ES-330 Bigsby B3

stickyfiddle

I thought this might deserve its own thread as a few have people online have done it but no-one has talked about it much. 

The typical bigsby used on an ES-330 or Casino is the B7, which includes a tension bar and has to be screwed into the top. I've never been a big fan of those as the tension bar is a heavy-handed solution to improve geometry at the expense of tuning stability, and no-one wants to put screws in the top of their guitar for a mod that might make it sound worse.

So in came the B3. From talking to the guys at Towner and reading every thread I could find online this was always going to be 50/50 because the bridge on my guitar was already low on its posts due to a shallow neck angle. Thankfully it worked, and the results speak for themselves...








It's worth noting that the string angle is *extremely* shallow, but cause no issues. I slightly deepened each saddle slot as the low E was skipping out like a Jazzmaster if you hit it too hard, but now that's perfect. Action adjustment is now basically zero on the treble side (see below) but it's low enough at the moment. If I ever need it lower I'd have to shave off a tiny bit of one of the thumbwheels to make them thinner, but that's not a difficult job if it's ever necessary. I did also fit a pair of domed thumbwheels which look fractionally thicker than the original flat ones, so that might make things slightly worse in that regard, but should help tuning, which is excellent.

stickyfiddle

Also worth mentioning the Bigsby fitment is via 2 screws that lined up with the old holes, and a Towner adapter plate which is there to make the strap button more accessible then anything. Neat little thing for a few quid. The whole thing is probably 2mm off centre (thanks Gibson..) but close enough to work properly and not look weird unless you scrutinise the lateral angle of the strings as they go over the bridge.



Those with good memories will also note that this is a 2018 Memphis VOS that originally had metal pickup covers. Those pickups were good sounding but made it massively louder than any of my other guitars, so it's now fitted with Lollar 50s wind P90s at the lowest heights they make with small spacers underneath to get the output where I want it. The new pickups absolutely transformed it and between those and the Bigsby it's been my most-played guitar all year by miles. 

Covers given a light trashing by me before fitting. It's not going to fool any experts but looks in the right ballpark in real life - the high contrast of the photo exaggerates the effect. 



Other mods were a new loom using Emerson 550k pots and a truss rod cover with the white layer - for some reason they put plain black ones on these that just look wrong. Anyhow, I'm very happy, though I need to get back into the wiring as the bridge volume won't go fully down. I assume either the pot's wiper needs bending or I have a short somewhere





Overall I'm now extremely happy with it, and glad I came back to the idea after foolishly selling my first 330 just before covid hit. That said, I'm convinced it was that period of regret that led me to go 100% for these mods on this one and not compromise. And now I have a guitar that's AWESOME, so it's all good  

Offset

Generally not a massive Gibson aficionado but that guitar is as sweet as a nut.  Borderline beautiful.  What a great vibe and the Bigsby just looks cracking.  Love the dog-ears as well.  You lucky sod.

Chuffola

Love a Bigsby. Love a 330. That looks stunning. Frankly, even if it played like a dog it would be a thing of beauty. 

ICBM

stickyfiddle said:

I need to get back into the wiring as the bridge volume won't go fully down. I assume either the pot's wiper needs bending or I have a short somewhere

Most likely the ground terminal being bent back has strained the rivetting to the track board. We've had a lot of those recently...

Squeeze it onto the board with some narrow-nose pliers, that usually fixes it.

You can fix the loom so the cable doesn't run across the f-hole at the same time .

stickyfiddle

ICBM said:

stickyfiddle said:

I need to get back into the wiring as the bridge volume won't go fully down. I assume either the pot's wiper needs bending or I have a short somewhere

Most likely the ground terminal being bent back has strained the rivetting to the track board. We've had a lot of those recently...

Squeeze it onto the board with some narrow-nose pliers, that usually fixes it.

You can fix the loom so the cable doesn't run across the f-hole at the same time .

Yeah, that's my first guess. I've been putting it off tbh but I'm getting much better at rewiring these things than the first couple of times I did it. 

Not bothered about the loom cable - that's a faff to sort :P 

stickyfiddle

Offset said:

Generally not a massive Gibson aficionado but that guitar is as sweet as a nut.  Borderline beautiful.  What a great vibe and the Bigsby just looks cracking.  Love the dog-ears as well.  You lucky sod.

Chuffola said:

Love a Bigsby. Love a 330. That looks stunning. Frankly, even if it played like a dog it would be a thing of beauty. 

Cheers both! 

It's actually so pretty that MrsF has let me put it on the wall in my home office which is really part of our entrance hallway. It looks better against the green than any of my others* and it's right above my desk so I can grab 5 minutes of coddling whenever I need to think about something difficult.

*though I reckon a sunburst Atkin 47 will run it close...

not_the_dj

That looks awesome Mike. 

TheMarlin

I’d put a longer arm in that Bigsby.  

Looks very cool! 

Hottubes

Looks great with black pickup covers. Enjoy.

stickyfiddle

TheMarlin said:

I’d put a longer arm in that Bigsby.  

Looks very cool! 

This is ok length-wise. Any longer and it wouldn’t fit in its case..! I guess there might be arms where the swing pivot is also moved towards the bridge, but I don’t mind it as-is; it’s thee when I need it but fairly unobtrusive when I don’t. 

I might go for a Duane Eddy arm though, just for a bit of poshness

stickyfiddle

Minor update - started taking it apart last weekend and broke my favourite tiny pliers in the process. Narrowly missed my glasses & eyes - always wear protection folks...

Got new pliers and got it properly diagnosed today at lunchtime (yay WFH!). It was the pot, but rather than the third tag grounding it turned out to be the overall ground connection to the back of the same pot had come loose. A quick bit of soldering (after scuffing the back of the pot to give it a better chance of surviving) then back together without even having to get the whole loom out - THANK GOD. 

I also reinstalled the knob pointers, filed the underside of the bigbsy just a fraction to minimise pressure except via the foam pads, and coloured in the edges of the pickup spacers with sharpie so they're a closer colour match with the pickup covers  

Seziertisch

stickyfiddle said:

TheMarlin said:

I’d put a longer arm in that Bigsby.  

Looks very cool! 

This is ok length-wise. Any longer and it wouldn’t fit in its case..! I guess there might be arms where the swing pivot is also moved towards the bridge, but I don’t mind it as-is; it’s thee when I need it but fairly unobtrusive when I don’t. 

I might go for a Duane Eddy arm though, just for a bit of poshness

I haven’t used the Eddy one, but the Chet “wire” arm has the added bonus of being a bit heavier than the regular arm resulting in a more touch sensitive response.

merlin

Seziertisch said:

stickyfiddle said:

I might go for a Duane Eddy arm though, just for a bit of poshness

I haven’t used the Eddy one, but the Chet “wire” arm has the added bonus of being a bit heavier than the regular arm resulting in a more touch sensitive response.

I put a "Chet" on my G6118T. Big improvement, I don't know why they don't come as standard.

And a 330 with Bigsby is a great option. 
Drool. 

Seziertisch

merlin said:

Seziertisch said:

stickyfiddle said:

I might go for a Duane Eddy arm though, just for a bit of poshness

I haven’t used the Eddy one, but the Chet “wire” arm has the added bonus of being a bit heavier than the regular arm resulting in a more touch sensitive response.

I put a "Chet" on my G6118T. Big improvement, I don't know why they don't come as standard.

And a 330 with Bigsby is a great option. 
Drool. 

The fact they call it a “wire” is misleading when in fact it is a substantial piece of steel compared to the aluminium original