RobertoCarlosMX Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Hello all, I have an Epiphone Sheraton 1964 Reissue "John Lee Hooker" I want to install a bigsby on it. What do you think? Any suggestion? Best regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Hello all, I have an Epiphone Sheraton 1964 Reissue "John Lee Hooker" I want to install a bigsby on it. What do you think? Any suggestion? Best regards. Nice looking Sheri! I had a B700 put on my Elitist Casino, and I installed a B7 on my Dot. No regrets on either. I don't use them much, but like the effect when I do, and I like the look. Don't have any tuning issues with either one (or with my other two guitars with Bigsby's) The only thing I'd mention is that if you ever want to go back to the original tailpiece, you'll have some holes to fill. Let us know what you decide, and pic's if you do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott0 Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 That guitar is insanely badass and tres valuable. I wouldn't dare alter it. And with a wood grain finish, not even the best guitar refinisher can refill the bigsby holes and blend them in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteWilson Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Hello all, I have an Epiphone Sheraton 1964 Reissue "John Lee Hooker" I want to install a bigsby on it. What do you think? Any suggestion? Best regards. That guitar is too beautiful to alter! Play it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweed2 Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Nice looking Sheri! I had a B700 put on my Elitist Casino, and I installed a B7 on my Dot. No regrets on either. I don't use them much, but like the effect when I do, and I like the look. Don't have any tuning issues with either one (or with my other two guitars with Bigsby's) The only thing I'd mention is that if you ever want to go back to the original tailpiece, you'll have some holes to fill. Let us know what you decide, and pic's if you do! Dennis, love that black Bigsby on the Dot. That'd fit right in at Tweed Studios. ;) And I have to agree with the others, that JLH is too nice to mess with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayyj Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Of my six electric guitars, five have Bigsbys. The sixth is a 12 string, and even I'm not going there with it... But, if you think you're definitely going to make use of the Bigsby I'm not the man to talk you out of it! Fitting a Bigsby B7 will leave you with the two screw holes in the top should you choose to remove it, so you need to be sure you're happy with that. Your alternative is to use a B3/B6, both of which anchor at the tailpiece end only and are held against the guitar body by string tension only. The B6 and B3 rely on having enough break angle over the bridge, as they're really designed for guitars with a wooden floating bridge: The one on my ES-330 fits fine, the one on my Casino has the bottom ground down a little. Both my B6 loaded guitars have no modifications to them - the Bigsby is fitted using the upper screw holes from the trapeze, and a strap lock endpin on a long screw that acts as a third anchor. The B7 loaded guitars are permanently modified. The below Bigsbys are: B7G on a '79 ES-355, B6 on a '65 ES-330, B7 on a '89 Sheraton, B6 on a '95 MIJ Casino: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lengle1981 Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Of my six electric guitars, five have Bigsbys. The sixth is a 12 string, and even I'm not going there with it... But, if you think you're definitely going to make use of the Bigsby I'm not the man to talk you out of it! Fitting a Bigsby B7 will leave you with the two screw holes in the top should you choose to remove it, so you need to be sure you're happy with that. Your alternative is to use a B3/B6, both of which anchor at the tailpiece end only and are held against the guitar body by string tension only. The B6 and B3 rely on having enough break angle over the bridge, as they're really designed for guitars with a wooden floating bridge: The one on my ES-330 fits fine, the one on my Casino has the bottom ground down a little. Both my B6 loaded guitars have no modifications to them - the Bigsby is fitted using the upper screw holes from the trapeze, and a strap lock endpin on a long screw that acts as a third anchor. The B7 loaded guitars are permanently modified. The below Bigsbys are: B7G on a '79 ES-355, B6 on a '65 ES-330, B7 on a '89 Sheraton, B6 on a '95 MIJ Casino: Due to my obsession with hollow bodies I think it would be very rude not to put up a pic of all your hollow bodies to be honest. Looks like a good collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 That guitar is insanely badass and tres valuable. I wouldn't dare alter it. Agree on the badass part. It's only valuable if you want to resell it. Personally, I've had enough guitars come and go over the years that about 10 years ago I vowed two things: 1. NEVER sell another guitar 2. If it's mine, I'm gonna mod it like I want it keeping item #1 in mind. YMMV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Dennis, love that black Bigsby on the Dot. That'd fit right in at Tweed Studios. ;) Agree Pat, I've seen the pic's of Tweed Studios & there's some nice looking stuff on that wall! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweed2 Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Agree Pat, I've seen the pic's of Tweed Studios & there's some nice looking stuff on that wall! Changes in the works, stay tuned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliepaulie Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 There's a new Vibramate adapter for hollow bodies. Check their website. paulie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott0 Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Agree on the badass part. It's only valuable if you want to resell it. Personally, I've had enough guitars come and go over the years that about 10 years ago I vowed two things: 1. NEVER sell another guitar 2. If it's mine, I'm gonna mod it like I want it keeping item #1 in mind. YMMV I see what you're saying. On the other hand, it's also like saying the owner of the Mona Lisa can magic marker a moustache on her if he doesn't plan on selling it. That guitar is unique, a limited edition and personal property can and does have value without needing to be for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 I see what you're saying. On the other hand, it's also like saying the owner of the Mona Lisa can magic marker a moustache on her if he doesn't plan on selling it. That guitar is unique, a limited edition and personal property can and does have value without needing to be for sale. I think we're both kind of on the same page, with a bit of a different twist. If I owned the Mona Lisa, I'd never put a Sharpie moustache on her. She is, after all, the ONLY Mona Lisa. This isn't the ONLY one of it's kind guitar, so I'd be perfectly ok modding it. If it were, in fact, the ONLY one...well, let's just leave well enough alone. No harm, no foul Now back to our original question... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Changes in the works, stay tuned. Can't wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcwillow777 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 I say go for the Bigsby. If you are afraid of drilling holes, then go Vibramate and a B7. I have 4 guitars with Bigsbys and I have no regrets. I don't plan on selling them. If I do, the Bigsbys will go with all but one. I have a Vibramate and B7 on my favorite, a Wine Red Agile AL-3000M Neckthru. If I ever sell it, which is highly unlikely, the Vibramate and B7 will come off and go on another guitar. http://www.vibramate.com/index.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertoCarlosMX Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 I say go for the Bigsby. If you are afraid of drilling holes, then go Vibramate and a B7. I have 4 guitars with Bigsbys and I have no regrets. I don't plan on selling them. If I do, the Bigsbys will go with all but one. I have a Vibramate and B7 on my favorite, a Wine Red Agile AL-3000M Neckthru. If I ever sell it, which is highly unlikely, the Vibramate and B7 will come off and go on another guitar. http://www.vibramate.com/index.php The problem is that V7 is designed for guitars that uses Stop-Tailpiece. My Sheraton comes with a frequensator!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcwillow777 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 My bad, I wasn't thinking about that. I would venture to say that Vibramate will be making something for a B6 or B3 in the future, though I don't know that for a fact. After all, they are in business to make money. Regardless, I still vote for the Bigsby even if a B7 needs to be drilled and screwed on it. I did it to my Dot and Sherry and have no regrets, but it is after all your guitar and you will have to live with the the final decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayyj Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 My bad, I wasn't thinking about that. I would venture to say that Vibramate will be making something for a B6 or B3 in the future, though I don't know that for a fact. After all, they are in business to make money. Regardless, I still vote for the Bigsby even if a B7 needs to be drilled and screwed on it. I did it to my Dot and Sherry and have no regrets, but it is after all your guitar and you will have to live with the the final decision. All you'd need for a B3/B6 is the tailpiece plate from a Vibramate V7. But in practice, depending on the screw holes on the original tailpiece you might not need even that bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 That guitar is too nice to drill holes into Get a guitar that already has one installed. Like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott0 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Did John Lee Hooker use a bigsby on his sheraton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 He had "natural" vibrato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfine Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Did John Lee Hooker use a bigsby on his sheraton? I don't think so. He had several of them, both US-made and Far East models, and as I recall, they had either Frequensators or stop tailpieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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