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A Brief History of Tremolo

Dan Formosa

October 10, 2013

In u se by early 1940s, the DeArmond Tremolo Control was the first commercially produced el ectric guitar effe ct.

Photo by Chris Gray

I set out to investigate the earliest recorded examples of guitarists using tremolo and the equipment they used to

do it. You might think, as I did, that the story starts somewhere in the 1930s or 40s. But the search took me

muchfurther back: specifically, to the 9th-century Byzantine Empire and 16th-century Europe. Obviously, there

were no electric guitars then, but tremolo was being used as a musical device more than a millennium ago.

After exploring those origins, well leap ahead to the mechanical tremolo contraptions of the 1800s, and finally,
http://www.premierguitar.com/authors/657-dan-formosahttp://www.premierguitar.com/


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This Byzantin e carving from 900 A.D. sugges ts that

musician s from this time period may have use d tremolo

effects on stringed instruments such as the lyra.

the electronic tremolo circuits of the 20thcentury. Well encounter the first electronic tremolo (created for

organs, not guitars) and the first electronic guitar tremolo, which also happened to be the first electric guitar effect

box. Well look at the first tremolo amps that appeared in the late 1940s, and well conclude in 1963, when

Fender introduced their then-radical photocell tremolo circuit.

By Tremolo, We Mean.

Our focus is the history of musicians ability to oscillate the volumeof a note, not its pitch. Oscillating pitch

change is properly referred to as vibrato, not tremolo. But as youll see, the words have a long history of beingconfused. (Theres also another musical definition of tremolo: striking the same note many times in rapid

succession, mandolin-style, a technique also known as tremolando.)

For centuries musicians have sought ways to impart a wavering, voice-like quality

to notes and chords.

Tremolos Ancient Origins

Oscillating the volume of a note is an ancient techniqueweve been able to do it with our voices as long as

weve been capable of singing or yelling. For centuries musicians have sought ways to impart this wavering,voice-like quality to notes and chords. Any musician playing a bowed stringed instrument can create tremolo

they simply move the bow back and forth while sustaining a note, as weve seen countless violinists and cellists

do. (Their bow-wielding hand provides tremolo, while the hand quivering on the fingerboard varies the pitch of

the strings, producing vibrato.)

We dont know exactly when and where the first bowed instruments originated, but theres a Byzantine carving

from around 900 A.D. depicting a scantily clad cherub holding an extremely long bow against the strings of an

instrument known as a lyra. We dont know whether lyra players used tremolo effects, but the technique was

available.

How far back must we go to find an instrument that produces

tremolo mechanically? Sixteenth-century pipe organs used

slightly detuned pitches played simultaneously to create an

undulating effect. One of the earliest mechanical tremolos can

be found on the 1555 pipe organ in the San Martino

Maggiore church in Bologna, Italy. It includes several effeti

speziali(auxiliary stops), including drums, birdcalls, drones,

bells, and tremulanta mechanism that opened and closed a

diaphragm to vary the air pressure. As the pressure varied, sodid the volume.

But guess what? The changing pressure simultaneously alters

volume andpitch. Therefore, the tremulant mechanism

produced both tremolo and vibrato. In other words, the

confusion between the two terms far predates Leo Fenders

decision to call the Stratocasters vibrato-producing whammy

bar tremolo. We see this confusion again and again.


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By the late 17thcentury vibrato/tremolo was being documented as a flute-playing technique. Again, fluctuating ai

pressure in a flute produced both volume and pitch changes.

Fast Forward

In 1891, George Van Dusen patented a device similar in many ways to the vibrato-producing whammy bars we

know today in 1891. His mechanism, designed for any stringed instrument, anchors the string at the short end of

a spring-loaded lever. A push on the lever pulls the string tighter, raising its pitch, after which a spring attached to

the lever returns the string to its original pitch. The result is vibrato, though Van Dusen called it tremolo in theU.S. patent application.

But Van Dusen (or should I say Munn & Company, his patent attorneys?) werent acting in isolation. The words

tremolo and vibrato both found their way into patent vocabulary, where they were used interchangeably.

Orville Lewis devised a somewhat similar device for violin in 1921. It worked by oscillating the bridge. Again, his

device varied pitch, and again, the effect was called tremolo. Clayton Kauffmann created a sort of whammy bar

for banjo in 1929. As with all whammy bars, the result was vibrato, not tremolo. And again, the product

description used the word tremolo.

There weredevices that produced true tremolo, such as rotating fins on a piano cabinet that opened and closed

a sound port, or a spinning mechanism for a wind instrument mouthpiece that modulated airflow. But unlike

bowed and blown instruments, non-electric guitars have no innate tremolo techniques. It takes an amplified guitar

and electronic circuitry to produce a wavering-volume effect.


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This Storytone piano by is one of only 150 made and was the world's first ele ctric piano model . It debuted at the 1939 World's Fair

and the e arly models h ad DeArmond tremol o uni ts mounte d under the ke yboard.Photo by Dave Fey

Early Electric Guitar Tremolo

By 1941 the DeArmond company had developed what may have been the first effect unit for guitarists. It resides

between the guitar and the amplifier like todays effects. Inside the metal box is a small glass jar containing awater-based electrolytic fluid, which gets shaken by a motor. Inside the jar is a pin attached to the positive

connection of the guitar cable. As liquid splashes against the pin, signal is shunted to ground. The result: great-

sounding, liquid-like tremolo.

The 1941 date is not based on the effect being used with guitars, but on the first electric pianos. Storytone piano

were manufactured by Story & Clark and developed in conjunction with RCA. They were first exhibited at the

1939 New York Worlds Fair. By 1941 early models boasted DeArmond tremolo units mounted directly under

the keyboard for easy access. In August of that year, pianists J. Russel Robinson and Teddy Hale performed at

the Chicagoland Music Festival, their state-of-the-art Storytones outfitted with both DeArmond units and


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Andrew Appels patent for an e arly el ectronic tremolo device.

Hammond Solovoxes (miniature, secondary keyboards, and some of the first synthesizers.)

There wasnt much musical instrument development

during World War II, so the second effects box may

have been Andrew Appels 1945 tremolo device.

His design, housed in a metal box quite similar in

shape to the DeArmond unit, arranged resistors in a

circular pattern in ascending order of resistance. A

motor rotated a contact that successively touched

each resistor. The result, in theory, was equivalent to

quickly raising and lowering your guitars volume

control. Again, even though the effect only changed

volume, Appel described the device as creating

tremolo or vibrato effects in conjunction with an

electric type stringed musical instrument. (Note: I

have never seen this unit and am not sure if it ever

went into production. If anyone has further

knowledge, please let us know!)

Other mechanical innovations? Donald Leslie first

attempted to patent a rotating horn device in 1940.

(He abandoned that first version, but followed up in

1945 with an alternative.) His earliest design

incorporated a stationary speaker that faced upward,

its sound flowing into the small end of a rotating horn

a bit like the ones on early Victrolas. His patent

describes the effect as producing pitch tremolo or

vibrato. The rotating horn or speaker in the classic

Leslie cabinet produces tremolo and vibrato

simultaneously. As the speaker or cone moves

towards you, the sound waves move faster, slightly

raising pitch. The pitch lowers slightly as the speaker

moves away. Meanwhile, volume is greatest when the speaker faces you. Therefore tremolo and vibrato isan

accurate description of the Leslie effect.

The First Guitar Amp Tremolo

Nathan Daniel created the first guitar amplifier with vibrato in 1947, the year he founded the Danelectro

company. He called it a Vibrato System for Amplifiers, and his extended description explains that the circuit

produces a tremolo or vibrato effect.

The patent was granted in 1949, but were not sure exactly when the circuit was first used in a Danelectro amp.

According to Nathan Daniels son Howard, I have no knowledge of this, and I suspect there's no living person

who does. I can speculate, however, based on my knowledge of my dad, that he introduced tremolo sooner than

1950, as soon as he could following his application for a patent. Tremolo definitely appears on Danelectros

1950s Special model amps.


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The Premie r 66 may have bee n the first amp introduced with

tremolo, i n 1947. Gibsons GA-50T from 1948 was one of the first

amps to feature a built-in tremol o effect. Fenders first tremolo

amp was 1955s Tremolux. Later brownface and blackface Fender

amps would feature radically different versions of the effect.

But Multivox and Gibson may have beaten

Danelectro to the market with trem-equipped amps.

A 1947 Multivox ad trumpets the companys new

model: Guitarists! You owe it to yourself to try the

new Premier 66 Tremolo Amplifier. Yes, you too

will be sold on this new amplifier from the very first

trial. The built-in Electronic Tremolo lends a new

organlike quality to your tone. Meanwhile, Gibsonsfirst tremolo amp, the GA-50T, appeared in 1948.

(Note to Magnate fans: While Magnatone began

manufacturing steel guitar amps in the late 1930s,

their first tremolo-enabled amplifier, the Vibra-Amp,

didnt arrive until 1955. Their true vibrato circuits,

using varistors to alter pitch rather than volume, first

appeared in 1957s Custom 200 series.)

The tremolo section of a vintage amp circuit (yes, itscalled vibrato on many amps and schematics)

involves at least one tube. A wavering voltage affects

the tubes bias. How that wavering voltage is

generated, and to which section of the amp circuit it is

applied, account for the sonic differences between

various tube tremolo circuits. Without getting too

technical, lets look at how they work, using several

Fender tremolo amps as examples.

Fenders earliest tremolo amplifier appeared in 1955,relatively late in the game. The tremolo section in a

55 Tremolux amp uses a 12AX7 tube, resistors, and

capacitors to vary the voltage. All amps with two or

more power tubes include a tube called a phase

inverter, which splits the guitar signal to allow two (or

four) power tubes to share amplification duties. The Tremolux is unique in that the wavering voltage is sent to the

cathode element of the phase inverter.


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The 1956 Vibrolux operates on the same basic principle, varying the bias. It also uses resistors and capacitors,

enlisting only half of a 12AX7. (A single 12AX7 tube houses two separate triode tubes, which can be used

independently.) The modulating voltage enters the guitar signal path after the phase inverter, acting on the grid

elements of the two 6V6 power tubes.

(The brownface amps Fender introduced in 1959the Vibrasonic, Concert, and eventually other models

utilize a circuit called harmonic vibrato. Its not exactly tremolo or vibrato, although it can certainly create that

impression. Think of tremolo volume as a sine wave, with high and low peaks. Now think of a second tremolo

wave, this time offset by 180 degrees. It would cancel the first tremolothe summed volume would be flat.

However, the harmonic vibrato circuits send higher frequencies to one wave and lower frequencies to the other.

There is no actual change in volume or pitch, but rather a sort of phase shift.)

Fenders next type of tremolo featured a very different system. The blackface amps that appeared in 1963 use a

12AX7 tube and a photocell to oscillate the voltage. That system employs a neon light to open and close the

photocell. It acts on the grid of the phase inverter. Photocell tremolo tends to sound choppier than earlier bias

variation circuits. (For an example of bias variation tremolo, listen to Otis Reddings version of A Change is

Gonna Come, featuring Steve Cropper on guitar. For photocell tremolo, try the Doors Riders on the Storm.)

Early Tremolo Recordings


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Bluesman Big Bill Broonzy is probably the

guitarist on se veral 1942 songs by singe r/pianist

Roosevel t Sykes. The trem olo e ffect is

unmistakable.

With DeArmond tremolo boxes underway by 1941 and amplifiers

incorporating tremolo circuits appearing by end of the decade, what

are the earliest guitar tremolo recordings? Maybe a better question

would be, why would DeArmond, Danelectro, or Gibson offer

tremolo for guitar unless guitarists were experimenting with the effect?

Since the Hammond company was using tremolo in its organs since

the 1930s, the potential for early experimentation by guitarists

certainly existed. With that thought in mind, Ill share the oldesttremolo tracks Ive uncovered so far. If youre aware of earlier ones,

please let us know

Guitar tremolo can clearly be heard on four songs that singer/pianist

Roosevelt Sykes recorded in Chicago on April 16, 1942. Are You

Unhappy, You Can't Do That to Me, Sugar Babe Blues, and

Love Has Something to Say probably feature Big Bill Broonzy

playing through a DeArmond unit.

Les Paul, electric guitar pioneer and mad scientist of the recordingstudio, may have used a subtle tremolo effect on his 1946 recording o

Sweet Hawaiian Moonlight.

You can hear Muddy Waters playing through a tremolo effect on his

1953 song Flood. Two years later Bo Diddley made tremolo a

centerpiece of his sound, using a DeArmond unit on his 1955 hits Bo

Diddley, Diddley Daddy, and Pretty Thing.

By the late 1950s electric tremolo was in full swing. Duane Eddy

famously incorporated it in many of his recordings. He obtained aDeArmond unit in 1957 and used it on Rebel Rouser the following year. According to Eddy, the tremolo effect

was cool because it was such a simple melody. His other tremolo-based songs include Stalkin,

Cannonball, The Lonely One, and Forty Miles of Bad Road. Also in 1958, Link Wray recorded

Rumble, where you can hear the effect being turned on in the final portion of the song.

The 1960s brought an entirely new wave of tremolo-infused amps, effect pedals, and guitar recordingsfar

more than we can cover here. But even a short list of great trem-fueled 60s classics reveals how much the effect

contributed to the decades sound.

Slim Harpo, Baby, Scratch My Back

Tommy James & the Shondells, Crimson and Clover

The Shadows, Apache

Buffalo Springfield, For What It's Worth

Creedence Clearwater Revival, Born on the Bayou

The Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIjUY3pjN8Ehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIoKr9VDg3Ahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhIs1k8yuPUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpGEeneO-t0http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtvL5_6BFd8


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