I Bigsby-fied my Tele!

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by PTony

Looks great! I’ve had enough Bigsby to say I love them! That being said, I have found a couple of things to be consistent when using a Bigsby.

1. Nut work is vital when using a Bigsby.
2. A wound G helps
3. The “BiggsFix” is a drop-in replacement that reduces the string break angle. This piece (along with the “Squishy Spring”) transformed all of my Bigsby equipped guitars. I could play an hour set with MINOR tuning once or twice in the set. They are a must for a Bigsby equipped guitar…imho/ime. Plus… he is a super nice guy as well. https://bricksbiggsfix.com/

The Tele looks fantastic, brother. Just when I thought it couldn’t get better…you make it even cooler. Nice job!

1. The nut is cut as good as I can and lubricated
2. I agree wound G's make it easier, but this is a Tele and 25.5" scale (too much tension) so that's a no go for this guitar.
3. I've used his squishy springs and they're great. No need for the Biggs fix though, this guitar is staying in tune (as good as I can expect from a Bigsby guitar), and frankly I do not want to lessen the break angle in this case. I have a small shim in the neck pocket I could remove if need be, but the break angle is perfect. The break angle is so low that I have to cut into the saddles with my small triangle file to get keep the strings from popping out

I haven't liked the Vibramate on my other guitars, but on this guitar it's working really good enough for me, and I'm pretty picky

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by SalFromChatham

Good luck on the band Rockabilly!

In my house I have three electrics… a Squier CV Strat, a Fender partscaster based on a Vintera Tele, and my son’s Heritage 355.

I love the Tele best. I swapped out the pickups for Fender Noiseless G4 pickups, which sound fairly warm and fat. It’s fairly light in weight, and it looks pretty cool. It’s just an easy guitar that plays anything I want.

Here is a pic before I swapped the pickups.

Thanks Sal, the band is coming along very nicely, although last week I switched from a Tele in practice, to a Firebird, and it's up in the air which I like better. They both sound great, with maybe a slight edge to the Firebird, but the Firebird is a little louder and thicker in tone, and we are shooting for very low stage volume.

I own a fairly nice little studio/rehearsal space and we've have been recording our rehearsals with just one accurate mic (Neumann U89) set to omni-directional in the center of the room. I've been recording most of my life, and one thing I've learned is, if we can get a good tone to that microphones at a decent volume, it'll make for a better overall sound. And the Tele just sits there in the pocket, so in the end, maybe a Tele will win out.

Your Tele looks like a rock and roll guitar and I bet the noiseless pickups are great for recording. My purple Tele (the one I use in practice) has a stacked humbucker Billy Gibbons pickup in the bridge and a Tyson PAF style neck pickup so no noise! The Firebird has minihumbuckers!