Bigsby Bridge Conversion
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dan_powell
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Bigsby Bridge Conversion
Hi, I'm new to this forum and I'm planning to buy a 325c58 and convert it to Lennon specs. One question, though... on John's 325, the Bigsby bridge was offset by the pickguard and the low "e" string runs almost off the neck on the higher frets. Is there any way to avoid this problem when installing the bridge?
Dan, I bought a 325C58 JG back in March and then had the Bigsby B5 and bowtie bridge installed in April by Midwest Music here in Cincinnati. Yes, the bridge has to be offset a bit because of the pickguard, but it's not as drastic as you might think. Midwest had the bridge slotted for each individual string and mine is pretty straight in conjunction to the Bigsby alignment. Mine doesn't run off the neck as drastically as Lennon's. The intonation is perfect and really holds it's tune. There's no way I would have attempted to install the Bigsby or the bridge myself. I suggest you take it to a professional who knows what he's doing. I also had Pyramid flat-wounds installed and it definitely gets that 1963, early 1964 Beatles sound!
It's not necessarily a given that your E would run off anyway.
When you get one of the modern repros of the bowtie from most places, there's no grooves cut into the top portion.If it's a place that is selling them pre slotted, you might be able to specify that you'd like yours sent to you unslotted. All you'd really have to do then is slide that bowtie under the strings and then tighten them up to put some tension on the bridge.
Once you've done that, you just space out the strings so that the outer E's are within the fretboard edge comfortably and then space the rest of the strings between them evenly. You can then notch the bridge top with the edge of a small file or have your guitar tech do it.
I've got a 58 replica I put together, and it had a vintage 50's bowtie and B5 put on by me. I gave it new grooves to work with a 325's spacing, but since I was also going for authenticity in looks as well, I allowed my low E to trail over to the edge.
Just keep in mind that the ones on the "Holy Grail" weren't put on by guys that necessarily knew what they were doing, so how could you do any worse?
When you get one of the modern repros of the bowtie from most places, there's no grooves cut into the top portion.If it's a place that is selling them pre slotted, you might be able to specify that you'd like yours sent to you unslotted. All you'd really have to do then is slide that bowtie under the strings and then tighten them up to put some tension on the bridge.
Once you've done that, you just space out the strings so that the outer E's are within the fretboard edge comfortably and then space the rest of the strings between them evenly. You can then notch the bridge top with the edge of a small file or have your guitar tech do it.
I've got a 58 replica I put together, and it had a vintage 50's bowtie and B5 put on by me. I gave it new grooves to work with a 325's spacing, but since I was also going for authenticity in looks as well, I allowed my low E to trail over to the edge.
Just keep in mind that the ones on the "Holy Grail" weren't put on by guys that necessarily knew what they were doing, so how could you do any worse?
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Public Albums: www.photobucket.com username: fabgear, password: fabguest