suggest
Bigsby
Now, put vTap to work for you!
Let us keep you up to date with new videos related to:
Bigsby
Go to Feed to see what's new!
+Feed
 
Wikipedia.org
Bigsby (Wikipedia.org)

The Bigsby vibrato tailpiece (or Bigsby for short) is a type of vibrato device for electric guitar designed by the eponymous Paul A. Bigsby. The device allows musicians to bend the pitch of notes or entire chords with their pick hand for various effects.

The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term "vibrato" to refer to what is really a tremolo effect (see vibrato unit).

The Bigsby vibrato unit is installed on the top of the guitar and works in conjunction with a rocker bridge. The arm of the Bigsby is spring loaded and attached to a pivoting metal bar, around which the strings of the guitar are installed. In the neutral or unused position, the pressure of the spring counterbalances the pull of the strings, resulting in constant pitch when the strings are played. When the arm of the Bigsby is pushed down towards the top of the guitar, the strings loosen, the bridge rocks forward, and the pitch of the strings is lowered. When the arm is released, the strings return to normal pitch. The arm may also be lifted slightly to raise the pitch of the strings. Lifting the arm too much, however, will result in the spring falling out of the unit. This makes the Bigsby more suitable for downbends, rather than upbends. For this reason, competing units, like the Floyd Rose and the Fender synchronized tremolo (or strat-style) are preferred by some players.

Bigsby vibratos are still factory installed on electric guitars, such as those manufactured by Epiphone, Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, Guild, and Hamer. Many electric guitars can also be retrofitted with a Bigsby, and there are different varieties of the unit designed to fit different styles of guitar, such as a hollow body or solid body guitar. Bigsby units ship with their own rocker bridges, though these are often discarded in favor of more adjustable alternatives such as the Tune-o-matic style bridge or Jazzmaster style bridge. The rocker bridges that come with the Bigsby do not offer individual string intonation adjustment, and have relative string length preset for string sets with a wound G string, rather than for the plain G string preferred by many electric guitarists today.

Notable guitarists recorded using the Bigsby unit include Cliff Gallup, Horton Heat, Les Paul, George Harrison, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Greg Sage, Brian Setzer, John Lowery, Andrew Stockdale, Neil Young, Billy Zoom and Bernard Butler.

more...
Videos
Refine
91
Fender's product specialist Damon,demonstrates a Fender custom Tele with Bigsby tremolo.
2m 7s |
a year ago
YouTube
Keep this video in the "Saved" list
Now, put vTap to work for you!
Let us keep you up to date with new videos related to:
Fender Telecaster
Guitar Man (song)
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
Bigsby
Leo Fender
Fender Custom
musicianshoptv (YouTube)
Go to Feed to see what's new!
share
my users
keep
 
 
109
Original Song by the Black Cats James Dean tribute. Jo Pro - Gretsch w/Bigsby, Oscar - Double Bass, Carlos - Snare and Cymbals
2m 51s |
10 months ago
YouTube
Keep this video in the "Saved" list
Now, put vTap to work for you!
Let us keep you up to date with new videos related to:
Brian Setzer
Rockabilly
Double bass
James Dean
Gretsch
Bigsby
The Blues (tvseries)
RaceWithTheDevil (YouTube)
Go to Feed to see what's new!
share
my users
keep
 
 
163
a lick in the style of Eddie Cochran
0m 29s |
a year ago
YouTube
Keep this video in the "Saved" list
Now, put vTap to work for you!
Let us keep you up to date with new videos related to:
Brian Setzer
Eddie Cochran
Rockabilly
Gretsch
Bigsby
Lick (music)
Haifishtrio (YouTube)
Go to Feed to see what's new!
share
my users
keep
 
 
Keep this video in the "Saved" list
Now, put vTap to work for you!
Let us keep you up to date with new videos related to:
Hollow body electric guitar
Bigsby
Gretsch
rockongoodpeople (YouTube)
Go to Feed to see what's new!
share
my users
keep
 
 
14629
This video demonstrates the installation of a Bigsby B5 Vibrato on to a Fender Telecaster. Bigsby afficionado, Adam Seutter, walks the viewer step by step through the installation process of the ...
9m 4s |
2 years ago
YouTube
Keep this video in the "Saved" list
Now, put vTap to work for you!
Let us keep you up to date with new videos related to:
Fender Telecaster
Bigsby
Vibrato
bigsbyguitars (YouTube)
Go to Feed to see what's new!
share
my users
keep
 
 
35
Revelator Guitars
Billy D. Light demos a Revelator Guitars Dakota Red Bigsby Tele. He put her through her paces thru a 60s Blackface Fender Bandmaster Head. This instrument is available for purchase at: http://...
2m 28s |
a year ago
MySpace
Keep this video in the "Saved" list
Now, put vTap to work for you!
Let us keep you up to date with new videos related to:
Fender Telecaster
Bigsby
Leo Fender
Go to Feed to see what's new!
share
my users
keep
 
 
1236
4m 26s |
6 months ago
YouTube
Keep this video in the "Saved" list
Now, put vTap to work for you!
Let us keep you up to date with new videos related to:
Bigsby
bigsbyguitars (YouTube)
Go to Feed to see what's new!
share
my users
keep
 
 
136
Original guitar which has a repair done to it. But it stays in tune. The tuners are not original. Has mini humbuckers.
5m 44s |
a year ago
YouTube
Keep this video in the "Saved" list
Now, put vTap to work for you!
Let us keep you up to date with new videos related to:
Tremolo arm
Gibson SG
Bigsby
Electric guitar
madamkirk (YouTube)
Go to Feed to see what's new!
share
my users
keep