parker_knoll
Senior Member
here's a very rough and ready video looking at the different Bigsby bridges and looking at the quite considerable differences between them - some of them work a lot better than others.
I've also suggested a bit of simple work you can do yourself to improve their operation.
I'm only looking at Bigsby made only, no Comptons or Tru Arcs or Gretsch, but feel free to spill out in the discussion.
To clarify, here are the types discussed:
Wide Guild bridge
The bridge may be wider, but actually has less string space than the narrower one! You'll see in the video the bridge for my Starfire is notched right at the end because of the 1.75" fingerboard, and this is how it came from the factory. Contrary to what I say in the video, I'm not this bridge is available for a wound third.
Also note, on one side no indent on the bottom of the bridge. This means the adjustment wheel rests on the flat part, not the angled part, so the bridge doesn't rock. The holes are also too small to allow much play.
Narrow Bigsby bridge
Narrower post spacing but with ironically more space for widely spaced strings. Available in both wound third and unwound versions. The wound 3rd version is much more accurately cast but the other can be improved. This is also available with different bases, such as the Tele and Sorkin (a.k.a. John Lennon) versions. The Tele version works great on Rickenbackers.
I've also suggested a bit of simple work you can do yourself to improve their operation.
I'm only looking at Bigsby made only, no Comptons or Tru Arcs or Gretsch, but feel free to spill out in the discussion.
To clarify, here are the types discussed:
Wide Guild bridge
The bridge may be wider, but actually has less string space than the narrower one! You'll see in the video the bridge for my Starfire is notched right at the end because of the 1.75" fingerboard, and this is how it came from the factory. Contrary to what I say in the video, I'm not this bridge is available for a wound third.
Also note, on one side no indent on the bottom of the bridge. This means the adjustment wheel rests on the flat part, not the angled part, so the bridge doesn't rock. The holes are also too small to allow much play.
Narrow Bigsby bridge
Narrower post spacing but with ironically more space for widely spaced strings. Available in both wound third and unwound versions. The wound 3rd version is much more accurately cast but the other can be improved. This is also available with different bases, such as the Tele and Sorkin (a.k.a. John Lennon) versions. The Tele version works great on Rickenbackers.
I can polish it later if need be. 
