Bigsby Tremelo Arm For Telecaster

[orson198305]

Hello, i'm wanting to fit a bigsby arm to my telecaster, i was wondering which model is suited for telecasters & any complications that may arise in fitting one.

Is this something you can fit yourself, or is it a definate pro job?

Thanks in advance

[rushofblood]

B5 is the one most often used, but there's one specifically for telecaster (looks dumb though)

You can do it yourself if you have a drill press and you're accurate, all you need to do is drill four holes. The harder part is considering the bridge. Most of the time when you put a bigsby on a tele, the whole bridge configuration changes.

The bridge plate changes to a flat one with different cutouts for the new actual bridge you need, usually a mustang/jaguar bridge, which requires that studs be put in the body (THAT is more of a pro job.)

There's also the method of cutting slots in the back side of your existing bridge where the strings would go, so that they can hit the saddles. This works best with a vintage style tele bridge (3 saddles)

Good luck!

[orson198305]

Yeah i see what you mean, the bigsby made for the tele' looks pretty clumsy. I'm a little concerned about how far back the arm is, looks like it'll interfere with the controls a bit.

[orson198305]

Found this;

http://www.xs4all.nl/~msengers/htm/gallery.htm

[Clive Hugh]

I had a bigsby many moons ago and it was a pain in the butt, I would not go back to them.

[orson198305]

So what did you find wrong with it?