Bigsby Vibrato Tailpiece
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Bigsby Vibrato tailpiece. The Bigsby Vibrato (sometimes known as a tremolo) tailpiece was first produced in the 1940’s it was designed by Paul A Bigsby a former motorcycle machine shop foreman. A Vibrato tailpiece allows guitarists to bend the notes being or chords being played. |
The Bigsby vibrato unit works via a “rocking” bridge. The arm of the Bigsby unit is fitted with a spring and is attached to a “pivoting” bar. The guitar strings are fitted and pass through this bar which can be moved up or down by the appropriate pressure of the vibrato arm. When the arm is raised the pitch is raised, when the arm is pushed down the pitch is lowered. While the Bigsby vibrato is not suitable for wild “dive bombing” or bombastic vibrato effects (look towards a Fender or Floyd Rose unit) – the Bigsby produces a satisfyingly classic warble sound. To get an idea of this sound listen to the Chris Isaaks song “Wicked game” which features nice use of a vibrato unit – most likely on a Gretsch hollowbody guitar.
A downside of the Bigsby vibrato is that they do not offer individual string intonation adjustment – a small price to play for a classic sound however.
Manufactured predominantly in the USA, Bigsby Vibrato’s remain the standard on which vibrato’s are based and have become a design classic, over the years they have been fitted to many classic instruments such as Fender Telecasters, numerous Gretsch, and Gibson guitars.
These days Bigsby Vibratos are manufactured in two sizes and the company produces a variety of models to fit most guitars from the B-3 Model that fits thn electric guitars through to the B-12 that is of the designed to fit arch tops.
Now a subsidiary of the Gretsch Guitar company, who have featured the Bigsby vibrato unit for over 45 years, the Bigsby brand is as strong as ever.
For more information visit the Bigsby Guitar website