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imho the licensed ones are if anything better - the castings are more accurate. I've had to file & fiddle some US ones. The dimensions are different, the tail brackets are different but can be swapped with some faff, the US ones have a bronze or oilite bush, licensed have nylon. Which is fine is a very low stress use like this and doesn't need oil. All in all the differences don't add up to much.
The V-cuts look the dogs on a Gretsch though, as per Proline & vintage etc.
Don't remove the pins and drill the bar, that makes things much harder because it's now a real pain to remove the old strings...
The genuine Bigsbys work much better than the licenced ones in my experience - it's the quality of the bearings that really counts, regardless of the accuracy and finish of the castings.
"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
For me they are comparable. They feel a little different but both work really well. The decision between a B5 and B50 comes down to aesthetics. I like the vintage look from the original castings, but it never looks right on a brand new shiny guitar. The decision between a B5 and B500 comes down to budget
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It's always worth replying to, because it's simply completely and absolutely wrong. Maybe one day it will get through, who knows .
"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
Instagram
"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
If you just had to bend it round your thumb then no one would complain about them...Vibramate wouldn't have made a unit especially either
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If you bend the string properly it doesn't even need you to keep tension on the string, let alone capo it, and it will stay in place.
Vibramate make a special unit because some people always prefer not to bother learning a simple technique to make something work...
"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
"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
Before the internet came along., I never realised how impossible it was to restring a Bigsby and I wondered how I'd managed to do it so easily for all these years.
Now that everything is computer controlled, people seem to have lost the knack of working out the simple logic of mechanisms.
The yoof of today, they don't know they're born.
I've also personally known, and read plenty of posts from, people who've bought Bigsbys, put time and effort into mastering this supposed technique, and still ended up selling the damn things because it's turned changing strings into a massive PITA for them. I have not a scintilla of doubt that if I bought one i would be one of the worst of the strugglers. Aptitudes for this sort of thing greatly vary, as do interest levels in learning to do it properly.
I detest changing strings on a guitar at the best of times, even though I've been doing it for decades; practice has not made perfect: I take far too long to do it, still don't do a very tidy job and too often end up with a bleeding finger. I'm happy to pay for locking tuners to minimise the hassle and for coated strings to reduce frequency. I'm certainly not going to invest in a piece of kit that makes it harder. And for that reason I have absolutely zero interest in buying a guitar with an unmodded Bigsby.
(Well that along with the tuning issues; and before someone charges in to say that the tuning on a Bigsby is just fine and dandy if you're not the sort of cretin who doesn't know how to set one up properly, let me say that in the first place I've done plenty of research on that issue and don't believe you, and secondly that even if I did I predictably AM the sort of cretin who doesn't know how to set one up properly. I'm not proud of that, but neither am I ashamed of it - we all have our strengths and weaknesses; and I know enough about mine to think that there are far more profitable uses of my time than trying to turn myself into the kind of person who knows how to quickly re-string or set up a Bigsby.)
And I'm not prepared to shut up about it because the problem is *not* the Bigsby, and anyone considering fitting one or buying a guitar with one on deserves to know this before they make things needlessly difficult for themselves.
And really, the 'Anderson mod' makes things far worse because it's then difficult to get the old strings out of the bar. Even cutting them as close as you can to the bend doesn't always work and you then need to grab the ball end with pliers and pull it out, with the risk of slipping and gouging the top of the guitar. So I would definitely not call it any kind of upgrade, in fact quite the opposite.
"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