Vintage Thunderbird Tremolo Question

Joined
Mar 29, 2007
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Hi!

guild newbster here!

I've been looking into buying a vintage Thunderbird. Having never played one I was wondering if you could clear something up for me:
When playing, how well does the tremolo hold the strings at pitch, when bending one of the strings?

ex. if I played an open Low E, and while it was ringing out, bent a note a whole step on the B string, will the bent B string effect the pitch of the Low E? Kinda like what happens on a Floyd Rose type bridge.

Any other comments on overall playability & sound of vintage Thunderbirds are welcome, & much appreciated.

Thanx!
 

matsickma

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2005
Messages
4,280
Reaction score
1,028
Location
Coopersburg, PA
Hi seafoamer,

To my knowledge all vibratos (trems, whammys, bigsby...the mane varies pending your age) will usually pull adjacent strings slightly out of tune. I know a great guitar player (an old friend of Roy Buchanan) who has perfect pitch. He can't handle vibratos because of the pitch shift.

There is another phemonenon of symphetic vibrations where strings that are close in pitch but slightly off modulate the overall tone. You allways hear that effect when tuning by ear. The effect is possible even for other notes that have a harmonic relationship. Your example of B and E is one.

I know a lot of people don't like the Hagstrom vibratos. However it was the first one I played in 1967 so I grew up with it. It took me longer to get used to a Bigsby and I never got used to a Floyd-Rose (although I don't mind a Kahler). I find a bigger problem with the Hagstrom bridges. The main thing to be aware of with a Hagstrom vibrato is that it is effective for modest pitch shifts (which is the technique I use)- no dive bombing with thius one. The Hagstrom vibrato arm stays where you put it so you are able to do modest pitch drops using your wrist/upper arm while continuing tom play notes. It provides a subtle little oscillation to your playing.

matsickma
 
Top