Bigsbys

mawd
mawd Posts: 9
edited December 2006 in Musicians and Gearheads
Hi....I just bought a new Gibson SG Standard. I was planning on putting a Bigsby B-5 on it someone suggested the B-6 because of it's better stability. Has anyone evr fitted a B-6 to a Gibson SG Standard? Any comments......
Regards.......MAWD
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Regards.....MAWD
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • enharmonic
    enharmonic Posts: 1,917
    The B6 won't fit on an SG AFAIK. The B5 should be fine. Tuning stability is about the same for both.

    Bigsby's require more attention than more modern vibrato/trem units. If you are cognizant of that, tuning and intonation aare a breeze.
    new music: http://www.myspace.com/blackbirdsymphonique

    old music: http://www.myspace.com/slowloader
  • mawd
    mawd Posts: 9
    enharmonic wrote:
    The B6 won't fit on an SG AFAIK. The B5 should be fine. Tuning stability is about the same for both.

    Bigsby's require more attention than more modern vibrato/trem units. If you are cognizant of that, tuning and intonation aare a breeze.

    Hi....thanks for that...I used to have one back in the 70/80's here:

    http://members.ozemail.com.au/~mawd/my1stsg.jpg

    and I do believe it's a B-5...I'll probably run with the B-5 because, as you say, I can't see why there would be a stability problem with either of them.
    Regards......MAWD
    Regards.....MAWD
  • StoneG82
    StoneG82 Posts: 806
    I just put a b5 on my sg classic and I love it. changing strings is a pain in the ass. what I've found really simplifies the whole process is if you bend the string (where the ball or whatever is) at a 45 degree angle and then attach it to the pin on your Bigsby. the trick to getting it to stay there is clasping a capo over the ball which is attached to the pin.....that way you can wind the string around the tuners without the string popping out of the bigsby.

    you may have already known that but I just figured it was an interesting tidbit if changing strings gave you problems.
    "What’s Orphans? I don’t know. Orphans is a dead end kid driving a coffin with big tires across the Ohio River wearing welding goggles and a wife beater with a lit firecracker in his ear." - Tom Waits
  • mawd
    mawd Posts: 9
    StoneG82 wrote:
    I just put a b5 on my sg classic and I love it. changing strings is a pain in the ass. what I've found really simplifies the whole process is if you bend the string (where the ball or whatever is) at a 45 degree angle and then attach it to the pin on your Bigsby. the trick to getting it to stay there is clasping a capo over the ball which is attached to the pin.....that way you can wind the string around the tuners without the string popping out of the bigsby.

    you may have already known that but I just figured it was an interesting tidbit if changing strings gave you problems.

    Hi....that's interesting stuff....string changing can be a pain....I remember it as a real chore....did you fit the Bigsby yourself? Have any problems along the way....actually, it looks pretty easy...I've never done one but I thought I'd give it a stab. Are you experiencing any tuning/intonation problems....I think it's back to stretching the strings in and giving the Trem a little smack so it all kind of settles back in...thanks for the info...I've finally found someone who's got one up + runnung.
    Regards......MAWD
    Regards.....MAWD
  • StoneG82
    StoneG82 Posts: 806
    mawd wrote:
    Hi....that's interesting stuff....string changing can be a pain....I remember it as a real chore....did you fit the Bigsby yourself? Have any problems along the way....actually, it looks pretty easy...I've never done one but I thought I'd give it a stab. Are you experiencing any tuning/intonation problems....I think it's back to stretching the strings in and giving the Trem a little smack so it all kind of settles back in...thanks for the info...I've finally found someone who's got one up + runnung.
    Regards......MAWD

    I had my local guitar store install it. it's really not that hard of a process, I just don't feel comfortable drilling holes into my guitar. I had it set up also and have yet to have any intonation/tuning problems.

    I mean, if you use the Bigsby enough, eventually the strings are gonna go out of tune. You pretty much know that going in. As someone pointed out in another Bigsby thread, the trick is knowing how far to bend the arm upward after a down press to go back in tune, and vice versa.

    you'll see what I mean....it's natural after a while.

    and yeah after you change strings you're gonna wanna stretch them out quite a bit....I've found that helps. The guy who installed it/set up my guitar put some lead into the string slots in my nut which he said helped the tuning.
    "What’s Orphans? I don’t know. Orphans is a dead end kid driving a coffin with big tires across the Ohio River wearing welding goggles and a wife beater with a lit firecracker in his ear." - Tom Waits
  • xtremehardy388
    xtremehardy388 Posts: 2,759
    I never knew there different types of bigbys. Can someone tell me the difference?
    Grand Rapids '04, Detroit '06
    JEFF HARDY AND JEFF AMENT USED TO LOOK THE SAME
    "Pearl Jam always eases my mind and fires me up at the same time.”-Jeff Hardy
  • enharmonic
    enharmonic Posts: 1,917
    It's a lot easier to see then it is to explain. dig it :)

    http://www.bigsbyguitars.com/intro.html
    new music: http://www.myspace.com/blackbirdsymphonique

    old music: http://www.myspace.com/slowloader
  • mawd
    mawd Posts: 9
    StoneG82 wrote:
    I just put a b5 on my sg classic and I love it. changing strings is a pain in the ass. what I've found really simplifies the whole process is if you bend the string (where the ball or whatever is) at a 45 degree angle and then attach it to the pin on your Bigsby. the trick to getting it to stay there is clasping a capo over the ball which is attached to the pin.....that way you can wind the string around the tuners without the string popping out of the bigsby. you may have already known that but I just figured it was an interesting tidbit if changing strings gave you problems.

    Hi...Just as a matter of interest....I see there are two sorts of B-5's...Chrome and Aluminium. Which one did you install?
    Regards.....MAWD
  • StoneG82
    StoneG82 Posts: 806
    mawd wrote:
    Hi...Just as a matter of interest....I see there are two sorts of B-5's...Chrome and Aluminium. Which one did you install?

    I do believe it's the aluminum one. The only options I'm seeing on the Bigsby site are aluminum and gold, and mine's definitely not gold. that would just look ridiculous.
    "What’s Orphans? I don’t know. Orphans is a dead end kid driving a coffin with big tires across the Ohio River wearing welding goggles and a wife beater with a lit firecracker in his ear." - Tom Waits
  • mawd
    mawd Posts: 9
    StoneG82 wrote:
    I do believe it's the aluminum one. The only options I'm seeing on the Bigsby site are aluminum and gold, and mine's definitely not gold. that would just look ridiculous.

    Hi....odd....for some reason I thought there was a Nickel model.
    aluminium will do just fine.....
    Regards.....MAWD
  • StoneG82
    StoneG82 Posts: 806
    mawd wrote:
    Hi....odd....for some reason I thought there was a Nickel model.
    aluminium will do just fine.....

    there may be other options, but I believe aluminum is just the "standard" bigsby. (if you want silver.)
    "What’s Orphans? I don’t know. Orphans is a dead end kid driving a coffin with big tires across the Ohio River wearing welding goggles and a wife beater with a lit firecracker in his ear." - Tom Waits

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