THAT gretsch acoustic with the bigsby...

Hertz32

http://s12.postimg.org/fwerihw18/IMG_20150211_162425684.jpg

I had a play on one in Wunjo's, and it disturbed me...

Hertz32

Plugged it into a tiny AER amp and it blew me away though.
But I think the amp was just flattering it, rather than it sounding inherently good

xmrchi

I did a small review of these in the acoustic section here, great plugged in tone, horrific acoustic tone, and cheap feel... What did you think about it?

Octahedron

They're an oddity that's for sure. Bit like that square Bo Diddley guitar they make.

I think they should be banned, personally. And the square one too. As Chappers/The Captain rightly point out it sounds too square.

Plus I think what scares me about the guitar which is the subject of this thread is simply the fact that it's a Bigsby on an acoustic and it wouldn't matter to me who manufactured that, I would still be scared. I would be worried about mistakenly applying just that little bit too much force to the Bigsby and putting a crack in the top of the guitar!!

I would have to assume and hope to God that this is a solid top??

ICBM

Octahedron said:

Plus I think what scares me about the guitar which is the subject of this thread is simply the fact that it's a Bigsby on an acoustic and it wouldn't matter to me who manufactured that, I would still be scared. I would be worried about mistakenly applying just that little bit too much force to the Bigsby and putting a crack in the top of the guitar!!

Won't want to put strings on a guitar then!

Force when pushing down on the Bigsby arm: ~ a pound or two

Force of string tension on guitar top: ~ 60-120lbs depending on gauge

Actually the tension on the top of this is a lot lower than a conventional flat-top acoustic anyway, because it's taken by the Bigsby and partly transferred to the endblock, rather than entirely supported by the top.

If you really want to try something fun, go to a guitar shop that does a lot of repairs and ask for a scrap cheap acoustic - most keep a few unrepairable ones for things like spare bridges etc - and see how much force it takes to break the body when you lie it down and stand on the bridge . Unless you're quite heavy, you're likely to be able to stand on it gently without breaking it - you'll have to jump to do it.

A guitar body is like a cleverly constructed wooden box girder, really - strong out of all proportion to its own weight.

Octahedron said:

I would have to assume and hope to God that this is a solid top??

I'd assume ply, which is even stronger!

Shame they don't do it in black, or I might be interested - it's just too 'country' looking for me as it is. I really like the idea of an acoustic/electric hybrid with a Bigsby though...

Sassafras

My missus didn't find my Yamaha acoustic very strong at all when she reduced it to splinters in the heat of the moment.

ICBM

Sassafras said:

My missus didn't find my Yamaha acoustic very strong at all when she reduced it to splinters in the heat of the moment.

Heels, or hit against a hard object at an angle?

They're not very strong like that, it is true… you can only load a lightweight box in the direction it's designed to be, and they don't take impact well. The backs and sides are nowhere near as strong as the top, either - since they don't have to be.