Swiss firm MayTrem is quietly ushering in a vibrato revolution with the MyTrem – a unique bridge system that goes above and beyond traditional designs, and that will change the face of the whammy bar as we know it.
MyTrem's “revolutionary technology opens up musical possibilities that were previously unimaginable”, because its maker has figured out a way to have each string bend in unison, or individually, for a fully-customizable bridge.
When a standard whammy bar is dumped or pulled, the bend produced is not proportional to all the strings. So, if you were to bend a full six-string chord, it would be pulled horrendously out of tune quicker than you could say, “Is that jazz?”
That’s because, while one string might have gone down by a semitone, the others will have gone on their own intervallic journey.
MyTrem solves that, with two different mechanisms used for up and down movements. Better still, players can choose whether the pitch of each string changes up and down, only down, or remains unchanged when you move the tremolo arm. Further still, the pitch change interval for each string can also be tailored to a player’s desires. There’s an insane amount of freedom to be had. It’s a real open book.
For instance, all strings can be set to be proportional for full chord bends, or some can be locked in place to be unaffected by whammy movements.
For country players, this thing can be morphed into a de facto B-Bender and pedal steel all the same. Locking the high e string and bending notes on the B, with the high e ringing out, can produce a sitar-like sound, too.
The 28-page manual looks a little intimidating, and setup changes are not rapid-fire. A change could take around 10 minutes and necessitate a re-string as they might need to go through different sets of rollers. There's science involved.
“It’s going to change guitar as it is. That’s a big statement,” says YouTuber Henning Pauly (of EytschPi42 fame), who has put the spotlight on the MyTrem. “We always say the guitar doesn't evolve; it's always been the same since the Tele arrived, but this enhances what you can do.
“It's a guitar plus pedal steel. For the metal guys, it can do dive bombs, but it's not an alternative to a Floyd. It can do so much more. It’s an utterly genius feat of engineering.”
There are two versions available, the Builder and Replacement, which are self-explanatory. They’re priced at 599 CHF apiece, which amounts to around $753. The Tremmy, meanwhile, (549 CHF/$690) is a little cheaper as it can’t bend upwards.
Visit MayTrem for more.
