Verne Bunsen
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I recently stumbled across a reference to Callaham's aftermarket Bigsby parts and was immediately intrigued. I've used their stuff and have always been impressed, and I have enough experience with Bigsbys to be aware of their shortcomings. For instance...
Getting the string ball to stay on the peg while you start the string on the tuning machine:
Positioning the front roller so that neither E string ends up in the gap on the end:
Discovering only after everything is finally in place and tensioned that one of the ball ends is just barely hanging on to its post:
And then there is the sonic impact of putting a Bigsby on, in this case, a Tele. I used to run my Teles with brass saddles, still do on my hardtail, but a Bigsby with brass saddles is just way too mellow for me. No spank. I swapped my Bigsby Tele's to steel saddles and was satisfied with the results. Not all the way back home, enough that I was in my happy place again.
Fast forward 10 years to me learning about the Callaham parts. They consist of a solid stainless steel front roller with string spacing grooves, a stainless steel string-through main shaft, and a 360 degree swivel arm bracket. They speak of increased frequency response and sustain in addition to frustration-free re-stringing. All of these things I can dig. The parts look like this:
I have a lot of changes planned for this particular guitar, my Nashville Tele, but I really wanted to isolate what, if any, effect these parts had on the sound. So I committed to doing that. I put a brand new set of strings on the guitar with the stock Bigsby, just as it's always been, and recorded a couple of clips. One on the bridge pickup (Fralin Tele Blues Special) and one on the neck (Analogman Jim Weider Big T). Both are squeaky clean, as I thought that would best capture the truest sound of the guitar. Here they are, the "Before" clips:
Bridge pickup - Stock B5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/x1sa877xrp3as1o/Bridge%20-%20Stock%20B5.mp3?dl=0
Neck Pickup - Stock B5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/frch86cfep0d2e7/Neck%20-%20Stock%20B5.mp3?dl=0
On to the surgery. First item was the front roller. The axle is released by removing this set screw, then everything slides right out.
The old, and the new:
The difference in build quality is unmistakeable. The new axle is a bit larger in diameter than the old one, 0.190" vs 0.180". I had to ream the holes out with a 3/16" drill bit to get it to press in. Very tight fit. The overall diameter of the new roller is also a bit bigger at 0.50" vs the stock 0.438", but the diameter of the inside of the grooves is pretty close at 0.450".
Next up was the main shaft. It's released by removing the arm bracket, which is released by removing this set screw:
Tricky part about this one is that the shaft cannot be removed with the string pegs in place.
The pegs came out easily with a pair of pliers. Do be careful not to break them off, as the little nubs are harder to deal with. I did break one, but was able to beat it deeper into the shaft so that it was out of the way. With that done, the shaft slides right out and the new one slides right in.
The arm bracket is removed by removing the spring tension nut and spring. There is a fiber washer between the arm and the bracket and a metal washer between the bracket and the spring, make sure they come along.
edit 1/2017: I have since identified that the Callaham arm brackets are not entirely compatible with the F-Logo B5. See posts further down for details. The arm is however a perfect fit with standard B5 and B7.
And here is one hot rodded F Logo B5.
Frustration-free re-stringing? Check!
No roller gaps and properly spaced strings? Check!
A happy Tele? Check!
So now for the "After" clips. All settings and recording parameters are identical to the first clips, the strings were brand new in both cases, so any and all differences not attributable to variations in my playing are, presumably, the new parts.
Bridge Pickup - Hot Rod B5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5jv1gog7e6eyxnu/Bridge%20-%20Hot%20Rod%20B5.mp3?dl=0
Neck Pickup - Hot Rod B5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qaelgbegj4fxg3b/Neck%20-%20Hot%20Rod%20B5.mp3?dl=0
I think the clips capture it pretty well. My head exploded. I expected at most a bit more clarity in the top end, but it's really just more of absolutely everything. The sound has way more body. The biggest (and most overwhelmingly giggle-like-a-school-girl exciting) change was in the attack, the spank is back in full! My Tele sounds more like a Tele than it has in a decade! I wish that I had done some single note stuff in the before/after, because it's really evident there. It really screams in a dirty amp too, so much more attitude! More everything!
I made a couple of sound files which are the "Before" clip followed directly by the "After" clip, I found them useful.
Bridge Pickup - Stock B5 -> Hot Rod B5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/an7u5iy0258v6x8/Bridge%20-%20Stock%20-%3E%20Hot%20Rod.mp3?dl=0
Neck Pickup - Stock B5 -> Hot Rod B5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/soz11dn0e6viy9y/Neck%20-%20Stock%20-%3E%20Hot%20Rod.mp3?dl=0
I bought three sets of these parts, one for this guitar, one for my Tele Special, and one for my Standard Tele (which has yet to receive it's Bigsby, although the Bigsby is sitting on my bench...). Also ordered a Callaham Bigsby Tele bridge for that one. Can't wait to get to those! I've also got an ES-137 with a B5, a Les Paul with a B7, and another Les Paul that will soon be receiving a B7. (I rather like Bigsbys...). I'll be ordering these parts for those as well. As far as I'm concerned, these parts are an absolute no-brainer for every Bigsby. Not necessarily cheap at $130 for all 3 parts, but it's so worth it.
Getting the string ball to stay on the peg while you start the string on the tuning machine:
Positioning the front roller so that neither E string ends up in the gap on the end:
Discovering only after everything is finally in place and tensioned that one of the ball ends is just barely hanging on to its post:
And then there is the sonic impact of putting a Bigsby on, in this case, a Tele. I used to run my Teles with brass saddles, still do on my hardtail, but a Bigsby with brass saddles is just way too mellow for me. No spank. I swapped my Bigsby Tele's to steel saddles and was satisfied with the results. Not all the way back home, enough that I was in my happy place again.
Fast forward 10 years to me learning about the Callaham parts. They consist of a solid stainless steel front roller with string spacing grooves, a stainless steel string-through main shaft, and a 360 degree swivel arm bracket. They speak of increased frequency response and sustain in addition to frustration-free re-stringing. All of these things I can dig. The parts look like this:
I have a lot of changes planned for this particular guitar, my Nashville Tele, but I really wanted to isolate what, if any, effect these parts had on the sound. So I committed to doing that. I put a brand new set of strings on the guitar with the stock Bigsby, just as it's always been, and recorded a couple of clips. One on the bridge pickup (Fralin Tele Blues Special) and one on the neck (Analogman Jim Weider Big T). Both are squeaky clean, as I thought that would best capture the truest sound of the guitar. Here they are, the "Before" clips:
Bridge pickup - Stock B5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/x1sa877xrp3as1o/Bridge%20-%20Stock%20B5.mp3?dl=0
Neck Pickup - Stock B5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/frch86cfep0d2e7/Neck%20-%20Stock%20B5.mp3?dl=0
On to the surgery. First item was the front roller. The axle is released by removing this set screw, then everything slides right out.
The old, and the new:
The difference in build quality is unmistakeable. The new axle is a bit larger in diameter than the old one, 0.190" vs 0.180". I had to ream the holes out with a 3/16" drill bit to get it to press in. Very tight fit. The overall diameter of the new roller is also a bit bigger at 0.50" vs the stock 0.438", but the diameter of the inside of the grooves is pretty close at 0.450".
Next up was the main shaft. It's released by removing the arm bracket, which is released by removing this set screw:
Tricky part about this one is that the shaft cannot be removed with the string pegs in place.
The pegs came out easily with a pair of pliers. Do be careful not to break them off, as the little nubs are harder to deal with. I did break one, but was able to beat it deeper into the shaft so that it was out of the way. With that done, the shaft slides right out and the new one slides right in.
The arm bracket is removed by removing the spring tension nut and spring. There is a fiber washer between the arm and the bracket and a metal washer between the bracket and the spring, make sure they come along.
edit 1/2017: I have since identified that the Callaham arm brackets are not entirely compatible with the F-Logo B5. See posts further down for details. The arm is however a perfect fit with standard B5 and B7.
And here is one hot rodded F Logo B5.
Frustration-free re-stringing? Check!
No roller gaps and properly spaced strings? Check!
A happy Tele? Check!
So now for the "After" clips. All settings and recording parameters are identical to the first clips, the strings were brand new in both cases, so any and all differences not attributable to variations in my playing are, presumably, the new parts.
Bridge Pickup - Hot Rod B5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5jv1gog7e6eyxnu/Bridge%20-%20Hot%20Rod%20B5.mp3?dl=0
Neck Pickup - Hot Rod B5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qaelgbegj4fxg3b/Neck%20-%20Hot%20Rod%20B5.mp3?dl=0
I think the clips capture it pretty well. My head exploded. I expected at most a bit more clarity in the top end, but it's really just more of absolutely everything. The sound has way more body. The biggest (and most overwhelmingly giggle-like-a-school-girl exciting) change was in the attack, the spank is back in full! My Tele sounds more like a Tele than it has in a decade! I wish that I had done some single note stuff in the before/after, because it's really evident there. It really screams in a dirty amp too, so much more attitude! More everything!
I made a couple of sound files which are the "Before" clip followed directly by the "After" clip, I found them useful.
Bridge Pickup - Stock B5 -> Hot Rod B5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/an7u5iy0258v6x8/Bridge%20-%20Stock%20-%3E%20Hot%20Rod.mp3?dl=0
Neck Pickup - Stock B5 -> Hot Rod B5
https://www.dropbox.com/s/soz11dn0e6viy9y/Neck%20-%20Stock%20-%3E%20Hot%20Rod.mp3?dl=0
I bought three sets of these parts, one for this guitar, one for my Tele Special, and one for my Standard Tele (which has yet to receive it's Bigsby, although the Bigsby is sitting on my bench...). Also ordered a Callaham Bigsby Tele bridge for that one. Can't wait to get to those! I've also got an ES-137 with a B5, a Les Paul with a B7, and another Les Paul that will soon be receiving a B7. (I rather like Bigsbys...). I'll be ordering these parts for those as well. As far as I'm concerned, these parts are an absolute no-brainer for every Bigsby. Not necessarily cheap at $130 for all 3 parts, but it's so worth it.
