Bigsby B-5 Kit Gibson Style

Hvis du ikke anvender Vibramate b-5 er du nødt til at bore i din guitar. En målesnor medfølger til det formål, men jeg anbefaler varmt at benytte vibramaten så du ikke skal bore, og kan benytte dig af skrue-hulderne til den gamle bridge.

Hvis du installerer tremoloen på en Gibson SG som jeg har gjort, så hold øje med om det er med en full-face eller en half slagplade/pickguard, da der er forskellige Vibramate b-5 til de to modeller. Jeg kom til at købe en vibramate til en lille SG slagplade og var nødt til at skære i min full-face slagplade.

Men resultatet er upåklageligt. Det er virkelig en ideel tremolo, og kuglelejrende får den til at føles dejlig blød og naturlig når jeg vrider strengene med den. godt håndværk, og nem at installere med Vibramaten, og så suplerer den sindsygt godt til gibson-looket.

Jeg havde hørt at man skulle have problemer med at holde en drop D tuning, men jeg har ikke haft problemer med at holde stemningen, og den virker lige så fint som min gamle standard bridge til det formål. Jeg skal ikke sige noget om drop C eller dybere tuninger, da det ikke er tuninger jeg normalt bruger.

Nicely made piece of kit, looks great on a traditional style guitar- I fitted mine to an ES335, and it's perfect for that subtle rolling vibrato typical of early rock'n'roll, assisted by some deep reverb or short delay, so the pitch drop gives a chorus effect. Nice.

Note that if you're fitting it yourself, some skill in ensuring no binding at the nut or bridge is needed, and also - I used a Vibramate to save drilling my pristine '97 335, and you need to work carefully when tightening the bolts that hold down the Bigsby, as the horseshoe casting is liable to some slight flexing, and if it gets out of alignment, the main bearings on the string retaining shaft can bind and cause the arm to fail to return to the balanced zero rest point.

I bought this with a Vibramate Mount kit (Which, unfortunately, didn't fit.) By this point I'm feeling pretty stoked because of the weather, E3 and my parts arriving. I thought: "Meh, I'm sure I can fit this without it."
Thankfully, the B5 came with very clear, specific instructions. I did come across a small problem though, in that my guitar only had the one bridge. So I couldn't remove the existing to fit the Tremolo. I didn't have a reference point.
I grabbed a pencil, drew two parallels from the bridge and lay the Bigsby in the middle and thread the string included like this: E, through Bigsby, up to high E
After I had lined it up it was just a case of marking out the holes I needed to make and drilling it in
So there you go, an 18 year old with little to no experience fitting anything onto a guitar could mount a Bigsby without ruining the sustain or action of the guitar. It's really no big deal fitting the kit, I would do it again without Vibramate mount kit to save on the £50 something that a Mount kit costs.
As for the looks, it is a beautiful piece of kit, I was worried that it would look intrusive but I needed something to take up the space on the body of the guitar. The arm looks exactly like the rolling tremolo and style of a traditional 40's Whammy Bar. (Most Likely because Bigsby has been around since the 40's.)
The arm folds away nicely and still fits in the case just fine.
Stringing the Bigsby is a real pain though, There is a solution for it, if it bugs you enough to spend the money on it. I fit a Vibramate String Spoiler to the instrument which has done nothing, looks wise, but makes stringing so easy.
The piece is totally worth it's money, sounds great, handles great, and was a laugh to fit. I haven't noticed a change in the Sustain or Action, but as expected I do have to tune it more often. I would advise on getting some decent Machine Heads.(If you haven't already.