My 1st post: A Bigsby on my 350v63--HOW?

[pannyparwar]

I know it can be done since there are brave souls out there who have done it, and proudly posted pics of the Bigsby B5 on their Ric 350v63.
But they never say HOW they did it, and nobody asks them. I tried asking but got no replies.

Is there anyone out there who can help me with this?

I just want to know how you know where exactly to place the Bigsby.
There is no second chance on this terrifying venture, so I have to be sure!

My new Ric and Bigsby both arrive in a week...

Thanks,

Andy

[rickyfricky]

Welcome to the RRF, Andy.

If it were me, I would lean towards having a pro luthier or tech do this work.

If you let us know where you're located, this Forum could point you towards a capable being who would take the guesswork out of this.

Congrats on your 350v63, and good luck with the install!

[pannyparwar]

That's a good idea.
It just seems that it can't be that difficult. All the other people who did it weren't luthiers. Plus, I have a friend who is an excellent carpenter, so I'm thinking that it's a relatively simple task to drill a few holes and screw it in...as long as I find out exactly where to place it on the guitar. Yhat is the 64 thousand dollar question.

But I appreciate your suggestion: I live in Winnipeg, Canada. (where I doubt there are any qualified "Ric" experts to be found

Thanks for your answer!
-Andy

[Grey]

It's your guitar and your money, so if you feel confident enough in your abilities to set upon it with a drill in your hand then go for it. If you have any reservations about that fact, then hire a luthier to do it.

[Medicus1963]

Hi Andy,

Sorry for not being able to answer very fast, but i was in hospital. It is very clear, that it is a non reversible mod!
You also have to have an eye on the breaking angle of the strings over the bridge which can cause some tuning problems.
You have to be at the vrey low end of the body to reduce this angle.
There is always a manual for installing the bigsby. It is very important to carefully bring the bigsby in a correct line to the bridge, and to predrill holes for the screws. Please use always masking tape before you drill!
That is the whole thing, nothing miraculous!

Peter

[pannyparwar]

Thanks Peter!
I'll try to muster the courage and give it a try.
If I had a friendly neighbourhood luthier I would most likely have him do it. But the idea of packing the guitar and shipping t off concerns me almost as much. I have had a number of mods done to other guitars by the local "experts" and havr had nothing but problems.

Glad you're out of the hospital and hope you're ok.

Thanks for replying,

Andy

[LenMinNJ]

I'm installing a Bigsby B5 on a 330 tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

[LenMinNJ]

I installed a Bigsby B5 on my 330JG. It went very smoothly.

Before taking anything apart, first I placed two pieces of masking tape on the top of the body alongside the edge of the strings between the bridge and the original "R" tailpiece. I did that so that when I removed the tailpiece I could position the Bigsby correctly with the strings centered on the Bigsby's rollers.

Then I removed the "R" tailpiece and its bracket, and cleaned the body.

I positioned the bottom edge of the Bigsby roughly 5/16-inch from the bottom edge of the 330's body, and centered it so the the masking tape guides were equally far from the edges of the Bigsby's front roller. I drilled one hole and screwed down the body of the Bigsby to make sure that everything was where it should be before drilling the other three holes. Once I confirmed it was, I then drilled the other three holes.

330JG As Bought

Bigsby B5 on the 330JG

Bigsby B5 on the 330JG

[pannyparwar]

Len
Thank you SO much for your articulate instructions! This is what I have been searching for all over the internet. It seems to be a well guarded secret.

My Bigsby arrived yesterday, just after I discovered a brilliant idea from someone on YouTube. He solved the notorious problem with the Bigsby--those six little pins which make stringing a guitar so frustrating.

The solution is to pull out the pins and drill right through them. Voila--now you can simply poke your strings through the holes and not deal with having to get them to stay hooked onto the pins while bending them around the back of the Bigsby. (What a stupid design!)

I found a machinist who can perform the simple solution, shown in the YouTube video titled "Modified Bigsby B5 Vibrato / Tremolo" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xbth9zAM-w

I'll post the results, but it may be a while before it's completed.

-Andy

[Medicus1963]

Hi Andy,

This seems to be a a great Mod on the Bigsby, but restringing is easier if you pre-bend the strings around a pencil or use pliers at the ball end of the strings.
You will get used to it.

Peter

[LenMinNJ]

My Bigsby arrived yesterday, just after I discovered a brilliant idea from someone on YouTube. He solved the notorious problem with the Bigsby--those six little pins which make stringing a guitar so frustrating.

Vibramate http://www.vibramate.com/vibramate-string-spoiler.php makes the String Spoiler - it's a little bracket that solves this problem.

[Grey]

Is it really a 'problem'? It takes a few extra seconds, i've never had any problem with those little posts on the bigsby and i've never had to use any tools to do it, either. If you can restring a guitar then you can setup a bigsby.

[pannyparwar]

Erik,
Stringing a guitar with a Bigsby IS a problem, at least for me and many others like those who applauded the innovative solution presented in the YouTube video I mentioned above.

I have been playing guitar for 50 years and have owned a number of guitars with Bigsbys. Restringing the other instruments is a breeze, as it should be; simply poke the string through a hole at the back of the guitar, then poke it through another hole in the peg and tighten it. A simple operation.

A Bigsby, on the other hand, adds an unnecessary, tedious step to the stringing process. The design flaw, inherent in all Bigsby vibratos, requires the tiny hole in the ball of the string to be inserted into a small peg, then attempting to wrap the string around a cylindrical bar. However, the string "wants to" pop off the peg, due to the tension of the wound string at the ball to remain straight. This requires bending the wound end into a curved shape and then a bit of trial and error to get the string to remain seated in the peg as it is pulled taut, and kept taut while it is wound around the cylinder and poke through the peg hole, wound around the peg, and finally secured. How unnecessarily laborious!

Another oversight of this peg-design is that it prohibits musicians from using strings with "bullets", (i.e., no holes) which many guitarists prefer to use.

While the manufacturer of Bigsbys (and some advocates like you) are content with an old idea that "works", I congratulate any innovation, like the one featured in the aforesaid video, which not only improves the ease operation (for many like me), but also accommodates a whole sector of the market ("bullet-fans") whose needs are currently ignored.

To the manufacturer of the Bigsby, and all its users, I find myself agreeing--for once--with Sarah Palin and do emphatically exclaim, "Drill baby, DRILL"!

[pannyparwar]

Len,
Hey, I just checked out that cool contraption you mentioned. That "String Spoiler" product certainly does solve my problem!

My only concern (which is probably crazy) is that it is a slight departure, aesthetically speaking, from the Lennon look I am after. But it's not really that noticeable.

I suppose the deciding factor will be the cost of purchasing it ($40) vs the cost of having the machinist drill out the pegs in my Bigsby.

Thank you so much for bringing this great option to my attention.

The plot thickens!

[Grey]

I just don't see why it matters that you have to take an extra minute or two to setup the bigsby when you've already spent (in my case) 5 or 10 minutes clearing a space to work, taking the strings off, cleaning the fretboard (again, maybe something only I do when restringing) and preparing new strings. Is it really that big of a problem having to spend a bit more time on it? You're not prepping a formula 1 car in the pit stop so what does it matter if the bigsby adds a couple of minutes to the work? I don't have to "prebend" the strings I just slip the ball end over the post and press my finger over the top to keep it from popping off, pull the string taught and hold it while I tighten it up at the tuning peg. It's a very smooth operation that barely inteferes with my process. Putting the strings back on an "R" tailpiece and keeping them from fallling out now that's a whole different discussion if you want to talk about annoyance.

You mention you've been playing for 50 years so perhaps it's a dexterity or eyesight issue for older folks which is something I certainly had not considered and I can see why that could be a problem. My dad is 59 and he dosen't seem to have an issue with it, though.

Now if you're using strings with "bullet" ball ends (which i've only seen one set of in 8 years) I can see that as being a legitimate problem and that would certainly prevent you from using a bigsby system with your guitar if you prefer using whatever type of strings are made that way, in which case I think using the Vibramate adapter would be a good choice since there is no permanant modification to the bigsby system and you can easily remove it.