Bigsby

further

Anyone know how much it would cost to have one fitted to a telecaster ?

Col_Decker

You've started a tele + bigsby thread. Brace yourself

ICBM

How do you want it done - with the full 'lyre' bridgeplate and rocking bridge, or with a conversion to the existing bridge? Screwed to the body or with a Vibramate?

The easiest is with a simple Bigsby and modifying the existing bridge, the most expensive doing it the full 'right' way with the rocker posts since they need post holes accurately boring into the body. The Vibramate may be even easier but I've never fitted one.

Probably about £20 to £75 worth of work, depending on who does it and whether it's via a shop etc - not including the parts, obviously.

not_the_dj

Do you mean how much will a tech charge me to fit it, or what do I buy?

@stickyfiddle fitted one to a Tele (last year IIRC).

I've recently been thinking the same (but for a Gibson) and there's loads of videos on youtube showing the installation process.

(also just ignore the inevitable "noooooo" posts)

further

"Do you mean how much will a tech charge me to fit it "(This) maybe with a vibramate.I don't feel confident at shimming the neck.

Panama_Jack666

These Bigsby threads are multiplying! The problem is worst than I first thought!

stickyfiddle

The Tele vibramate is piss easy to fit and I highly recommend it if just to avoid drilling the guitar. Just replace the bridge, add the tailpiece part via the strap button and maybe shim the neck a smidge to get optimum break angle. It's all very simple as long as you're careful, and a decent tech shouldn't take more than an hour's labour. Definitely a lot easier than the full blown JM-bridge and F-logo tailpiece, and reversible too.

The only tricksy bit is setting intonation- it's a good idea to through-string the new bridge before adding the bigsby to get the saddles set for as the bigsby gets in the way afterwards. Failing that you can twist the intonation screws from the wrong end with long nose pliers but it's better not to!

further

That's what I was thinking,just trying to find out how much it would cost.

jd0272

Bigsby's. Lurvely.

ThePrettyDamned

Mate, your tone will change. I love the sound of a tele with bigsby, it's amazing.

Look into a vibramate, it's the easiest way of doing it, but expensive.

Deijavoo

+1 on the loving teles with Bigsbys.

Bucket

No. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

Just to clarify - no.

p90fool

Just hack away your bridge plate and whack the Bigsby on there, that's what I did

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/2272/ntuf.jpg

Actually it's not quite that simple. You need very careful string alignment on a Tele, it's wise to install the Bigsby half a gnat's knacker towards the top E side to stop the skinniest string falling down the gap at the end of the tension bar.
Apart from that, it's hardly a daunting engineering project.

ICBM

I don't think you need to cut that much of the bridge away - narrow slots for the strings is enough. That fixes the potential slippage problem too. It won't cause tuning trouble even if the strings lightly rub against the sides of the slots because the friction on the saddles is far higher.

If you can work out the exact height the strings have to pass through the end of the bridge (without rubbing severely) I'd do it by drilling holes. The range of action adjustment is small enough that there's probably only one possible position.

further

Both of those ideas seem good,but  how do I know where to screw the Bigsby,sorry if that's a stupid question.

further

Another daft question,what model Bigsby is that.

p90fool

Neither of them are daft questions, its not actually a real Bigsby, but its a pretty close replica of a B5. I just put both E strings on to check alignment then marked the holes.
A good cheat is to use a cheap toploader bridge, the string anchor holes are a great guide as to where you should be grinding. ICBM is correct, you dont need to cut them away as much as I did

further

Am I right in thinking that wherever the Bigsby is the intonation is only affected after the bridge,so the distance from Bigsby to bridge doesn't matter.Sorry about all the questions.

Col_Decker

Have a looky here for info and specs and ting

 

linky

 

 

ICBM

further said:

Am I right in thinking that wherever the Bigsby is the intonation is only affected after the bridge,so the distance from Bigsby to bridge doesn't matter.

Yes, that's correct. The only difference the distance of the Bigsby from the bridge makes is (very slightly) to the feel of string bending, and in a few rare cases, the break angle over the bridge saddles can matter. But usually the range of possible positions is small enough that you just put it where it looks right, or where the arm doesn't get in the way of the guitar controls.

further

Cheers guys,thanks for all the replies,