Staninator Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Who knew a pup swap, saddle change, Bigsby + Vibramate install, and putting on new strings could turn into a 4 hour job? Talk about frustrating. Things started off great with trying to get the pup height adjustment screws to go through the springs and into the mounting rings, which probably only took 15 minutes or so. I think Gibson should give out some sort of certificate of achievement for that because that was a pain in the arse. With that I moved on to the saddles (replacing the stock steel ones with Graph Tech String Savers) which was going great...until I got them all on and got the guitar strung and went to adjust the intonation and not 1 but 2 of them snapped clean in half. Needless to say I am not an expert at changing out saddles without removing the bridge (but I seriously mangled the intonation adjustment screws). Which brings me to the final fun part of the evening, restringing a Bigsby for the first time, which isn't so much frustrating but tedious. Once you get the strings into the Bigsby and get them half bent into shape it's not so bad. Nothing says fun like a 2.5 hour long university stats final exam and 4 hours of fiddling with the guitar. At least it looks amazing and no doubt will sound great, but that will have to wait for the morning. I am out of patience and don't feel like tackling intonation/pickup height/action height adjustment tonight. /end rant Now all I need is some black speed knobs in my stocking at Christmas and my SG will be good to go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drog Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 To string the bigsby, get a small piece of dowel or pen, then pre-bend the string. It helps a ton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted December 9, 2014 Author Share Posted December 9, 2014 To string the bigsby, get a small piece of dowel or pen, then pre-bend the string. It helps a ton. I made sure I did my research before trying to string the Bigsby. What I did was bend the eye one the end of the string 90 degrees. That helped keep it on the little post, and by the time it was wrapped over top of the one post and under the other, it was bent in shape enough to stay on. Not so much frustrating, but certainly an exercise in patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Hey!! For string changing on a bigsby with out loosing your mind. (I must say, I dreamed this one up all on my own -- well may be not, I'm not that smart, but I didn't have any help on this idea) 1: Take a cork from a wine bottle. (go ahead.. drink the wine) 2: Cut a disc off the cork a bout 1/4 inch think. (depending on how much wine you have consumed, this could get dicey) 3: Cut your cork DISC like a pie slice, (into three or four "slices" it should look like a triangle with a rounded edge - like a slide of pizza or pie, but a cork you see..) 4: Finish off the wine bottle and admire your new handy Bigsby-string-changing-widgets 5: Now when you change your strings out, anchor the string on the post, as you have already figured out, but (ahh here's where the genius is realized) from the PICKUP side of the bigsby SLIDE your "home-made cork Bigsby-string-changing-widget" under the pin, and push it gently to the post. The cork will stay in place, the string will not pop off and the cork not harm the finish (insert legal nitro disclaimer here) whilst you wrap the string at the tuner. 6: Repeat for the other 5 stings, tune her up, -- Done and Done.. 7: Perhaps there's another bottle of wine handy.. 8: rock on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted December 9, 2014 Author Share Posted December 9, 2014 Hey!! For string changing on a bigsby with out loosing your mind. (I must say, I dreamed this one up all on my own -- well may be not, I'm not that smart, but I didn't have any help on this idea) 1: Take a cork from a wine bottle. (go ahead.. drink the wine) 2: Cut a disc off the cork a bout 1/4 inch think. (depending on how much wine you have consumed, this could get dicey) 3: Cut your cork DISC like a pie slice, (into three or four "slices" it should look like a triangle with a rounded edge - like a slide of pizza or pie, but a cork you see..) 4: Finish off the wine bottle and admire your new handy Bigsby-string-changing-widgets 5: Now when you change your strings out, anchor the string on the post, as you have already figured out, but (ahh here's where the genius is realized) from the PICKUP side of the bigsby SLIDE your "home-made cork Bigsby-string-changing-widget" under the pin, and push it gently to the post. The cork will stay in place, the string will not pop off and the cork not harm the finish (insert legal nitro disclaimer here) whilst you wrap the string at the tuner. 6: Repeat for the other 5 stings, tune her up, -- Done and Done.. 7: Perhaps there's another bottle of wine handy.. 8: rock on... You should probably go get a patent on those before someone else steals the idea. In all seriousness though that's actually a pretty good idea...if I liked wine and ever had a bottle of it kicking around (neither of which is true...no sense spending money on something I think taste like absolute rubbish). Vibramate also makes a thing called the 'String Spoiler' which attaches to the little string pins and then functions almost like a normal tailpiece (ball end of strings fits into a slot, no more little pins). But I'm sure the wine idea is cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Hey!! For string changing on a bigsby with out loosing your mind. (I must say, I dreamed this one up all on my own -- well may be not, I'm not that smart, but I didn't have any help on this idea) 1: Take a cork from a wine bottle... Excellent. While we are on the subject of cork, I'll share a personal one I been doing for decades. My idea, far as I know. Get the little cork disks that are stuck to the bottom of bric-a-bracs and stuff on yer grandmas shelves. Each one is like, 1/16th", 3/32" maybe in thickness, size of a nickel or so. They are sticky on one side, so they stick to the priceless ugly porcelain. Get a handful and use your single hole hole punch to punch a hole in the center of each. Look at yer tunermatic, see how many you need under there. For me, two. I stick two together, sticky side facing each other, put them under the tunermatic and thumbwheel it down gently til it stops against the cork. When I change strings I take everything off and can get the bridge back on exactly as it was. The cork doesn't bother the paint and it doesn't bother the bridge, and I have had the same corks on my current Les Paul for about...15 years now. You, as usual, are all quite welcome. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobF_ Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Excellent. While we are on the subject of cork, I'll share a personal one I been doing for decades. My idea, far as I know. Get the little cork disks that are stuck to the bottom of bric-a-bracs and stuff on yer grandmas shelves. Each one is like, 1/16th", 3/32" maybe in thickness, size of a nickel or so. They are sticky on one side, so they stick to the priceless ugly porcelain. Get a handful and use your single hole hole punch to punch a hole in the center of each. Look at yer tunermatic, see how many you need under there. For me, two. I stick two together, sticky side facing each other, put them under the tunermatic and thumbwheel it down gently til it stops against the cork. When I change strings I take everything off and can get the bridge back on exactly as it was. The cork doesn't bother the paint and it doesn't bother the bridge, and I have had the same corks on my current Les Paul for about...15 years now. You, as usual, are all quite welcome. rct Great tip. Now I can change the strings on my '99 LP! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skilsaw Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 It is called job security. The guitar technologists at leading manufacturers make things a complicated as possible then develop little tricks to do it. These little tricks are kept secret so the boss man on the production line cannot fire the guitar technologists. They must take an oath of secrecy, and pledge never to do a 15 minute job in less than an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the dog Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 to the saddles (replacing the stock steel ones with Graph Tech String Savers) which was going great...until I got them all on and got the guitar strung and went to adjust the intonation and not 1 but 2 of them snapped clean in half. /end rant The Graph tech saddles will only work on string it was intended for. They are not interchangeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 I have change many sets of pups in almost every guitar I have ever owned and one thing I have learned is nothing goes as planned and if you think it is just going to take 30 to 45 mins, it usually doesn't. I didn't expect it to be a quick job, but I didn't see myself being up until midnight doing it. But it's done and I'm happy with the results and that's all I care about. It is called job security. The guitar technologists at leading manufacturers make things a complicated as possible then develop little tricks to do it. These little tricks are kept secret so the boss man on the production line cannot fire the guitar technologists. They must take an oath of secrecy, and pledge never to do a 15 minute job in less than an hour. Sounds like they've been getting some hints for auto repair shops...sounds suspiciously familiar... The Graph tech saddles will only work on string it was intended for. They are not interchangeable. I'm afraid I don't follow what you're saying at all. What exactly do you mean by only working on the string it was intended for? And not interchangeable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 When I change strings I take everything off and can get the bridge back on exactly as it was. Brilliant! You should probably go get a patent on those before someone else steals the idea. In all seriousness though that's actually a pretty good idea...if I liked wine and ever had a bottle of it kicking around (neither of which is true...no sense spending money on something I think taste like absolute rubbish). Well truth be told, Mrs Blast is a lover of the fruit of the vine, end result is.. corks everywhere! I would rather a good ale, or the right alchemy using a bot of decent vodka or gin. I've seen the Vibrate stuff, and I have to say - they seemed to have thought of everything, but as you say - used corks, dirt cheap... rock on lads.. /KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 When I change strings I take everything off and can get the bridge back on exactly as it was. Brilliant! You should probably go get a patent on those before someone else steals the idea. In all seriousness though that's actually a pretty good idea...if I liked wine and ever had a bottle of it kicking around (neither of which is true...no sense spending money on something I think taste like absolute rubbish). Well truth be told, Mrs Blast is a lover of the fruit of the vine, end result is.. corks everywhere! I would rather a good ale, or the right alchemy using a bot of decent vodka or gin. I've seen the Vibrate stuff, and I have to say - they seemed to have thought of everything, but as you say - used corks, dirt cheap... rock on lads.. /KB As far as Vibramate stuff goes, it seems crazy that once upon a time such brilliant stuff didn't exist. I mean the whole mounting plate idea is so incredibly simple, but you have to wonder for how many years people sat around thinking of how they could more easily mount a Bigsby before someone had the brilliant idea to make a mounting plate for it. It's a simple yet effective (albeit a bit pricey) product and I'm very happy with it. The bonus is if you should decide to do away with the Vibramate all together and wish to permanently mount the Bigsby, you've got yourself the perfect guide for drilling the holes. The 'String Spoiler' is a novel idea as well, but I can't say I'd ever use one. Last thing I need is another chunk of metal hanging off of my SG, and the corks are no doubt easier and cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I have thought about adding the vibramate and bigsy to one of my SGs or Les Pauls at some point I prolly will... I'm a suckah for the cool vibe you can do with them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the dog Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I'm afraid I don't follow what you're saying at all. What exactly do you mean by only working on the string it was intended for? And not interchangeable? I quoted you saying that 2 saddles snapped in half when you were adjusting intonation. The only way that I can see that happening is if the saddles were in the wrong string position. There are six saddles...one for the low E string ,A string,D string, G string, B string and high E string. The saddles are not interchangeable...You can't use an D string saddles on the A string or a G string saddle on the high E and so on... The threaded hole in saddle is a certain distance to shoulder on saddle and will only work on the appropriate string. Hope that makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 I have thought about adding the vibramate and bigsy to one of my SGs or Les Pauls at some point I prolly will... I'm a suckah for the cool vibe you can do with them I'm glad I did. It's especially fun to switch to a clean channel and crank up some chorus. And I'm not really noticing any severe tuning issues with it, although I'm not really wailing on the thing. However getting used to the handle and finding out the best spot to rotate it to when not in use as to not interfere with strumming or with the volume/tone pots is going to take some getting used to. I quoted you saying that 2 saddles snapped in half when you were adjusting intonation. The only way that I can see that happening is if the saddles were in the wrong string position. There are six saddles...one for the low E string ,A string,D string, G string, B string and high E string. The saddles are not interchangeable...You can't use an D string saddles on the A string or a G string saddle on the high E and so on... The threaded hole in saddle is a certain distance to shoulder on saddle and will only work on the appropriate string. Hope that makes sense. Makes sense now. There was no indication anywhere on any of the saddles that they were for a certain string. You could tell if they were for bass or treble strings based on the slot size, but beyond that they were all the same. To be honest the String Saver saddles looked and felt kind of "flimsy" right off the bat (there were extra bits from the manufacturing process that had to be filed off and some of the slots weren't very well done and had exces material in them). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I'm glad I did. It's especially fun to switch to a clean channel and crank up some chorus. And I'm not really noticing any severe tuning issues with it, although I'm not really wailing on the thing. I have three guitars fitted with a Bigsby, I don't have tuning problems. IMHO these things are not something made for wailing on, rather subtle atmospheric effects with sustained chords, that's where these things really show their worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 I'm glad I did. It's especially fun to switch to a clean channel and crank up some chorus. And I'm not really noticing any severe tuning issues with it, although I'm not really wailing on the thing. I have three guitars fitted with a Bigsby, I don't have tuning problems. IMHO these things are not something made for wailing on, rather subtle atmospheric effects with sustained chords, that's where these things really show their worth. Even if you tried you really can't get any too crazy sounds with a Bigsby, and I will agree that its only real use is for some subtle effects, and most often with chords, which sounds great. With my guitar plugged into a tuner it might go just the slightest bit out of tune, but when people mention tuning issues with Bigsbys it sounds like it's an end of the world tuning issue. We'll see how it goes though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the dog Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Makes sense now. There was no indication anywhere on any of the saddles that they were for a certain string. You could tell if they were for bass or treble strings based on the slot size, but beyond that they were all the same. To be honest the String Saver saddles looked and felt kind of "flimsy" right off the bat (there were extra bits from the manufacturing process that had to be filed off and some of the slots weren't very well done and had exces material in them). In the picture is where I am talking about. On the D string that spacing is shorter than the A string and The low E string. The low E string is the longest spacing. Not by much but they are. You can put the E string saddle in the D string spot and nothing will break but you will see that the saddle doesn't sit correctly. But if you took the D string saddle and try to put it in the E string spot you might not be able to get the screw through...But if you are able to get the screw started and through, because it is a plastic it will break. A steel saddle you wont get screw through... My OEM saddles are stamped so they go in the correct spot in bridge. E for the E string,A for the A string etc etc.. I'm sorry to hear about the flashing left on from the molding process. I took a small countersink and rotated it by hand a little bit to get the little flashing on threaded hole... Other than that mine were good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staninator Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 In the picture is where I am talking about. On the D string that spacing is shorter than the A string and The low E string. The low E string is the longest spacing. Not by much but they are. You can put the E string saddle in the D string spot and nothing will break but you will see that the saddle doesn't sit correctly. But if you took the D string saddle and try to put it in the E string spot you might not be able to get the screw through...But if you are able to get the screw started and through, because it is a plastic it will break. A steel saddle you wont get screw through... My OEM saddles are stamped so they go in the correct spot in bridge. E for the E string,A for the A string etc etc.. I'm sorry to hear about the flashing left on from the molding process. I took a small countersink and rotated it by hand a little bit to get the little flashing on threaded hole... Other than that mine were good. If that's the case I certainly didn't see any such markings and there was nothing to indicate that this was indeed the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 "(I must say, I dreamed this one up all on my own -- well may be not, I'm not that smart, but I didn't have any help on this idea)" Holy ratatouile ratsh!t Robin!...another one I've got to write down and remember to use...too funny again LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 "(I must say, I dreamed this one up all on my own -- well may be not, I'm not that smart, but I didn't have any help on this idea)" Holy ratatouile ratsh!t Robin!...another one I've got to write down and remember to use...too funny again LOL! ha! What can I say ,, now and then I'm a total genius! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 "To the Bat Cave!!.." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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