Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

This might seem like a bizarre question but with the Bigsby 5 arm extended out over the body what should be the normal width (gap distance) between the arm and the surface of the body/guard on my 325?

I take it that the arm seems a little 'distant' from the body? The arm on mine is also set high.

I can't tell you what the distance is supposed to be as I am far away from my 325 right now and won't see it for about a month. But, I would also be interested in finding out what is normal for arm height on a 325.

Michael, you bet, I feel it is a little high. It's fine in rest but I question my luthier position of it when it's extended

There is a one inch and a 7/8ths inch spring for the Bigsby.

I recall in Babiuk's book somebody reminiscing about John Lennon trying out different springs from prosthetic limbs to get his Bigsby just right.

I'm led to believe that there are a number of different springs available as spare parts. Too high is a real pain in the proverbial.

A bit ironic that Lennon tried different springs for a Bigsby that he never seemed to use.

Thanks guys, the spring size is the difference.

I'd be willing to speculate that Lennon hated the Kaufmann so much that he settled upon the first easy "solution" he could find. After all, he also settled for the Rickenbacker that the salesman brought back, an unpopular trade show sample, fitted with the Kaufmann, instead of asking with something with a more conventional tailpiece, which would have been the classic trapeze. What did he know? He'd never seen a catalog, and if reports are true, it was a single picture of Jean "Toots" Thieleman (primarily a HARMONICA player!) playing a Rick at the same trade show, that got him going on it anyway. Had Hessy's stocked a trapeze, perhaps he would have gone for it.

OTOH, he always was a rockabilly sort of cat, and the look of the Bigsby probably knocked him out flat, so he went for it. Had to be expensive in the UK back then!

It's expensive in the UK NOW as well Paul!

Paul: John's pal, Chris Huston had quite a bit to do with Lennon getting his Bigsby.

Yow. Sorry to hear that, Tony. In my own trips to the UK, I've used the rough conversion: things in the UK cost roughly the numeric equivalent of things in the US--if a steak (Fireglo, please!) in the US is 20 dollars, it's going to cost 20 pounds in the UK. A Bigsby currently runs about 150 to 200 dollars. Does my rule of thumb hold true or have "Bush dollars" taken over there as they have in the rest of the EU?

I would think, however, that a Bigsby was proportionately even more expensive back then...

I was quoted £150 for a bigsby a little while ago.

A 20 pound steak? Sounds yummy!

Anthony: Quite steep for something that you may not use that often on your 1997.

Just in passing, have you seen John Fogerty play his Model 1997 on the DVD Premonition. A beautiful instrument and an outstanding example of how a 1997 can rock! It is a tutorial on performing and a must have for all Rickenbacker guitarists and music enthusiasts in general.