Wil Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 I attempted to fit a bigsby B5 to my warmoth thinline strat last night. It requires 4 mounting holes on the top of the guitar - unfortunately, as I found out, two of the holes correspond with chambers in the body. There is only the top to hold the screws in these locations and it's not thick enough to withstand string tension. My question is, how can I mount the trem without it ripping the top off my guitar - would some kind of filler in the chamber work?
EdwardHimself Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 I don't think filler will work. Can you not try a bigsby that fixes onto the end of the guitar body?
Wil Posted January 8, 2012 Author Posted January 8, 2012 In hindsight that would have been a far better idea! It may come to that.
RhysP Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 There are only certain types of Bigsby that will work with a Telecaster, and I'm not sure if the ones that attach to the side of the guitar are suitable as they are used on hollowbody guitars with floating bridges. Check out this forum I've been a member of for years: http://www.telemodders.com/index.html It's specifically for Telecaster owners who love to modify them. There will be loads of information about the various Bigsbies you can use & you can always sign up & ask them a specific question. They're a great bunch of people & incredibly knowledgeable.
Wil Posted January 8, 2012 Author Posted January 8, 2012 I'm going to give a B7 style vibrato with the attachment by the strap button a go. If I'd known the guitar was chambered in that area to such an extent I would have ordered that type in the first place - oh well, live and learn!
xilddx Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 [quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1326023468' post='1491075'] I don't think filler will work. Can you not try a bigsby that fixes onto the end of the guitar body? [/quote] I think EH nails it.
Beer of the Bass Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 The B7 is longer than the space behind the bridge on a tele! There is a photograph here; [url="http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/122010-bigsby-b7-tele.html"]http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/122010-bigsby-b7-tele.htm[/url][url="http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/122010-bigsby-b7-tele.html"]l[/url] I hope you haven't ordered one yet!
skankdelvar Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 (edited) ... and a B7 still needs a couple of screws to go into the top of the guitar. AFAIK, the Bigsby's that [i]don't[/i] need screwing into the top are single roller bar versions - B3, B6, B11. The string height coming off the top of the roller would probably be too high for a conventional Strat's bridge height and neck pitch. TBH, the best approach would be to get some wood into the chambers to support some top screws. Depends on access, though. Some pics of this Warmoth Strat could be useful at this point Edited January 8, 2012 by skankdelvar
Wil Posted January 9, 2012 Author Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) I managed to find an old photo of it on Finnbass (from during the build, hence the lack of a pickup) - as you can see, it's got a tune-o-matic but no stop bar as it's strung through body. It's also definately not a tele Edited January 9, 2012 by Wil
Matt P Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 hello, i think you will struggle to get a bigsby to work with this guitar due to the construction, but what about this instead? (similar price as far as i can tell) [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/schaller_lp_tremolo_bk.htm?sid=367f7480bfe7d11c025a98b68be6d008"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/schaller_lp_tremolo_bk.htm?sid=367f7480bfe7d11c025a98b68be6d008[/url] should be a very easy fit and as a bonus the arm comes off for those times you don't want it. and if you ever decide that you don't need a trem anymore it will leave no trace and you can easly swap back to the hardtail. Matt
skankdelvar Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 [quote name='Matt P' timestamp='1326112830' post='1492370'] what about this instead? [/quote] Not seen one of those before. Very interesting - bit like a Stetsbar only better. Bit difficult to tell from the pic of the strat, but is that tuneomatic recessed into the body?
Wil Posted January 9, 2012 Author Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) Yes, now that you mention it it is recessed, I think that was a necessary Warmoth option in order to get the right string height. Wish I'd looked at the Warmoth site before I got my drill out: [attachment=96891:strat_hollow_top.jpg] Edited January 9, 2012 by Wil
skankdelvar Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 That's some serious chambering Mounting that Schaller might be problematic if it's designed for a conventional TOM that sits [i]above[/i] the body. This is turning out to be quite an interesting project.
Wil Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 I think that's probably more effort than I'm willing to go to, but that'd be an interesting and novel solution. I've got a B7 style vibrato on order, figure it's worth a shot, if that wont fit I'll just flog it and write off the idea.
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