Acoustic guitar with whammy bar

Teflon

Just an idle thought, but has anyone ever made an acoustic guitar with a whammy bar? If not, why not?

I've no need (or wish) for one myself, but it just seems odd that you never see them. Given the wide variety of guitars on sale, there must surely be a reason, but I honestly can't  see why it wouldn't work.  Maybe I should patent the idea - or perhaps more likely go and sit down in a darkened room!

Cliff

Jota

not_the_dj

This weirdo from Gretsh...

https://gretschguitars.com/gear/build/acoustic/g5034tft-rancher-dreadnought-with-bigsby/2704034522

Teflon

Looks like I'll have to shelve the patent then    That Gretsh looks amazing.

axisus

I've seen a couple of home made jobs on the internet using an electric guitar trem (rather than Bigsby style). They look sh*te and and I'm 99.9% sure they sound sh*te bearing in mind how an acoustic actually projects sound.

Teflon said:

Looks like I'll have to shelve the patent then    That Gretsh looks amazing.

Really? I think it looks hideous. 

ICBM

Peavey did one as well - I've never seen one in person, but looking at the soundhole, I suspect it's actually just a pretend acoustic which is actually a solidbody, or at best semi-solid.

Teflon said:

That Gretsh looks amazing.

Unfortunately as stock they don't sound amazing - the pickup is in the wrong place and sounds like a metal drainpipe.

But you can do this...

Stuckfast

Ibanez made one, which I've always wanted to try:

https://reverb.com/au/item/29065370-ibanez-atds-10-nt

It seems to be extremely rare, though.

Teflon

ICBM said: ............

Unfortunately as stock they don't sound amazing - the pickup is in the wrong place and sounds like a metal drainpipe.

But you can do this...

Looks even better!

carlos

You need the bridge to take the energy from the strings to the top and make it vibrate. A trem that works as a bridge would stop a lot of this energy transfer. The only possibility is the Bigsby examples above which slack or tighten the strings instead of moving the position of the bridge.

Teflon

carlos said:

You need the bridge to take the energy from the strings to the top and make it vibrate. A trem that works as a bridge would stop a lot of this energy transfer. The only possibility is the Bigsby examples above which slack or tighten the strings instead of moving the position of the bridge.

That makes sense - thank you 

Cliff

guitarmangler

I remember some video on YouTube with a Django style acoustic with a floyd rose on it, I think ?

guitarmangler

Yup. This one:

https://youtu.be/1rstnOz1EmQ

ICBM

In theory you could mount a Strat-type bridge or a Floyd where the normal bridge is, but you would need a block under the top to take the screws or posts. You would also need a way of attaching the other end of the springs, but another block glued under the top just behind the soundhole should be in roughly the right place to mount the claw I think... you could adjust the claw position if you used bolts through the block with butterfly nuts on the soundhole side.

That would keep all the energy from the strings coupled to the top. I have no idea what it would sound like, but it's not physically impossible!

Henrytwang

Teflon said:

ICBM said: ............

Unfortunately as stock they don't sound amazing - the pickup is in the wrong place and sounds like a metal drainpipe.

But you can do this...

Looks even better!

It does look amazing. Typical Gretsch over the top styling, it’s very reminiscent of the old 1950s Gretsch guitars which had strange things like floating bridges and built in string dampers etc.

ICBM

I have no idea why they didn’t make a two-pickup version as stock - it was extremely easy to mod, the DeArmond (which was taken off another Gretsch that the owner had me fit Filtertrons to) fitted perfectly for height under the strings and just needed a neat hole cut in the top where there was no bracing. Both the bridge and the both-pickups sounds were excellent, and it really looked the part with the black pickup top matching the Bigsby.

It’s out there somewhere, the owner later sold it...

Henrytwang

ICBM said:

I have no idea why they didn’t make a two-pickup version as stock - it was extremely easy to mod, the DeArmond (which was taken off another Gretsch that the owner had me fit Filtertrons to) fitted perfectly for height under the strings and just needed a neat hole cut in the top where there was no bracing. Both the bridge and the both-pickups sounds were excellent, and it really looked the part with the black pickup top matching the Bigsby.

It’s out there somewhere, the owner later sold it...

Gene Vincent would have loved it!

Sassafras

That monstrosity's put me right off Gretsch.