Whammy Bar

I've had my beginners guitar for a while. Its a fender squier strat. I never use the whammy bar it came with because it detunes my guitar badly. It detunes the pitch upward. I can't figure out how to fix it.

Also when I push the whammy bar down it is hard to push. I tried a guitar at the store and the whammy bar was very easily pushed down. I don't know if that is a difference between my guitar or whammy bar and the stores or if my guitar is supposed to be like that.

Another thing is when I push my whammy bar down the change in pitch is much small than the on at the store.

please help! thanks

Holding A Pick

Hey, I know there are probably a lot of stuff on holding a pick but I didn't see any that answered my question.

I noticed that most of the instructors that I see, and guitar players in general, have their middle, ring, and little finger of their picking hand extended when they are playing. When I play it feels most comfortable to have my extra fingers tucked, kind of like making a fist. I was just wondering if extending my fingers is something I should convert to. I guess it would make it easier if I needed to use my remaining fingers on my picking hand for plucking the strings, idk . I would like to hear what everyone thinks.

I also wanted to know if, while strumming, you should hold your hand stationary and just strum by rotating you wrist or if you should use some of your arm. Thanks for your input!

Digitech Gnx 4

What are your thoughts on the Digitech GNX 4. I have had one for a little while now and I know I am not using it to its fullest. If anyone has any tips on it or comparisons I would love to hear them!!

Vibrato

Hello,
I have never used this forum before but I had a question about vibrato and thought I could find some help here. It is much easier for me to do a vibrato by bending the string down and then back rather than bending it down then up and so on. Is it acceptable to do it this way or do I just need to practice the other way more. There is probably a lesson on this subject but I couldn't find it so I thought I would leave a post. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!