Putting a b5 Bigsby on a 320

zacstanley · Post by **zacstanley** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:50 am

What do people think about trying to do this?

Will it devalue the guitar terribly? What about tuning - will it cause it to slip out of tune more frequently?

thanks.

zac

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:46 am

I wouldn't think a proper Bigsby installed properly on a 320 would devalue the guitar, As for tuning - Any time you have a vibrato on a guitar, you risk having increased tuning problems.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:23 am

That having been said, a genuine Bigsby (not a Korean B500) will have oilite bearings, and once tuned, will do an excellent job of staying in pitch.

There is a subtext here concerning 320s and 325s, and other short scale Ricks...intonation. This will be much easier with heavier gauge strings, and these, being at a higher tension, will help the Bigsby to return to pitch more accurately, too.

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:48 am

I had one on a 320 and it was cool....

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:57 am

True, a Bigsby is one of the better made vibratos, and tuning problems should be minimal. But as with any vibrato that's actually used, you can't expect the guitar to stay perfectly in tune all the time.

jsm610 · Post by **jsm610** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 8:00 am

"Will it devalue the guitar terribly? "
I would say that your 320, with its relatively unique f-hole, would be devalued if altered...

I would agree that on the 'common place' 320 with the solid top this mod may not hurt value that much if at all.

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 9:43 am

I agree with John. The holes needed to install the B5 would make the modification 'irreversible' (in the sense that those holes would be visible if the R tailpiece were put back on). Additionally, the holes for the R tailpiece bracket would be visible with the B5 installed - which, IMO, would detract from the 'clean look' of the guitar.

That said, it's your guitar and you can do with it what you want.

harvey49 · Post by **harvey49** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:03 pm

Zac if you plan to keep that guitar and you like the B5 mod then go for it. However, if you want to keep the guitar as an investment then don't.

I put a B5 on my 350 and I like it, I should point out it's not a straight forward job to do properly. It requires a lot of patient hand grinding of the B5 to fit the ramp on the guitar, unless you want to use packing shims, which look awful IMHO.

I solved the problem of the bracket holes by making a stainless steel plate which I think looks okay, but that's only my opinion.

Here's a couple of pics of my B5 Mod:

and the bracket I made:

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:10 pm

Ron, that looks very 'clean' to me; nicely done!

harvey49 · Post by **harvey49** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:26 pm

Thanks Gary, I can't take the credit for the idea though, the fellow who gave me guidance on doing the mod showed me a couple of his efforts and like all good ideas, I copied it.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:22 pm

Nice work, Ron!

BTW, your TRC is "in the mail" along with Aitch's knobs.

The rest of you all never read this...

elysrand · Post by **elysrand** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:46 pm

Read what? I didn't see anything, nothing at all...

harvey49 · Post by **harvey49** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:00 pm

I'm a very happy little Vegemite

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:34 pm

I should add that my white 320 with a bigsby was sold by a local guitar shop (changed hands a bit) on ebay for something like $1700....