GEAR DATABASE

Will the Bigsby change Mick's beloved 1965 ES-345 for the better or worse?

Welcome to the show. I bought this wonderful guitar in January 2024, completely taken in by its charm and cool-old-guitar vibe. It’s also fantastic to play and has a really compelling core, unplugged tone. Some of the plugged-in tones were also really fantastic… and some much less so, courtesy of the original stereo Varitone electronics that - to my ears anyway - sucked most of the life out of this potentially fantastic instrument. It also made it extremely hard to use live.

So I removed the stereo Varitone, leaving the original early Patent Number humbuckers free to sing.(Standard four-pot Gibson ’50s wiring.) And sing they do! That video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdYvdn7vDDE

But, from the very first day I clapped eyes on it, it was just crying out for a Bigsby. It’s a period-correct option for the guitar, but the standard factory fitment was the trapeze tailpiece. Nothing wrong with the trapeze per se, but, well… it has to have a Bigsby, as I discuss in the video.

Does it change the sound? Can I fit it without messing it up? Let’s find out…

Massive thanks to Gerhard Schwarz of https://www.schwarz-custom.de/ for sourcing the old Bigsby for me, and for his invaluable advice on fitting it.

Enjoy the show!

GET YOUR COGS OFF: In your YouTube ‘cog’ settings options, there is a ‘stable volume’ option. If you want the audio to be the closest to what we recorded, turn ‘stable volume’ OFF.

Interesting bits and go to sections…
0:00 Welcome & background
1:12 Noel Gallagher & Johnny Marr!
2:08 Why not the trapeze tailpiece?
4:00 Scared to do this?
6:44 The fitting process begins!
8:12 Nylon saddles aside
9:38 Strings and trapeze off
12:23 Endpin and endcrews
15:54 Attaching strings for alignment
20:00 Drilling time!
22:15 Original Bigsby?
22:48 Essential tip on fitting
24:57 Why not a Vibramate?
25:20 What about springs?
26:40 It’s on and strung! But is it straight?
28:26 A/B Sounds Before & After Bigsby
37:55 Thoughts so far?
38:28 Thoughts a couple of weeks later
40:27 But what about the Bigsby action?!
41:22 Tuning stability?
43:03 Different spring thoughts
43:45 A few more sounds, full rig
48:28 New spring time!
52:40 Final thoughts

Pedals & stuff in today’s show
• Kingsley Juggler Mk3
• Mythos Argo Boost Deluxe
• Kingsley Alexander
• Crazy Tube Circuits Venus
• Chase Bliss Audio Tonal Recall RKM
• JAM Pedals Harmonious Monk Mk 2
• Chase Bliss Audio CXM 1978 Reverb
• TheGigRig G3

Amps in today’s show
• Two-Rock Classic Reverb Signature (100w)
• Two-Rock TS1 (50w)
• Two-Rock 1x15 cab with TR15 speaker
• 2 x Two-Rock 2x12 cabs with TR1265B speakers

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