Has anyone tired one of these inexpensive bigsby clones from eBay, Amazon. Etc. on their tele? I just sold my Jazzmaster, and I’m thinking about putting one on my tele to have a guitar with some sort of tremolo. I don’t expect to use it much, as I didn’t use the jm’s trem often, but it’s nice to have when I do want it. That being said, I’m not shelling out the $$ for a real bigsby tele kit. I’m thinking to dremel out the space between the saddle (3 barrel) adjustment screws to make room for the strings to pass through using the existing bridge. This way I can still string through the body if I want to. It’s going on this “tele”. thoughts?
I am putting a bigsby on my next build. The bigsby knockoff I have is not the best quality,there is a lot of play in the roller mechanism.I think I might try to find a used original one.I did get a bridge plate from eBay for 30.00 that is slotted for the strings to pass over the saddles.
That’s pretty much what I’m trying to fabricate from the bridge I have on it. The whole point of this guitar has been to use parts I’ve had sitting in a drawer, so I’m going repurpose as much as I can rather than buy more parts. That’s why the bridge doesn’t match the rest, being the odd black part lol. I plan to remedy that by taking a wire brush to it to remove the black paint while I’m at it. Thanks for the info on the looseness of the cheap ones, I’ll have to look around if that’s a common complaint.
@RoyalWe Rust-oleum has a line of metallic paints, everything from gold to spray on rust. I've used a couple of different finishes on metal hardware and I'm happy with the results. The finish is tough and hasn't chipped. I believe there is a "chrome" paint, but haven't tried it yet.
This is the one I recommend ..I put one on a jazz guitar (not the Tele) and it worked just as well as any Bigsby ..Better in one way..The strings go straight through the roller rather than around it..Much easier to install new strings.. I recall Bear and a couple of other people using them.. https://www.guitarfetish.com/Xtrem-Tele-Combo-package-Four-Finishes_c_378.html
The GFS one looks to be pretty good, but the really cheap knock off bigsbys are pretty crappy. I have a Korean B50 on my tele which is a genuine bigsby import model, and the quality is just as good as the many US made ones I have. I prefer a notched ashtray bridge plate and a B5/50 on a telecaster. The 7ender tele kit with the jaguar bridge is overkill, and I friggin hate jaguar/mustang bridges.
I’ve thought about that route too. It’d be the easier way to go, but I kinda like the idea of the brushed steel look. Who knows though, it may look so bad that I end up chrome painting it anyway!
Thanks for that! It’s back ordered right now, but I put my name on the waiting list. I guess I’ll give it a month or so to see if they come back in stock before making a decision. That trem is definitely a better way to go, even if it is a little more costly than what I was thinking to spend.
I fitted a Chinese Bigsby clone to my cheapo Telecaster...I just drilled out the existing string Holes to allow them to pass through without snagging...works great and looks pretty good too,IMHO!
As an owner of a Bigsby, it's not bad to get one but knockoff or real, Bigsbys have well known tuning issues snd just as many tried and true fixes. That being said, that GFS one seems to be pretty nice and may have slightly better stability.
The one from Guitarfetish is great, but you can't use it on a Tele that's already been routed for the bridge pickup cavity, as the saddles don't adjust far enough to intonate the guitar. It's a good 1/4" off. They should mention something about it on their site, but they don't. It's fine if you're doing a build from scratch, but it's not a drop-in when the routing is done already and you can't place the pickup cavity where you need for intonation.
This is the listing for the one I bought... You can get it for less direct from China. It has been said that these cheap clones are of poor quality, but the one I got was good and after fitting the tuning stability is as good as it was before, its actually better than any 'strat' Trem I've ever had....but maybe I just got lucky! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164361840011
I’ve messed with a couple, there alright , kind of fickle and cheap, one was really stiff, not sure if the spring is different size than a Bigsby , I might try one on my own build, Bigsby’ aren’t getting any cheaper
Thanks for the info! I guess if they come up available I’ll just get the trem without the tele plate, and continue with my original plan of grinding out the plate I have.