TransTrem is a
guitar vibrato system developed by
Steinberger
Steinberger is a series of distinctive electric guitars and bass guitars, designed and originally manufactured by Ned Steinberger. The name "Steinberger" can be used to refer to either the instruments themselves or the company that originally pro ...
in 1984. Its main feature is to maintain the pitch of each string at the proper tuning interval to the others when the
vibrato ("Whammy bar") is used. This allows entire chords to have their pitch bent while remaining in tune, whereas a conventional vibrato system would cause the strings to go out of tune with each other. The system also allows transposition of the pitch of the guitar as a whole: the pitch of all the strings can be raised or lowered from the standard EADGBE tuning and locked into one of several preset positions. The
Washburn
Washburn (alternatively Wasseburne, Wasseborne, Wasshebourne, Wassheborne, Washbourne, Washburne, Washborne, Washborn, Wasborn, Washbon) is a toponymic surname, probably of Old English origin, with likely Anglo-Norman and Norman-French influenc ...
Wonderbar from the 1980s attempted a similar approach (sans the locking feature) with far less success.
The TransTrem (or TT for short) requires custom double ball end strings to work properly. Each string is calibrated to a specific length: as little as 1/16" deviation from this specification adversely affects string tuning. As of 2009
D'Addario
D'Addario is a family-owned and operated American multinational company that specializes in musical instrument accessories headquartered in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.
D’Addario is the world’s largest musical instrument accesso ...
, La Bella,
GHS
GHS may refer to:
Education
* Gaithersburg High School, Gaithersburg, Maryland, US
* Glendora High School, a school in Glendora, Los Angeles, US
* Glenunga International High School, formerly Glenunga High School, a school in Adelaide, South Aus ...
and the Steinberger brand strings are the only ones offering calibrated double ball sets.
In 1987, HAZ Labs, a company that provided the electronics for Steinberger (with the exception being the pickups, which were from
EMG, Inc.), built roughly two-hundred TransTrem units for the bass. This mechanism did not gain much popularity and no further bass trems were ever built; however, TransTrem equipped basses are now quite rare and valuable as collector's items.
In 2008 Steinberger introduced the third generation TransTrem (TT3) on the new Steinberger ZT3 guitar. It maintains the ability to transpose all string in tune and lock in three other positions while making setup and string changes easier. The new headpiece on this guitar also allows the use of single ball end strings. Lastly, it moves the bridge mounted string tuners from a horizontal to a more upright position. This allows for a greater range of installations and/or body styles, as the tuner "cut out" on the tail end of the body is no longer necessary.
Users of the TransTrem
*
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...
used a Steinberger guitar with a TransTrem on several songs, including "Get Up" and "Summer Nights" (from ''
5150''), "Pleasure Dome" (from ''
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge''), "Fire in the Hole" (from ''
Van Halen III''), and "
Me Wise Magic" (from ''
Best Of – Volume I'').
* Acclaimed virtuoso jazz fusion guitarist
Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth (6 August 1946 – 15 April 2017) was a British jazz fusion and progressive rock guitarist and composer.
Holdsworth was known for his esoteric and idiosyncratic usage of advanced music theory concepts, especially with respe ...
used TransTrem on his custom Bill DeLap made guitar. He has also used Steinberger guitars with TransTrem.
* Innovative guitarist
Michael Hedges toured with a custom Steve Klein electric
harp guitar using a TransTrem bridge. This guitar can be heard on the songs "Point A" and "Point B" on his album ''
Taproot''.
[
]
*
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percuss ...
leader
Mark Knopfler and second guitarist
Jack Sonni both used Steinberger TransTrem guitars on the "Brothers In Arms" tour. Each had custom paint jobs by John Suhr of Rudy's Music Stop. Sonni used his on the song "
Private Investigations" throughout the tour. His TransTrem guitar was the third one made.
*
David Torn uses the TransTrem extensively and has demonstrated its use on his ''Painting With Guitar'' instructional videos.
*
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...
used a Steinberger GL with TransTrem bridge and Active EMG Pickups while recording the 1987
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
album ''
A Momentary Lapse of Reason''.
*
Vito Bratta
Vito Bratta (born July 1, 1961) is an American guitarist and the former main songwriter for the glam metal band White Lion. He co-founded White Lion with lead singer Mike Tramp in 1983 and played with the band until 1992. Bratta was influenced by ...
of
White Lion used both black and white Steinberger GM-2TA during the band's Pride and Big Game World Tour. He also used red Steinberger GM-4TA during Big Game album recording. White GM-2TA can be seen in the "When The Children Cry", "Little Fighter" and "Cry For Freedom" music videos. Black GM-2TA can be seen in a scene from the "Cry For Freedom" music video.
*
Paul Masvidal of
technical death metal/
jazz fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...
band
Cynic uses Steinberger guitars with the TransTrem, most notably in the introduction of the song 'I'm But a Wave To...' and in the solo of 'Veil of Maya' from the landmark release
Focus. Recently, he has started using the Steinberger ZT3 which has the new TT3.
References
{{reflist
Guitar bridges