The Whammy Bar, Points, and Tilting The Guitar

**jkilby99** · Joined: 19 Feb 2006 Posts: 9 Location: Tunnel Hill, GA

So I know that using the whammy bar during star notes helps build the star meter, but does the bar help any other time (i.e. does it increase points on other notes)? Also, does it make any difference if you continue to hold the guitar up when the star power is activated? In other words, do you lose points or time if you don't keep holding the guitar vertical? (Sorry to unload so much newbieness in one thread!)
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**OtherBill** · Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 65

People have experimented (the first note of Iron Man is a good place to start) and have found that the whammy does not affect your score.

Once you activate star power, you can return the guitar to normal, and star power will keep going 'til it's empty. You don't lose points. Whether or not the star power stays active longer if you keep the guitar tilted, though...that's a good question. I don't think so, but feel free to experiment and let us know what you find.
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**jkilby99** · Joined: 19 Feb 2006 Posts: 9 Location: Tunnel Hill, GA

It doesn't look like tilting the guitar helps any... I tested it out and my star power seemed to run out around the same time (+/- a note, depending on when I started it) held tilted or normally.
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**Atremains** · Joined: 08 Feb 2006 Posts: 648 Location: Western Mass

Most of my friends go crazy with the whammy on a star note, they think it helps you get more power out of the note
but it seems to me that it doesnt matter how fast you... wham it.
am i right?
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**discgolferpro** · Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 861 Location: Kansas City, Mo

**redeyesly** · Joined: 19 Feb 2006 Posts: 15 Location: Anaheim, CA

whammying on long star notes does fill the crowd meter faster, but alot of them are minimal raises unless its the last held note in a starred streak. I think this is the only positive effect the whammy bar has
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**Loberto** · Joined: 13 Feb 2006 Posts: 33 Location: Hudson, NY

The length of time that star power depletes seems to be a fixed rate based on the tempo of the song. So, star power stays active longer on a slow song than it does on a fast song, but about the same number of bars. Based on my observations...

**kenyan** · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 55 Location: Los Angeles, CA

It definitely is related to the number of bars/speed of the song. Has anyone tested how long it lasts in relation to how filled up the bar is? It's my impression that a full star meter lasts more than twice as long as a half full bar, but I've never bothered to test the validity of that observation.
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**krimsunmunkeys** · Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 8:02 pm Post subject:

My first post... Yay!

Anyway, here's what I have about Star Power.

Length: (quick verification from musicians requested: all songs are in 4/4 time, right?)
-Based on tempo of song
-Full Star Power: 8 Measures (from one fat line to the next is one measure length)
-3/4 Star Power: 6 Measures
-1/2 Star Power: 4 Measures
-Both sides of the bar drain at the same speed
-Not dependent on tilt, whammy, or multiplier

Building Star Power:
-One Streak: 1/4 Power Bar
-Whammy: about 15 full beats=1/2 Star Power Bar
-Whammy: about 7 1/2 beats = 1/4 Star Power Bar
-Single notes and chords give the same Whammy Power

Any more questions?

**JCirri** · Joined: 04 Feb 2006 Posts: 4576

Good observations, I was planning to gather such information myself. Now it will be easier to analyze note charts and determine optimal star power usage. I plan on opening a new forum for song FAQs, where people will be able to post such information they find.
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**EdwardTeach666** · Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 290 Location: Tankard

**Mike** · Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 44 Location: Quebec, Canada

**Phr34k** · Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:03 am Post subject:

Any SP streak is worth 25% of the entire meter, not using the whammy on long notes (if any). As far as the usage of the whammy to extract SP from notes, it is based on each beat during the note. You have to depress the whammy bar once per beat to extract the power from the note to its fullest. Going faster will not have any added effect, but going slower could cause you to lose out on some of the power on the note. I am unsure of exactly how much you get per beat...my estimite is 2% per beat.

If someone wanted to prove the theory, find a song that has a long note at the start...like...disgustingly long, that has a star power combo. Press the whammy once per beat, while counting the beats. Once you have filled up SP enough for it to be used, count how many beats have passed. Then double the amount...you now have your ratio per percentage.

For example: if it takes 25 beats to fill up the SP to 50%, then it would take 50 hits to fill it to 100%. 100/50 = 2% per beat.

With that ratio, a single long note SP combo that is 8 beats in length would give: a) 25% for the actual combo, b) 16% for the whammy hits. Therefore you get 41% worth of SP.

We just need that ratio I guess...
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**Phr34k** · Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 1:05 am Post subject:

Okay...JCirri and I did some research on the whole SP thing. We have everything confirmed to do with whammy usage and how long everything lasts for.

- SP Combo without whammy usage = 25% of SP Meter
- SP Long note whammy = 3.571428% of SP Meter (continuing) PER beat of whammy usage...you cannot get anymore per beat no matter how fast you whammy... 7/25 ratio
- SP will last for exactly 8 bars if the Meter is full. This is universal regardless of BPM changes (Iron Man) and Time Signature changes (The Breaking Wheel).
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**shutendoji** · Joined: 06 Apr 2006 Posts: 658 Location: Earth

i've never experimented with this but it crossed my mind. Does anyone think that SP is affected depending on how you activated it? By either pressing Select or tilting the guitar up...i probably doesn't but you never know