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And here's the thing; if it's hard for them, it's hard for them: QED. That it's easy for you is irrelevant. That you think it ought to be easy for other people is irrelevant. The only criteria in determining whether people who tried this found it difficult is whether they tried it and found it difficult.
By your own admission you've never owned a guitar with a Bigsby or tried restringing one, but you're determined to tell me that it's hard because you've read it on the internet…
The whole reason I think this needs challenging every time is because when myths like this get repeated, they become even harder to dispel.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I'm doing another one as I like it that much
(formerly customkits)
I agree with @ICBM that the internet just perpetuates the myth that they're problematical. Once you've done it a few times it becomes second nature. Anyone who thinks otherwise is doing it wrong.
Or would be better suited to a brass instrument, not much to do on those.
I'm not claiming it's hard because I read it on the internet. There is a clear distinction between the following propositions:
1. Many people have reported that Bigsbys are a PITA when restringing. A reasonable inference is that people who lack aptitude for that kind of thing struggle with them. Based on my experience of similar things I believe I'd be in the category of people who struggled. On that basis that I wouldn't buy a guitar fitted with one.
2. I know for a fact Bigsbys are a PITA when restringing because I read it on the internet.
The first proposition is the one I made; the second is not remotely the kind of thing I'd say and is a straw dog of your own manufacture.
If many people report that stringing a Bigsby was not easy for them, then it was not easy for them. It's a simple tautology, unless you think they are all liars. As I said before whether or not you find it easy, whether any number of other people find it easy, whether you believe you can objectively demonstrate that it ought to be easy, are all irrelevant. It is nevertheless a demonstrable and verifiable fact that some people don't find it easy. And since that's all I'm claiming, it's all I need to prove.
My Grandads brother was a blind piano tuner, one of 2 careers he was offered training for at blind school. I imagine stringing a bigsby would not be a challenge to someone used to dealing with those sort of tuning pegs / tensions.
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For anyone else who is actually interested in the reality of it rather than internet myths, this the trick:
That's it. That and nothing more. If you do that the string will stay on the pin and won't pop off even if you let go of it, so then it's no more difficult than stringing a stopbar.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Gee us all a good chortle
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO KEEP TENSION ON THE STRINGS.
The whole point is that if you bend the string like that, it stays on the pin. Do I have to repeat that again?
And yes, I can restring the whole guitar in very little more time than it takes to do a stopbar, using nothing more than my hands.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Just because you bend the string with pliers/over your thumb, it doesn't make it stay on the peg
If it does for you then show us
It's only remotely non-trivial if you're combining a Bigsby with Fender slot-head tuners.
You don't need pliers, vises, mole-wrenches or any other tools unless you're physically incapacitated.
I'm not holding the other end of the string.
If it doesn't stay on the pin for you, you aren't bending it like in the picture above.
I'm really trying to be helpful here, but I feel like I'm banging my head on the table. It just completely baffles me why some people seem to deliberately want to make something so easy into something they claim is so hard, and then will argue about it indefinitely with someone who *knows* it can be done the easy way.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
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(formerly customkits)