Paul Bigsby

MLBob

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After hearing about the Umanov closing, I took a look over on the Retrofret website. Looks like Retrofret would be a fun place to spend the day :emmersed:

While there, I came across this write up on Lefty Frizzell's SJ-200 and it had some information on Paul Bigsby that I wasn't even remotely aware of.

http://www.retrofret.com/products.asp?ProductID=2928

Bob
 

bobouz

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A frequent misconception is that Merle Travis' Bigsby guitar was a full solid body. It was not. It was more like a semi-hollow with no F-holes. But otherwise, Travis' Bigsby was visually the combination of a Gibson Les Paul body mated to a Fender neck, and neither of those iconic instruments had yet been developed!

Did Leo Fender see Travis playing his Bigsby? Indeed he did, but he swore it was not a factor in the development of the first Fender. Okay, Leo!
 

Quantum Strummer

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One thing to note about the Bigsby and Fender headstock shapes is that they both come from an early 19th Century design by Viennese luthier Johann Stauffer. Leo Fender said in at least one interview that he first saw it as a kid on a Croatian instrument. Bigsby may’ve been a more immediate influence since Leo knew Bigsby and was familiar with his work. But Bigsby didn’t originate the design.

-Dave-
 

bobouz

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One thing to note about the Bigsby and Fender headstock shapes is that they both come from an early 19th Century design by Viennese luthier Johann Stauffer. Leo Fender said in at least one interview that he first saw it as a kid on a Croatian instrument. Bigsby may’ve been a more immediate influence since Leo knew Bigsby and was familiar with his work. But Bigsby didn’t originate the design.
-Dave-
Yes, that is true re the in-line headstock shape. If I recall correctly, CF Martin trained with Stauffer, and built early instruments with a similar headstock design. Martin recreated aspects of those guitars in 1999, with the SP00-16RST, including the Stauffer headstock shape. Fun stuff!
 

Walter Broes

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The book on Paul Bigsby and his guitars is very nice, and shows how incredibly influential his designs were
 

dreadnut

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Thanks for posting, Bob! What a delightful article.

And he wasn't really a lefty!
 

sailingshoes72

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From the article...

"Lefty picked up his nickname after a series of schoolyard scrapes."

He must have had a good left hook! :boxing:

sailin'shoes
 
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sailingshoes72

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From the description...

"...the moustache bridge is fitted with a typical aluminum Bigsby saddle, as seen on his vibrato units."

sailin'shoes
 
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