whammy bar

[Ed Goist]

...snip...
I guess my point about this thing is, even though it's called a Whammy pedal, people don't really use it for traditional trem effects (e.g. Rockabilly licks like the OP is interested in).

This might be the ticket...Check out the demo at about 3:30, at about 4:40, and at about 6:20.
(By the way, I love the 70's vibe that all of the Electro Harmonix pedals seem to have!)

[delsbrother]

I don't think the OP was looking for an always-on effect.. You'd think the whammy pedal would be the logical choice. But the other problem is the actual sound being emulated is done with a player's hands. It's really hard, at least for me, to have that kind of dexterity (touch and feel) with my feet.

[cammtb]

It works surprisingly well.
What would long-term pressure on the
top do to the instrument? Maybe thats
why you don't see acoustic guitars with whammies.
I think the best use would be for psychedelic
trance music... :^)

He built the bar in 2010 and hasn't had any problems with it. One of the advantages is that he's a machinist and metals are his expertise. (I hadn't posted this earlier since I've had serious lung problems after getting the H1N1 virus back then). My husbandis Dutch and although he knows English (his accent is clear in the clip) he is terrible at writing it. We borrowed a better webcam from a friend so hopefully we can have another clip up soon.

[MRMUD]

I joined this site just to tell you how great it is that your husband hand-crafted that whammy bar - it sounded great! Also, I hope you are feeling much better

[Treblemaker]

I own it and find it a much more interesting and useful pedal for it's 2 octave up tone (when playing my Fender Jazz Bass through it) then for it's octave down tone when playng emando through it.

I will try and run through it today with my new Jerman LesPaul Emando later today and report back...

[cammtb]

I joined this site just to tell you how great it is that your husband hand-crafted that whammy bar - it sounded great! Also, I hope you are feeling much better

Thank you for the wonderful comments. I agree the sound is really amazing and no he still doesn't have problems with it falling out of tune. I know there are other ways to get that sound but since he used to play guitar for him the whammy bar is the most fun and the whammy bar gives the mandolin a cool look. Whenever he plays the mandolin that's the first thing people notice.
For me it's ups and downs on the lung problems. According to the doctor it's something I'll have to learn to live with. My lungs were severely damaged by the virus and I was fortunate to survive since I had such a heavy form of the flu and came close to not making it.