I've only used a tremolo bar for the last 6 months or so. I decided to set up one of my strats for tremolo and I also got a new Jazzmaster. I love to use the trem on the Jazzmaster, not so much on the strat.

That's the one!

- C

the tremolo assembly that came on my american strat was too problematic. I could never keep it tuned or intonated for very long and the springs in the back never seemed to balance out the strings. the bridge was always slowly pulling toward the body or the neck. I locked it out and shaped a piece of wood to fit in the back so it had zero play in either direction. this increased my sustain substantially. and it stays tuned for weeks.

Nah, I have an Ibanez with a Floyd. Like Jay says it doesn't go out of tune. I have done divebombs til the strings flap free, and it returns to pitch every time. But whammy is good as long as you don't over do it. Even if you play a whammy heavy divebomb song or two, you aren't going to do a whole set.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

I use mine all the time. Dive bombs, harmonic squeals, and some times vibrato.

I never use the talent lever. Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

Some people have talent and some dont.

I have had two strats and never had any tuning issues. Most of the time it's light vibrato like Hank Marvin. Sometimes I may use it heavier like Dave Gilmour style bombs.

Don't even have the arm installed in my American Deluxe. Just not really an issue.
JW

I like to get a bit of a wobble on every now and again. The trem for my deluxe is nice and loose so i can just whip it out and use it for slide too. It doesnt sound that great but makes for good stage theatrics.

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No no and no

a la Beckola

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Only use my locking Floyd-Kahler types for trem use.
My strat trem is locked down tight and my wilkenson is blocked to only go down and set quite stiff to do so.. I would use them but tuning stability is number one. I get really annoyed when I watch a band and the guitar can`t play anything without grabbin the trem.It gets old quick,so tasteful use is key.

i now use the tremolo arm often and heavily

I have a strat equipped with a FR and a '73 strat as well. I use the bar extensively on both from subtle vibrato on chords to extreme Blackmore-ish abuse. The '73 stays in tune just as well as the FR does. It took some trial and error setups and a lot of time, but I got it there

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The mind is like a parachute; it doesn't work unless its open-FZ

It seems that achieving "anything" worthwhile takes some trial, error and time.

I'm kind of surprised that the scalloped neck players aren't commenting too much, but then again, we know they use it.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!