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OK, I finally restrung the Bigsby...

 
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quackattack



Joined: 07 Jan 2005
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 10:44 am    Post subject: OK, I finally restrung the Bigsby... Reply with quote

After a significant amount of swearing and misfires I was finally able to sucessfully restring my JA w/ Bigsby.

What a complex procedure....Now mind you, I've restrung Double-10 pedal steels and 6-string electrics countless times over the 40 years...[Hell, I built pedal steels @ Sierra Steel Guitar Co for over 5 years]....but stringing a bigsby w/ a retaining bar is the most time-consuming and frustrating affair.

Holding the ball end on the pin, snaking it under the retainer and through the tuner while maintaining tension while string winding is pure yoga.

Finally, after shaping a bend at the ball end and then using a soft rubber coated pinch clamp to keep the end on the pin, I was able to use both hands for weaving the string under the bar, into the tuner and winding the string....what an experience!

elapsed time=38 min.....strings wasted=1

How would you resring at a gig during the middle of a set?

Any tips would be appreciated.
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Bigs_Bee



Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 4:20 pm    Post subject: Re: OK, I finally restrung the Bigsby... Reply with quote

quackattack wrote:
After a significant amount of swearing and misfires I was finally able to sucessfully restring my JA w/ Bigsby.

What a complex procedure....Any tips would be appreciated.



Idea
The way I do it is: Try changing one string at a time following these steps!

1. Pre-bend the ball end

2. Feed the ball end under the retaining bar and over the tailpiece

3. Affix ball to Bigsby post

* after you have done this, and assuming you have bent the ball end to the correct shape, the ball end will stay on the post.

4. String through machine-head.

5. Tune-up

6. Enjoy

After a couple of times you should be able to cut your time to about 10-12 minutes.
Good Luck!!
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quackattack



Joined: 07 Jan 2005
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thx, I'll try that, although the little rubber-coated pincer clamp works well and can be purchased at any variety store for about $0.75. I'll post some pix.
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quackattack



Joined: 07 Jan 2005
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 8:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

here's an elegant solution gleaned off of the Les Paul Forum

[Originally Posted by BPlexico]

Having a number of guitars with a Bigsby, I have found the easy way to re string them is as follows,

1. Pre bend the ball end of the string in a u shape.

2. After attaching the ball end to the Bigsby, run it over the bridge and then using a guitar capo, capo it down around the 9th fret.

3. Proceed with inserting other end of string into tuner and commence tuning

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pigsmoke



Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 11
Location: st. loomis

PostPosted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 6:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gretsh offers a very simple approach to re-stringing a Bigsby equipped guitfiddle. It's posted somewhere on their site. Get yourself an el-cheapo rubber door stopper and use is under the bar to hold the string on. This frees up BOTH your hands to do the other work. Of course, first bend the string at the ball end. It becomes like tieing your shoes after a few changes.
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bclaire



Joined: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 44

PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 11:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You ARE replacing the strings one at a time, right?
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tvegas99



Joined: 25 Mar 2005
Posts: 4
Location: Philly

PostPosted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 6:27 pm    Post subject: Restringing my JA Reply with quote

Restringing my JA#80 was a real humbling experience (@30+mins) at first. Then I realized from my local guru that the bridge was too close to the bigsby and needed to be moved closer to the bridge pickup(giving you more room between bridge and Bigsby). Doing this improved my intonation and tuning problems and decreased the tight feel of my Bigsby. Now, I can happily say, I can restring and tune it almost as quickly as a stoptail, it's made a huge difference!! Did anyone else have a bridge that was unexplainably very close to the Bigsby making restringing a nightmare?
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Nofallo



Joined: 29 Aug 2004
Posts: 23
Location: Seattle Area

PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 10:35 pm    Post subject: Re: Restringing my JA Reply with quote

tvegas99 wrote:
Restringing my JA#80 was a real humbling experience (@30+mins) at first. Then I realized from my local guru that the bridge was too close to the bigsby and needed to be moved closer to the bridge pickup(giving you more room between bridge and Bigsby). Doing this improved my intonation and tuning problems and decreased the tight feel of my Bigsby. Now, I can happily say, I can restring and tune it almost as quickly as a stoptail, it's made a huge difference!! Did anyone else have a bridge that was unexplainably very close to the Bigsby making restringing a nightmare?


Is it just me or am I missing something here? How the heck did you move the bridge? Shocked

The bridge can only move up and down, not closer or further from the Bigsby...unless you live in a parallel universe with different laws of physics. I have nightmarish visions of you redrilling bridge holes and moving it closer to the pickup...which would totally ruin any chance of accurate intonation. You were supposed to post this on April 1, right? Please clarify...
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