Will I be Ruining my Guitary by Installing a Bigsby Tremolo?

Install a Bigsby B7 on my Les Paul or is this a bad idea? Quite a bit more inside.

I'm thinking about installing a Bigsby B7 on this '90 Les Paul. Head. Body.

I know it will look great (scroll down for pics), and I plan on tearing down the tremolo and powder coating all of the non friction point parts black to match the existing hardware. Should look great, but what about the tone?

Another worry is that I've not been able to find another guitar exactly like this on the internet so I'm just a little worried that maybe this is a model I shouldn't be messing with.

What are your thoughts on the matter?! All of your thoughts, ideas, opinions and questions are very much appreciated.

posted by snsranch (29 comments total)

I put a Bigsby on a mex Tele last year. It was non trivial and I ended up drilling a bunch of holes to get it exactly right. I'm happy with it now but it was a bit white knuckle. They come with great instructions but there is enough variation within a particular model go guitar that it's not always plain sailing.

I had been thinking about putting it on my 335 but I'm REALLY REALLY GLAD I didn't, mostly because I swapped it yesterday for a Yamaha P90 stage piano and a Korg CX-3 clone wheel and I'm pretty sure a Bigsby would have nixed that deal.

So I put it on the Tele instead. It definitely changes the tonality, not in a terrible way -- it's just different. On a Les Paul you are surely going to end up with less sustain.

I like the Bigsbys but I think they are best either on a cheaper guitar or as a factory item on a premium guitar.
posted by unSane at 6:57 PM on September 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

I have a Bigsby on my Gretsch Duojet.
I love it but they are pretty finicky. You will be constantly tuning.
And mine was already on there...I'd be worried about installing one myself, as I'm not the handyest person and this is the kind of thing that could totally throw off an instrument that's currently happy. But if you are good at that sort of thing, go for it.
posted by chococat at 7:02 PM on September 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

You will be constantly tuning.

My thoughts exactly.
posted by doctor_negative at 7:13 PM on September 14, 2011

The other thing about the Bigsby (the good thing, in a lot of ways) is that they are really subtle. I always thought my Jazzmaster whammy bar was subtle (compared to a standard Strat tren or God forbid one of those dive bomber affairs) but it has nothing on the Bigsby. So if what you want is a subtle shimmer, the Bigsby is great, but if you start to abuse it, then yeah the tuning will go away very quickly.
posted by unSane at 7:30 PM on September 14, 2011

(Thinking about it a bit more, there were all sorts of unforeseen wrinkles with putting on the Bigsby. For example, setting the intonation after putting on the term was almost impossible, since it blocked access to the intonation screws. I finally figured it out but it was a real head scratcher. Then there was the break angle of the strings over the bridge, which caused a bunch of interference problems. There is a pretty much no way to know which of these issues you will experience until you actually put the Bigsby on, by which time it is too late to back out. And I also had to shim the neck to get the action back where it had been.

None of these things are deal breakers on a cheaper guitar but I think I would have been tempted to slit my throat if all this shit had happened on a nice Gibson or something. So that's a more articulated explanation of why I say, either factory or cheaper guitar).
posted by unSane at 7:56 PM on September 14, 2011

Funny how different people's tastes are isn't it. I've never had a guitar with a Bigsby because I've always found them repulsively ugly, regardless of their technical limitations (well detailed by unSane above). They look like some horrid industrial hardware bolted onto a thing of beauty - like fitting a cowcatcher onto the front of a Porsche or something. Uuugghh. I've got a couple of Strats with tremolos and locking tuners etc, but I hardly ever use them mainly because they always fuck up the tuning. In fact I've never used a tremolo that doesn't. You can achieve quite a lot of tremelo effects manually in my experience, apart from long cresendos (not the right musical term but I know what I mean).
posted by MajorDundee at 1:12 AM on September 15, 2011

My Jazzmaster trem is totally rock solid, and for certain kinds of playing (e.g. my surf stuff) there's no substitute. And I do love the look of the Bigsby on anything. I've no time at all for the Strat term, though.
posted by unSane at 4:37 AM on September 15, 2011

TREM fucking autocorrect.
posted by unSane at 4:37 AM on September 15, 2011

Funny how different people's tastes are isn't it.

And how.
I love Bigsbys. Love how they look, love how they sound.
From Rockabilly to Surf to Country to Chet Atkins to screaming Neil Young solos.
On the right guitar, through a nice warm tube amp with some tasty reverb; you can't beat it.

I think this is one of the most beautiful guitars in the world.
posted by chococat at 7:29 AM on September 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

Hey Chococat, Google search-by-image threw up this. Now that is a good looking Les Paul + Bigsby right there.
posted by unSane at 8:08 AM on September 15, 2011

Nice.
If you a search for Old Black replicas and you will find LEGIONS of people trying to reproduce that guitar, down to the exact paint-wear. I'm not that fanatical, thankfully.
posted by chococat at 8:28 AM on September 15, 2011

Hey Chococat, Google search-by-image threw up this. Now that is a good looking Les Paul + Bigsby right there.

Looks like a greasy spanner. Now, this is a thing of simple beauty....
posted by MajorDundee at 8:41 AM on September 15, 2011

I actually just got one of these for a stupid price ($200 less than Musician's Friend) and have been umming and ahing about switching over the Bigsby from my Tele.
posted by unSane at 8:44 AM on September 15, 2011

I actually just got a Fender Japan 62 Tele Custom Reissue - like the one shown in the photo upthread, double edgebound, original 3-piece bridge etc. It's quite lovely and with the unexpected and delightful bonus of a birdseye maple neck. I'm going to have to seek treatment for my unbridled guitar lust soon - it's getting waaaaay out of hand (now eyeing the '72 Tele Deluxe with humbuckers and the Strat-style headstock).

A Bigsby would probably look more at home on the Jag than the Tele because the Jag has that slightly 50's space-age tech look with all those switches whereas, to my eyes, a bigsby on a Tele is just.........no........good God no....
posted by MajorDundee at 12:44 PM on September 15, 2011

Ah yes, the Tele Deluxe, or the 'Fender Doncaster' as we used to call it my first band.
posted by unSane at 2:45 PM on September 15, 2011

'Fender Doncaster'

That is completely inspired and genuinely made me laugh out loud! Funnily enough the only guitar lessons I ever had, when I was 14 or 15, were from a guy who had one of these "Doncasters". I thought at the time it was a really dull looking plank. I am now officially dull enough to appreciate it's hidden qualities!
posted by MajorDundee at 4:30 PM on September 15, 2011

You guys almost had me backing out of this project until I saw and read the comments about the NY LPs. I think I'm sold because, like those, my guitar is super heavy so that alleviates some of my fear of losing tone and sustain. I'm no luthier but I think having a dense hardwood body should give me plenty of sustain as long as I make things good and tight while assembling.

Regarding putting a Bigsby on a Tele, I think that at least sound wise, that's better than a stock Fender tremolo. I think those stock tremolos are the only reason I've never had a long lasting affair with a strat.

Thanks guys, you're TOPS! Now I'm on a mission!
posted by snsranch at 4:55 PM on September 15, 2011

My one piece of advice is, once you get the Bigsby, test-assemble everything and be absolutely scrupulous about making sure it all fits and is going to work properly before you drill a single hole. The instructions that come with it are good but you need to check that you can adjust the intonation properly, that the strings don't snag on the back of the bridge, that you aren't going to have to shim the neck to get your action where you need it (tricky to shim a Les Paul, no?) and so on and so on. It's really boring because you have to keep taking the strings on and off but take it from me that there are a bunch of things that can go wrong and once you've drilled the first hole there's no turning back!
posted by unSane at 5:04 PM on September 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Looks like a greasy spanner. Heh heh, right tool for the right job?
posted by snsranch at 5:24 PM on September 15, 2011

Thanks unSane, I will NOT be in any hurry. Fortunately the LP bridge is very adjustable so that shouldn't be much of a problem. Actually looking at photos it looks like the "angle of attack" of the strings to the bridge with the bigsby is a little more gentle than stock.

So what model did you use for your Mexi-Tele? B5? B7? (Please don't punch me on the nose, but that may be why you had a difficult time getting it set up.)
posted by snsranch at 6:32 PM on September 15, 2011

I used a B5, which is pretty much a straight drop-in, except that the Mex tele is subtly different from the US Standard in some of its measurements. I had to grind out little 'V's in the rear of the bridge with an angle grinder, and raise the height of the bridge, which was why I had to shim the neck. This was to stop the strings binding on the rear of the bridge, which is a common issue with Teles.

The other thing to watch out for is that changing strings with the Bigsby is a pain in the ass until you get the knack of it.
posted by unSane at 6:47 PM on September 15, 2011

Man you guys are brave.
When I was lucky enough to finally get a Martin acoustic, I wouldn't even go near it with a drill to put the end jack pin for the Baggs pickup on it, I was so scared. Even the strap button on the neck I couldnt do. Paid a guy at Long and McQuade to do it. I think he charged me $5.
posted by chococat at 7:51 PM on September 15, 2011

I drilled out the jack for the Baggs on my Simon & Patrick but it was a bit heart-in-mouth. I definitely would have had a luthier do a Martin. I feel a bit more confident with planks.
posted by unSane at 5:07 AM on September 16, 2011

Yes, I had no problem drilling into the neck of my Art & Lutherie to install a strap button.
Funny how the amount you paid for a guitar changes your perspective on things.
posted by chococat at 8:04 AM on September 16, 2011

Ah, guitars. Such ugly little instruments.*

For something really beautiful, check out my brand-new very old 1928 Gulbransen Registering Piano. That's a player piano, for you neophytes. I've got to fix up the player mechanism, but it looks and sounds impeccable already.

__________
* not really, someone please send me a telecaster it's all I've ever wanted in life
posted by koeselitz at 12:41 PM on September 16, 2011

Hey, that's a beauty koeselitz! Congrats.

Don't watch this vid if you love Telecasters! (very graphic)

Seriously, the B5 for flat body guitars looks MUCH more difficult to get right than the B7 which allows you to use the strap button as a pivot point for alignment. Yikes!
posted by snsranch at 8:44 PM on September 16, 2011

Hey sns -- this gizmo looks like it will let you put a B7 on a Les Paul without drilling. It looks like it would make the string break angle over the bridge shallower, though, which will rob you of some tone and sustain I expect, and it will raise the height of the whammy bar, hard to know how that will feel. Reviews are here.
posted by unSane at 9:09 PM on September 16, 2011

With the B5 the alignment isn't really a problem (the string method is very easy) it's more that the whole butt-end of the guitar gets very cramped. On a Mex tele the Bisby actually overhangs the end of the body very very slightly. My first attempt at fitting it was too far forward and it jammed up against the pick guard, which wasn't obvious until I tightened the screws which compressed the little felt pads under the Bigsby, and I realized it wasn't sitting flush on the guitar body.

It's one of those things that would be trivial to do the second time, but unless you're a luthier you only get one stab at it.
posted by unSane at 9:12 PM on September 16, 2011

unSane, I'm glad it worked out for you and I'd love to hear what it sounds like now. It seems like tinkering with guitars goes hand in hand with playing them and is just as much fun. Especially when it involves some risk!

Thanks for sharing that gadget. I think I'm just going to bolt the sucker on though. The worst thing that can happen is that it'll look a bit more like Neil Young's!
posted by snsranch at 5:24 PM on September 17, 2011