Bigsby bowtie bridge

longjohn · Post by **longjohn** » Wed May 30, 2001 4:33 am

hello mark.
i'm new to the forum so bear with me. just a quick question about the bigsby bowtie bridge on john's '58 325.
first i have heard of complaints ranging from minor annoyance to outright disgust regarding keeping the things in tune and properly intonated with these bridges. others have said no such thing. could you set the record straight on this issue? also if there is no problem with them, where the hell can i get one?
thanks much

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu May 31, 2001 2:33 am

Steve: Should you still be interested after Mark's comments, you can see the Bowtie Bridge at Jetglow Conversions.

Nick_Thiel · Post by **Nick_Thiel** » Thu May 31, 2001 2:41 am

There are a few different versions of the bridge that have been produced. The most recent reissue versions have saddles that come to a point on the bottom portion that rests on the height adjustment wheels. I assume that this was designed this way so that the saddle could tilt from side to side when engaging the Bigsby tailpiece, but I've always ground this part of the bridge flat to insure maximum stability. You shouldn't have any trouble setting up a guitar with this type of bridge, I assume it's going on a 325 and have never had any trouble with intonation on that model in the past, and I've done six of them up with bow ties.

As far as finding one, Bigsby isn't offering these currently but Wes Cooksey is making repros of the Selmer version of this bridge specifically for Lennon junkies. They aren't cheap though, here is a link to his site http://pages.prodigy.net/cook-c/

longjohn · Post by **longjohn** » Thu May 31, 2001 3:54 am

hey nick, and peter!
thank you very much for the help. i am putting the money together now for wes' repro. as a matter of fact, my wife just got me a set of his burns repro knobs as an early fathers day gift.
thanks again and all the best!
steve

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Thu May 31, 2001 5:08 am

Thanks to Peter and Nick for answering this question .

This is a bridge for Lennon /325 junkies .

I too would grind the bottom flat for more stability ...the idea of the bridge rocking to move with the strings was an interesting idea that proved to be a poor one .

Use big strings on the 325 ...as big as you can stand .

longjohn · Post by **longjohn** » Thu May 31, 2001 3:32 pm

thanks mark!
i have six sets of pyramid flatwound 13's on order right now. i have to purchase them specially because no one near me stocks them (and half the stores i tried have never even heard of them), so i figured i'd set myself up for a while.
all the best,
steve

Tuck_Hersey · Post by **Tuck_Hersey** » Thu May 31, 2001 11:22 pm

I looked at Lennon's '58 325 very closely twice at the JL Museum in Japan and found out that the bottom of the saddle that sits on the height wheels is not "flat", but not as "sharp" as the most recent ones. Actually the saddle was tilting downward (to the B5 side) probably because there was little tension on the strings. Here are some pics of my vintage Selmer bridge that looks 100% identical to the one I saw on Lennon's. I'm sure Wes's repro bridge will be exactly like mine.

Nick_Thiel · Post by **Nick_Thiel** » Fri Jun 01, 2001 2:56 am

The thing to notice here in Tuck's great pictures is that the base that the strings rest on is flat and doesn't come to a point the way most current versions of the bow tie do.

Thanks Tuck, you rule.

admin · Post by **admin** » Fri Jun 01, 2001 5:43 am

Very nice photography Tuck. I appreciate your detailed analysis and your continued support in forwarding registrations to the Rickenbacker Registration Page after you have made the translation.

longjohn · Post by **longjohn** » Fri Jun 01, 2001 7:19 am

thank you to all who took the time to help me out!
i'm sending a deposit to wes in the next few days.
good to hear from you again, tuck!
all the best,
steve

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Mon Jun 04, 2001 6:05 am

Hi Mark -

The thing I don't understand about these bridges (having never seen one in person) is, do they just sit on the guitar body, held in place by the strings, or are they somehow anchored to the guitar on the bottom?

How does one intonate such a bridge, without the fine screw adjustments like other bridges? You just slide the whole brige around, back and forth, until you get a generally good intonation?

Regards

NickD

Nick_Thiel · Post by **Nick_Thiel** » Mon Jun 04, 2001 1:31 pm

It is held down by the strings and you guessed right about the sliding it around until you get it close, not the very best in most people's opinions.

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Mon Jun 04, 2001 2:25 pm

Thanks so much, Nick; I think I'll pass on one right now. If there's one thing that drives me insane, it's faulty intonation as you go up the neck. I use my guitar so much, I don't even want to go there. I'll keep my beautiful little modern bridge on my 325.

Man, when you think of the combination of that primitive unanchored bridge, and how much Lennon used to bang his guitar around; not to mention his dubious compliment of strings. His guitar must have been wildly out of whack most of the time. Yet...great music. The Beatles were just so weird.

Regards

NickD

C._Bourke · Post by **C._Bourke** » Mon Jun 04, 2001 3:33 pm

Great music, but no love of equipment....remember McCartney's famous comment on the question:"what type of bass strings do you use?"... his reply.."Long shiny ones!"