Les Paul trem options

MartinBush

Hi all

I have just taken delivery of a Mosky Spring reverb unit which is excellent but I now have a desire to add a bit of trem to the things I am playing.

I have a LP standard and have seen that there's some options to add a trem without drilling etc (Andertons do one by Duensberg for instance)... sounds great, but I wondered what others thought?

I can't imagine that it's as simple as it is made to sound.

I'm not in a position to get a second guitar, and I don't want to get one fitted in a way that requires drilling, so it's either this kind of option or forget about it

Martin

RaymondLin

Forget about it...They all leave marks, even those that claim they don't.

MartinBush

My guitar is reasonably marked already. What I want to avoid is drilling and, should I take a unit off in the future, being left with obvious holes. I also want to avoid getting something that sounds disappointing or mucks up the intonation etc.

The Duensberg Les Paul Trem 2 looks good, but I fear there's got to be a catch

I could go the Jad Fair route and just bend the neck.

roberty

The Dussenberg Les Trem 2 is really good.  Just make sure your nut is cut properly or you'll be in a world of pain

I had a Bigsby B7 drilled into my Les Paul by a professional because I'm a pussy and won't drill anything worth more than a grand

RaymondLin

If you don't mind marks and don't want to drill then go for it.  It's your guitar. 

ICBM

The Duesenberg is very good. It fits directly on and works well, with one limitation - unless you use very heavy strings it will usually not float forward of the rest position, so it’s difficult to use for subtle vibrato. It has the same problems with string movement over the bridge saddles as any other Bigsby-type trem so you may need a roller or rocking bridge, but it’s not as bad because it lifts the string anchor points up a bit so it reduces the break angle, compared to a tension-bar Bigsby.

But it just looks a bit odd, on a Gibson... if that matters to you! I think it actually looks better than a Bigsby on something like a Yamaha SA though - horses for courses etc.

MartinBush

Thanks all for the feedback... the guitar bears the scars of various knocks and my own hamfisted adornments from the past (stickers, some of which left their colour in the finish)

@ICBM is there a roller type bridge that you would recommend that is not expensive? I'm also not quite sure what you mean that it won't float forward of the rest position.

FYI I use 10s and the guitar has in the past been properly set up and fettled (following a headstock break) so hopefully the nut is OK. I am also not what you would call a subtle player

I'd love a Bigsby but don't have deep pockets and I am hoping that if I did get a trem and it proved not to be to my liking I coudl revert to the stock specs and sell it on (or put it in a drawer for several years!)

monoamine

There is an Alex Lifeson Les Paul model....

ICBM

MartinBush said:

@ICBM is there a roller type bridge that you would recommend that is not expensive? I'm also not quite sure what you mean that it won't float forward of the rest position.

FYI I use 10s and the guitar has in the past been properly set up and fettled (following a headstock break) so hopefully the nut is OK. I am also not what you would call a subtle player

There are quite a few roller bridges - check the post size on your guitar and do a Google search for ‘tune o matic roller bridge’ and you should find a few candidates.

Unless you use very heavy strings which have enough tension to compress the spring further, the string anchor rests against the backstop, so you can’t pull up on the arm and there’s a noticeable amount of force needed to bend down from the rest position. I haven’t tried setting one up with anything heavier than 10s so far - they’ve all been for customers - so I don’t know what gauge you would need to make it float, but at least 11s.

It does also mean that it won’t go out of tune if you break a string, though.

MartinBush

Thanks @ICBM that makes sense.

I expect I'd use it for down bends rather than up so maybe 10s would possibly suit. And if it didn't work out I won't have sunk too much cash into it.

 

Headphones

I fitted one to my SG for a while and I don't recognise the issues that ICBM mentions.

Mine floated (so went up and down, quite easily), it didn't rest against any stop.  It was strung with 9s (I know, I'm a wimp).

It behaved like a slightly stiffer Strat.

My nut was/is well cut, so it didn't drift from tune (until replicating Deep Purple In Rock's antics...).

I didn't find it catching on the saddles either.

The issue I had was that the boss that the arm sits in ends up quite close to the bridge, so interfere's with where my right hand often rests, particularly if palm muting.

It's now in the box awaiting activity to dispose.

ICBM

Headphones said:

I fitted one to my SG for a while and I don't recognise the issues that ICBM mentions.

Mine floated (so went up and down, quite easily), it didn't rest against any stop.  It was strung with 9s (I know, I'm a wimp).

That's odd. I wonder if they've changed the spring strength?

Headphones

Have only the one to compare to...

Cirrus

Regardless of anything else, I think (and am correct objectively) that a Bigsby on a Les Paul looks absolutely incredible.

MartinBush

That is true @Cirrus but it's sadly out of my range at the moment. In fact a Bigsby may well cover up some of my less clever pieces of "work" done over the years (including two long scores from the bridge to the strap end done trying to trim a sticker...)

One day maybe

fretmeister

Cirrus said:

Regardless of anything else, I think (and am correct objectively) that a Bigsby on a Les Paul looks absolutely incredible.

Nope.

Cirrus

fretmeister said:

Cirrus said:

Regardless of anything else, I think (and am correct objectively) that a Bigsby on a Les Paul looks absolutely incredible.

Nope.

Just think of it as a different model. It only works if it's a grand old les paul like a goldtop, it'd be catastrophic on a grey burst or quilted top etc.

ICBM

The thing that has always amazed me is that Bigsby have never made a specific Les Paul model which would fit with no modification - it just needs to be a slightly different version of the B7 with two slots at the front to engage with the stoptail posts, and a hole in the hinge plate for the strap button screw. It's not as if there aren't enough Les Pauls out there that it would be a poor investment to make tooling for - in fact I would expect it to be an instant best-seller - and they're very consistent dimensionally so there would be no problem making it fit. The only slight variable is the strap button position, but even then drilling one extra hole where it's not often seen probably wouldn't be a deal-breaker for most people.

MartinBush

@Cirrus ;
Mine's black... I still fancy one

Philly_Q

ICBM said:

The thing that has always amazed me is that Bigsby have never made a specific Les Paul model which would fit with no modification - it just needs to be a slightly different version of the B7 with two slots at the front to engage with the stoptail posts, and a hole in the hinge plate for the strap button screw. It's not as if there aren't enough Les Pauls out there that it would be a poor investment to make tooling for - in fact I would expect it to be an instant best-seller - and they're very consistent dimensionally so there would be no problem making it fit. The only slight variable is the strap button position, but even then drilling one extra hole where it's not often seen probably wouldn't be a deal-breaker for most people.

I'm no expert on Bigsbys, I think they look sort of cool but that's not enough to make me want to own one....

From that position of ignorance, I've always been under the impression that they haven't changed any of their designs since some time in the 1950s.  But that's probably completely wrong, and if the designs do evolve then yes, they should certainly have made at least one LP-specific model by now.

pjf

Duesenberg Les Trem or a similar Goldo one (like Baranik is using on his electrics)?