Tremolo arm: with or without

From what I've heard they will make your guitar go out of tune faster when used.

I have one that came with my Strat but up until now I've never used it.

Yeah, I've heard that a lot of guitars with tremolo bars are harder to keep in tune, but if you're tuning up every session, I dont' think it'd be that much of a problem. And, the advantage would be being able to play all the songs that use tremolo bars.

I'd get it.

I used to use mine but I got tired of tuning evertime I used the bar.

Hmm. I think I read somewhere that older tremolo bar caused the guitar to go out of tune very fast, but that that problem had been solved by now. So that's not entirely correct?

Also, is it usually possible to take off and on the arm, say for safer transportation or depending if it is of any use at the moment?

Taking it off should not be a big problem, you might be better off leaving it on and then just moving it out of the way.

You can get alot of the sounds you wan't without the Tremolo bar by doing bends, slides, hammer on and pulloffs just by using your fingers, none of my guitars have a Tremolo arm, but everyone has their own tastes.

:D

Well, there are many solutions to it going out of tune, but you'll find none on entree-level guitars. I suggest either getting a good vibrato system or none at all. Cheap guitars come with cheap bridges, cheap nuts and cheap tuners. You'll be retuning every few notes if you even look at it.

If you already play accoustic and are serious about starting electric, buy a good one (and if it is your style) with a vibrato system. If this is your very first guitar don't bother, there are way more important things to learn.

Oops, seems like I messed up terms. I thought I read somewhere that the tremolo arm was incorrectly referred to as vibrato arm, but it seems like it was the other way around. :oops:

Anyway, I do already play accoustic (and love it! I just want to expand my options :wink: ), and I want to buy a guitar that I can have for a long time. So I dont want to think in a year "damn, I wish I had a vibrato bar", but on the other hand I dont want to be thinking "damn, I wish this useless vibrato bar wasn't here".

Try it and see if you like it. Try it out in the store and see if it's an effect you can see yourself using lots. The best thing is, if you get one and decide you don't like it, and you got something of reasonable quality and don't break it, you should be able to turn it around without a significant loss of money.

My first guitar had a trem system, which I didn't use much, but I liked the idea, so I bought my next guitar with a double locking floyd-rose: which for those who don't know is one of the more sophisticated trem systems out there, designed for repeatable whammy-ing and optimum tuning stability. At some point, I discovered that I would use the increased sustain of a fixed bridge about 100x as much as the effect of the trem, traded in my floyd-roser for a fixed bridge Les Paul and never looked back.

Listen critically to all your choices, and get other people's thoughts and opinions. Even if you don't agree with them, they can raise points you haven't yet thought of.

Happy buying.

Thanks to you all.

Now I'm more confused than ever, though...for the guitar I am looking at, even fender refers to a "standard tremolo". So is there a 100 % correct answer anyone can give (not that it matters that much, but I like to have the terms in order).

By the way, this is the guitar I am currently most interested in, altough I keep the options open:

http://www.squierguitars.com/gear/show_product.php?product=0310700&feature_id=0:1:0

At first I didn't think it had a vibrato/tremolo-arm, but on closer inspection I saw that it did. I'm not sure how that will affect my decision yet....

What do you think?

On strat style guitars you can unscrew the tremolo arm (and yeah, they're called tremolo or vibrato). I leave it off on my Strat unless I'm playing something that needs it.

The Floyd Rose system that undercat mentioned is one solution to the tuning issues. There are plusses and minuses to those... like with most things :)

I have a hollow body with a Bigsby trem, which works a bit different from the Strat system. Once the strings have settled, it doesn't go badly out of tune - but it does shorten string life if I use it a lot. I'm in the process of replacing it with a tailpiece.

On strat style guitars you can unscrew the tremolo arm.

Woo! That sounds great! :D (a small thing to celebrate for perhaps, but I am easily pleased :lol: )

Does taking off the arm also suspend the tuning issue?

Anyway, time to get some sleep now. I'll be back tomorrow, but please, keep posting in the meantime. :wink:

Does taking off the arm also suspend the tuning issue?
Yes. It's using the arm that affects the tuning.

the vib arm is not really my style. the cons outweigh the pro's for me.
Cheap guitar (sub $700 around here) have complete utter crap bridges and nuts,
and usually have some fender knockoff system.
The problems with these are:

1. loss of sustain. was very bad on my old guitar.
2. Almost impossible to get perfectly tuned, cause you change the tension on all the strings when you tune one up/down.
(yes, but all the springs in the back and tightened the screws and all that jazz)
3. Goes untuned in a single touch of the arm.

these are my experiences with CHEAP vib systems, found on
strat knockoffs and the like. Not floyd rose's and things like that.
But, try some different guitars, and see if you even like the effect.
not for me, i can do similar sounds with bends. (read: similar)
and the entire thing is just a waste on me, so i prefer
hardtails, with rock solid sustain and easier tuning.

Im not going to tell you to avoid them, but do like you want,
your guitar, before all. But, if you decide you want a vib system,
throw a few bucks in it, and get something that works properly,
instead of something that will be a cause of frustration.