How to Dive Bomb on a Floyd Rose Tremolo

The guitar pyrotechnics made available by a locking tremolo system, such as the Floyd Rose, begins with the dive bomb. This basic technique can be used to add flair to your music, or to simply show off. Whatever your reason for using it, the dive bomb is a useful and extremely popular technique for rock guitar. The sound produced by the dive bomb tends to sound better with moderate to thick distortion, and is often used with full chords, bass notes or harmonics.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Floyd Rose or similar locking tremolo system

1. Play a note or a chord. For a "squealing" effect, play a natural harmonic at the seventh fret, third string.

2. Slowly bend the tremolo bar down toward the body. The notes should get deeper the farther you bend, ending when you can no longer pull the bar lower without hitting the body. For added effect, try moving the bar up and down slightly in this lowered position to create vibrato.

3. Allow the bar to raise itself to its original position, keeping it slow and controlled again. You can also add a little vibrato at this point, as well.

4. Let go of the bar and play the original note again. It should sound the same as in Step 1.

Tips & Warnings

• Once you've got the basic technique, you can increase the speed with which you bend the bar down and up.
• You may need to replay the note from Step 1 while the bar is in the lowered position, particularly if you played a harmonic.
• For a more subtle effect, don't take the bar quite as low and add some vibrato.
• Don't take the bar so low that it touches the guitar body or the strings. This can cause damage to both the guitar and tremolo unit.