Anyone ever put a Bigsby on a Telecaster??

[boobtube21]

I'm thinking this would be a cool idea for my Muddy Waters Tele. One song I play in one of my bands requires some Hank Marvin-style vibrato, which I used Wayne the super Strat for on the recording. But as much as it hurts me to say it Wayne is not as good looking, plus I prefer the tone and feel of the tele for all the other songs and don't feel like packing more gear. Besides, if my imagination serves me correctly a Bigsby would just look badass on a sonic blue tele!

So if you've got one, let's see some pics!

I'm also curious which model is the best choice, anybody know (Chuckocaster probably would)? I guess the B-16 looks like it would fit over the bridge/pickup assembly but man is it ugly!

[Jonnda]

I have no personal experience to share but this thread could use some phtots IMHO.

[chuckocaster]

i have a b5 on my thinline.
not the best pic, but you get the idea. hopefully it'll be out of the shop (i'm having it painted) so i can shoot some nice pics of it!

a b16 requires a lot of shimming. one of my friends on www.telemodders.com (paul setzer) even frenched his 16 into his tele. then he decided to relief cut the top as opposed to frenching it. there are quite a few bisby'd teles over on that site, search around and you should find some uberkool pics.

anyways, my thoughts are that the b5 and the stock bridge are the easiest way to go. you just need to notch the back of the bridge plate (must be the old skool one) and you should be good to go. if not a slight shim should take care of any issues.

i must say, the b16 looks cool as hell. but you can pick up the b50's for pretty darn cheap.

if you do plan on doing this mod shoot me an email and i'll send you a ton of info. best of luck amigo!

[NeoFauve]

The B16 is pretty neat looking, but it's a honkin' piece of hardware.

I like the slotted box bridge + B5 (B50) method.

[DanD]

Nice lookin' Tele Neo.

I tend to agree on the B5 set up. Pretty easy to go back to a standard set up if there were regrets.

[NeoFauve]

Not mine.
It's just a very slick approach I learned of from a guy on another forum years ago. Your guitar stays basically the same, but there's a Bigsby on it.

[boobtube21]

OK Chuck you've got mail. BTW I like the Ricken-Bigs-er design, lol. Is it getting a Rickenbacker paint job?

The B-16's not as ugly as I thought it would be, but I still like the B-5 better. Hopefully I don't have to do any cuttin' and routin'.

Neo I can't get that link to work...

[chuckocaster]

actually it's getting painted a copper metallic with a cream faux binding. the cats eye is getting painted also. i changed my mind and it's going to be an esquire, and i think i'm going to put a tort guard on it. we'll see.

[boobtube21]

Nevermind Neo I got it working...that's a nice one.

Again I'd hate to have to cut up my bridge like that. I'll have to get a replacement and sacrifice that so I can keep the original one intact.

[boobtube21]

Chuck I thought about doing white or cream binding on mine too...somebody here used to have pics of their Sonic Blue/cream binding guitar up in the Telecaster section and it was absolutely stunning...not sure how to go about it though. Besides once I get the Bigs on there I'm afraid it will be too busy looking.

Copper metallic with cream binding will look badass, you are hereby obligated to post pics when it is done!

[chuckocaster]

no worries colin, it won't be home for more than 5 minutes before i start snapping pics.

i sent ya an email back.

and just to add fuel to the fire...

[boobtube21]

Dude, you just looked inside my brain. Put a rosewood neck on that, and you've got it. Nice!

Except for the scratches and whatnot... I'd feel silly relic'ing a guitar. (YMMV)

[chuckocaster]

i looked up bigsby tele on ebay and found that. i don't like the relic job on it, but the color looked close to what you have rolling on your tele.

[boobtube21]

Well I finally got off my ass and ordered the Bigs. Here's a quick and dirty mock-up:



The instructions look pretty easy. I'll tell you what I don't like though, the slop in the bridge bushings:


I can see little miniature allen screws in there that I guess when tightened down will center the bridge pins in the bushings, but I still don't like it. I dont' understand why there couldn't be a much closer tolerance there. Maybe I'll 'get it' once it's all installed. Hopefully that will be sometime next week.

[Wilko]

It's loose so that the whole bridge can move allowing the strings to stretch and the Bigsby can work with breaking them.

[chuckocaster]

yo colin, you've got mail!

lookin good by the way.

[Offshore Angler]

Yep, with a Bigsby you want the bridge to move.

[boobtube21]

I guess it does make sense...on a Strat, you're basically tilting the saddles thereby loosening the strings, here, you're loosening them way in back, and they have to slide over the saddles.

Someone should invent roller saddles that look like stock Tele saddles.

[boobtube21]

Well, I got the whole thing on there. Took me about 3 hours altogether because of a host of problems. First off, stringing these things is a major PITA. Almost as bad as pedal steel. After I finally strung it up I saw I had put the bridge on backwards. Then after I got it flipped around, and all strung up again, I saw the saddles were reversed. They are made from threaded rod, the low E and A string saddles are coarse thread, the others fine thread. So I had to swap those now. Maybe that meant I had it on right to begin with, but the way it was I would have had a hell of a time intonating it (screws were facing the vibrato).

So, I changed those around, plugged it in, no sound. Took a while to figure out I had the pickup selector switch wired wrong. Never wired an LP switch before, there's a tab on there that seems to do nothing, unless it's for grounding purposes.

Got that fixed, plugged it in, and discovered there was some insane electrical buzz (hum) going on. I took everything apart again, no buzz. Put it all back together, re strung it, plugged in, buzz came back. You know how when you put your hand on the strings, some of the buzz is supposed to go away? That wasn't happening, and this is why: if you have the bridge adjusted too high off the plate, it loses continuity. The bridge has to touch a little.

So anyway, I've finally got it all up and running now, except for some tuning issues. I'm going to stretch the strings some more, and put some graphite in the nut slots, and se if that helps. If not, Chucko emailed me some Bigsby mod secrets that I'm gonna try.

Pics and maybe a vid to follow...

[chuckocaster]

best thing to do is to drill a hole from the treble thimble hole to the control cavity and run a wire just like on a les paul. that way YOU KNOW there is going to be continuity.

you had the bridge right the first time, the screw heads are supposed to face the trem, but it a major PITA to use it that way.

if you really want to get sneaky you can take the bridge apart and grind off the lip that's plain. that way you get a nice break angle over the bridge and won't fear any string rub on the lip.

[chuckocaster]

here's a crappy pic, but you'll get the idea.

[boobtube21]

Yeah I thought about doing that. But then I realized I'd have to string it again.

Good call on the ground wire though. Maybe next time I change the strings I'll do both, run the wire and grind the bridge lip.

Thanks Chuck, you've been a big help on this. I'm pretty stoked on it, I played it for about 3 hours the other morning. That's the most guitar I've played in weeks!

[chuckocaster]

as cool as they look, they sure are a pain in the ass.

[Don]

I like Bigsby trems a lot. They don't seem to drop pitch on the other strings as much as a fulcrum vibrato when I bend strings. The Nashville bridge on my ES135 moves a lot when I use the vibrato. It works well.

I don't find them to be any trouble to string, though it would be even easier with locking tuners.

I'd be tempted to put one on my Tele and Les Paul but I'm happy with them as they are so I'll leave them alone and use my Strat or ES135 when I need tremolo.

[chuckocaster]

fuel for the fire



split the retaining bar for six individual rollers, schaller roller bridge, (you can't see it but) sperzel locking tuners, and i pulled the ball pins and drilled them out so the strings goes through the back bar. i also routed this bastard out for p90s, it's a killer and does the bigsby warble to the T.

[Don]

That's wicked cool! Does splitting the retaining bar help with tuning or how the vibrato sounds?

Here's my ES135. I pit the Bigsby on it a year and a half ago. I love it!

[chuckocaster]

you're killing me don, that looks awesome!

splitting the bar does help, it's one of those exponential things. just doing that won't fix the whole tuning issue. you've gotta have proper nut slots and the whole 9 yards.

[Jonnda]

Ah De'Armond. I have long lusted after having one. "One day!" I say, one day.

[chuckocaster]

do yourself a favor and look around, keep your eyes open! they can be had for cheap, and if you get a good one then you're golden. luckily enough the sparkly one sounds nice, no matter what pups are in it. it sounded nice in stock form, so the p90's were the icing on the cupcake.

[boobtube21]

Very nice Chuck and Don! I'll get off my ass and post a pic or two soon here.

I haven't completely solved my tuning issue yet, but I also need to put some graphite on the nut. After that if I still have issues I'll be looking at splitting that retaining bar as you suggested Chuck.

[Jonnda]

do yourself a favor and look around, keep your eyes open! they can be had for cheap, and if you get a good one then you're golden. luckily enough the sparkly one sounds nice, no matter what pups are in it. it sounded nice in stock form, so the p90's were the icing on the cupcake.

Yeah, when I get this school thing over with I'll start looking. What did you pay for yours? I'm not a huge fan of les paul, but still want something to fill that category of ax. I have liked almost every Guild electric and DeArmond I have beheld in a music store. Granted the last time I saw a DeArmond, it was new and I could not afford it being a highschool student. Now I am finishing college and if I can get a real job afterward there may be something to fund GAS.

[chuckocaster]

400-450 shipped with a case, but that was at the height of dearmond mania. you can probably score one in the 200-300 range.