Bigsby alignment
Moderator: jingle_jangle
-
anon
Bigsby alignment
The Bigsby unit on the Maple Glo 325V59 that my son and I purchased leans slightly to the side with the E A D strings. Since the pickups and the bridge are exactly parallel, this tilt is not difficult to notice. We have had the guitar for a couple of weeks only, so it's likely that Rickenbacker will realign that Bigsby unit if we decide to contact the company. Should not the Bigsby unit be clearly parallel with the bridge and the pickups, for aesthetic reasons--and for intonation consistency? How would a luthier remedy this? (Mr. Peter McCormack suggested that we contact you. My son feels a good deal of disappointment because we ordered the guitar in March, and I feel a bit skeptical about Rickenbacker's inspection integrity. To be sure, the first 325V59 we ordered came with teeth marks on the vibrato unit, and there was an area on the back of the guitar, about the size of a half dollar, that was not buffed, much to our surprise. We contacted the distributor and they sent us this second one.) Thank you very much. J. Carbone, M.D., and B. Carbone
Well the scuff/poorly buffed mark may not be the companies fault.
To fix this I recommend getting a bottle of 3M finesse-it #05928.you will find this at an automotive paint supplier-look in the phone book for the one nearest you.
This is great automotive polish and is used to buffout the catalyzed finishes on cars.
Look at the high gloss Mazdas,Toyota,Honda,Lexus,and Ford.All of them use catalyzed acrylic urethane clear coatings.
I use this polish to get the ultimate shine.
You can buff this out ,probably by hand.Use only 100% cotton cloth.NO POLYESTER AT ALL!!!
This is not hard to do at all .
As to the alignment of the bigsby...this is a tough one.You will notice that there is little area to place it .I do not think the factory is using a bit called ....a VIX bit.This is a self centering cutter but only works as good as the person using it.If you do not drill at a 90 degree pitch to the face you can misalign the holes.
I believe the screws that hold the tailpiece on are standard #6 sheet metal screws.They take a 7/64" bit .If it was in my shop ,hers what I would do.
Remove all the pickups from the face ,and the tailpiece.Get a length of 1/8" birch/maple dowel and a pair of angle dyke cutters.
Drill out the holes using a hand held drill that is variable /reversible speed.Use a #32 bit .
this is slightly smaller than a 1/8" bit and when drilling it out ...put the drill on reverse.This will give you a really tight clean hole.
Before drilling I would measure the depth of the holes closest to the edge of the body and mark the bit .This is your stopping point.I hate to see anyone drill thru their guitar.
after drilling ,wipe yellow woodworker glue into the hole.NOT on the dowel.Take a utility knife and cut a line on one side of the dowel.this is the escape vent for excess glue.Tap in the 4 pieces of dowel and trim them off flush with the angle cutters.I have ground down a pair of end nippers that I use for removing frets that get a cleaner cut ,but these will do a satisfactory job.
You will need a metal yardstick for the next job.The wooden one from 'Mel's Hardware Emporium' is rustic and cute but inaccurate.
you will also need either some frisket paper (from an art supply shop/office supply) or some masking tape.
I would use the tape myself.
Take 4 pieces of the tape and before you apply it to the face of the guitar,put the tape on your pants.This will remove some of the adhesive and when you pull the tape off the face ,you won't take the finish with it.
Place the tape over the 4 dowels and lay the metal ruler along the edge of the fretboard.Make a pencil line on the tape to layout the bass side and then do the same for the treble side.
Measure the distance from the last fret to one of the dowels .take this and measure this out on the other side of the neck and draw a line .This will give you the correct pitch (90degrees ) from the end of the neck and the place to align the holes.
Next ,you need to find the center between the edges on this line.Take a piece of paper,lay it on the line ,make 2 hash marks where the edge lines are on the piece of paper,and fold the piece of paper so the lines touch and you will have a center line.Transfer this to the tape on the face of the guitar.Now ,
Lay the Bigsby on the face,align with the distance line from the neck,center the area that the strings will be in ,and then drill the 4 holes.Use a 7/64" bit and tape the bit to set the depth!
Do not rip off the tape from the face of the guitar after drilling, pull it diagonally ,this will help to NOT remove finish.
Screw down the tailpiece and restring.
Remember ,this is NOT a Floyd rose tremelo system,it's only for cosmetics and for gentle love wiggles.
Hope this is helpful.
My 2 cents here.Do this your self.It's fairly easy to do ,won't void your warranty if done correctly and the down time to fine tune a guitar ...what is that worth.This is unfortunately common thru out the whole industry.
Even all factories have problems with assembly .This tailpiece is not the standard piece that the guys use on the line.If you did only 2 of these per month...you would not be as accurate as with the standard unit.
plus it is on a slanted surface.At least ,if you have some tools and the want to know how to do it ,the info on how to fix it.
Good luck
To fix this I recommend getting a bottle of 3M finesse-it #05928.you will find this at an automotive paint supplier-look in the phone book for the one nearest you.
This is great automotive polish and is used to buffout the catalyzed finishes on cars.
Look at the high gloss Mazdas,Toyota,Honda,Lexus,and Ford.All of them use catalyzed acrylic urethane clear coatings.
I use this polish to get the ultimate shine.
You can buff this out ,probably by hand.Use only 100% cotton cloth.NO POLYESTER AT ALL!!!
This is not hard to do at all .
As to the alignment of the bigsby...this is a tough one.You will notice that there is little area to place it .I do not think the factory is using a bit called ....a VIX bit.This is a self centering cutter but only works as good as the person using it.If you do not drill at a 90 degree pitch to the face you can misalign the holes.
I believe the screws that hold the tailpiece on are standard #6 sheet metal screws.They take a 7/64" bit .If it was in my shop ,hers what I would do.
Remove all the pickups from the face ,and the tailpiece.Get a length of 1/8" birch/maple dowel and a pair of angle dyke cutters.
Drill out the holes using a hand held drill that is variable /reversible speed.Use a #32 bit .
this is slightly smaller than a 1/8" bit and when drilling it out ...put the drill on reverse.This will give you a really tight clean hole.
Before drilling I would measure the depth of the holes closest to the edge of the body and mark the bit .This is your stopping point.I hate to see anyone drill thru their guitar.
after drilling ,wipe yellow woodworker glue into the hole.NOT on the dowel.Take a utility knife and cut a line on one side of the dowel.this is the escape vent for excess glue.Tap in the 4 pieces of dowel and trim them off flush with the angle cutters.I have ground down a pair of end nippers that I use for removing frets that get a cleaner cut ,but these will do a satisfactory job.
You will need a metal yardstick for the next job.The wooden one from 'Mel's Hardware Emporium' is rustic and cute but inaccurate.
you will also need either some frisket paper (from an art supply shop/office supply) or some masking tape.
I would use the tape myself.
Take 4 pieces of the tape and before you apply it to the face of the guitar,put the tape on your pants.This will remove some of the adhesive and when you pull the tape off the face ,you won't take the finish with it.
Place the tape over the 4 dowels and lay the metal ruler along the edge of the fretboard.Make a pencil line on the tape to layout the bass side and then do the same for the treble side.
Measure the distance from the last fret to one of the dowels .take this and measure this out on the other side of the neck and draw a line .This will give you the correct pitch (90degrees ) from the end of the neck and the place to align the holes.
Next ,you need to find the center between the edges on this line.Take a piece of paper,lay it on the line ,make 2 hash marks where the edge lines are on the piece of paper,and fold the piece of paper so the lines touch and you will have a center line.Transfer this to the tape on the face of the guitar.Now ,
Lay the Bigsby on the face,align with the distance line from the neck,center the area that the strings will be in ,and then drill the 4 holes.Use a 7/64" bit and tape the bit to set the depth!
Do not rip off the tape from the face of the guitar after drilling, pull it diagonally ,this will help to NOT remove finish.
Screw down the tailpiece and restring.
Remember ,this is NOT a Floyd rose tremelo system,it's only for cosmetics and for gentle love wiggles.
Hope this is helpful.
My 2 cents here.Do this your self.It's fairly easy to do ,won't void your warranty if done correctly and the down time to fine tune a guitar ...what is that worth.This is unfortunately common thru out the whole industry.
Even all factories have problems with assembly .This tailpiece is not the standard piece that the guys use on the line.If you did only 2 of these per month...you would not be as accurate as with the standard unit.
plus it is on a slanted surface.At least ,if you have some tools and the want to know how to do it ,the info on how to fix it.
Good luck
So you too want yours "ALAPWOB"?!?!
J. Aside from the technical advice, I think that you have two additional questions to ask. Does the positioning of the Bigsby affect the intonation adversely and secondly do you ever plan to use the Bigsby, as Lennon for all practical purposes, did not. If you are unable to live with the aesthetics then push on, otherwise I would be inclined to play on and enjoy the sound. Lennon obsessed with his first 325 from 1960 to 1964 or so and never really got things the way he wanted them. He did get the sound and playability though and I think this is the main point in playing a Rickenbacker. While I too like things to be right, I have come to accept the unique aspects of each of the instruments and now focus more on the playing and less on the look.
Life, as with music, often requires one to let go of the melody and listen to the rhythm
Please join the Official RickResource Forum Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/groups/379271585440277
Please join the Official RickResource Forum Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/groups/379271585440277
AS I have been in the business since 1972 ,and work on just about every brand that comes to me...(I do not work on $10.00 garage sale Bird House guitars)let me relay a story about a Gibson guitar that crossed my bench years ago.
This instrument was a Les Paul Custom model,in black (they don't have a special name for their black)and the white binding on the body had a few flecs of brownish material in the cutaway .This was a manufacturers defect and it was pin ***** size.Meaning a ballpoint pen makes larger spots.
There were several,but not to the point that it was hideous.The spots I'm sure were not know to exist until the finishing process was well underway.And I'm sure that it was felt that this was no reason to strip the guitar,pull off the neck and rebind the body.
Well my customer insisted that this was a CUSTOM guitar! I had to explain that the name is only a model designation and that to change the material that far along in the manufacturing process would be a huge waste of time and money.
Not satisfied he tried to have Gibson fix the 'problem' .They explained that they could give him a different guitar ,but they would in no way change the binding for this minute spec problem.
I have no idea what the final outcome was ,as I never saw the person again.
The Bigsby tailpiece is not the best tailpiece in the world,John had it installed to upgrade from the Kaufman (which will NEVER stay in tune).Had he had a choice and they were all laid out on a table ,he probably would have gone with the Rickenbacker Vintage style.
This tailpiece works !!!
You have bought a relatively correct model of what JL used in his early career and it is what it is.You have some options....the ball is in your court.
Goodluck .
This instrument was a Les Paul Custom model,in black (they don't have a special name for their black)and the white binding on the body had a few flecs of brownish material in the cutaway .This was a manufacturers defect and it was pin ***** size.Meaning a ballpoint pen makes larger spots.
There were several,but not to the point that it was hideous.The spots I'm sure were not know to exist until the finishing process was well underway.And I'm sure that it was felt that this was no reason to strip the guitar,pull off the neck and rebind the body.
Well my customer insisted that this was a CUSTOM guitar! I had to explain that the name is only a model designation and that to change the material that far along in the manufacturing process would be a huge waste of time and money.
Not satisfied he tried to have Gibson fix the 'problem' .They explained that they could give him a different guitar ,but they would in no way change the binding for this minute spec problem.
I have no idea what the final outcome was ,as I never saw the person again.
The Bigsby tailpiece is not the best tailpiece in the world,John had it installed to upgrade from the Kaufman (which will NEVER stay in tune).Had he had a choice and they were all laid out on a table ,he probably would have gone with the Rickenbacker Vintage style.
This tailpiece works !!!
You have bought a relatively correct model of what JL used in his early career and it is what it is.You have some options....the ball is in your court.
Goodluck .
So you too want yours "ALAPWOB"?!?!