WTB or preferably trade a Nik Huber surfmeister with bigsby

DeepBlueWitch

The title says it all i guess. I know its a long shot but you never know. I have a heritage 535, a strat custom shop and a telecaster deluxe to haggle with (full details available if needed. 

Kind regards to you all Mark.

Dominic

A very rare beast indeed

deadgrateful

here ya go:

https://reverb.com/uk/item/36052889-nik-huber-surfmeister-bigsby-2020-bronze?bk=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJqdGkiOiI3OTJhMTkzOC1iOGExLTQzMGItOWRkOS1hYWViYmMyOTBkZDEiLCJpYXQiOjE2MDY0OTk0OTYsInVzZXJfaWQiOiI0MDA5NzUxIiwic2Vzc2lvbl9pZCI6IiIsImNvb2tpZV9pZCI6IjQ3ZmZjNWEyLTFiYTktNGY0OS05NzE1LTdlYTE0ZDA5YjFkYiIsInByb2R1Y3RfaWQiOiIzNjA1Mjg4OSIsInNvdXJjZSI6Ik5PTkUifQ.vTmKtUSurmwK6Epd_bZyd64zkf4XgYG82L_evgct9P8

DeepBlueWitch

Thx DG I have spoken to the guy. Nice fella but I worry about the logistics.

deadgrateful

Yea, I’m always nervous about buying from outside the UK! Those Swedes are usually pretty decent though

Treewig1

I agree.  I’ve bought outside the UK before and never had problems.  In fact, I have a guitar on its way from Germany right now.  That said, at the price of that Surfmeister, flights to Sweden are pretty reasonable...

digitalkettle

Treewig1 said:

I agree.  I’ve bought outside the UK before and never had problems.  In fact, I have a guitar on its way from Germany right now.  That said, at the price of that Surfmeister, flights to Sweden are pretty reasonable...

My Surf’ came from Germany...albeit from a shop (apologies for the humble brag)

digitalkettle

Been thinking about this...and I feel the need to caveat your emptor

I got my Surfmeister in 2017 and, on and off, I've played it...fiddled with stuff...got frustrated fighting the Bigsby/tuning...put it back in its case...rinse and repeat. It's only just recently, after visits to three techs over the years, that I've finally got my head around it. It's a long story where I felt like dropping it in a wood chipper at various points but I'll cut to the chase...

The problem: the Bigsby is sited far too low and far too close to the bridge...this creates a severe break angle which causes the strings to get hung up on the Bigsby rollerbar and/or the bridge's roller saddles. When the Bigsby was dipped, the strings stayed flat...when the Bigsby was pulled, the strings stayed sharp...you had to be conscious of 'middling' the Bigsby whenever you used it!

The solution: all the usual stuff about lubricating points of friction and making sure the nut is perfect...then...fit a Vibramate as if the guitar came with a Gibson hardtail arrangement (the only catch here is that Vibramate presumes you have tailpiece inserts...so I modified the Vibramate and screwed straight through it).

The good news is that it is now awesome...it was always a great sounding guitar...now it's a great sounding and in-tune guitar!

I've seen Hubers with Bigsbys where the position of the Bigsby has varied a little but, imho, even the best examples were not enough to alleviate the tuning snags. It's certainly something to be aware of...but you might get lucky. If you don't, the fix is above and I've saved you three years of frustration and expense

DeepBlueWitch

Thank you for your input sir! Much appreciated digitalkettle (proper name too). 

DeepBlueWitch

After a little research I am wondering if the original screws still fitted or did you buy longer ones?

digitalkettle

DeepBlueWitch said:

After a little research I am wondering if the original screws still fitted or did you buy longer ones?

The original screws were replaced at some point because they got chewed up with all the Bigsby-on/Bigsby-off activity (not by me, I might add ).

Pre-Vibramate, I asked tech #3 to replace the screws...iirc, they were No.4 x 0.63 (3mm x 16mm). When fitting the Vibramate, I decided to go up a gauge to No.6 x 0.78 (3.5mm x 20mm). You want raised countersunk phillips screws...I got stainless steel ones and 'aged' the visible part with sandpaper and a drill. I drilled clearance holes (4mm for a bit of wiggle room) in the Vibramate where the small machine screws are supposed to go. I also butchered one pair of the large mounting screws so I had just the screw heads to epoxy into the Vibramate for aesthetics: so, for all intents and purposes, it looks like a normal Vibramate installation.

Other considerations:

• clean up anything on the bottom surface of the Bigsby, i.e. remove the felt pads
• keep the felt pads on the bottom of the Vibramate...but you'll need to move them because you're drilling straight through it!
• check out the original Bigsby earthing arrangement and make sure it's effective...back when I had only just started thinking about raising the unit, tech #2 installed a 2mm rosewood shim which, unfortunately, left me unearthed...tech #3 recognised this and installed another earth wire which I was able to re-use with the Vibramate by trapping it between the plates

Shame I had to drop £75 on an aluminium plate which I had to permanently modify but it seems to be the best way of getting something to do the job which looks like it should be there!

DeepBlueWitch

Very interesting, thank you so much for your input sharing. I am what could be loosely described as a bedroom player (main audience being a cat - usually curled up and asleep). I had not realised just how much the bigsby affected tuning stability. I am now considering how best to reduce that break angle. I went to bed considering wooden shims but had not considered the earthing issue.  I will also write a letter starting "Dear Nik". 

Hattigol

You say you are looking to trade. You might want to mention what it is you want to trade?

DeepBlueWitch

Thx hattigol, amended.

digitalkettle

DeepBlueWitch said:

Very interesting, thank you so much for your input sharing. I am what could be loosely described as a bedroom player (main audience being a cat - usually curled up and asleep). I had not realised just how much the bigsby affected tuning stability. I am now considering how best to reduce that break angle. I went to bed considering wooden shims but had not considered the earthing issue.  I will also write a letter starting "Dear Nik". 

No problem. It's like any vibrato system: if it's not setup perfectly, it may cause some tuning instability...in fact, I'd say all systems not only have to be well maintained but also managed by the player whilst playing the thing, i.e. you get to know how it behaves under certain conditions/usage and develop subconscious tics to keep it in-line...maybe you pull a string if it's gone sharp, maybe you wibble the bar back into a zero position. Most of the time, it's 'close enough for rock 'n' roll'...the nature of the guitar means that it's impossible to be perfectly in tune...we just do our best

However, in this case, the siting of the Bigsby is not optimal...giving rise to a severe break angle. Break angle can be improved by any combination of the following:

• raise the entire Bigsby (the shim/Vibramate solution)
• reposition the Bigsby to be further back (exposing original holes in the top)
• lower the bridge (obviously affects action)
• raise the Bigsby roller bar (this is effectively what Brick's BiggsFix does...tried it...lost all my break angle which sucks just as much as having too much)
• remove the Bigsby roller bar...so you rely on the strings going under the roller bar axle...looks crap and could be a source of friction
• reduce the diameter of the roller bar...you can't do much with the original tube so you'd need an aftermarket part and/or a friendly machinist

digitalkettle

Oh...I forgot the ultimate solution which I was almost on the verge of:

• convert the guitar to hardtail and get it refinished

DeepBlueWitch

Have you looked at the roller Bridge, they would certainly make sense

digitalkettle

DeepBlueWitch said:

Have you looked at the roller Bridge, they would certainly make sense

That’s what I’ve got...it’s like an ABR-1 with brass rollers instead of saddles.