Has Gibson ever tried a block tremolo unit?

Pacomc79

I was wondering this this morning. I know obviously Bigsby's have been used and Lyres.

I wonder if they've ever used a block with springs on any guitars. Les Pauls or the like. I can't recall any at all, though I do wonder what it would be like having say an SG with a tremolo unit.

ianvomsaal

Yeah, Gibson actually factory installed some F/R trems (but they're not all that common).
Alex Lifeson has one: click: Alex Lifeson with Gibson Les Paul Custom
However, you can easily replace your stop-bar with Trem Stop-Tailpiece from Stewart MacDonald.
click: Les Trem Stop-Tailpiece - in my opinion it's far less off-putting and obtrusive than a Bigsby.

Pacomc79

Looks cool. Ultimately I'd probably rather go custom 24 in that situation, but that's cool way less hassle than a bigsby, and the bigsby's have a little different tone I think.