Removing the roller/tension bar on a Bigsby

I was wondering, is it possible to remove the tension/roller bar on a B5 Bigsby? I've hear some people claim that it is, but I've never heard how it's done. I took a closer look at mine last night, and I could see maybe using some kind of implement to push the inner shaft out, but a tentative attempt was unsuccessful - it wouldn't budge. The reason I want to try removing it is to try to get a similar feel to the non-tension roller bar Bigsbys, such as the B16. I realize the bridge will have to be raised to compensate, and the neck shimmed more (this is on a Tele). Any experience with this or another tension bar equipped Bigsby?

It's not just the feel I'm going for, it's also the change in tone from having less string tension and a long length of strings running unhindered from the bridge to bigsby, ala Jazzmasters and Gretsches.

Maybe in the end I won't like it, but I'd like to at least try it.

You could try stringing your guitar with the strings passing over the tension bar, just to give you and idea. I have my Les Paul with a Bigsby strung like this, and I prefer it this way. No need to remove the bar, although you might need to on a tele with the shallower neck angle.

You could try stringing your guitar with the strings passing over the tension bar, just to give you and idea. I have my Les Paul with a Bigsby strung like this, and I prefer it this way. No need to remove the bar, although you might need to on a tele with the shallower neck angle.

Don't you have to move your bridge up into the stratosphere? The top of the tension bar is pretty high up.

[QUOTE]Don't you have to move your bridge up into the stratosphere? The top of the tension bar is pretty high up./QUOTE]

It's fine on the Les Paul, the strings clear the tension bar without having to raise the bridge higher but it could definitely be a problem on a tele.

There should be a circlip on the end of the bar, gently open with circlip pliers and lift off: the bar should slide out for servicing.
This would be fine on an archtop but on a tele the strings are going to flap about, the top of the tension bar is going to be as high or higher than the bridge: you are going to need a lot of neck shimming and the saddles will run out of height screw. Even on my solid slab body Gretsch+B7 with the roller bridge easily twice as high as a tele, it needs the roller bar.

There should be a circlip on the end of the bar, gently open with circlip pliers and lift off: the bar should slide out for servicing.
This would be fine on an archtop but on a tele the strings are going to flap about, the top of the tension bar is going to be as high or higher than the bridge: you are going to need a lot of neck shimming and the saddles will run out of height screw. Even on my solid slab body Gretsch+B7 with the roller bridge easily twice as high as a tele, it needs the roller bar.

I took a ruler to the thing and I think you're right. Even removing the tension roller bar, the strings are going to have to be up higher than that anyway. It'd probably need a Wilkinson/Tuneomatic bridge to get the height. And that'd be some SERIOUS shimming. I underestimated it.

Sigh. Oh well. Thanks very much for your help.

But still, Teles seem to work well with a B16 and some neck-shimming...

Sorry for reviving an old thread but I was thinking about modifying Bigsbys a few weeks ago myself... But rather than removing the bar, I'd cut off all of the excess aluminum including that tensionbar...

I've made peace with my roller bridge. :D

You could try stringing your guitar with the strings passing over the tension bar, just to give you and idea. I have my Les Paul with a Bigsby strung like this, and I prefer it this way. No need to remove the bar, although you might need to on a tele with the shallower neck angle.

Okay, so my OCD finally caught up with me. I bought a Bigsby Sorkin (Bow Tie) bridge, and ran my strings OVER the roller bar. I shimmed the hell out of the neck, but it was still just barely enough - I'm going to have to shim it up some more.

http://www.wdmusic.com/media/images/products/new_products/ss_size1/SORKINBR_REV.jpg

However, I'm very pleased with the results. The Bigsby feels smoother and more responsive, and it seems to have a more "Gretschy" acoustic-like tone, although it's hard to nail down the exact change there. It's subtle. Tuning stability was already good before, and seems even better now without the roller bar in the way. I just played for an hour and a half straight, after having retuned the strings from slack, using the Bigsby constantly the whole time, and it's still in tune.

The one negative - bending is harder. IE you have to bend the strings further to get the same amount of pitch bend. If any of you have played a Jazzmaster, you're familiar with this phenomenon. But, I almost never use finger bends, and I use the Bigsby constantly, so this isn't a big deal for me.

Of course, I'll want to play with this for a while to make sure I'm really sold on it.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c22/umafloresta/Surf/IMG_5614.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c22/umafloresta/Surf/IMG_5613.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c22/umafloresta/Surf/IMG_5607.jpg

Can you show us a side-elevation of the break-angle over the bridge please.

From the looks of those, I think my playing would rip the strings clean off the saddle.

Nice tele. Those are DeArmonds?
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/attachments/telecaster-discussion-forum/34612d1257642983-bigsby-trems-gretsch_5259_b7-jpg
That's a Rikki-type roller bridge with the cover on. Gretsch 5259 Special Jet + B7.

Can you show us a side-elevation of the break-angle over the bridge please.

From the looks of those, I think my playing would rip the strings clean off the saddle.

Nice tele. Those are DeArmonds?
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/attachments/telecaster-discussion-forum/34612d1257642983-bigsby-trems-gretsch_5259_b7-jpg
That's a Rikki-type roller bridge with the cover on. Gretsch 5259 Special Jet + B7.

The break angle is very shallow, like this pink Esquire:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c22/umafloresta/Surf/telestwobigsbys.jpg

I've cut in some string slots on the bridge for that reason - prevents the strings from sliding all over the place.

The pickups are GFS Surf 90s, which is their version of the DeArmond Dynasonic.

Love the Gretsch!

Nice guitar! I always love any thread with pictures of Bigsby Teles :grin: I can see that the original topic of this thread has kind of gone to the wayside, but I thought I'd chime in. The tension roller on my F-Logo B-5 comes out by removing a set screw thats accessible through the bottom of the unit. Back out the set screw and she slides right out

How do you like the Chet trem arm? I've long been eyeballing them,but haven't been willing to pull the trigger. Does it interfere with accessing your controls?

Nice guitar! I always love any thread with pictures of Bigsby Teles :grin: I can see that the original topic of this thread has kind of gone to the wayside, but I thought I'd chime in. The tension roller on my F-Logo B-5 comes out by removing a set screw thats accessible through the bottom of the unit. Back out the set screw and she slides right out

How do you like the Chet trem arm? I've long been eyeballing them,but haven't been willing to pull the trigger. Does it interfere with accessing your controls?

Ah, good to know - thanks!

I love the Chet arm - very comfortable and it swings in all directions, unlike the stock B5 arm. It doesn't seem to interfere with the controls.