Bigsby mod for my Starfire 5

As some may remember, I bought a gorgeous 2001 Starfire 5 a few months back. When I got the guitar the Bigsby was very stiff, nowhere near the action of the B6 Bigsbys on my Gretsch 6120DC or X-170. I had been using an Epiphone Sheraton to which I had added a B7 and it was nowhere near as stiff as the Starfire.



There had (has) been a lot of discussion of tension bar Bigsbys on various forums and the reaction had been similar to mine with the Guild. Most had opined that it had to do with the break angle over the bridge and a lot of solutions had been offered.

Anecdotally, I had become acquainted with the Chet arm through the 6120DC that I got a few years back. I was amazed at how fluid it was. I added one to the B6 style Bigsby on my X-170 and again it loosened up the action considerably. I don't know why the geometry of the Chet arm would make a difference but I dropped Physics in High School and never had to take it for undergrad or law school. But it does seem to make an appreciable difference to the standard arm.

Another suggestion that was frequently made was to increase the size of the spring to a 1".

So, I got a Chet arm, a 1" spring and some rubber bibb washers and installed them this afternoon. Wow what a difference in the action. Not sure which one made the most difference but the three together sure helped.

This picture shows the washers lifting the Bigsby off the guitar. Before, the Bigsby was right on the guitar top. It didn't raise it a lot but seems to have made a big difference.



This one shows the Chet arm in place:



Nothing that is Earth-shattering or life-changing but it makes me appreciate my beautiful Starfire a little more. Thought it might help someone.

Thanks for sharing that Don and that's a beautiful SF 5 you have there. Jacking up the B7 with the washers and lessening the break angle is a great idea and something that I'll try. I had a Gretsch 5120 with B60 and standard 7/8" spring.

(forgive the "artsy" photo - I no longer have the guitar and this is all I could find to really see the break angle)
The B60 (import B6) was smooth and light to the touch and with .050-12 strings with wound G stayed in tune nicely.

I'd wrestled with the idea of adding a Bigsby to my 1969 Startfire IV for years. In 2009 I decided to do it even though it would mean drilling a holes in the top. I bought a B7 and carefully installed it.

You can see the more extreme break angle in the pick above.

I'm happy to have in on the guitar but it performs very differently from the B60 on the Gretsch in that it's stiffer. I'll try installing some washed to elevate the base from the top and see if that makes a noticeable difference for me. After that I'll add the 1" spring and see how that work. I like the idea of the Chet arm but have never played with one. Can you post a pic showing the whole unit on the guitar?

I'll post a picture when I have a chance. Someone on another forum warned me about having rubber directly on the finish so, next string change, I will add a thin felt washer between the rubber and the guitar.

Here is a picture of the arm. Not a well exposed picture but you get the idea.

Very nice, looks great!

Man, that looks fantastic!

Fiddlers never stop fiddling.

I went back and redid the mod, adding a second washer and putting a felt pad between the rubber washer stack and the body to avoid (hopefully) some interaction between the rubber and the finish.

Here is the stack:



and this one shows the break angle over the bridge. Before the mod, the strings were almost touching the top.



The action is not quite to the point of the B6 on my X-170 or the Gretsch Nashville but it is much closer.

If it's old enough, the oil in the pivot bar may have congealed into a sticky mess. Pull off the end clip, spray with carburetor cleaner, clean the needle bearings and lube with 3-1 oil and reassemble.

So, that's jacked up about 1/8"? Are you using the original screws? I can't remember how long they are but is there still enough bite into the wood? That looks good BTW. I've not yet gotten around to doing this to mine yet but I will. I'm looking forward to some lighter action on my Bigsby.

I was surprised but the original screws still work just fine.

dbirchett,

It looks like your Chet arm is a bit longer than the stock arm. Perhaps that gives you more leverage when you Boing Away with the Bigsby! By the way, I'm sorry your law school didn't cover the Physics of Leverage. My law school did. Levering $$$ out of the clients was my favorite class.

That's a Schaller rolling bridge on your SF, yes?

I have one on my Bigsby-equipped BluesBird. The radius on my fingerboard is 12". I suspect the radius on your SF fingerboard is also 12". Interestingly, the Schaller's radius is 14". The 12/14" combination is better than some guitar/bigsby matchups, but still feels a bit odd to my aged fingers.

I think I'm going to try a Stew Mac Golden Age roller-bridge. It's a drop-in replacement (they say!) for a Nashville bridge and has a 12" radius. There are 48 reviews on the Stew Mac website for them and most are very positive. One guy said that with the Golden Age roller bridge in place, several of the strings touched the back edge of the bridge on his B7 equipped Les Paul Std, but:
1) it may just be a problem because of his particular guitar's break-over angle, as opposed to all Les Pauls and,
2) with the way you have the Bigsby raised on your axe, you might not have a problem.

Another guy said that he had trouble with the brass roller saddles falling out, but again, that was 1 review out of 48 or so.... Cost is $35 or so. You might want to try one. I'm gonna grab one soon and see if works on my axe. Here's a link:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges...n_Age_Roller_Bridge.html?read=reviews#reviews

Best of luck, HH

I think that the Schaller is probably the nicest of the roller bridges but that is probably being damned by faint praise. If I replace it with something, it would probably be a Tru-Arc.

I'm not convinced that a Tru-arc is going to intonate properly on those bridge posts you have. Are you going to pull the bushings and use a floating bridge?

Harry, I have that roller bridge on my DeArmond and have been very happy with it's performance. Much better than stock and I haven't had rattling or buzzing with it so far.

I thought a lot about Tru Arcs and Comptons for my SF III, but my '66 SF III has an 8" fingerboard radius and the only bridge top that I could find on a non-custom order basis was what originally came on it, a Bigsby bridge top that was intonated for a wound G string. I thought about trying other bridges, but I kept the the Bigsby Bridge and I'm glad I did, at least on that guitar.

On the idea of the Schaller being the best roller bridge... well, I used to think so, but the saddles do move from side to side with the greatest of ease when the strings are off. I'm sure the Golden Age bridges have their own problems but if they fit into place and the strings don't touch the back of the bridge, I'll try them.

A follow up after two years. I have been reading about the Reverend low tension Bigsby spring and decided to order one. Well, I put it on today. WHOA! It seems to perform as promised. I would say that the action on the tension-bar Bigsby is now as easy as the B6s on my 6120 Gretsch and my X170. I think I have solved my problems.

If you are unhappy with the action of your tension bar Bigsby, try one of these springs. $10 shipped directly from Reverend. Works for me, your mileage may vary.

I'm currently working on a low profile top-mount vibrato to solve the problem of break angle on certain guitars. I've got two decent solutions so I'm currently mocking up the first to see if it will survive strength testing. If it all works out I'll let you know

Real nice Starfiire 5!