Probably another dumb question

[d_funkie]

Hi. This is gonna sound really nuts, but, how come basses cant have whammy bars?

[krishna]

Oh but they can !! .. just tend to sound pretty ******. Kahler made a bass locking tremelo unit as an aftermarket thing in the late 80's ... and I once saw a mid-70's Thunderbird that had a HUGE hole routed through the body to accomodate one of these monsters ... PLUS .. an added third T-bird pickup ... if it had been a little cheaper I would have bought it ... was a true "wall of shamer".

I think you can find these bass locking trems if you look around.

Also .. the Fender VI bass .. had a Jaguar style trem unit .. it was really more of a GIANT detuned guitar than a 6-string bass.

Krishna Jain

PS Maybe a locking tremolo on my '63 P-bass would be a good idea ....

[eatswodo]

I've seen Victor Wooten playing a Fodera bass equipped with a Kahler tremolo, which sounded anything but ******.... however, he could probably make just about anything sound good

[scott_s]

Les Claypool plays some basses that have whammy bars. It sounds COOL when applied at the right time! I think the issue is that it might be harder to keep the setup good on those.

[bluedave]

This sticks out in my mind (mostly as one of the most bizarre niche instruments i've ever seen).

The way my brain breaks it down:
a) How many people play six-string?
b) How many people want a Synchromatic six-string bass?
c) How many people want a Bigsby on their Synchromatic six-string bass?
d) How many people want all that, PLUS a built-in guitar?

Brain.... reels....

[markthemd]

As there is NO nut clamp for any /bass whammy , the angle to the tuners is critical .

A Rick bass just does not work well with it .How do I know ? I worked for Gary Kahler in the early 1980's and he was the maker of nearly all the brass hardware used in the guitar industry at that time .
Lawsuits with Floyd Rose made him have a terrible taste in his mouth for the music industry ...he now makes golf clubs.