Birki Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 hello! first, i would liek to introduce myself - my name is wolfgang, and I am a guitarist for 25 years. right now, I am mainly playing with my sons, who are learning the drums and the bass guitar. I have a few instruments including a rather new chinese SG G400 Epi (awesome instrument for the money, BTW) and an old Sheraton II, built in Korea in 94. The latter is my pride and joy, mainly for sentimental reasons and since it is a very nice instrument. however, I never liked the gold hardware, and by now, the stop-tailpiece, the bridge and the tuners look pretty bad. so i thought about pimping it. the problem, which was discussed many times here (but without a convincing solutio, as far as I could see) is the stud spacing of the tailpiece and the bridge, which is 72 mm for the bridge and 80 for the stop tailpiece ... my idea is the following: I have found a nickel roller bridge with 72 mm on the britisch axesrus-page. if i choose to use this one with a Bigsby, I could possibly use a Vibramate mounting plate, enlarge the holes a little bit so that it fits the bushings for the 80 mm stop tailpiece, and mount the bigsby without any residual or new holes in the guitar ... what do you think? reasonable? BTW - can I use a Bigsby B7 or B12 with the sheraton? would the vibramate fit the distance to the bottom of the guitar? I do, however, have access to a cnc-mill, so i would be able to make my own custom vibramate-adapter ... yours wolfi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcwillow777 Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 First off, Welcome! Good for you if you can find a roller bridge. I know some of the guys around here with older Sherrys have a hard time finding replacement bridges that fit. I put a B70 and Wilkenson roller bridge on mine. Mine is an '06. I'm not sure about the B12, but the B7 will work fine. I would choose the B7 over the Vibramate. The Vibramate is more suited for a flat top, but there are some that have used it on an arched top. Here's mine: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birki Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 hi jc! "Good for you if you can find a roller bridge" i found it on axesrus, search for "Vintage Style Roller Bridge" - don't know whether it fits, but i may give it a try ... "I know some of the guys around here with older Sherrys have a hard time finding replacement bridges that fit" that's what i realized as well, but unfortunately it appears as if there is no straightforward solution to that. i will try to contact schaller - maybe they have a raw bridge without the holes drilled ... But I am afraid that the stop tailpiece is a similar problem ... "I put a B70 and Wilkenson roller bridge on mine. Mine is an '06. I'm not sure about the B12, but the B7 will work fine. I would choose the B7 over the Vibramate. The Vibramate is more suited for a flat top, but there are some that have used it on an arched top." looks very cool. my other concern about the vibramate is that it would mainly make sense if i would be able to use a B5, whereas with the hinged ones I think it is very unlikely to find one that fits the distance bottom - mounting holes ... i think that this may become a job for the cnc-mill ... yours wolfi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KX36 Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 I would choose the B7 over the Vibramate. The Vibramate is more suited for a flat top, but there are some that have used it on an arched top. There is more than 1 vibramate now, it used to limit you to a B5, which would fit on an carved top but the back end would stick up, now they make the V7 for a B7, which of course will not have THAT problem with carved tops per se; but any vibramate will limit you to a B5 or B7, (i.e. not B50/B70 or B500/B700) and gibson standard sized tailpiece studs to fit their bolts. You have to get a bigsby that fits first before you can worry about how to mount it, especially if you can make your own mount with CNC milling. If the V7 won't fit right out of the packaging and you have access to cheap CNC milling, then I'd just get your own one milled. The V7 is simply a Z shaped chunk of metal with 2 small holes for the bigsby screws and 2 big holes for the polepieces and a pair of standard sized big bolts to fit in original gibson tailpiece studs; and also a piece of metal with 4 little screw holes for a B7's back end and a bigger hole in the middle for a strap peg; not a lot really for the near $100 price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birki Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 hi! so - by now my considerations were followed by some major action: I have already ordered a "Custom Made" coverplate This will take care of the tailpiece. if i should choose a bigsby, I will have to make my own Vibramate plate on the mill anyhow, I assume. i don't want to drill holes in the old sheraton. an alternative to the bigsby would be a standard archtop stringholder tailpiece like on the ES 135. anyhow - that should solve the problem with the stud spacing of the stop-tailpiece. when taking a look at my godin 5th avenue - which is some sort of an archtop guitar - a solution to the problem of the bridge also came to my mind ... i have to check the height of the original bridge, but why not remove the M8 bushings and place either a classic archtop bridge or an archtop bridge that can accomodate a TOM bridge (such things do exist). alternatively, I could make myself two identical little aluminum plates - one that fits the 72 mm M8 nuts in the sheraton, and an identical one that has two M4 screws for a schaller/TOM/whatever. the two plates have to be fixed to each other using two small screws ... has no one made something like that yet? just to make sure - replacing the tuners is not a hassle like that, isn't it? and finally - any recommendations for replacement pups? lindy fralin maybe (i want black humbuckers ) yours wolfi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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