This seems to be one of those parts that is hard to find, but I need one for a project. Its just a misshapen lump of aluminium so i figure it shouldn't be too hard to make one - lets see if I am right.
For those that don't know, this is the bigsby bridge base that came on Gibson's during the 50's. Its odd shape is designed to cover the wraparound tailpiece stud holes, but they continued to use this past that point. Its not to be confused with the sorkin/bowtie bridge which has a more ordinary shape and is designed for flatops
First step is to find some detailed pics.
. First i compare a bigsby saddle to the monitor and adjust the pics until it fits
Then i can stick some paper over that and take a tracing, i ended up doing it from the bottom view as it was a better pic. That gives me a drawing of a reverse dogbone - must remember its upside down later on or i will end up with a lefty version!
The plan is to make a couple of these.
First will be a clone of the original - used as a floating bridge with the bigsby saddle. The second will be a cosmetic dogbone with TOM-spaced holes so a normal bridge can be used and mounted straight through the bass plate. That might look naff, but the reason I am considering both is some don't like the tone of these... the second option would maintain the normal Les Paul tone if that is an issue.
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(formerly customkits)
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*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
I have already done a small job which i think gives an instant and significant improvement.
Bigsby have a habit of hiding the patent number under black paint... the casting always looks crude, even when the moulds were new in the 50's, but hiding the patent # always makes it look a lot worse to me
But a quick rub with thinners gets it closer to how it should be
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*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
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*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
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*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
I guess the reason @gassage owns an R6 with a Bigsby is a Gilmour thing.
The guitar had an unusual checking pattern that was not really very pleasing, so we decided to go with a top re-fin to get it closer to how a 50's goldtop should look.
The dogbone is a bit of fun for me. If it works well, it gets @gassage closer to the Gilmour thing. if it doesn't (loss of tone is my main concern), the original bridge can be re-fit, and it will still be a good approximation of a mid 50's goldtop
We should hopefully end up with 3 options that can be swapped at will. Full Dogbone, Dogbone base with TOM and normal TOM.
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They do improve tone, no rattling moving parts, so better tone transfer, but they either intimate or don’t. You need to get one intonated for either a plain or wound G. Matching the shapes of the base to the curve of the guitar top is also a big consideration. If it’s a floating bridge, a bit of rosin rubbed on the base will prevent it from moving without effecting paint.
The saddle shown above is just one leftover from my first ever Bigsby order about 15 years ago. We will replace it with a plain G saddle if needs be, although, back to that Gilmour thing, good enough for him... options are kept open at this point
Next job on the base plate is to create the recess underneath, then the ends will be shaped to match the top using the old abrasive taped to guitar trick.
Once that's done I need to see if I can get away with threading the aluminium, or need to add some inserts to hold the posts. I keep meaning to check spacing, if it matches the TOM bridge I can use the existing holes to pin the dogbone. The posts can go right through the baseplate, which should add stability to the whole unit. Of course, there is the option of making the saddle part to fit whatever spacing I need... but I don't want to do that when the parts are easily available
The big difference is mine is cut from aluminium bar, rather than cast like bigsby parts usually are
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https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F323374873263
subtle difference on that one. Its flat on the bottom and the wrong shape. You can still buy those ones a bit easier.
The Gibson version matches the carve and has a larger offset shape to cover the wraparound stud holes on an early 50's les paul. They still used this through the 50's even when not using a wraparound bridge
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the baseplate is my work, the rest of the parts are from an old bigsby bridge that's spent 15 years in the parts draw
Inserts are a good fit
Slight overhang on the large bigsby thumbwheels
The guitar it is for is in paint, so here it is on a different LP
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(formerly customkits)
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