicki outfitted it
with a bocote fretboard that’s adorned with white motherof-pearl for the top and side dots. The pickup trio is made
up of a TV Jones T-Armond in the neck, a Lindy Fralin
reverse-wound Strat-style in the middle, and a Lindy Fralin
overwound P-90 in the bridge.
premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 45
48.
49. A Brief History of
Tremolo
(from 900 to 1963 A.D.)
Photo by Chris Gray
Tremolo is as old as the human voice.
But how and when did it become a guitar effect?
By Dan Formosa
I
set out to investigate the
earliest recorded examples of
guitarists using tremolo and
the equipment they used to do
it. You might think, as I did, that
the story starts somewhere in the
1930s or ’40s. But the search took
me much further back: specifically,
to the 9th-century Byzantine
Empire and 16th-century Europe.
Obviously, there were no electric
guitars then, but tremolo was
being used as a musical device
more than a millennium ago.
After exploring those origins,
we’ll leap ahead to the mechanical
tremolo contraptions of the
1800s, and finally, the electronic
tremolo circuits of the 20th
century. We’ll encounter the first
electronic tremolo (created for
organs, not guitars) and the first
electronic guitar tremolo, which
also happened to be the first
electric guitar effect box. We’ll
look at the first tremolo amps
that appeared in the late 1940s,
and we’ll conclude in 1963, when
Fender introduced their thenradical photocell tremolo circuit.
premierguitar.com
In use by early
1940s, the
DeArmond
Tremolo Control
was the first
commercially
produced electric
guitar effect.
PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 47
50. By “Tremolo,” We Mean….
Our focus is the history of musicians’
ability to oscillate the volume of a note,
not its pitch. Oscillating pitch change
is properly referred to as vibrato, not
tremolo. But as you’ll see, the words
have a long history of being confused.
(There’s also another musical definition
of tremolo: striking the same note many
times in rapid succession, mandolin-style,
a technique also known as tremolando.)
Tremolo’s Ancient Origins
This Byzantine
carving from 900
A.D. suggests that
musicians from
this time period
may have used
tremolo effects
on stringed
instruments such
as the lyra.
48 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
But guess what? The changing
pressure simultaneously alters volume
and pitch. Therefore, the tremulant
mechanism produced both tremolo and
vibrato. In other words, the confusion
between the two terms far predates Leo
Fender’s decision to call the Stratocaster’s
vibrato-producing whammy bar
“tremolo.” We see this confusion again
and again.
By the late 17th century vibrato/
tremolo was being documented as a fluteplaying technique. Again, fluctuating air
pressure in a flute produced both volume
and pitch changes.
Fast Forward
In 1891, George Van Dusen patented a
device similar in many ways to the vibrato-producing whammy bars we know
today in 1891. His mechanism, designed
for any stringed instrument, anchors the
string at the short end of a spring-loaded
lever. A push on the lever pulls the string
tighter, raising its pitch, after which a
spring attached to the lever returns the
string to its original pitch. The result
is vibrato, though Van Dusen called it
tremolo in the U.S. patent application.
But Van Dusen (or should I say Munn
& Company, his patent attorneys?)
Above: Photo by Dave Fey
Right: This
Storytone piano
by is one of only
150 made and
was the world’s
first electric piano
model. It debuted
at the 1939
World’s Fair and
the early models
had DeArmond
tremolo units
mounted under
the keyboard.
Oscillating the volume of a note is an
ancient technique—we’ve been able to do
it with our voices as long as we’ve been
capable of singing or yelling. For centuries
musicians have sought ways to impart this
wavering, voice-like quality to notes and
chords. Any musician playing a bowed
stringed instrument can create tremolo—
they simply move the bow back and forth
while sustaining a note, as we’ve seen countless violinists and cellists do. (Their bowwielding hand provides tremolo, while the
hand quivering on the fingerboard varies
the pitch of the strings, producing vibrato.)
We don’t know exactly when and
where the first bowed
instruments originated, but
there’s a Byzantine carving
from around 900 A.D.
depicting a scantily clad
cherub holding an extremely
long bow against the strings
of an instrument known as a
lyra. We don’t know whether
lyra players used tremolo effects, but the
technique was available.
How far back must we go to find
an instrument that produces tremolo
mechanically? Sixteenth-century pipe
organs used slightly detuned pitches
played simultaneously to create an
undulating effect. One of the earliest
mechanical tremolos can be found on
the 1555 pipe organ in the San Martino
Maggiore church in Bologna, Italy. It
includes several effeti speziali (auxiliary
stops), including drums, birdcalls, drones,
bells, and tremulant—a mechanism that
opened and closed a diaphragm to vary
the air pressure. As the pressure varied, so
did the volume.
premierguitar.com
51. Photo Credit: Fred San Filipo
Mod is Where It’s At.
Real Mods, Real Twang, Real Vibrato.
Guitar guru Bill Hook and Premier Guitar recently took on the challenge of creating the ultimate
Squier® Tele Modification: A Surf-Twang Tweak-a-Rama. Check out the end result at
www.premierguitar.com/Bigsby-Mod
We were thrilled to see Bill’s Bigsby Mod...And we want to see YOURS! Send pictures of your Bigsby Mod before, in process and after for a chance to be featured in a Bigsby Ad and on our website!
www.bigsby.com
Check out the B50 and B70 kits ...
at your favorite guitar shop now!
Send us an e-mail with a picture of you and YOUR Bigsby Mod to everythingyouneed@bigsby.com or send a picture to
Bigsby, P.O. Box 2468, Savannah, GA 31402* for a chance to be featured with YOUR mod in an upcoming Bigsby ad!
*Submitted photos will not be returned; submission constitutes permission to use photo in its entirety or edited form in print, on the web, or in promotional materials. Squier® and Tele® are
registered trademarks of FMIC; Bigsby® is a registerd trademark of Fred Gretsch Enterprises. Photos courtesy of Premier Guitar Magazine.
52. Andrew Appel’s
patent for an
early electronic
tremolo device.
50 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
premierguitar.com
53. weren’t acting in isolation. The words
tremolo and vibrato both found their way
into patent vocabulary, where they were
used interchangeably.
Orville Lewis devised a somewhat
similar device for violin in 1921. It
worked by oscillating the bridge. Again,
his device varied pitch, and again,
the effect was called tremolo. Clayton
Kauffmann created a sort of whammy bar
for banjo in 1929. As with all whammy
bars, the result was vibrato, not tremolo.
And again, the product description used
the word tremolo.
There were devices that produced true
tremolo, such as rotating fins on a piano
cabinet that opened and closed a sound
port, or a spinning mechanism for a wind
instrument mouthpiece that modulated
airflow. But unlike bowed and blown
instruments, non-electric guitars have no
innate tremolo techniques. It takes an
amplified guitar and electronic circuitry
to produce a wavering-volume effect.
Early Electric Guitar Tremolo
By 1941 the DeArmond company had
developed what may have been the
first effect unit for guitarists. It resides
between the guitar and the amplifier like
today’s effects. Inside the metal box is a
small glass jar containing a water-based
electrolytic fluid, which gets shaken by
a motor. Inside the jar is a pin attached
to the positive connection of the guitar
cable. As liquid splashes against the pin,
signal is shunted to ground. The result:
great-sounding, liquid-like tremolo.
The 1941 date is not based on the
effect being used with guitars, but on
the first electric pianos. Storytone pianos
were manufactured by Story & Clark
and developed in conjunction with RCA.
They were first exhibited at the 1939
New York World’s Fair. By 1941 early
models boasted DeArmond tremolo units
mounted directly under the keyboard
for easy access. In August of that year,
pianists J. Russel Robinson and Teddy
By 1941 the DeArmond
company had developed what
may have been the first effect
unit for guitarists.
Hale performed at the Chicagoland Music
Festival, their state-of-the-art Storytones
outfitted with both DeArmond units
and Hammond Solovoxes (miniature,
secondary keyboards, and some of the
first synthesizers.)
There wasn’t much musical instrument
development during World War II, so the
second effects box may have been Andrew
Appel’s 1945 tremolo device. His design,
housed in a metal box quite similar in
shape to the DeArmond unit, arranged
resistors in a circular pattern in ascending
order of resistance. A motor rotated
a contact that successively touched
each resistor. The result, in theory, was
the Straight Truth About Pickups by Jason Lollar
The “magic” found in some (but not all) classic vintage pickups
was created by accident. Don’t let anyone tell you different. And
over time, some pretty stellar accidents happened. The only way
to recreate that magic is to study more than a few exceptional
examples of all the classic pickup types, while acquiring a
thorough understanding of exactly what materials were used
and precisely how each pickup was constructed and wound. Only
then is the “magic” repeatable, if you are willing to spend the time
and money required to chase the dragon. I am.
I personally design and wind over 30 different pickup models,
including all the vintage classics, many obscure works of art
known only to lap and pedal steel players like Robert Randolph,
and even a few of my own designs that never existed in the past.
I invite you to visit our website for sound clips, videos and
current product information, or call us for a free product
highlight brochure.
Lollar Guitars PO Box 2450 Vashon Island, WA 98070 (206) 463-9838 www.lollarguitars.com
premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 51
54. Donald Leslie
worked on
several versions
of this patent (his
earliest attempt
was in 1940).
52 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
premierguitar.com
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56. equivalent to quickly raising and
lowering your guitar’s volume control.
Again, even though the effect only
changed volume, Appel described the
device as creating “tremolo or vibrato
effects in conjunction with an electric
type stringed musical instrument.”
(Note: I have never seen this unit
and am not sure if it ever went into
production. If anyone has further
knowledge, please let us know!)
Other mechanical innovations?
Donald Leslie first attempted to
patent a rotating horn device in
1940. (He abandoned that first
version, but followed up in 1945 with
an alternative.) His earliest design
incorporated a stationary speaker that
faced upward, its sound flowing into
the small end of a rotating horn a
bit like the ones on early Victrolas.
His patent describes the effect as
producing “pitch tremolo or vibrato.”
The rotating horn or speaker in the classic
Leslie cabinet produces tremolo and vibrato
simultaneously. As the speaker or cone moves
towards you, the sound waves move faster,
slightly raising pitch. The pitch lowers slightly
as the speaker moves away. Meanwhile,
volume is greatest when the speaker faces
you. Therefore “tremolo and vibrato” is an
accurate description of the Leslie effect.
The First Guitar Amp Tremolo
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Nathan Daniel created the first guitar
amplifier with vibrato in 1947, the year he
founded the Danelectro company. He called
it a “Vibrato System for Amplifiers,” and his
extended description explains that the circuit
produces a “tremolo or vibrato effect.”
54 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
For centuries musicians have
sought ways to impart a
wavering, voice-like quality
to notes and chords.
The patent was granted in 1949, but we’re
not sure exactly when the circuit was first used
in a Danelectro amp. According to Nathan
Daniel’s son Howard, “I have no knowledge
of this, and I suspect there’s no living person
who does. I can speculate, however, based on
my knowledge of my dad, that he introduced
tremolo sooner than 1950, as soon as he
could following his application for a patent.”
Tremolo definitely appears on Danelectro’s
1950s Special model amps.
But Multivox and Gibson may have beaten
Danelectro to the market with trem-equipped
amps. A 1947 Multivox ad trumpets the
company’s new model: “Guitarists! You owe it
to yourself to try the new Premier ‘66’ Tremolo
Amplifier. Yes, you too will be sold on this new
amplifier from the very first trial. The builtin Electronic Tremolo lends a new organlike
quality to your tone.” Meanwhile, Gibson’s first
tremolo amp, the GA-50T, appeared in 1948.
(Note to Magnate fans: While Magnatone
began manufacturing steel guitar amps in
the late 1930s, their first tremolo-enabled
amplifier, the Vibra-Amp, didn’t arrive until
1955. Their “true vibrato” circuits, using
varistors to alter pitch rather than volume,
first appeared in 1957’s Custom 200 series.)
premierguitar.com
57. (or four) power tubes to share amplification
duties. The Tremolux is unique in that
the wavering voltage is sent to the cathode
element of the phase inverter.
The 1956 Vibrolux operates on the same
basic principle, varying the bias. It also uses
resistors and capacitors, enlisting only half
of a 12AX7. (A single 12AX7 tube houses
two separate triode tubes, which can be used
independently.) The modulating voltage enters
the guitar signal path after the phase inverter,
The Premier “66” (below) may have been the first
amp introduced with tremolo, in 1947. Gibson’s
GA-50T (above) from 1948 was one of the first
amps to feature a built-in tremolo effect. Fender’s
first tremolo amp was 1955’s Tremolux. Later
brownface and blackface Fender amps would
feature radically different versions of the effect.
acting on the grid elements of the two 6V6
power tubes.
(The brownface amps Fender introduced in
1959—the Vibrasonic, Concert, and eventually
other models—utilize a circuit called “harmonic
vibrato.” It’s not exactly tremolo or vibrato,
although it can certainly create that impression.
Think of tremolo volume as a sine wave, with
high and low peaks. Now think of a second
tremolo wave, this time offset by 180 degrees.
It would cancel the first tremolo—the summed
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The tremolo section of a vintage amp
circuit (yes, it’s called “vibrato” on many amps
and schematics) involves at least one tube. A
wavering voltage affects the tube’s bias. How
that wavering voltage is generated, and to which
section of the amp circuit it is applied, account
for the sonic differences between various tube
tremolo circuits. Without getting too technical,
let’s look at how they work, using several Fender
tremolo amps as examples.
Fender’s earliest tremolo amplifier appeared
in 1955, relatively late in the game. The
tremolo section in a ’55 Tremolux amp uses a
12AX7 tube, resistors, and capacitors to vary
the voltage. All amps with two or more power
tubes include a tube called a phase inverter,
which splits the guitar signal to allow two
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PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 55
58. volume would be flat. However, the harmonic
vibrato circuits send higher frequencies to one
wave and lower frequencies to the other. There
is no actual change in volume or pitch, but
rather a sort of phase shift.)
Fender’s next type of tremolo featured a
very different system. The blackface amps that
appeared in 1963 use a 12AX7 tube and a
photocell to oscillate the voltage. That system
employs a neon light to open and close the
photocell. It acts on the grid of the phase
inverter. Photocell tremolo tends to sound
choppier than earlier bias variation circuits.
(For an example of bias variation tremolo,
listen to Otis Redding’s version of “A Change
is Gonna Come,” featuring Steve Cropper on
guitar. For photocell tremolo, try the Doors’
“Riders on the Storm.”)
Early Tremolo Recordings
Bluesman Big Bill Broonzy is probably the
guitarist on several 1942 songs by singer/
pianist Roosevelt Sykes. The tremolo effect
is unmistakable.
With DeArmond tremolo boxes underway by
1941 and amplifiers incorporating tremolo
circuits appearing by end of the decade, what
are the earliest guitar tremolo recordings?
Maybe a better question would be, why would
DeArmond, Danelectro, or Gibson offer
tremolo for guitar unless guitarists were experimenting with the effect? Since the Hammond
company was using tremolo in its organs since
the 1930s, the potential for early experimentation by guitarists certainly existed. With that
thought in mind, I’ll share the oldest tremolo
Bo Diddley made tremolo his
trademark sound in 1955.
Duane Eddy started using a
DeArmond tremolo in 1957 to
enhance the melody in his hit
“Rebel Rouser.”
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56 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013
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59. tracks I’ve uncovered so far. If you’re aware
of earlier ones, please let us know.
Guitar tremolo can clearly be heard on
four songs that singer/pianist Roosevelt
Sykes recorded in Chicago on April
16, 1942. “Are You Unhappy,” “You Can’t
Do That to Me,” “Sugar Babe Blues,” and
“Love Has Something to Say” probably
feature Big Bill Broonzy playing through a
DeArmond unit.
Les Paul, electric guitar pioneer and mad
scientist of the recording studio, may have
used a subtle tremolo effect on his 1946
recording of “Sweet Hawaiian Moonlight.”
You can hear Muddy Waters playing through
a tremolo effect on his 1953 song “Flood.”
Two years later Bo Diddley made tremolo a
centerpiece of his sound, using a DeArmond
unit on his 1955 hits “Bo Diddley,” “Diddley
Daddy,” and “Pretty Thing.”
By the late 1950s electric tremolo
was in full swing. Duane Eddy famously
incorporated it in many of his recordings.
He obtained a DeArmond unit in 1957 and
used it on “Rebel Rouser” the following year.
According to Eddy, the tremolo effect was
“cool because it was such a simple melody.”
His other tremolo-based songs include
“Stalkin’,” “Cannonball,” “The Lonely One,”
and “Forty Miles of Bad Road.” Also in
1958, Link Wray recorded “Rumble,” where
you can hear the effect being turned on in
the final portion of the song.
The 1960s brought an entirely new wave
of tremolo-infused amps, effect pedals, and
“Crimson and Clover” by Tommy James & the
Shondells showcases the tremolo sound that
boomed in the 1960s.
premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2013 57
60. guitar recordings—far more than we
can cover here. But even a short list of
great trem-fueled ’60s classics reveals
how much the effect contributed to the
decade’s sound.
The Staple Singers
Slim Harpo, “Baby, Scratch My Back”
Tommy James & the Shondells,
“Crimson and Clover”
The Shadows, “Apache”
Buffalo Springfield, “For What It’s Worth”
Creedence Clearwater Revival,
“Born on the Bayou”
The Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter”
Let’s conclude our early history of tremolo
with two songs that demonstrate how
compelling tremolo can be: The Staple
Singers 1956 recording of “Uncloudy
Day” (search “Uncloudy Day - The Staple
Singers on YouTube), with Pops Staples
on guitar, and Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang
Bang,” with L.A. session ace Billy Strange
(search “Nancy Sinatra Bang Bang on
YouTube). Both songs feature vocals,
tremolo guitar, and nothing else. When
you have an effect this dramatic and powerful, who needs a band?
Big thanks to everyone who helped with
this article: Deed and Duane Eddy, Matt
Celichowski, John Peden, Shane Nicholas,
Stan Cotey and Jason Farrell of Fender
Musical Instruments, Bradley StauchenScherer, Ken Moore and Naomi Takafuchi
of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Deke
Dickerson, Ira Padnos, Chris Smith, and
Gary Atkinson of Document Records.
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