Strat with a Bigsby

[tubedude]

I built a kit thinline strat that came with a jag/jm style trem, but it was so cheap and noisy in it's operating that I plugged the trem cavity and replaced with the Duesenberg tremolo. View attachment 1257192

What wood is that veneer made from? Nice job on those P/U rings!

 

[Vercingetorix]

Sorry, but to me a Bigsby resembles an instrument of medieval torture. But if it works for you...

 

[KokoTele]

Apologies for the self-quote.
What I really dislike about traditional Strat tremolo/vibrato systems is the sound the springs impart to the tone.
Strat lovers say it's an essential component of the sound they love.
The "reverb-ey, buzz-ey, cough-like" sound really bugs me.
Bigsby systems do not impart that tone, IMO.
I also prefer the "down only" pitch bending.
I like the subtlety of it.
My Strat is a hardtail, but a Bigsby would be just fine, too.

It's true that there's a different tone. A bit more sustain, faster attack... maybe a hair more in the mids.

Sorry, but to me a Bigsby resembles an instrument of medieval torture. But if it works for you...

A good friend calls them an "iron lung." I like 'em, but I like art deco and steampunk too. A Bigsby could be at home with either motif.

 

[Boreas]

It's true that there's a different tone. A bit more sustain, faster attack... maybe a hair more in the mids.



A good friend calls them an "iron lung." I like 'em, but I like art deco and steampunk too. A Bigsby could be at home with either motif.

When someone says "vibrato", I see a Bigsby in my mind. But I do have others I enjoy.

 

[Lawdawg]

Apologies for the self-quote.
What I really dislike about traditional Strat tremolo/vibrato systems is the sound the springs impart to the tone.
Strat lovers say it's an essential component of the sound they love.
The "reverb-ey, buzz-ey, cough-like" sound really bugs me.
Bigsby systems do not impart that tone, IMO.
I also prefer the "down only" pitch bending.
I like the subtlety of it.
My Strat is a hardtail, but a Bigsby would be just fine, too.

I was just about to ask, thanks for the useful explanation.

Although I don't mind using a Bigsby, I personally prefer the Strat trem system and find it more flexible than a Bigsby. The tone differences, such as they are, are just not a big deal to me one way or the other. Then again, I'm a weirdo who thinks sustain is highly overrated as a quality of guitar tone so consider the messenger!

 

[BigDWS62]

I have one and I love it. I use the Bigsby for vibrato rather than half or whole tone bends - used that way, it’s fantastic

 

[Guitar Quackery]

Just finished this job for a customer. It’s a MIM Strat that he had for a long time. I think he said it had sentimental value, but in any case he’s not parting with it. He did need a change of pace, though, so we did something a little bit drastic.

I made a plug out of poplar to fill in where the old tremolo had been and touched up the finish to hide it. I couldn’t get a great color match, but it’s good enough that you don’t notice the plug with the bridge on.

In addition to the Bigsby and rocker bridge, I did an all new wiring harness with good components and a Duncan SSL-5 set. Had a custom pickguard made without the notch for the bridge, and that covers the screw holes from the original vintage style trem. It also got a level & crown and full setup.

He’s picking it up in a day or so and I’m excited to see how he likes it.

View attachment 1256958

I’m curious what you did about the neck angle. Did you shim the neck, or did you reroute the neck pocket at an angle?

 

[KokoTele]

I’m curious what you did about the neck angle. Did you shim the neck, or did you reroute the neck pocket at an angle?

It just needed a .5° shim. I used a shim that covered the whole neck pocket, though a shim that's about .020" thick would have gotten the job done too.

 

[Zepfan]

What wood is that veneer made from? Nice job on those P/U rings!

The kit has a Zebrawood cap over Sapele body.

 

[NewTimerJH]

Just finished this job for a customer. It’s a MIM Strat that he had for a long time. I think he said it had sentimental value, but in any case he’s not parting with it. He did need a change of pace, though, so we did something a little bit drastic.

I made a plug out of poplar to fill in where the old tremolo had been and touched up the finish to hide it. I couldn’t get a great color match, but it’s good enough that you don’t notice the plug with the bridge on.

In addition to the Bigsby and rocker bridge, I did an all new wiring harness with good components and a Duncan SSL-5 set. Had a custom pickguard made without the notch for the bridge, and that covers the screw holes from the original vintage style trem. It also got a level & crown and full setup.

He’s picking it up in a day or so and I’m excited to see how he likes it.

View attachment 1256958

I know I’ll pay for this dearly, but I think that looks much more natural than a Bigsby on a tele. Outstanding work!

 

[GRAVITY-LHP]

So wrong yet so right!

 

[Papa Dafoe]

Kinda cool, but not for me. I feel like the Strat tremolo system is part of the instrument DNA. I love a Bigsby on a Tele though. Enough to own one.

 

[old wrench]

I’m curious what you did about the neck angle. Did you shim the neck, or did you reroute the neck pocket at an angle?

What @Boreas mentions about the setup being important when you install a Bigsby is right on the money - the right setup and bridge is the key to having a Bigsby that stays in tune and reliably returns to tune even with "vigorous" use of the Bigsby.

When I install a Bigsby B5 on a Fender-type guitar like a Tele, I remove the felt pads from the bottom of the Bigsby and I don't use anything like a vibra-mate adapter - I mount them tight to the body so they sit as low as possible.

I always sand the bottoms of my Bigsbys so they sit flat and tight to the guitars body; from the factory, the bottoms of the sand-cast ones are usually sort of rough and uneven - I haven't used the die-cast models, but I'd think their bottoms should be flat and smooth and wouldn't require any sanding or flattening.

Mounted in that way, I generally don't need any sort of shim in the neck pocket - The B5's tension bar sits low enough to get sufficient string break angle even with regular Tele barrel saddles (which really aren't the best sort of bridge for Bigsbys), and I can still set the guitar up with a low string action height.



A Bigsby B16, at least in my experience, presents a different situation, and always needs either an angled shim in the neck pocket, or what I do on my new builds (besides mounting them tight to the body) is to machine the proper angle and depth into neck pocket right from the get.

The reason for the shim or the machined angle in the neck pocket is that the B16 has that built-in bridge pickup mount that sits up so high, and it doesn't have a string tension bar either - so you need to set the bridge up quite high so the strings will clear the pickup mount.

The B16 has a little different feel than the B5 - it works exceptionally well for adding that sort of "shimmery" vibrato.


.

 

[tubedude]

The kit has a Zebrawood cap over Sapele body.

I've vuilt several guitars out of zebrawood andnitnsisntnlook like that. Different variety maybe.

 

[KokoTele]

Mounted in that way, I generally don't need any sort of shim in the neck pocket - The B5's tension bar sits low enough to get sufficient string break angle even with regular Tele barrel saddles (which really aren't the best sort of bridge for Bigsbys), and I can still set the guitar up with a low string action height.

In this case, the determining factor was the bridge. It needed to clear the pickguard and have room to rock back and forth. If you're using a normal Tele bridge, the saddles sit lower so no shim is needed.

 

[Mr. St. Paul]

You did a fantastic job!

I like Bigsbys (have on on a Guild Starfire I Jet 90). Nothing else gets that shimmer. BUT....my opinion only, and worth what you paid for it...if I was going to put a different vibrato on a Strat, it would be the Jazzmaster/Jaguar one. Leo thought it was better than the Strat vibrato, and in my limited experience with them I agree.

 

[Zepfan]

I've vuilt several guitars out of zebrawood andnitnsisntnlook like that. Different variety maybe.

I've seen it with large grain streaks and with fine grain.

 

[Blackmore Fan]

Sorry, but to me a Bigsby resembles an instrument of medieval torture. But if it works for you...

A Strat has a proper tremelo, or its a hardtail. There are exactly *zero* Strat "guitar heroes" playing a Bigsby. The OP did a great job with his work, I'm not slamming that at all. But its just an especially well-done job for something that most of the Strat community would privately disagree with.

 

[bottlenecker]

It's just a very specific type of tremolo that has far greater limitations than the original Fender type tremolo that Stratocaster probably came with.

It's a vibrato, and that's exactly what a bigsby is for. When a strat bridge is used for vibrato on a chord, the relative pitch between strings goes all over the place, while with a bigsby the pitch change is fairly consistent across the strings. With a bigbsy, you can play an E chord and move it to a slightly out of tune E flat chord. With a strat "tremolo", by the time one of your E strings reaches E flat, you have alien free jazz on the other 5 strings. Lots of people like alien free jazz, but it doesn't make a door hinge and springs a better vibrato.

 

[bottlenecker]

A Strat has a proper tremelo, or its a hardtail. There are exactly *zero* Strat "guitar heroes" playing a Bigsby. The OP did a great job with his work, I'm not slamming that at all. But its just an especially well-done job for something that most of the Strat community would privately disagree with.

Fender Stratocaster owned and played by Ry Cooder Solid Body Electric Guitar , c. 1967 | RetroFret

RetroFret Vintage Guitars

www.retrofret.com

Can we call Ry Cooder a "guitar hero", even though he never wore tights?