Em... vibrato or tremolo?

We often hear people referring to the Floyd-type bridge as a 'tremolo' unit which is incorrect. The floating nature of this bridge type allows notes to be raised & lowered, creating that warbling effect. The raising & lowering of notes (in succession), in music, is known as a vibrato- tremolo is the raising & lowering of volume...




The person responsible for this confusion is Leo Fender, who labelled his new Stratocaster guitar, equipped with a new bridge (new in 1954, of course- that infamous headstock label: WITH SYNCHRONIZED TREMOLO). Ironically, his Vibrolux amp (in 1956) with a built-in tremolo was labeled as a vibrato effect.

So now you know...