Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

Re: Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

Thanks for all the advice guys, I'm thinking that I might go and have a Goood play of some les pauls to determine what if its what I'm really after.
It's hard to come by a 50's neck, which I believe is what I'm after... So tell me, what are the good les paul years??
 
Re: Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

A good LP is a good LP - yearb doesn't matter, but quality varies. Of course, anything pre 80 is Norlin and suspect...always play first.

And while access does suck, the easy(I think) compensation is to go "cello" on it and play with an "open" thumb. I place the outside of my thumb against the bottom of the fingerboard. Basically all four fingers and thumb point out from under the guitar. Total access no problem. It takes a bit to get used to the free floating hand, but like anything, you adjust.

Personally, I'd go with the Hamer reference suggested, or that killer SG!

And that hand position is kind of Panic at the Disco, so if your chops aren't manly enough...
 
Re: Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

JB_From_Hell said:
Don't pretend you have standards when you're talking about getting a Bigsby.
Click to expand...

:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

Hit the nail on the head there!!!!!!!
 
Re: Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

Go for it...if you like the Bigsby thing it will be a guitar you'll love. If I were to give it a shot on the cheap, I would pick up a 'lawsuit' LP and go from there. If I had mo' money, I'd get one with a factory Bigs from Gibson.

The people who slag Bigsbys are probably the same people who think Kiss was better with Bruce Kulik.

Edit: :)
 
Last edited:
Re: Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

Falstaff said:
Go for it...if you like the Bigsby thing it will be a guitar you'll love. If I were to give it a shot on the cheap, I would pick up a 'lawsuit' LP and go from there. If I had mo' money, I'd get one with a factory Bigs from Gibson.

The people who slag Bigsbys are probably the same people who think Kiss was better with Bruce Kulik.
Click to expand...

No, IMO Kiss sucks almost as much as a Bigsby!!!!! They both look hiddeous!

The only difference is, Kiss is not gay!
 
Re: Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

Falstaff said:
The people who slag Bigsbys are probably the same people who think Kiss was better with Bruce Kulik.
Click to expand...
No, the people who slag Bigsbys are the ones who feel that if they're gonna go through the hassle of having a trem, they should get something in return for it.
 
Re: Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

After having spent a few years with a 1960's Telecaster Thinline with a double-roller Bigsby--I'd rather shoot myself than have to change the strings on a double-roller Bigsby again!

The single-roller Bigsbys, like on a Gretsch hollow-body aren't too bad, but I just didn't have enough hands, feet, toes and fingers (or PATIENCE!) to cope with the double-roller!

My two centavos!

Bill
 
Re: Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

I would say get a Les Trem. It's a lot like the Bigsby, but a lot easier to string. Maybe some locking tuners. I have Wilkinson EZ Locks and a Les Trem on my Reverend Warhawk, and I never go out of pitch with the trem or bending.
 
Re: Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

D-EJ915 said:
they don't return to pitch very well.
Click to expand...
There's that, and the fact that you get all the downsides of a trem (loss of low end, less sustain, strings go out when you bend or break one, slower string changes/setups), and you barely get any pitch control from it. People will tell you that Bigsbys don't destroy your guitar's low end.... those people have never had the same guitar with and without one. I had an Epiphone LP that came with one, and I thought it sounded good, a little thin for a Lester, but not bad. One day, I finally ripped the stupid tremelo off of it, replaced it with a stop tailpiece, and it sounded like I added a 15" subwoofer to my amp.

This part is purely subjective, but I know Dave (odie) agrees with me.... they're about the most god-awful Panic at the Disco looking thing you could ever put on a guitar.
 
Re: Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

They do look like monstrosities and for the little that they do, it turns a lot of people off. And yes, they are finnicky in terms of tuning, returning to pitch, how they alter the tone of the guitar, etc. Yet, some people think they are so ugly (in a retro way), they actually are attractive on a guitar and swear by them for exactly what they were designed for. Some don't even use them at all, they just like them being there. And, are most conscious of not using it in order to maintain the stability of the guitar.

I've had many a guitar with a Bigsby. I always would say to myself that the Bigsbys looked great on them (call me crazy). I do remember quite clearly though, always saying to myself after I had run whichever guitar through its paces, that I wish it DIDN'T have the Bigsby on it. You can also see by it's performance that a Bigsby does stress the bridge and the nut causing accelerated fatigue to both as well.

Unfortunately, removing a Bigsby leaves unwanted holes and imprints from it and naturally, to the purist, reduces the instrument's value, especially when additional holes are put into the guitar for a stop or whatever replacement tailpiece.

Not to go off on a tangent here, but the only other 'pedigreed' vibrola device I've ever found to be worse than the a Bigsby is/was the Gibson one. You know the one: Like on the older SGs, some Melody Makers, etc. I've found that just by bending strings on those Gibson equipped models, it'll knock the guitar out of tune. Again, here too, some players want them. I guess it all boils down to, "To each his/her own."
 
Re: Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

Martian said:
Not to go off on a tangent here, but the only other 'pedigreed' vibrola device I've ever found to be worse than the a Bigsby is/was the Gibson one. You know the one: Like on the older SGs, some Melody Makers, etc. I've found that just by bending strings on those Gibson equipped models, it'll knock the guitar out of tune.
Click to expand...
That's definitely no lie. I've got a 62 LP (looks like an SG), and I believe the tailpiece is called a "Lyre", as in "Whoever said this whammy device worked worth a damn and didn't throw the guitar out of tune by looking at it is a dirty Lyre" :)
 
Re: Les Pauls with Bigsby's - a few questions

For me, it's either a stop-tail or a Floyd (yeah, Khalers and Steinbergers might also be an option)... I don't really like the middle ground.

No reason to make holes in you guitar for something that does half the job... any kind of holes...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top