Thinking about fitting a Bigsby.Any comments?

Hi all. I've been thinking of fitting a Bigsby trem to my ASAT. Has anyone used or fitted one at any time? Comments and advice most welcome.

Think big. Honestly, I'm not sure why people like bigsby's. they are so large and you dont get half the range of them crazy ass tremelos' that ibanez are using. Mostly for looks i guess...I wouldnt recommend one.

That's me just being 'old fashioned' again I guess. I'll have to check out prices, I'm not sure I can afford a Floyd Rose if that's what you mean by 'thinking big'.

By the look of things, the FR IS going to be out of my price range, and according to:-
http://www.ibreathemusic.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-7019.html
I'll have to all but mutilate my precious ASAT to fit it!
Anyway, I'm not talking about any Major 'shredding', I wouldn't know where to start (and I'd look bloody stupid at my age) I'm thinking more Hank Marvin and Surf music.

You're all going to laugh at me now aren't you?

hehe, whatever floats your boat man. i still wouldnt recommend a bigsby. and i wouldnt recommend a true floyd rose either....ill do some research and see what ibanez is using...i was playin' their new Xiphos, and the trem on that guitar is incredible. it has huge range...it allows you to lower a pitch until the strings are flopping about like a bloodhounds ears! and you can pretty much raise as far as the strings will allow. i was very impressed. it also stayed perfectly in tune -even with a locking nut, staying in tune is no easy task. i dont know about prices...i think you may be better off just buying a guitar with a trem.

My Floyd Rose does pretty much the same as that Ibanez. It could be a gamble from what I have heard.

Thanks for the input fellas. This Ibanez G.Slinger, does it have a slim neck like the Viper (still thinking about my small hands)?

Hi deefa,
Well, I've read in several places that Bigsby bridges are just not worth it. Even with just a little bit of vibrato on them they can pull at least one string horrendously out of tune. The only thing they appear to be good for is increasing your sustain due to the increased mass on the guitar body. What is an ASAT? My very first guitar was a 'Kay' and it had its own bodged Bigsby type thing which was hell.

Afro

I think the Bigsby's look cool on some of the hollow bodies but i too am wondering what an ASAT is? I had breifly owned a Gibson SG with a bigsby but got rid of it pretty quick. I had more issues with the guitar being neck heavy than with the bigsby but it(the bigsby) it feel like it was always in the way.

The ASAT is a G&L Telecaster. Probably the last one designed by Leo Fender and George Fullerton so, probably the best! Mine is from the cheaper Tribute range (a proper G&L would have set me back thousands)!!

yea...its got a thin neck, but unlike the viper, the neck is just a tad wider and just a tad more flat, where as the viper is very thin and more "U" shaped. it plays great and the chameleon paint job is incredible. the only con i could find was that the body shape is pretty extreme...its kinda like the BC rich stealth.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-XPT700-Electric-Guitar?sku=512557

here's the link on musicians friend for the Xiphos

A telecaster eh? Hmmm, to be honest deefa I wouldn't risk it - teles are so lightweight that if you were to put a big ol' chunk of metal like a Bigsby on it would radically change your sound (whether you like that change or not depends, but it WILL change!) If you are still convinced that a Bigsby is for you, the best thing you can do is get some sort of Les Paul, which is so dense and heavy that it can cope much better with that bridge. I know Keith Richards from the Stones played an LP Bigsby for a while, so maybe it could work for you too.
Let's not forget - Hank Marvin played a Strat, because it has a much more controllable bridge, along with the single-coil p'ups that gave it that very clean, crisp surf sound. To summarise, if you want to really get that Marvin/surf sound, your only true option is a Stratocaster. I'm not entirely certain on prices, but I know that the Mexico ones are much cheaper than the USA ones. You said you had small hands also, and the vast majority of the strat necks are vintage style, so tend to be quite thin and flat, but if you're not taken, you can quite easily get hold of loads of different types of strat replacement necks (fender and unauthorised) in the UK.
Owzat?

Afro

Cheers Afro. I have a Les Paul Studio but I want to keep it pristine to get a good price ( I've pretty well set my heart on a Viper). You're absolutely right about single coils for the thin, crisp surf sound, but I don't think I'm prepared to risk 'butchering' my ASAT for the sake of a trem. Maybe I'll experiment with a 'pedal' trem (comments please)?

they're alright...herman li from dragon force using one...it just sounds like mario noises hehe...

Well, I suppose that's ok if you like Mario noises, but how versatile are they in terms of sounding like a real whammy?

Honestly...i've only played through one once...i really dont remember...which could either mean, it was terrible and not worth remembering or, i just simply dont remember how it sounded...

Thank GS. I'll get in touch with my local guitar shop.....see if they've got anything for me to try out!

deefa, ESP makes some pretty sweet guitars that come standard with bigsby trem's...go to espguitars.com and check out there X-Tone guitars.

Thanks GS but I think I'll give the old Bigsby a miss now I've heard what you've all got to say about it and I think it's a bit past its sell buy date (a lot like me really!)

aiight...just trying to help.

Have you had much to do with the M & MH 400 range G.Slinger? It seems to have everything the Viper has PLUS a licensed Floyd Rose (not as pretty as a Viper though!).

yea, i've played a bunch of them. they are also really sweet guitars. They play incredibly fast and give you great control all over the neck...and they are built like every other ESP guitar-quality first! the only thing i'm not crazy about are the trem's. The Ibanez Edge III trem is the best trem i've ever played with...Ibanez would be my next choice after ESP. also, i agree with you, the viper is way more attractive than the M series, and even though the M series guitars play incredibly well, the viper still plays better. I actually think the viper is the best playing stock guitar ESP offers. I'm just addicted top the ESP explorer (i'm going to be buying the EX-400-just as soon as the wear house has it in stock.). The top three guitars, in order, for ESP (in my opinion) are: Viper, Eclipse, Explorer. the only downside to those model guitars, is that they dont come standard with a trem, you have to order a custom one if you want a trem. The reason i put the viper first is because it simply plays better than any other guitar ive EVER played. Both the viper and eclipse are availible with 24 frets which is why i put the explorer last-it only comes stock with 22 frets. If you couldnt already tell, I'm sold to ESP (although Ibanez and Washburn are next in line), so if you need to know anything about an ESP/LTD guitar just ask, cause i'll prolly know the answer hehe...

How did I guess ESP was going to be your first choice GS!

*shrugs innocently* hehe...i dunno...

I think GS is in love.... :P

telecaster are light?



I have several guitars and my MIM telecaster and it's pretty heavy. very heavy compared to a Strat.

Have you ever thought about the B-Bender?

I wouldn't buy another 'actual' Fender TC, I was left unimpressed by my last one.As for 'butchering' my 'ASAT', no thanks, a Bigsby was as far as I was prepared to go down that road, and I've been well talked out of that one! No, I've decided to (eventually) go digital on the whammy,sell my Gibson (when I can get a good price) and buy a Viper (which I've really fallen in love with!). That way I've got both a single coil and a humbucking guitar that I love playing, with optional trem on both!
Novel thought on the B-Bender though! thanks TC.

This is sort of late, but the whammy pedal you guys were talking of...It's the digitech Whammy Pedal, I have one. It's great for dynamic metal soloing but it's more of a noise maker than it is a replacement for a whammy bar. But if you are very practiced with it you can get it to sound like a whammy bar.

Thanks for that Mat. I'll give one a try when I get the chance.

so i was browsing craigs ist an care across this butchered tele. looks interesting,

http://ames.craigslist.org/msg/567699140.html

My tele used to be the best sounding guitar i had ever played for blues, but i think the pickups and loosing there umph and not it sounds weak.

Personally I don't like the look of Bigsby's at all. I don't have a trem on my PRS but I can dip the pitch a little bit by pushing on the back of the neck.

! I'm not sure you'll be wanting to do that too much...

i herd of guys pulling on the neck of a strat or tele and being able to do that. they they did it with a set neck and broke it in two.

You can do the odd 'B' bend behind the nut on a 'tele' it's a trick used by some country &western guitarists. It don't 'arf hurt your fingers though!

you can bend any string behind the nut on any guitar deefa. you can also bend the neck like telecrater said on any guitar as well...i do that quite often sounds sweet when you are playing a jazzy progression. also, a lesser known thing you can do...when you fret a note, hardly ever do you actually press the string all the way to the fret board, but if you were to press the string hard enough that it touches the fret board you can almost bend the note up a half step.

well the actual b bender unit. where the bout out half the back of the guitar. and when you play you pull on the strap and it will bend the b string only. i was half joking when i mentioned it. Here is a video of it.



also check this like and see what mods are done to the guitar see the link

www.stringbender.com

I like the look of Bigsbys, but I'm not really sure on how good they are. I know a guy who has an Ibanez Artcore with one (or something like it) and I think he said he couldn't do as much with it as he could with a normal whammy bar. =\

There is a version of the J5 Telecaster that comes with one, but I really can't tell you how it would sound if you added one on to a Tele that wasn't straight up designed for it.

Here's the link: http://www.hillmanweb.com/pics/fendbgj5b.jpg