Eastman T486 - Bigsby or no Bigsby
 

Seriously looking at Eastman T486 purchase and prefer Sunburst and (I think) no Bigsby.

I've taken off every tremolo bar on every guitar I've owned, but my musical tastes are changing.

Should I get the Bigsby?
What are the pros and cons?

My concern about defaulting to getting the Bigsby is that if I don't use it, it will add weight and may be in the way.

Comments are appreciated!

NW

I have 2 guitars with Bigsbys. Restringing can be a pain. I find they're easy to knock out of tune.

+ 1 on this.

BUT

They are SO cool. I love a little Bigsby once in a while, so I recommend yes to it.

Check out the Vibramate. At least on the Bigsby B5, it makes string changes SO much easier.

I've considered putting a Bigsby on my Epi Dot, but every time I pick up a 335 style with a Bigsby the weight always bothers me. The mass of the Bigsby will also affect the tonal nodes so we can't assume that one with and one without will sound identical.

Bigsbys are cool, but if you aren’t a big tremelo guy (I am not myself), therefore I’d say no to the Bigsby. However, if you like and will use it, go for it!

I’d say “no” on the Bigsby. They add a lot of weight and in terms of tremolo, they don’t actually work that well. Duesenberg’s system is vastly superior. But I wouldn’t want to install that system on an Eastman...wouldn’t look right. I’d say just rock that semi-hollow body without a Bigsby.

A Gretsch with a little pinky action is a beautiful thing. Don't know if that translates to your Eastman.