40 Guitars With Whammy Bars – Plus 3 Best Ones

Last Updated on December 5, 2023 by Justin Thomas

If you are after a Dimebag-styled dive-bombs or you plan to be the next Eddie Van Halen with your creative use of whammy bar, keep reading. Because this article gathers the best of the best electric guitars with whammy bars together.

If I had to choose just 1 electric guitar to own for the rest of my life, it would be one with a whammy bar (also called a tremolo arm). With it, you can spice up your playing nicely and it does add versatility to your playing. And because I have this no-secret crush on whammy bars, I was happy to put together this article. It includes the cream of the crop guitars with tremolo arms from different price ranges and we’ll also look closely at the 3 best ones.

I included electric guitars with:

• Normal Synchronized Tremolo Bridge
• Floyd Rose
• Ibanez Edge bridge
• Tune-O-Matic bridge with Bigsby Tremolo Tailpiece
• Mustang Tremolo Bridge
• And there might be a couple of the bridge types too

If you have any questions, just check the FAQ section or leave a comment.

Let’s get started!

If you want to learn more about electric guitar bridge designs, their differences, and about how they work, check this in-depth article: Different Guitar Bridge Types – Your Ultimate Bridge Guide

Author: Teemu Suomala

More About Teemu▼

I first grabbed the guitar in 2009. I started this website in January 2020 because I couldn’t do window installation anymore due to my health problems. I love guitars and have played dozens and dozens of different guitars through different amps and pedals over the years, and also, building a website interested me, so I decided to just go for it! I got lucky and managed to get awesome people to help me with my website.

I also got lucky because I have you visiting my website right now. Thank you. I do all this for you guys. If you have any recommendations, tips, or feedback, just leave a comment, I would love to chat with you. I have also been fortunate to produce content for several large guitar websites, such as Songsterr, Musicnotes, GuitarGuitar, and Ultimate Guitar.

I spend my spare time exercising and hanging out with my wife and crazy dog (I guess that went the right way…).

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List 40 Guitars With Whammy Bars

Based on my tests and research, Ibanez GRX70QA is the best electric guitar under $200. It’s easy to play, sounds good, and offers versatility. Plus it has stellar hardware and a great working Ibanez Synchronized T106 bridge. You can check the in-depth review here.

If you want more guitars with Floyd Rose to choose from, check this article: 36 Guitars With Floyd Rose – Plus 3 Best Ones.

Price Range Icon Meanings:

$= $149-250

$$= $251-399

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$$$$= $800-1499

$$$$$= $1500-

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3 Best Guitars With Whammy Bars – My Favorites

Best Budget – Yamaha Pacifica 112V

Bridge: Vintage Tremolo Synchronized bridge with Block Saddles

What I like

• Stays in tune well
• Good hardware
• Versatile tones and coil-split
• Comfortable and effortless to play
• Feels like a more expensive guitar
• The contour for picking hand is really comfortable
• Narrow neck
• The synchronized Vintage Tremolo bridge works great
• Affordable guitar

What I don’t like

• Middle single-coil and split humbucker are nothing amazing
• The neck feels slightly thicker than with many other Strats and Modern Strats

Who is it for?

With HSS pickups + humbucker coil-split setup, this electric guitar can handle pretty much any music out there from soul and folk to hard rock and heavy metal (not the best guitar for really heavy metal though). Playing is comfortable and the hardware is great. What more you can ask from a cheap guitar? Pretty much nothing. Pacifica 112V is my favorite budget guitar with a whammy bar.

You can read my full in-depth review of this guitar here: Yamaha Pacifica 112V Review.

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Best Overall – Ibanez Genesis Collection RG550

Bridge: Edge Locking Tremolo bridge

What I like

• Super-versatile pickups (HSH)
• Smooth & slim Super Wizard neck shape
• Great quality Gotoh tuners
• Smooth to use and durable Ibanez Edge tremolo bridge
• Excellent playability
• Fits fast playing style
• The best electric guitar material

What I don’t like

• Coil-split would be just awesome

If you are wondering whether you should get a guitar with Floyd Rose or Tremolo bridge, check this guide: Floyd Rose vs. Tremolo Bridge

Who is it for?

If you are after extreme versatility, comfortable playability, and great value for the money, Ibanez Genesis Collection RG550 is one of the best options. It’s an all-around work-horse that will serve you well and faithfully in every situation. Plus it features an Ibanez Edge bridge. Some people swear by the name of it and prefer it over Original Floyd Rose. And by the way…this Ibanez is one of the best electric guitars overall.

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Best Premium – Ibanez Prestige AZS2200

Bridge: Gotoh T1802 Tremolo Bridge

What I like

• Extremely smooth and comfortable playability
• Spot-on sound
• Surprisingly versatile
• Alter switch enables connecting single-coil pickup and another coil of the humbucker in series to create different humbucker like tones
• Great hardware (Gotoh Locking tuners, Gotoh tremolo bridge, and bone nut)
• Could cost a lot more

What I don’t like

• Premium quality means a premium price

Who is it for?

I don’t like to call myself a fanboy. But if I had to choose just 1 brand to be a fanboy of, it would be Ibanez. And this AZ Prestige is a great one. It features

• Seymour Duncan Magic Touch-mini Humbucker
• Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro Custom Single-coil
• Gotoh F1802 Tremolo Bridge
• 2-way mini alter switch & 5-way blade pickup switch
• Gotoh Magnum Locking tuners
• Stunning looks
• Smooth playability

And still, it costs under 2k. The money you have to throw in order to get this Ibanez is still a big chunk, I know, but still, the value for the money is outstanding. The best premium and pro-level electric guitar with a whammy bar to me.

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FAQ

Should You Buy Guitar With A Whammy Bar?

Couple of questions that help you find out:

• Do the songs you want to play require the use of a whammy bar?
• Do you want whammy bar use to be part of your own playing and sound?
• Are you ready for a little bit of extra work when ching strings and doing setup?

If a whammy bar is a must for you, go for it. You can handle the little extra work that comes with it. If you are still not sure, a couple of words about that “extra work”.

With a normal synchronized tremolo bridge, that extra work when changing the strings usually means that you have to place something between the bridge and body in order for to bridge to keep its balance when cutting the strings off. Wrap guitars backplate on a towel and use that for example. This same applies to Floyd Rose and Ibanez Edge bridges.

You have to do this in order to prevent the springs under the backplate to pull the bridge against to body because this would limit the use of a whammy bar. Usually you don’t need to do much more than this, maybe some intonation fine-tuning etc. as with any guitar when changing the strings. But of course, when there are more moving parts, more things can go wrong.

Have a look at the pros and cons of a guitar with a whammy bar:

Pros

• Adds versatility to your playing
• You can pull off cool stuff
• Some songs do require the use of a tremolo arm or even a Floyd rose bridge if you want to play them properly

Cons

• Electric guitars with Floyd Rose, Ibanez Edge, Kahler, etc. bridges are usually more expensive (normal synchronize bridge is not much more expensive usually)
• When changing strings or doing setup, electric guitars with a whammy bar usually require a bit more work
• With more moving parts, more things can go wrong

Can Any Guitar Have A Whammy Bar?

Almost any kind of electric guitar can. A whammy bar can be installed later by a luthier (or maybe you are a very handy person). This process might require either woodwork or installing a new bridge or tailpiece. So it’s not always an easy task. Personally, I would rather buy a new electric guitar with a whammy bar, than start assembling them into electric guitars that were not crafted to use them.

But as I said, theoretically, any electric guitar can have a whammy bar.

When it comes to acoustic guitars….they can have a whammy bar too! Learn more about acoustic guitars with a whammy bar here.

Can A Whammy Bar Damage A Guitar?

If you abuse the whammy really heavily, then it might. But in normal use, the tremolo arm/whammy bar and the use of it won’t damage the guitar.

Conclusion

While a synchronized tremolo bridge might give just a little bit more trouble when changing the strings than the normal hardtail/fixed bridge, the stuff you can do with it… it’s awesome. I’m no guitar virtuoso that always pulls off ground-breaking stuff with a whammy bar, but I do like my electric guitars coming with a whammy bar. And clearly, so do you too.

I hope this article helped you out, and maybe you even decided to get one of the electric guitars featured. If you have any questions, leave a comment, I and the GND team are here for you.

Now go, my son, and Rock!

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