Starfire III '66 beauty, Bigsby help needed!

[Guildedlily]

Hello everyone!

I've just got a very nice '66 starfire III.

It has a broken hinge on the guildsby. What to do?!

Can I replace the part - find a hinge plate and pin? If so where from and how does one remove and refit a pin?

Or do I have to keep an ear out for a suitable vintage bigsby, and replace the whole contraption?

Ok... here's the second part of the issue - very interesting! - I noticed that someone has shimmed the bigsby. So what I'm wondering is that if this was necessary perhaps there was something fundamentally wrong with the build of the guitar or at least the precision of the appointments. Or is this a normal thing?

Your advice would be very gratefully received! It's a lovely looking guitar, but not much use if it doesn't work right.

Thanks in advance !!

 

[Guildedagain]

Welcome ;]

I'm still looking for a '66 Starfire III...

I'd venture to guess that your odd of winning lotto might be higher than finding a vintage correct plate and pin, but possibly Bigsby would be able to supply a new one. Would it work with the old top plate?

You can have that welded, if you had to, but it's not that hard to find a whole period replacement, I see them on Reberb in the $300 price range. Make sure it's for a slimline guitar.

The shim could be why it broke, tightening it down excessively against something that could cave, soft wood.

JB Weld or equivalent might be worth a try, no much to lose. Clean it very very well first with 91% rubbing alcohol or even better yet CRC Brakleen in the red can. JB weld it, wipe off excess, wait 24 hours before reattaching.

Don't overtighten the screw. Lose the shim?

 

[Walter Broes]

Amplified parts usually has Bigsby hinges and pins in stock, trouble is Guild USA spec Guild Bigsbies (or hinges) haven't been in production for a while.
Seeing it's been shimmed, that's usually done because it was mounted off center or crooked. So one option you have is to plug the existing holes, and get a new short hinge (different hole spacing than the Guild layout), and drill new holes. It would allow you to mount the Bigsby straight, but is probably not recommended from a vintage value standpoint. Not that a broken hinge helps any in that respect either.

 

[Guildedlily]

Amplified parts usually has Bigsby hinges and pins in stock, trouble is Guild USA spec Guild Bigsbies (or hinges) haven't been in production for a while.
Seeing it's been shimmed, that's usually done because it was mounted off center or crooked. So one option you have is to plug the existing holes, and get a new short hinge (different hole spacing than the Guild layout), and drill new holes. It would allow you to mount the Bigsby straight, but is probably not recommended from a vintage value standpoint. Not that a broken hinge helps any in that respect either.

Totally. I'm thinking the only solution is to find a vintage Bigsby, replace like for like. In terms of the shim I guess it might have been shimmed because the hinge pin was bent or the unit twisted or just poorly manufactured, which I read is not uncommon during that period.

 

[Guildedlily]

Welcome ;]

I'm still looking for a '66 Starfire III...

I'd venture to guess that your odd of winning lotto might be higher than finding a vintage correct plate and pin, but possibly Bigsby would be able to supply a new one. Would it work with the old top plate?

You can have that welded, if you had to, but it's not that hard to find a whole period replacement, I see them on Reberb in the $300 price range. Make sure it's for a slimline guitar.

The shim could be why it broke, tightening it down excessively against something that could cave, soft wood.

JB Weld or equivalent might be worth a try, no much to lose. Clean it very very well first with 91% rubbing alcohol or even better yet CRC Brakleen in the red can. JB weld it, wipe off excess, wait 24 hours before reattaching.

Don't overtighten the screw. Lose the shim?

Thanks for the welcome! Nice to be here. Dan says don't bother trying to match a new plate with old bigs.

By replacement you mean a vintage Bigsby I guess. How can you tell if it's for a slimline. I have seen one on ebay coming from indonesia, are you saying not all Guild branded Bigsbys are the same? Ohhhh! Another parameter to add to the madness!

If you're still looking for one, mine will be available in about an hour... grrrrr... woof!

 

[Default]

Actually, Billy D Light had the same issue, but simply went to a body shop and had the hinge welded. That might be simpler and quicker. Much quicker than trying to score a vintage part.

 

[Guildedlily]

Actually, Billy D Light had the same issue, but simply went to a body shop and had the hinge welded. That might be simpler and quicker. Much quicker than trying to score a vintage part.

You can weld sand cast metal???

 

[Guildedagain]

Anyone who can TIG weld can do it. Tungsten Inert Gas welding process.

Maybe the Bigsby is the same for all body thicknesses, or not. Just something to watch out for if replacing it outright.

 

[Walter Broes]

USA Guild Bigsbies all have a short hinge that works on thinlines

 

[Default]

Thread here.

Busted my Guild Bigsby . I need a new one

So this happened. Anyone got one for sale? Doesn't have to be gold. Hinge is busted sadly . Link is pics from google drive. It's ugly. Opened my case at the gig and there it was Contact me at bdlight AT gmail...

letstalkguild.com

 

[Guildedlily]

Thread here.

Busted my Guild Bigsby . I need a new one

So this happened. Anyone got one for sale? Doesn't have to be gold. Hinge is busted sadly . Link is pics from google drive. It's ugly. Opened my case at the gig and there it was Contact me at bdlight AT gmail...

letstalkguild.com

super interesting! Thank you.

 

[Default]

Sometimes we overthink stuff. ;-)

 

[Guildedlily]

Separate question: I decided to check the trussrod, see if that was all working ok. When I tried to turn it it felt loose, like there was no tension on it at all. If I turn it it starts to tighten at around a quarter of a turn or something, so it is gripping. I've never seen this on any of my other guitars, usually the trussrod is quite stiff and requires a bit of effort to turn it.

Is this normal? I'm happy that it isn't broken or locked up, but this seems a bit strange to me. Albeit that the strings are currently slackened, so no string tension... could that be the reason?

 

[Shakeylee]

if it were me,i would have that hinge brazed rather than welded.

****EDIT*****

please see below.my idea wasn't good.

 

[matsickma]

Yep...as a former certified welder in aluminum, stainless steel and various carbon steels a TIG weld would be straight forward and a very clean process. Aluminum is a little tricky because the entire piece has to get close in temperature to molten, especially for such a small part to avoid cracking as it cools. You have to careful it doesn't collapse into a blob of aluminum. However an experience welder in AL can do it.
In regards to brazing...that isn't something you can do with aluminum especially in the long run. Possibly some "silver solder" brazing material would hold for a quick fix but not permanently. Even if the part was brass or copper I would have repaired it with a TIG fusion weld.
Been a long time since I did high end welding. My 3rd and last job as a welder before I decided to go to college was a really cool job that required 100% X-ray on aluminum and stainless pipes and pressure vessel used in radiation extraction and containment system installed in nuclear power plants and a few other places that we were never provided info about.
M

 

[Guildedlily]

Wow! Cool story matsickma. So here's a question. The aluminum floating bridge. On mine there are two squares of what look like double sided tape I guess to keep it in place/ maybe not scratch the finish? Should I remove these or keep em or even upgrade them! I've never dealt with a floating bridge before, trying to figure out what's best. I read somewhere that tape will attack the finish on the guitar...

 

[Default]

Acid free photo squares won't hurt the finish.

 

[geoguy]

Might depend on what type of tape was used. Double-sided foam tape would certainly be a tone suck.

A schmear of violin rosin is an effective way to give those bridge feet a little extra traction, if the bridge moves while you play.

 

[matsickma]

A piece of TIG trivia. When welding stainless steel you take the tungsten welding tip and grind it into a "pencil" point type shape then insert it back into the nozzle and adjust how far it extends beyond the ceramic nozzle. You set the welder to DC+ (plus).

When welding AL you do the opposite. Instead of a sharp point on the tungsten tip you want a bulbus shaped tip. To form a bulbus shaped tip you set the welder to DC - (minus). Then you carefully strike an arc. The DC - setting causes the Tungsten tip to melt itself and draw up into a ball. Now you formed the bulbus shaped tip. You have to time it carefully or the tungsten tip will completely burn back up into the nozzle and disengrate and damage the electrode harness. When you then go to weld the Aluminum part you now need to switch the welder to AC!

Also note that when I say "strike an arc" the process is different from "stick" welding. With "stick" you actually touch the metal. With TIG you have a high frequency starter switch, like a door bell switch, on the handle. When you press it a little high voltage "lightening" bolt shoots from the tip creating a conductive plasma, not unlike a static electricity "shock", that allows you to "strike the arc".

When your a young kid in VoTech it's not uncommon to "zap" someone as a gag when they least expect it!

As a final geezer musing on this subject their is a thing called a TIG Plasma cutter. The Tungsten tip is fat, about 1/8 inch diameter and the tip is machined (not hand ground) at a 45 deg angle. It uses the inert gas Argon just like TIG but also CO2. The Plasma cutter can cut though 8" thick AL or 6" thick Stainless steel like a Oxy/Acetele torch cuts through a 1/4 " thick steel plate.
I was one of the very few guys qualified to use it back in 1974 and it was COOL!

Today they may be using high power lasers for such things.

Sorry for the vere...
M

 

[mavuser]

Separate question: I decided to check the trussrod, see if that was all working ok. When I tried to turn it it felt loose, like there was no tension on it at all. If I turn it it starts to tighten at around a quarter of a turn or something, so it is gripping. I've never seen this on any of my other guitars, usually the trussrod is quite stiff and requires a bit of effort to turn it.

Is this normal? I'm happy that it isn't broken or locked up, but this seems a bit strange to me. Albeit that the strings are currently slackened, so no string tension... could that be the reason?

I've seen that occasionally. far from an expert, but in short...while most guitars probably need the TR tightened over time, some need the opposite. just one of those finicky things with the wood. with the guitar tuned up, set the neck relief to where u like it with the truss rod. this could require loosening or tightening, and over time and change of season, string gauge, tension etc, u may find it needs adjustment in either direction. don't force anything. if something doesn't seem right, take it to professional luthier.