The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

[Thurisarz]

I've been looking and trying out different trems lately and today i tried out Bigsby's. I've tried 3 Gretsch's and one Fender tele with the mentioned trem and IMO just awful. What does people see in these trems? No i'm no metalhead with floyd rose i'm looking for a vintage sound.

When i have tried the first one i thought, "maybe this one is just not setup properly i better try another one". They all feelt and sounded the same IMO.

So what does people see in these things? They look beautiful i can't argue on that.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

They're not made for deep bends, really, but they excell at warbling, subtle washes. I really dig the way they sound for stuff like that.

if you insist on diving with one, a graphite nut, locking tuners, and graphtec tune-o-matic saddles can make one work decently (on par with 6 post trems, at least).

 

[Pastor of Muppets]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

I've been thinking of getting one on my Epi Gold Top for a while now for that Neil Young vibe...has anyone fitted one to a Les Paul?

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

I've only ever spent much time with one, and it's the one on Luke's old Gibson. He's got it set up well, and it'll do everything it was intended to do. I like the feel of it, personally.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

I like them, but I don't have any because I simply don't have a guitar that could use one. Part of the appeal to me is that they work on a hollowbody. Another part is that they essentially maintain the tension and break angle of a typical hollowbody trapeze tailpiece. They are primitive and need to be set up properly, and therefore I think you should reserve judgement when trying them out on "guitar store" display guitars.

 

[Thurisarz]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

They are primitive and need to be set up properly, and therefore I think you should reserve judgement when trying them out on "guitar store" display guitars.

Ok. So should it sound good on my SG? My friend at the local store highly suggested the Bigsby over any other trem for it?

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

Well, I think it would but its still a matter of opinion. Although they don't require roller bridges to stay in tune, it helps. If the rest of the guitar is ready for it, like your nut is cut well, and you're not sloppily winding your strings on the tuners, etc. you should get good results. I think they sound better than the stop-bar trems like the les-trem or whatever they're called. You know the bender bars that go in place of the stop tailpiece? And don't discount looks either. That big mass of metal behind the bridge isn't just great looking, I feel it conTributes positively to the sound of an SG. Not that it sounds better than hardtail, but it sounds better than an alternative bender system because of it's size. I hope I'm making sense. The SG is so thin, and the neck joint is so carved away, that if you're going to trem it, the Bigsby mass is a nice addition.

 

[tone4days]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

i was hangin out with Frankie from Frankie and the Actions and he told this awesome story about how he was playin in a bar one night and danny gatton came up to talk to him between sets ... frankie told danny how he was havin trouble with the bigsby on his tele - not stayin in tune ... danny said "oh, i can fix that. let me take it home with me after the gig and you can come by to get it on monday afternoon" ...so franky, knowing danny was a telemaster, readily agreed. ... so monday rolls around and frankie heads over to danny's to get the guitar. Danny answers the door and says "yup, she'd all done. won't have that problem ever again" ... frankie opens up the case ... danny had removed the bigsby altogether and converted it to a regular 3-saddle string though !!

 

[ES350]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

I think they work a little better when there's some arch to the top---a little bit more string tension to work with.

 

[SchecMan]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Neil Young have a Bigsby on his Les Paul "Old Black"?

Whatever he has on there it seems to work really well for him.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

Well, Neil Young might not be your best example, seeing as how he rarely plays in tune. :laugh2: I'm thinking more of a Brian Setzer's use of the Bigsby as an example of a well maintained/well used Bigsby.

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

I like them.. the arm is set in a very comfortable place and they have smooth feel. However they are mostly good for vibrating chords IMO.

I now think that it's Fixed or Floyd.. no middle ground for me... but I might change my opinion...

 

[danglybanger]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

Jazzer seems like we agree often.

But Bigsbies are ****ing awful and I have no clue why people choose to taint axes with them :laugh2:

And it competes for ugliness with a floyd.

No. The floyd actually looks better

Slade

 

[skh515]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

If you ask me, all trems are the work of evil. I have this weird thing about playing in tune. It's kind of an O.C.D. thing; well I guess O.T.D. would fit better (OverTuneD). Having said that, the Bigsby has the most appealing to me.

I enjoy dive-bombing, but the maintenance on a Trem equipped guitar is usually too much for me. By maintenance, I mainly mean tuning. If I have to use an Allen wrench in order to tune my guitar, I’m not happy.

So, to hijack your thread by way of asking a question, if I had a good trem with a roller nut, locking tuners, and graphite saddles, do you think it would still be too much work for a guy with O.T.D.? I guess that could also stand for Open Tuning Disorder, which I also suffer from.

And what would constitute a good trim? A Wilkinson? A well maintained Bigsby?

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

All this bigsby hate! :eek13:

Bigsbys are like guitars at GC. If you've never played one with a proper set up, then you've never played one.

Luke

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

And what would constitute a good trim? A Wilkinson? A well maintained Bigsby?

A well maintained bigsby is hard to beat for what it does, more soft and subtle than a vintage Fender style, and much less than a floyd or Kahler.

The thing is most people neglect the Bigsby's moving parts, they look at the bridge, and at the nut, but a bigsby has internal bearings which need to be oiled about once every year or so. Personally I use a a Que-Tip with liquid teflon and work it in. Then I put it in the nut slot, and on the TOM.

Luke

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

Jazzer seems like we agree often.

But Bigsbies are ****ing awful and I have no clue why people choose to taint axes with them :laugh2:

And it competes for ugliness with a floyd.

No. The floyd actually looks better

Slade

If there is anything that I really like about a Bigsby it's the way it looks... but these is no reason to put it on the guitar.
As for Floyds... yep, they could make them look a little better...:6:

 

[jmh151]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

I played one on a Fender Tele and liked it ALOT- however, you have to realize its purpose- to do a slight warble effect- an example is the guitar solo on Tom Petty's "You got lucky".

I think they look cool as hell for the vintage vibe- I'd love to get a Les Paul and have it blocked somehow so I had the looks with the tuning stability of a hard tail

 

[Simon_F]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

Danny answers the door and says "yup, she'd all done. won't have that problem ever again" ... frankie opens up the case ... danny had removed the bigsby altogether and converted it to a regular 3-saddle string though !!

Great story! :laugh2:

ALL trems are the work of evil!

IMHO, YMMV etc......

 

[J Moose]

Re: The Bigsby trem is the work of evil?

i was hangin out with Frankie from Frankie and the Actions and he told this awesome story about how he was playin in a bar one night and danny gatton came up to talk to him between sets ... frankie told danny how he was havin trouble with the bigsby on his tele - not stayin in tune ... danny said "oh, i can fix that. let me take it home with me after the gig and you can come by to get it on monday afternoon" ...so franky, knowing danny was a telemaster, readily agreed. ... so monday rolls around and frankie heads over to danny's to get the guitar. Danny answers the door and says "yup, she'd all done. won't have that problem ever again" ... frankie opens up the case ... danny had removed the bigsby altogether and converted it to a regular 3-saddle string though !!

:laugh2:

I just spat coffee all over my monitor & keyboard...thanks!!!

:laugh2:

Anyway, yeah...setup is CRITICAL with a Bigsby.

Most of the licensced deals on planks like the Artcore guitars are pretty henious and if that's all you've ever used, then I can understand the hate.

You need a "real" Bigsby or at least a good copy, not some pot metal piece of poo and a graphite nut that isn't binding the strings. Adding locking tuners is a hip idea too, or at least winding & stretching some properly installed strings.

They'll never do a divebomb. Hell, you can't even do what you can with a regular 6-point non-locking trem...but 'ya can't beat 'em for that smooth warble on chords and single notes...feedback stuff...

They're limited. Totally a one or two trick pony but oh so cool at what they do!