Optimal Bigsby for Aristocrat?

[musicofanatic]

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[matsickma]

It's a constant debate on Bigsby type for an Aristocrat. One bigsby type puts excessive pressure/break angle and requires drilling a hole or two into the top which significantly reduced the value of a vintage instrument. Or the other bigsby model that is a reversable modification with a vibrato that has limited downward pressure so strings slip out of the saddle.

I'll be curious to read the debate!
M

 

[Guildedagain]

Personally glad to be growing out of the need to change things on guitars. In time I even regretted the things I've done to my guitars, and had to deal with the devaluation come selling time.

 

[Walter Broes]

There's not enough neck angle for a B3. Maybe try a forum search, this comes up every so often.

 

[matsickma]

I like to modify guitars that are beaters and players. The more expensive guitars may get modified if it is reversible.
Lately I have been picking up used NS models for modding.
Everyone need a few of their own "Frankenstein" guitars.
M

 

[matsickma]

If you have no concerns of vintage value issue install the tension roller model and add experiment with spacers to raise tension roller to a break angle to your liking. Note that you may need to add a little block of wood inside the guitar below the bigsby screw holes. And you should use a Guildsby.

However I suggest that if you paid a lot for your vintage Aristocrat buy a used NS Aristocrat and make the mod. You may be very pleased with that instrument.
M

 

[SFIV1967]

Just 3 example threads when searching (upper right side of page) for Bigsby and Aristocrat. There are more.

To Bigsby or not to Bigsby...

that is the question. I just bought a second M75 just because they are a really unique guitar and I really like the tone. But I also wanted to get second one so I could have one with a Bigsby. So using my paint program I put a Bigsby on the Goldtop. Slightly out of scale and the lighting is...

letstalkguild.com

Has anyone else put a Guildsby or Bigsby on their Aristocrat NS reissue?

I'm wondering about the neck angle and if there is enough to put one on. I know it would have to be a B7 or the Guildsby equivalent.

letstalkguild.com

Bigsby for M75

I have a Newark St M-75 Aristocrat. I would like to add a Bigsby. I am trying to decide between the "Guildsby" made for the Starfire that is sold on the Guild website, a B-3, or a B-11. All things being the same, I would go for a B-11 over a B-3 just because it's a little bit lighter. Does...

letstalkguild.com

Ralf

 

[musicofanatic]

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[Default]

It's a constant debate on Bigsby type for an Aristocrat. One bigsby type puts excessive pressure/break angle and requires drilling a hole or two into the top which significantly reduced the value of a vintage instrument. Or the other bigsby model that is a reversable modification with a vibrato that has limited downward pressure so strings slip out of the saddle.

I'll be curious to read the debate!
M

You might be able to improve the break angle by removing the tension roller and just using the roller axle. In the video, he talks about the Bigsby not being flat, but you can do that yourself. All you need is some 400 grit sandpaper and one of the glass shelves out of your medicine cabinet. Just tape the sandpaper to the glass, and then sand the trem flat.

 

[Default]

Making a Bigsby B70 Usable

Making a Bigsby B70 Usable: I recently bought an Epiphone Wildkat and found issues with the vibrato and tuning stability. Using the vibrato the strings would sometimes stick and then snap free creating a "hammer on" or "pull off" kind of effect instead of a smooth bend. Also, …

www.instructables.com

If you go with the import Bigsby.

 

[parker_knoll]

I've long rejected Aristos because there's no vibrato that works. The body is too short for a B7. You can pick up a Korean one and experiment because in all honesty I fear you may ruin the guitar in terms of playability with a B7. Others may have more experience

I might get one and just accept it as a vibrato-less guitar in my future.

Towner makes tension bar adjusters and a block that pushes the vibrato further back on the body, but they look clunky and can mean the guitar no longer fits in the case.

TOWNER Guitar Parts

Unique Guitar Products by TOWNER

townerusa.com

 

[Walter Broes]

If you're going to put a Bigsby on a vintage Aristocrat, put a vintage Guild B7 on it - they do come up on Ebay and Reverb every once in a while. That's what the very few Aristocrats that left the factory with a Bigsby had, so I think you'd devalue the guitar less with one of those.

Another consideration is that the Guild version of a B7 doesn't have that extra mounting "lip" between the front roller and the bridge, so it plain fits the guitar better.
The break angle to the bridge will get steep-ish, but a couple of shims/washers under the Bigsby plate at the mounting points can fix that.

 

[Default]

That's what I had to do with the DeA, spacers under the front. The break was so steep, the strings wore grooves in the body of the bridge. Funny how that guitar was made in a different country, decades later, and still had the same issue.

 

[musicofanatic]

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[musicofanatic]

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[parker_knoll]

Lookit this cute little, stubby D'yarmun tailpiece! doesn't it look shorter than the average B-7?

Shelton's Guitars

they are shorter. you could also modify one of those or a B7 by cutting off the front portion and turning it into a truncated B3. I still think the break angle will be too high.

Here's an option which is reversible

 

[GGJaguar]

This one looks about right.

 

[parker_knoll]

This one looks about right.

too close IMO. ultra steep break angle.

A Towner bar would sort that

 

[musicofanatic]

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[Stefan Eff]

I‘m a big Bigsby fan. Really.

But there are guitars that don‘t want a Bigsby. The M-75 is one on them.