Recently, I did something i've always wanted to do. Have a tele with a bigsby. found these new bigsby "licensed" trems and jumped on it for $130 including the tele conversion plate and bridge. I was a bit sceptical of how the quality would be, but after getting the bridge and putting it side by side with some old REAL bigsby's, it's actualy alot more solid with a couple upgrades, like nylon bushings. so anyway, here it is. Photo is big so be patient.
for those that don't know/remember, this is a tele i build last year. Mahogany body, 1972 strat neck (headstock hacked up to smaller size) duncan lil '59 in the bridge and full size '59 in the neck. 3 way pu selector with coil cut switch. standard vol/tone, earvana nut. this guitar is so flexible..
Also, while I had the bridge off, I re-potted the lil 59 because it was givin me some weird squeeling. needless to say, it fixed the problem right up. this guitar is god now. =)
Enough babbling. Next time you'll get to see my strat with it's new maple/rosewood/purpleheart reverse headstock neck. =D
Well your guitar is NOT God F1sh, but it sure is nice. I love the wear on the edges -did you relic it, or are they natural? My parts tele is actually taking the place of my departed Les Paul. It's heavy and solid, and sounds raw. I like Bigsbys too, but I wouldn't try it myself. Looks great on yours though!
Very nice, F1sh -- made me think of the John5 Tele on the cover of Guitar Player, which I think "works" as a totally modern, individual update, while still retaining the classic Tele appeal.
With the straight string path, I'd think a Tele would lend itself to Bigsby-izing very well.
Posts: 1036 | Location: West Boylston MA USA | Registered: December 21, 2001
HEy Fish did you notice any loss of chunk or sustain ?? the Tele bigsbys Ive played were a little 'dead', I love bigsbys on carved tops, but the flatops seem to go dead from not having the strings thru the body....
actually don, I think the sustain is better now. I had a super shitty 6 saddle bridge from stew mac on it, and was never really happy with it. as you can see, this has a jazz master style bridge. I think a big problem with bigsby's that people don't know or realize is that if there's not enough downward pressure over the bridge saddles (and nut for that matter, think g string on a strat/tele), alot of tone and sustain is lost, which would explain why you like it better on carved top guitars, there is more downward pressure over the bridge. So by taking the time to position the tailpiece correctly, it worked out great.
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