Bigsby Tailpiece: Why don't I see more of them?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Easto
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Easto

Easto

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I remember in my youth if you wanted a "whammy" bar the name was Bigsby. I understand that there might be newer models that may or may not be more stable but... I was just wondering why I don't see more of them out there?

Just wondering,
Easto
 
Two reasons:

1) They are cool, and there just aren't that many cool people.

2) You can't do big divebombs with them.
 
Certain gear just suggests a certain genre.

A Floyd Rose suggests '80's shred.
A Bigsby suggests rockabilly.

Rockabilly is not super popular right now, thus you don't see many Bigsbys. However, among rockabilly guitarists, every single one has a guitar w/ a Bigsby.

A
 
The Bigsby was designed for using vibrato on chords, not, as has been pointed out, dive-bombing. I have a couple of guitars (a Chet Atkins Country Gent and a Ventura copy of it) with Bigsbys and I can't adapt to modern whammys. I had a Strat for a while and it just didn't feel right. Turn that around: someone raised on a contemporary whammy isn't going to like a Bigsby, because it's not what they are used to. You can't pull up to sharp, and the amount of detuning is limited. Like I said, they were for vibrato. Don't forget, it was designed in the 1940s for archtop guitars, not for solid bodies.
 
I always heard that they weren't very good at keeping the strings in tune and that they were a bear to configure/setup.
 
I think dragonworks is going to put a gold one on his custom homemade tele.
 
I've played a tele with a bigsby as well as lots of hollowbody guitars with them and they're fun to play around with, and they suit the tele pretty well, but I'd get bored of them really fast just like I do with floyd rose bridges. However the bigsby has the distinct advantage of looking way cooler than a floyd rose.
 
I have a bigsby tailpeice on my semi hollow Hoffner. bought it that way. i like it alot.
 
Horrible tuning problems are the reason the Bigsby went out of fasion IME.
 
The thing about Bigsby's is they have to be setup by someone who knows what they are doing. A poor setup will absolutley kill you. When they are done right, and used properly they work and sound great.
 
Bigsbys are just fine for teles. I have not found them to go out of tune anymore that a standard strat vibrato. I intend to install a roller bridge, roller nut and locking tuners, that ought to help.
 
Horrible tuning problems are the reason the Bigsby went out of fasion IME.

As I pointed out, it's old tech. My Bigsbys stay in tune, but then I use relatively heavy strings (.011-.052, wound 3rd) which in fact are LIGHT compared to what the Bigsby was designed around. Some of those old archtops had a wound 2nd! For somebody brought up on .009s and one spring on the whammy, they are difficult. But as long as you don't mind the llimitations, they are fine. Just don't expect a Bigsby to be "perfect intonation forever" because you have to work with it.

After all, it's like my Dobro: 1930 design, no pickup, how basic can you get? But if you are accustomed to making your own sound*, as opposed to having the machinery make your sound for you, the Bigsby and the Dobro have their place.

_____
*The corollary to that is that if the machine makes the sound for you, it's not YOUR sound.
 
lpdeluxe said:
Some of those old archtops had a wound 2nd!
Click to expand...

Wow! I used to put a set with a wound G on my Mustang and chords were so rich, but bending would break strings in no time.
 
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