Fitting a Bigsby to a US Telemaster

moogie72

Im toying with adding a bigsby to my US Telemaster, any pointers would be a help. 
Ive never really used a bigsby , but miss having a trem on as per most of my others.

which kit would i go for, as would like one with an Fender stamp on.
i kinda presumed it would be the tele kit, but wondered as its a jazz body if there would be an issue .

if it comes with a fitting teplate, would a tele be the right one 

cheers in advanved for any help , even advise against doing it etc

ICBM

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-Bigsby-B5-Telecaster-Vibrato-Kit-Chrome/1C9G

If it has a standard vintage-style Tele bridge then the same kit will fit. You could fit the Bigsby further away from the bridge if you want to give it a bit more of a Jazzmaster vibe.

Bear in mind that you will need to very accurately drill the holes for the 'thimbles' in the body - if they're not absolutely correct the bridge may bind as it moves and cause tuning trouble.

You also need to be very careful with positioning the Bigsby on the body as you would with any guitar - you need to make certain it's centred properly relative to the bridge and neck.

Go for it, I think it will be a big improvement.

moogie72

Thanks have checked a couple of vids out on measuring taping up etc for transferring a centre point from the centre of the neck thru bridge to fitting area.

Would be nice having a bit further back , but was hoping if they supply a drilling template, I’d go with that so I don’t create any problems ..

thanks for the reply and the +1 for it being a decent idea 

moogie72

Does anyone know if the actual bridge can be swapped out in the bigsby kit, as not a fan of those threaded saddles, can I drop in a mustang or similar 

ICBM

moogie72 said:

Does anyone know if the actual bridge can be swapped out in the bigsby kit, as not a fan of those threaded saddles, can I drop in a mustang or similar 

Yes.

moogie72

Thanks again!

moogie72

Anyone got a nice chrome b5 kit they 2ant to sel?

moogie72

And what’s the cobra mate plate for....?

do I need one?

thanks anyone 

Gagaryn

Or you could just fit a B5 and file the back of the standard tele bridge so the strings pass over - like this...

ICBM

moogie72 said:

And what’s the cobra mate plate for....?

do I need one?

Vibra Mate?

It's an adaptor plate that lets you fit the Bigsby without drilling holes, but it won't fit on a Telemaster because it's anchored by the strap button on a Tele so it relies on the end of the body being at a right angle to the strings.

Gagaryn said:

Or you could just fit a B5 and file the back of the standard tele bridge so the strings pass over - like this...

You will also need steel saddles if the bridge comes with brass ones, otherwise the strings will saw through the brass.

(Steel sounds best anyway .)

moogie72

Haha cobra mate.....I have idea how auto spell check went from vibra to cobra ...

i curently have a us bridge , swapped out the vintage already. 

Would that hat have to be swapped or will the stings sit on that...it’s stringed thru body at mo 

Gagaryn

ICBM said:

Gagaryn said:

Or you could just fit a B5 and file the back of the standard tele bridge so the strings pass over - like this...

You will also need steel saddles if the bridge comes with brass ones, otherwise the strings will saw through the brass.

(Steel sounds best anyway .)

Very true - ideally slotted as the B5 string spacing is slightly narrower than standard Tele.

moogie72

Tbh, I’d prob go with the bigsby bridgeplate and a mustang

any advise on the installing the trem further back for the more stringy JM look

is it a specific distance, if wrong would effect anything intonation etc ? 

Gagaryn

moogie72 said:

Tbh, I’d prob go with the bigsby bridgeplate and a mustang

any advise on the installing the trem further back for the more stringy JM look

is it a specific distance, if wrong would effect anything intonation etc ? 

Position of the bridge is what defines the intonation. There isn't all that much more space behind the bridge on a telemaster than there is on a telecaster, maybe 3cm, so you are not going to get the same overtones from the strings behind the bridge as you do on a JM - mainly because the B5 has a tension roller at the front of it where as the JM does not.

moogie72

Ok will fit per bigsbys recomendations 

ICBM

I would still move it back a bit if there's room, even if only slightly. Increasing the distance reduces the break angle over the saddles and helps reduce tuning issues, as well as possibly giving a slightly more Jazzmaster-ish tone.

moogie72

Ok it’s getting the distance correct so I don’t cause an issue is my concern being a bit of a chippy I only deal in mm , what would you say 10mm? I’ll have a look at some more vids 

ICBM

moogie72 said:

Ok it’s getting the distance correct so I don’t cause an issue is my concern being a bit of a chippy I only deal in mm , what would you say 10mm? I’ll have a look at some more vids 

The exact distance doesn't matter at all. I would put it as far back as it will go without the back of the Bigsby starting to overhang the rounding of the body edge, but if that doesn't look right then move it forward a bit.

The only thing that's really important is that it's centred and on straight. The way I do that is to put masking tape on the body in the area it will go, then use a straightedge along the sides of the neck and mark the extended neck positions on the tape. The Bigsby needs to be centred between these - go by the roller, not the frame and with the roller at a right angle to the centreline.

moogie72

Brilliant, your a star , I know where I’m at now thanks again 

moogie72

Ok , I have a 4 screw bridge plate in , bigsby plates are 3 . I don’t really want to fill and redrill.
i know gotoh do a tray with 4 screws , and the back plate is cut back so strings can go over and on to the bigsby...the seem pretty rare.only found one in US and Spain

i like the go to modern plate, due to thickness.....I’m pretty hot with the angle grinder...
just wondered if grinding a pace for the strings around the screw mounts would cause any issues 

had seen somthing somwhere with sumone doing it with a dremmel 

just want ant to get my bridge sorted before I hit myself up with the trem 

Gagaryn

see my photo above for bridge plate modified with a dremel. The gotoh plate uses standard tele saddles, I thought the reason you were going this way is because you wanted to use a mustang bridge? That was always going to require holes filled and drilled, not least for the thimbles.