Bigsby tuning stability issues

[JUAN]

Hi Folks. I have an intonation problem in my Epiphone Les paul, in special in the first three strings, it is really messy, the nut was replaced from one made of cow bone, by a luthier, but at the 12 fret it gets sharper. Suggestions?
Regards
Juan.

 

[MR.D]

get a set of vintage thumb wheels that have the rounded top. they work great I have two gibs with factory bigsby. tho I warn very hard on old abr they will wear out.

 

[Azathoth]

Hi Folks. I have an intonation problem in my Epiphone Les paul, in special in the first three strings, it is really messy, the nut was replaced from one made of cow bone, by a luthier, but at the 12 fret it gets sharper. Suggestions?
Regards
Juan.

Intonation is set at the bridge, by moving the saddles back and forth with a good guitar tuner to set each string. Humidity and other climate factors can affect the intonation, so this should be done fairly frequently.

 

[kevinpaul]

So, as you may have seen in another thread, I recent'y installed a Bigsby on my Les Paul, and I love the thing, but I've noticed some rather brutal tuning issues.

My guitar was really good at staying in tune pre-bigsby, the only issue I sometimes had was the infamous Epiphone G string causing trouble, but that almost disappeared when I replaced the tuners from Grover Kidney beans to Grover Vintage Tuplics.

I was noticing the tuning issues so I tried just grabbing a pencil and using the graphite shavings to try and lubricate both the nut and the bridge, but I still get the issues. Sometimes a single use of the Bigsby will give me an issue.

I know there are people out there who use bigsbys without locking tuners (and I don't really want to spend the money on new tuners again, especially when I just finally found and installed these tuners). What approach should I take to working this out? Should I try an actual lubricant made for guitar nuts and such? Should I replace the stock epiphone nut (it hasn't really given me issues to this point), or am I at the point I need a roller bridge? (I've heard a lot of people that can use their bigsby all day with a standard bridge without any issues...

What do you guys think, I think some thing will make a guitar go out! My Gretsch is 100% stock and stays in tune. Not a problem, I beat them, bend them and all is fine. If it sits, or gets hot or cold I check it. I check it when ever I play.
Cheers[/

 

[NovaSDF]

I installed a bigsby on my goth lp

Would love to see what the Goth LP (I've got both the Goth LP and SG) looks like with a Bigsby. Any chance we can persuade you to upload a photo?

 

[AK Epi Player]

I've had 2 guitars with Bigsby's: An Ibanez Artcore AFS 75T, and a Gretch Corvette re-issue. The Artcore had a roller bridge and was pretty good at staying in tune. The Gretch didn't and I noticed that the whole bridge would rock back and forth when the arm was pulled up and pushed down .

It had major issues staying in tune, and that was one of the reasons I no longer have it. Had I kept it, it would have gotten a roller bridge.
As a mechanic, I can appreciate anything that makes movement better/easier, and in my thinking, a roller bridge is always going to be a good thing.

 

[sidious911]

I ended up taking the Bigsby off and going back to stock. Looked great, but didn't really use it (partially because of it gave tuning issues when used). I didn't feel like dropping the money to get another bridge and new nut and all that jazz for something I really didn't use.

Anyone want to buy a like new Bigsby B7 and Vibramate V7?

 

[River]

Anyone want to buy a like new Bigsby B7 and Vibramate V7?

Gold or silver?

 

[sidious911]

Gold or silver?

Silver

 

[iplayloudly]

How much?