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Dane Paul Terry (Wayang)
Senior Member
Username: Wayang

Post Number: 280
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 207.200.116.67
Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 02:46 am:   Edit Post Print Post

Been over there, overdone that...
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paul wilczynski (Jingle_jangle)
Senior Member
Username: Jingle_jangle

Post Number: 1807
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 63.193.9.8
Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 02:31 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Jeff: You said "we call them tremelo over here" and then say that you are not "over here". Hmmm. I understood the reference to mean that you were not in the USA. Pardon me if I misspoke, no slight intended.

You won't easily find a good definition of "tremelo" in any dictionary, because it's from Italian and is only in usage in reference to sound amplification. An amplifier with "tremelo" has a circuit to vary the amplitude, not the pitch, and this has been in common usage with reference to amplifiers since at least the end of WWII. (Tremelo="tremble").

Vibrato refers to a change in pitch. (Vibrato is a term in musical notation) Magnatone built a wonderful line of stereo amplifiers in the late '50s through mid-'60s which actually had a stereo vibrato circuit which varied the pitch of the note and panned it across the channels. The sound of one of these is amazing and about as far from Link Wray tremelo as you can get.

If that "whammy" bar on any of your guitars varies the amplitude of the sound, it would be a first. It's a vibrato. Kaufmann Vib-Rola, Bigsby vibrato, Accent Vibrato, Hi-Performance Vibrato, etc.
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Peter McCormack (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin

Post Number: 3446
Registered: 04-2003
Posted From: 142.166.105.220
Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 02:55 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Paul: You are making a strong case for the vibrato being associated with the "Whammy Bar" in the United States. Another interesting device that has been used to raise the pitch of a few US guitars has been called
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paul wilczynski (Jingle_jangle)
Senior Member
Username: Jingle_jangle

Post Number: 1810
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 63.193.9.8
Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 03:12 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Hate to say it, Peter, because it makes me seem inflexible and egomaniacal, but Floyd is wrong. It's a vibrato system.

I don't care how many of these he's sold (And I've owned several, of course), that doesn't make him an expert in terminology or language. By definition, it's a vibrato, not a tremelo. Just because he makes a good product, doesn't mean he calls it by its correct name. And, unfortunately, now he's confused the issue...
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Peter McCormack (Admin)
Board Administrator
Username: Admin

Post Number: 3447
Registered: 04-2003
Posted From: 142.166.105.220
Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 03:39 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Yes I agree Paul. I think we should be guided by the experts in the field and times certainly do change. Uncle! Let's get with the times and let the experts at Fender decide. They have been around the industry long enough to know.

From the Fender site today April 29, 2005.


quote:

American Stratocaster

0117400

The beauty of the American Stratocaster guitar lies in its details. This model incorporates several simple player-centric refinements into the timeless design of the Strat guitar: hand-rolled fingerboard edges, three staggered single-coil pickups, five-way switching and two-point synchronized tremolo


.
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tom fowler (Moreguitar)
Intermediate Member
Username: Moreguitar

Post Number: 64
Registered: 07-2004
Posted From: 68.107.20.110
Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 04:26 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

What's a 2 point synchronized tremelo?
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Dane Paul Terry (Wayang)
Senior Member
Username: Wayang

Post Number: 297
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 207.200.116.67
Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 04:28 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

...sounds like a linebacker stance...
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paul wilczynski (Jingle_jangle)
Senior Member
Username: Jingle_jangle

Post Number: 1812
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 63.193.9.8
Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 04:38 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

I won't say uncle on this one. Like I said before, they are no interchangeable. Too bad Fender is going along with Floyd.

George Bush has been around longer than Fender and he STILL says, "noo kyoo ler". Dreadful language skills, no idiot left behind, etc.

So we agree to disagree and I'm cool with that.
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Jeff Ulmer (Jeff_ulmer)
Senior Member
Username: Jeff_ulmer

Post Number: 630
Registered: 01-2003
Posted From: 209.52.203.85
Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 04:50 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

Two point probably refers to using a pair of studs (like most locking trems do) as opposed to the original Fender tremolo, which had six screws. I have no idea what is synchronized, unless they mean the whole thing moves together.

If it doesn't have a locking nut, and there is anything between the locks and that nut (ie rollers, saddles, nut) then it will be far more prone to going out of tune. Yes, I do know that a standard Fender trem can stay in tune, but it takes a lot of work, and it simply isn't reliable. I have spent the better part of twenty years looking at various designs, including working on the development of new systems, and I have yet to see anything that rivals a Floyd. Even a Floyd can have problems, but that is generally due to poor metal used in the studs (which the knife edges wear into and create a friction point), or poor knife edges.

I'm usually too lazy to call it a tremolo, refering to it as a thingy instead, but most people don't know which thingy I'm refering to. :-)

Semantics aside, metal players tend to favor guitars with (insert thingy name here) systems, so Rics would not be a first choice. The voicing is also not the best for highly overdriven sounds from the instruments I have either owned or tried.
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Dave Westheimer (Dave4004)
Senior Member
Username: Dave4004

Post Number: 1154
Registered: 06-2002
Posted From: 69.91.31.135
Posted on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 04:53 pm:   Edit Post Print Post

I think it's a case of Floyd going along with Fender. IIRC the original error was made by Fender in 1954 when the Strat was released (bite your tongue, Paul, I'm agreeing with you on this one ) and they called it a tremelo.

You're right, Paul, they aren't interchangeable. But 51 years of wrong terminolgy has made the error semi-permanent.

In any event, Ray Wylie Hubbard's latest CD is titled "Delirium Tremolos". Just thought you needed to know. :-)