You MUST But a Genuine Bigsby They Said

[GuitarStv]

I'm running my Floyd setup with all 5 springs. It won't move under a light touch.

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I like 'em with at least 4 springs myself. I bet you would get along with a bigsby.

 

[Chris Pile]

Paul Bigsby invented the vibrato that bears his name in the late 40's. Merle Travis had a Gibson with a vibrato that didn't stay in tune. The vibrato was built by Doc Kauffman (one of the founders of Rickenbacker). Paul Bigsby scrapped it and invented the Bigsby vibrato that did work. The rest is history.

 

[chadd]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of Bigsby vs something like a Floyd or a Khaler?

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Bigsby is generally far more subtle, even when the bar is fully depressed. They're also quite simple to restring compared to something like a locking Floyd. If you want sharp changes or full dive bomb type guitar pyrotechnics, the Bigsby isn't the right tool for the job. If you want to add a little shimmer or flutter to notes or chords, then the Bigsby is the far better choice in my opinion. Because it's more subtle, being a little heavy handed doesn't penalize you as much.

 

[GuitarStv]

They're also quite simple to restring compared to something like a locking Floyd.

I remember how complicated restringing was the first time I did it on a Floyd. Took all six strings off, the bridge slid all over the place, then trying to lock the strings into place and somehow jam the bridge back into position. Then realizing that since I went up a gauge in string the action was mile high. It was like a two day adventure.

Now I just depress the floyd, take a metal back plate, slide it between the floyd and the guitar body, take all the old strings off, put all the same gauge of strings on and I'm done in ten minutes. Maybe about 2 minutes longer than restringing a hardtail.

There's definitely a knack to it.

 

[Demanic]

I remember how complicated restringing was the first time I did it on a Floyd. Took all six strings off, the bridge slid all over the place, then trying to lock the strings into place and somehow jam the bridge back into position. Then realizing that since I went up a gauge in string the action was mile high. It was like a two day adventure.

Now I just depress the floyd, take a metal back plate, slide it between the floyd and the guitar body, take all the old strings off, put all the same gauge of strings on and I'm done in ten minutes. Maybe about 2 minutes longer than restringing a hardtail.

There's definitely a knack to it.

Sounds just like an engineer.
Ever considered swapping one string at a time?

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[GuitarStv]

Sounds just like an engineer.
Ever considered swapping one string at a time?

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That's what I did for a while . . . but the problem is after a year or so my fretboard gets really grubby. I need all the strings off to scrape all the gunk off.

 

[Liam1963]

My 2 Gretsches are Bigsby-equipped, I don't use them for dive-bombing, just subtle pitch fluctuations, I put Vibramates on both of them, to make string changing easier. I think they're just a different tool in the box, to be used when needed...

 

[Chris Pile]

Bigsby, for when you need to warble.