Dive bomb

This article is about the guitar technique. For other uses, see Dive-bomb (disambiguation).

Dive bomb is a guitar technique in which the tremolo bar is used to rapidly lower the pitch of a note, creating a sound considered to be similar to a bomb dropping. One of the most recognized pioneers of this technique is Jimi Hendrix. Other notable musicians who are widely known for using this technique are Slash, Brian May, Eddie Van Halen, Kirk Hammett, Uli Jon Roth, K.K. Downing, Glenn Tipton, Joe Satriani, Herman Li, Dimebag Darrell, Synyster Gates, Pat O'Brien, Alexi Laiho, Mick Mars, Kerry King, and Tyler Rebmann. Some guitarists, such as K.K. Downing and Dimebag Darrell have been known to use a variation of this technique in which a harmonic, most commonly a pinch harmonic, is used instead of a normal fretted or open note creating a sound arguably closer to that of a bomb due to the squealing sound created by the harmonic.

It is usually best performed when using a locking tremolo (whammy bar) such as the Floyd Rose version, so that rapid changes in string tension do not take the strings out of tune. This allows the guitarist to pick a note, and widely vary its tone, either by quickly pushing (or pulling) the bar as far as it goes either way, or slowly moving the bar in the desired direction, depending on what effect the musician is trying to achieve. It is commonly done in combination with a pinch harmonic to get a more dramatic effect with the dive bomb.