Re: Does anyone know exactly what Kevin Shields did with his tremolo arm?

NBarnes21 · Post by **NBarnes21** » Thu May 22, 2008 12:09 am

I've bent my trem arm in a vice to get it to sit higher off of the guitar so I can bend while strumming, but it doesn't quite have the same effect. I'm guessing he had it tensioned really loosely and raised it, but does anyone know how he held it so that the chords he didn't mean to shift w/ the trem arm didn't modulate by the bar moving up and down ever so slightly while strumming?

JazzBlaster · Post by **JazzBlaster** » Thu May 22, 2008 12:36 am

Suposedly he put tape on his bar to keep it from going all the way in. Also he has his bars completly straight. I feel it's more in the technique than any of that tho.

NBarnes21 · Post by **NBarnes21** » Thu May 22, 2008 12:40 am

Yeah, what he does is definitely really hard to reproduce.

JazzBlaster · Post by **JazzBlaster** » Thu May 22, 2008 12:45 am

NBarnes21 wrote: Yeah, what he does is definitely really hard to reproduce.

How so?

just remember you push down on the downstroke, he's actually kind of mimicing slide guitar technique.

NBarnes21 · Post by **NBarnes21** » Thu May 22, 2008 12:52 am

The smoothness of the bends while still strumming is what gets me, and the fact that the chords don't modulate much when he's not intending to bend the chord. I have to try really hard not to move the trem arm slightly up and down while strumming with the bar in my hand.

Post by **mynameisjonas** » Thu May 22, 2008 12:58 am

i've had no problems with imitating his trademark "gliding" with my trem arms pushed all the way in. if you set the spring fairly tight, it both puts the tip of the arm further away from the body and makes it less senstive to accidental bending. it also allows deeper downward bends without bottoming out.

when he mentions the tape trick in interviews, i think he's mainly referring to his ibanez... it might not be the same deal on the fenders.

JazzBlaster · Post by **JazzBlaster** » Thu May 22, 2008 12:58 am

You'll get it

sounds like you may just be holding the bar to tight. let it just sit in your hand as you strum and push it down when you need to.

NBarnes21 · Post by **NBarnes21** » Thu May 22, 2008 1:12 am

Good advice about the tighter spring tension- I would have thought looser would be better, but tighter would definitely eliminate the tiny bends while strumming with it in your hand- I'll have to try that out, Thanks! A great alternative to taping is to just bend the arm up a bit, I bent it up at the first right angle and down again halfway down the long part so it is level w/ the strings, and now I don't have to deal with the arm falling out at the slightest lean forward. Guess I gotta start practicing a bit looser, thanks for the input guys.

JazzBlaster · Post by **JazzBlaster** » Thu May 22, 2008 1:14 am

Allways glad to help

spacecadet · Post by **spacecadet** » Thu May 22, 2008 3:43 am

I've tried playing like him and I don't think it's too difficult. As someone else said, it's mostly just getting used to the technique. I don't even have my trem arm taped so it doesn't go all the way in, and I can still play that way. (It'd be easier if I did, though.)

The obvious trick is that he doesn't play that hard. You can see it in the videos. If you strum lightly, it's very easy *not* to bend chords that you're not meaning to bend. In fact, I have to consciously remember to push down to bend when I want to - that's the hard part to get used to for me.

Bilinda plays the same way, btw. Watch the video for "Soon" - you can see there is very little hand movement when they strum. They're not pounding on their guitars.

adrianm1972 · Post by **adrianm1972** » Wed Aug 08, 2018 9:16 am

Kevin does a few things

1. Electrical tape on the part that goes into the trem by the bend so it sits higher

2. He pulls the bridge all the way back so it can only rock forwards. His guitars can only pitch down not pitch up. This is a choice as he doesn’t like the sound of pitching up. This reduces the trems sensitivity and make it easier to stay in tune unless he intentionally pitched down.

All of the above is from a talk with Kevin’s guitar tech and Kevin himself after the MBV show in Chicago. Kevin had said this in his 2nd 60th JM anniversary videos but I asked them for more detail.

aliendawg · Post by **aliendawg** » Wed Aug 08, 2018 9:30 am

I don't get why he puts the bridge all the way back. wouldn't the trem lock do the same thing (if better)?

helvetg · Post by **helvetg** » Wed Aug 08, 2018 10:37 am

I always thought he had the arm sat up so high along with the tape that it was impossible to bend upwards. I've also found that, like he said in the videos, you can't bend every time you play, you have strategically and musically bend so that it's not a constant warble. It's something that's surprisingly simple yet kind of tricky.

my bloody television · Post by **my bloody television** » Wed Aug 08, 2018 2:45 pm

His open tunings also play a big roll in the chord modulations. Doing his whammy bar technique in standard with standard chords has a very different sound compared to bending open chords with doubled or tripled open notes on various string gauges. Most of what he’s playing chordally is very simple but the slight modulations of unison notes with such a big fuzzed out sound and a melodic bass line underneath is really where the effect is born

601210 · Post by **601210** » Thu Aug 09, 2018 4:51 am

aliendawg wrote: ↑
Wed Aug 08, 2018 9:30 am
I don't get why he puts the bridge all the way back. wouldn't the trem lock do the same thing (if better)?

Trem lock would give you half the range of motion, also there's a pronounced slamming when you go back to pitch.