1. They can be powerful performance tools.
Vibrato bridges—also commonly referred to as “tremolo” bridges due to errant usage of the term by Fender for many years—are a purely mechanical means of temporarily altering your guitar’s pitch that can make an extremely creative addition to your playing style. To grasp the full range of the sound and function of this performance tool, listen to the playing of Duane Eddie, Hank Marvin, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Edward Van Halen. From subtle tremor to evocative dive-bomb this is a piece of hardware that can really move you.
2. Vintage units excel at subtle wobbles.
By and large, vintage vibrato bridges such as the Bigsby, the Fender Stratocaster or Jazzmaster/Jaguar units, or Gibson’s Maestro Vibrola remain within their comfort zones when you restrict them to gentle actions and subtler vibrato effects. In many cases, the restricted travel of these older designs helps them to excel at those less-extreme uses, whereas more advanced units might feel a little “hair triggered”— hence the enduring popularity of the archaic Bigsby vibrato. Of course, a Jimi Hendrix or a Jeff Beck can perform breathtaking feats with a vintage Strat unit, even if it wasn’t designed for such extremes.
3. Grab a high-tech design for more dramatic action.
Many updates of the original Fender Strat vibrato bridge are preferred for more intense use. PRS units perform well, as do many two-point fulctrumstyle bridges from Wilkinson, Hipshot, Fender, Ernie Ball/Music Man, and others. Listen to the way that an inventive guitarist such as David Torn incorporates a modern vibrato into his playing, making it as essential to his style as the fretting fingers of his left hand, and you’ll begin to understand the potential of a more high-tech vibrato. For many incendiary rock players,