Questions about a Bigsby on a chambered tele body etc

[jack713]

Greetings-

I am seriously considering my first warmoth project guitar and so have a few questions. I am still trying to figure out all the many different options.

1) Is there any issues putting a bigsby on a chambered tele body?(as far as drilling holes into a chambered body?) If it *is* possible which model bigsby might be the best? Also I've just come across the "miracle" bridge...any thoughts?

2) I am shooting for an overall "vintage" tone. Ideally a rich, complex, deep, fat sound. Any suggestions?

3) The sales guy at warmoth recommended the black korina wood as a good one for a chambered body. I've seen some references to this being a very soft wood...is that going to be an issue? If so, would it make sense to use a harder wood top laminate?

4) I was thinking the "pro" maple neck w/ indian rosewood fretboard.

Okay...I know that's a lot. But since I'm a newbie to this I was hoping for some seasoned guidance.

Thank you for any assistance you all can offer me!

 

[bbl4ck]

Yes, you certainly can put a Bigsby on a chambered tele!  Check out this beauty by RomanS  :glasses9:

Go to the Bigsby website and it shows all the various models and which geetars they fit.

http://www.bigsbyguitars.com/products.html

Good luck and welcome to the forum. 

Oh yea, one rule around here is ya gotta post pics of your work!

 

[Mor Paul]

Make sure you mention there will be a bigsby. I think they alter the chambers so there's more solid wood where the bigsby screws in.

 

[bpmorton777]

they may also need to put an angle in the neck pocket.

Brian

 

[-CB-]

The B5 is the traditional "add-on" Bigsby, and to me, its worth it to pay the extra for the USA made one.

If you're ok with a Dremel and a cutoff wheel, you can "notch" the traditional Tele bridge plate (vintage-3saddle) and voila, Bigsby!~

It also helps if you have saddles with recesses for the strings - something you can easily modify the brass saddles for.  This will keep things where they need to be when you use the Bigsby.

And... Bigsby is not made for dive bombing.  Think in terms of two steps up or down at most in order to retain tuning.

Come to think of it - there are some GraphTech saddles that are the vintage type.  Those might be the ticket for better tremolo-ing.

 

[jack713]

Thank you for your assistance regarding bigsby's. I started playing with a bigsby almost 10 years ago and there was just no turning back!

Any thoughts on Black Korina being too soft? Does it matter what laminate one uses...I am probably just going to have it painted black anyway?

 

[Mor Paul]

I wouldn't worry about Korina being too soft.

 

[OzziePete]

Make sure you mention there will be a bigsby. I think they alter the chambers so there's more solid wood where the bigsby screws in.

+1. Tell Warmoth you have a Bigsby in mind.

 

[jack713]

Please forgive my neurosis on all of this...believe it or not stuff like this keeps me up at night. *sigh* Too bad there aren't guitar-related therapists!! (or are there?)

Anyhoo...now I'm debating the vintage modern neck vs. the pro neck. Is the pro neck noticeably heavier?  :help:

I am going with black Korina chambered tele body w/ a maple/rosewood '59 Roundback neck. I would hate to have the guitar tilt down noticeably towards the neck and effectively be unbalanced. (at least *one* of us can be balanced!)

Am I just being crazy?  :dontknow:

 

[Mor Paul]

I'm pretty sure we've had korina/rosewood guitars with no dive issues.

Anybody?

And I think the bigsby should add a fair bit of weight.

 

[jack713]

I guess part of what I am asking is whether the double truss on the pro is considerably heavier than the vintage modern. The claim on the pro is that is can produce more sustain...and I can't get enough of the stuff.  :icon_thumright:

So I think I'd rather go with the pro, but I've seen comments on it's weight and since I am getting the chambered body on a medium weight wood, the concern arose for me.