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Anyone use a Bigsby on your main archtop? I'm researching and surprised to find a lot of haters out there. People saying if you bend a string (not touching the Bigsby) it can pull everything out of tune. That sounds like a nightmare but I've never heard that before. I just assumed if I left it alone, it would leave me alone, unless I used it.
Thoughts?
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03-06-2017 10:46 AM
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Not my main guitar ... just traded days ago for a Gretsch Country Club. Beautiful green archtop, 17" body with spruce top, maple back and sides, with filtertron p/us and a Bigsby.
I am not a Bigsby hater. Love it in fact. It works very well on this guitar. Smooth, addictive sound. That said, if I want to practice jazz, I'd just swing it out of the way and leave it there. With a properly cut nut and some lube on string contact points, Bigsbys present few tuning problems. I haven't yet even changed strings or checked setup on this guitar, and it's already pretty well behaved in that area.
Not sure why, but I think of the Gretsch differently than other archtops. I would not want a Bigsby on my Heritage H575 for example.
MD
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Never. Archaic device, heavy, makes string changes and tuning difficult, metal rocker bridge is a tone suck. No, not ever, never.
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"Tell me how you really feel!"
Just continuing to think about a Comins GCS.
Spruce - versatile; maple - versatiler; maple with bigsby - versatilist
SoundPure will ship me both if I pay shipping both ways on the one I don't want. Might do that although trying to do my research in advance.
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I'll have a Bigsby the day AFTER pigs fly :-) The two gits that I bought with one have it no longer.
Between weight and tuning issues AND it being for me a totally useless feature they serve no purpose. Kinda like distortion, gain or crunch on an amp.
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No. I have nothing to use it for. I removed the vibrato arm from my Strat and blocked the tremolo the day I brought it home. With guitars as with everything else, I tend to omit what I won't use. What is not there can't break or cause problems (with guitars that could be buzzes and other noises).That's why I have only one PU on the guitars I use for jazz. Keep it simple.
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I use one on both a Gibson ES-339 Studio Bigsby B-5 w/ Vibramate Plate. And also on a Benedetto Bambino with a Bigsby B-3. Both have a Wayne Compton Bridges which in my opinion help not only with tuning issues but sustain as well.
I don't use it aggresively like Eddie Van Halen/Jeff Beck, but rather to add expression to bend down the last note of a phrase. Or sometimes in a 1950's Rockabilly tremelo style.
The trick is to make sure your guitar and trem are set up so the strings don't cath on the nut or bridge. A Graphtech nut would be ideal as well to help, but not always needed.
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Have you read this thread?
Don't judge me on my 175 dilemma 😂
Some thoughts there.
David
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Guitarist, Johnny A. uses a Bigsby on his signature Gibson (hollowbody 25.5 scale) guitar.
His technique is fantastic, and the Bigsby doesn't seem to suck tone.
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Hell no. Big ugly contraptions. Wouldn't have it on my second, third, or fifteenth guitar.
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Never liked "wiggle sticks"!
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There are a couple of different Bigsbys that could be used on an archtop or semi-hollow. The B-7 has a tension bar and screws into the top. The B-3 lacks the tension bar and attaches like a regular tailpiece. I have owned both, but the B-3 is maybe better because it's simpler, lighter, and no holes. I've never noticed any negative effect on the tone or sustain.
Yes, it's big, clunky, and you need to learn a few tricks to keep it in tune. Mainly: use it for a lush, subtle vibrato, not to bend notes! Changing strings on a Bigsby is not harder, once you learn the technique.
I have a B-7 on my main guitar, a 335. I don't play a lot of jazz on that guitar but I do play a few jazzy ballads and the Bigsby, used sparingly, sounds great.
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I became Bigsby obsessed late in life, after buying a '96 blonde Custom Shop Gibson ES355 that had one. Prior to that I preferred stop tailpieces on my semis. After buying the blonde I sold all my stop-bar guitars.
That being said, I'd never want them on my bigger guitars and use them only for playing rock.
Danny W.Last edited by Danny W.; 01-10-2020 at 10:46 AM.
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"Whammy bars" worsen not so much the intonation (here: the precision of the string resetting) and kill the tone (the more shallow string angle and the added pressure on sensitive top areas) as they can seriously impair the structural stability of the soundboard over time. On hollow-body archtop guitars, that is - semi-acoustics and solid-bodies are not affected.
Whoever attaches vibrato tailpieces to higher quality full hollowbody archtop guitars has probably not understood much of their construction and function; even some known manufacturers couldn't care less.
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Not on any of my archtops ... but I did pick up a Gretsch 6128 Power Jet solid body that has one
works well on that guitar and it's hard for me to imagine a Gretsch without one LOL
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I have a Bigsby in a closet somewhere, or in the attic. It came on a guitar I inherited. I guess I could sell it if I tried hard enough, but it has been hidden for so many years I'm not sure I could still find it. I don't miss it.
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I have a Gretsch 6120 with a Bigsby. It doesn't go out of tune easily, even with a lot of bending. Excessive use of the Bigsby will detune it, but within a reasonable range it works just fine. I hate stringing it up, but apart from it I much prefer a Bigsby over a Floyd Rose or a Vintage strat vibrato.
I once had a Les Paul with a Floyd Rose - dumm idea, got rid of it in a hurry! A Mexico Strat never stayed in tune - got rid of it. I have an Eric Johnson Strat (love it!) - 5 (!) springs. Can barely bend the vibrato unit - stays in tune, but I am not using the tremolo bar at all. A Wilkinson tremolo on a Warmoth Strat I have stays in tune really well.
Just my 0.02$
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I wouldn't put one on a high end archtop, but I like them on semi-hollow and solid body guitars. I have one on my Les Paul and it works well. Hasn't "sucked" tone, and the tuning stability is good - I don't go nuts with it though. They're made for a subtle wobble, not big dive-bombs. Unlike most people here, I actually like the way they look.
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Totally agree - no way to put a Bigsby on any of my main archtops.
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yeah, i have a few. including those on my #1 and main archtop(s). and one wouldn't look so bad on my casino or byrdland, either.
a lot of the bigsby hate is racism, misinformation, lack of imagination or no real need or understanding of one. which is fine. it is what it is. people that like them like them and people that don't don't. it isn't much different than anything else in the world. in my experience, it doesn't really alter the tone or performance of a guitar. it just makes it more awesome, if that's something that interests you. it'll add a bit of weight, i guess, and it'll take up more space in a bag, case or stand. it can catch a strap or cable if you aren't careful picking it up and putting it down. string changes aren't a big deal and they make a drilled version now which negates that argument, too.
i'd never tell anyone to get one (or not to). you can do a lot with it, but it only does what it does. it travels just past a whole step in either direction, give or take. i like having them around but the presence of one (or lack thereof) isn't a deal breaker. i'm not the sort of person who relies on them to be who i am.
but a floyd rose? now that's stupid
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I've had Bigsbys on 2 guitars and never had any problem with the guitars staying in tune, tone, intonation or anything else.
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i love a well set up bigsby...sounds like nothing else (ever hear neil youngs soundtrack for deadman?)...you can get them back into tune by holding a bar chord & flapping the bar up and down
probably not for AAA sitka spruce tops tho!! haha
cheers
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The only "brand new" Gibson I ever purchased was back in 1972, when I ordered an SG Deluxe with Bigsby and humbuckers.
That guitar was not a keeper, seemed like they reached a low point in design -- the cutaway horns had no bevel in 1972 and it just looked wrong. On the upside, the cost was a very reasonable $275 and Gibson shipped it to my dealer quickly enough (no case, just "blister packed" to a sheet of cardboard inside a box.)
That Bigsby experience did not leave favorable impression, as I believe it contributed to the general suckiness of that SG's sound.
For an archtop, I personally would never want any trem, esp. something as big and heavy as the Bigsby. For Strats I do use the Callaham vintage/narrow tremolo, as I believe on that style guitar the trem is integral to the sound.
John
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Heyyy... we don't hate Bigsby trems, but Bigsby owners may hate US when they go to sell a high end git with a trem and the Gretsch folks are your main audience and they're used to much lower Gretsch prices. :-)
Originally Posted by Danny W.
Oh, saw a guy in a LGS with a Johnny A and I said, "Too bad about the trem" He said, "Yeah, I get a lot of that"
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I have a Wes video where he tells his pianist that guitars never stay in tune through even a single tune. That said, Bigsbys provide some cool sounds at the cost of some weight, bulk and slight tuning instability.
It takes a lot of practice and discipline to master a Bigsby, and even then it won't fit in many contexts. It reminds me of a wah wah pedal. Most players over-used it. Jimi Hendrix came around with a much more nuanced touch to the pedal and made it sound great.
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