Though a guitar's "tremolo arm" can produce variations of pitch, including vibrato, it cannot produce tremolo … See more

Most vibrato systems for guitar are based on one of four basic designs:
1. Bigsby Vibrato Tailpiece, introduced in the late 1940s and used in close to original form on many guitars (including Gibson, Gretsch… See more

The world's first patented mechanical vibrato unit was created and designed by Doc Kauffman. The initial patent was filed in August 1929 and was officially published in 1932. Between 1920 and 1980 Kauffman collaborate… See more

The first commercially successful vibrato system for guitar was the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece, often just called a Bigsby, invented by Paul Bigsby (US Patent D169120 filed in 1952, issued in 1953). The exact date … See more

After the Bigsby, the next major development was Leo Fender's synchronized tremolo, the device that introduced the term tremolo arm (U.S. patent 2,741,146 filed in 1954, issued in 1956). Firs… See more

From the 1950s, Gibson offered either a guitar-shaped Gibson Vibra-Rest or a Bigsby option.
Since the early 1960s, Gibson have marketed a number of vibrato system designs un… See more

Other notable vibrato designs include the Kahler, Washburn Wonderbar, Hagstrom Tremar, The Semie Moseley-designed Mosrite "Vibramute", the Stetsbar, the crossed-roller bearing linear tremolo and the early R… See more