Bigsby alternatives?

Chuck1016

Chuck1016

Splawnster
I want to put a vibrato on my hollow body (floating bridge/trapeze tail piece) and the obvious choice is a Bigsby, but I know there are other alternatives out there. GFS has one that's easier to string, but it's kind of ugly. Hagstrom & Epiphone have their own designs, but I've never seen them sold as parts. I'm sure there are others too.

Any recommendations?

Has anyone tried the GFS Xtrem?
 
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With a trapeze tailpiece I don't think he will need a vibramate kit. (I do love those though, theya re the only way we offer bigsbys)
 
Chuck1016 said:
I want to put a vibrato on my hollow body (floating bridge/trapeze tail piece) and the obvious choice is a Bigsby, but I know there are other alternatives out there. GFS has one that's easier to string, but it's kind of ugly. Hagstrom & Epiphone have their own designs, but I've never seen them sold as parts. I'm sure there are others too.

Any recommendations?

Has anyone tried the GFS Xtrem?
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If you are concerned about stringing the Bigsby, get a spoiler.

VibramateB5V5SpoilerFlatroc091311003.jpg
 
^ That spoiler is pretty cool. I've never seen that before.
Honestly I might as well get the Xtrem, the pickups & wiring harness are from GFS. Might as well make it a full on Fetish-caster :lol:
 
I can't weigh in much on this one, but I'm waiting anxiously to see what you do. I have a Bigsby on my Gretsch 5120. Personally, I find it to be a pain in the ass.
 
Muppet said:
I can't weigh in much on this one, but I'm waiting anxiously to see what you do. I have a Bigsby on my Gretsch 5120. Personally, I find it to be a pain in the ass.
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It's a pain in the ass because it's a garbage Bigsby with a completely improper setup for the Bigsby to work the way it should. I know I have the same guitar. The Bigsby ruins that guitar.
 
Muppet said:
Anything I can do about that?
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There are two big issues that need to be remedied imo.

1. replace the bridge with a roller bridge. This will greatly reduce friction and allow it to return to pitch properly. dragging the strings across the factory bridge is not a good situation.

2. Replace the nut with a graphite nut, or at least use the old Vaseline and graphite trick.

3. if you really want to get after it, remove and disassemble the Bigsby. sand off all of the casting marks and imperfections. Lube with dry graphite, and replace the spring with a USA Bigsby spring.
 
There is nothing better than a real Bigsby (B5 or B7 as opposed to a "licensed" B700 or some such) when it is set up correctly. I installed one myself on my Epiphone Dot along with a roller bridge and it's very stable and it sounds great. And if I can install one myself, anyone can.

As for stringing them, there is a very simple trick that will make your Bigsby stringing so easy that you won't need that spoiler. Put the ball end of the string on the post as you normally would, then feed the string through the bridge and pull it up the neck. Here's the slick part - now put a capo on the neck to hold the string tight on the post, and while the capo is holding the bridge end of the string, feed the headstock end into the tuning peg and tighten it up until the tension is enough to hold the string and you can remove the capo. Easy peasy.
 
I have used the GFS xTrem on a couple of builds. they work well and I do like the re-stringing design. Vibramate has solved that issue with the string spoiler. I am adding string spoilers gradually to each of my Bigsby equipped guitars.

 
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