Members philboking Posted July 16, 2014 Members Share Posted July 16, 2014 I'm pretty new to Gibson guitars except for an SG I had for several years. I'm looking into buying an ES-335 (the Dot, not the Studio one), and wondered if I could put a Bigby Vibrato on it. I'm thinking of the Bigsby B7G. Any thoughts on this?I'd really like to find an ES-355, but those are pretty rare birds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted July 16, 2014 Members Share Posted July 16, 2014 Looks like it's possible. Always ask a good luthier to be certain, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philboking Posted July 29, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 29, 2014 Well, I got an ES-355. It's a 1991 B. B. King signature model. I'm very happy with it; it plays better than any other guitar I have.I'm still thinking about whether to add a Bigsby or not. I've had people tell me it may decrease the value... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 From a collector's standpoint, any modifications usually do decrease the guitar's value. Still, adding a Bigsby is not unheard of, and the mod is quite popular with some people - heck, Gibson even offers Bigsby-equipped versions of several of their models. Having a pro do the installation might not be a bad idea if you decide to go through with it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members monstermaker Posted July 29, 2014 Members Share Posted July 29, 2014 How is the tone without f holes? It's a beautiful guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted July 29, 2014 Members Share Posted July 29, 2014 If you're going from a stop tail to Bigsby, its important to get the Bigsby that will cover the stop tail holes. You need a roller bridge for it too, otherwise you'd tear up the existing bridge and have all kinds of tuning issues. If you haven't bought the guitar already it would only make sense to buy one that has the Bigsby installed on it already vs. modifying one that doesn't. Probably be cheaper as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philboking Posted July 31, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 31, 2014 How is the tone without f holes? It's a beautiful guitar. It's great - although the guitar plays a bit quieter acoustically, it doesn't seem to affect the electric tone at all. I believe that mod is intended to reduce feedback, similar to a soundhole plug in a electric dreadnought style guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philboking Posted July 31, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 31, 2014 If you're going from a stop tail to Bigsby, its important to get the Bigsby that will cover the stop tail holes. You need a roller bridge for it too, otherwise you'd tear up the existing bridge and have all kinds of tuning issues. If you haven't bought the guitar already it would only make sense to buy one that has the Bigsby installed on it already vs. modifying one that doesn't. Probably be cheaper as well. The BB King model does not offer the Bigsby as an option. It currently has these little knobs on the bridge (Klusons?) that allow fine tuning each string. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members robbiusa Posted August 1, 2014 Members Share Posted August 1, 2014 Gibson TP-6 fine tuning tailpiece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted August 1, 2014 Members Share Posted August 1, 2014 The BB King model does not offer the Bigsby as an option. It currently has these little knobs on the bridge (Klusons?) that allow fine tuning each string. Yea, that's a TP6. I put one of those on my Gold Top Deluxe back in the 70's. I thought it was cool because you could fine tune the guitar in without using the tuning machines. I used it for a couple of years then switched back to the Regular stop tail. I then noticed how the tone and feel of the strings improved. I didn't notice the losses when I first put it on because I was into it being something new, but after taking it off, I realized how bad those things are. There a scientific reason for the stop bar being curved to the neck radius dealing with string tension. Les Paul knew this when he developed the guitar. He even ran the strings through and over the top of the tail which increased the strings length and decreased the strings downward pressure on the bridge so some vibration would make it past the saddles and produce overtones that regenerate back up into the strings. On my latest Paul I installed an aluminum Stop Tail and its does improve the sound. They cost about $20 with the mounting bolts for a good one on EBay. You may want to get one and try it out next string change and dump that TP-6. You don't realize how bad those things are for string feel and tone till you pull them off. Besides having the fine adjustment screws uneven, one high and one low does weird things to your intonation because one string had more downward tension then another. I'd dump that thing and get a regular stop tail. The other cool option is a Frequensator tail piece. the only problem with those are you have two holes where the stop tail should be and would have to add decorative plugs. I'm thinking about doing that on my Epi Dot. I have a Frequensator on another semi, but would need a good one to match the Dots hardware which I switched to gold, but I may try the silver one just to try it out for awhile. I owned a 60's Riviera way back and that Frequensator does magical things to the tone and string feel. Gets rid of the lower string flab and buzz and makes it play better for chords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members robbiusa Posted August 4, 2014 Members Share Posted August 4, 2014 Thanks for all the info. I had a TP6 on a guitar (I think it was Gibson's 335-S) back in 80s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philboking Posted August 5, 2014 Author Members Share Posted August 5, 2014 I took it out and played it at an open mic / jam last Saturday - - It was such a pleasure! I think I'll wait a bit, till I get a few more miles on it, before I return to considering any mods. Thanks to everyone for their input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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