The "whammy bar" goes by many other names as
well: wham bar,
wang bar, vibrato tailpiece, tremolo arm,
Floyd, etc. (Although "
Floyd" properly refers only to the "Locking Tremolo System" designed by Floyd Rose). The names come from manufacturers or from users.
Although some refer to this device as a "tremolo bar" or a "tremolo arm", the use of the word "tremolo" is misplaced. Tremolo refers to volume modulation. The term was originally used for instruments of the violin family. If a violinist's (or violist's or cellist's or bassist's) score is marked "tremolo", it means the
player will rapidly move the
bow back and forth across the string, resulting in a "trembling" sound.
"Vibrato", by contrast, is pitch modulation. Returning to the violin family: watch a violinist's left
hand wiggle quickly while holding down a string. By moving her
hand this way, the violinist is constantly and subtlely changing the pitch of the string. This makes the sound of the string very "wide" and "alive" -- more "vibrant."
The wham bar on the
guitar changes the pitch of the gutar's strings. Therefore, it's properly referred to as a "vibrato" device, not a "tremolo" device.
