Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

[marty_the_westie]

Recently I've been looking at one of those ESP X-Tones (among other things). They look very good, especially for the money that they are. The only thing that worries me is getting one with a Bigsby. I've heard that a Bigsby tremelo is about the most useless set up there is. Any little use throws the guitar out of tune. Also, do they seem a little goofy looking on a modern guitar. I'm used to seeing those on old 335's and such. Are they cool or what. I can't decide. Are they as useless as I've heard. Anybody who has one, please tell me what you think of it. Thanks.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

Bigsby are very cool, but they are slight vibrato machines, NOT a full-on trem. No dive bombs allowed as it WILL go out of tune no matter what you do

I think they're fun, useful and look great on a traditional guitar (like the Gretsch's).

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

yeah, its not a good idea to dive bomb with a bigsby, but for subtle vibrato, you really can't beat them

I'd say they look good on a lot of guitars, telecasters, lp's, pretty much every gretsch, the list goes on!

 

[Stratsky]

Re: Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

I have a Gretsch Tennessee Rose with a Bigsby and it 's my favorite instrument. The Bigsby stays in tune really well. Like the other guys said you can't "dive bomb" with it. It produces a nice subtle vibrato. I have my Gretsch strung with D'Addario jazz light gage, 0.012 - 0.052, and I replace the wound 0.024 G with a plain 0.019 G for bending. Even after playing with the Bigsby extensively, it hardly ever knocks the tuning out. I believe the heavier jazz strings have alot to do with this though.

 

[Norman_T]

Re: Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

The bigsby on my '68 335 is useable but only for very light shimmering/vibrato use - it is not recommeded that you do anything like dive bombing or anything extreme as you will lift the whole damn thing out of the block. Although I have had it checked over to make sure that everything is in order I would not forgive myself if I did something really crazy!! See pic below

You might also want to check out how these are mounted on some of the more recent guitars like Gretsch and the Hamers as I believe they have been modded so that they are more stabilised. If the ESP X-Tones looks as though it is properly mounted and does not come away after much abuse (whilst you are in the shop) then you should not have a problem.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

Hey Norman is that 335 for sale????? :bigeyes: :33:

Mine stays in tune VERY well with the help of liquid teflon on the nut.

Luke

 

[Norman_T]

Re: Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

Hey Norman is that 335 for sale????? :bigeyes: :33:

Mine stays in tune VERY well with the help of liquid teflon on the nut.

Luke

No its not for sale - not after all the trouble that I had in acquiring it and then having it shipped over to me!! Mine stays in tune very well and I also use some lube on the nut. I use 11's on mine and it plays like butter.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

glad to see theres a lot of guys not afraid to lube their nuts

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

My Epi Les Paul came with a Bigsby, but I've long since removed it. This is coming from a metalhead, but I hated everything about it. It f*cked with the tone, tuning, feel, plus I think they look stupid.

It IS (as stated above) possible to get them to stay in tune, but it just seems like too damn much work for not very much return.

 

[sgstrat]

Re: Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

My '66 SG Standard has a Bigsby B-5 (horseshoe shaped, designed for solid body guitars) installed. Although I don't use the vibrato very often I love it. As others have said, Bigsbys are not meant for dive-bombing, but
nothing gives you a subtle vibrato as well as a Bigsby.

Tuning problems? Sure, but a good setup and lubrication can keep them to a minimum. Besides, as Jimi said, "only cowboys play in tune".

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

I have one on my Setzer 6120, and a knockoff Bigsby on my Ibanez Artcore (I bought that before the Gretsch, and it's such a great guitar for the $$$ that I kept it too). They are perfect for the shimmery chord thing. Another cool thing about them is that you can do double stop bends on them, and the non-bent string doesn't really go flat the way it does on floating-vibrato guitars (the Bigsby obviously works different than Strat-style vibratos, but is comperable to a floating one in that it goes up and down). I think they look really sharp on pretty much any guitar, including those new ESPs...I think it's a classy throwback look. To hear what you can really do with it, listen to Brian Setzer....check out the Stray Cats' new release "Rumble in Brixton" - great album, with some amazing performances and playing. He really puts his Bigsby-equipped Gretsch to work (I haven't had time to watch the companion DVD yet, I'm sure it too is incredible).

 

[Rainmaker]

Re: Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

The Bigsby trems on the ESP X-tones are licensed. Is this the equivalent of Floyd Roses to Licensed Floyd Roses?

Bee

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Does anyone here use a Bigsby guitar?

Being that the Bigsby's are much simpler designs my guess is that the licensed ones operate almost if not as well as the originals. Whereas the floyd has a lot more and a lot smaller pieces that all need to be made of premium metal to function properly.

Luke