Yo Johnnyayyy. . .bigsby Questions

[toasterdude]

If I remember correctly you had a bigsby on a chinese white falcon knock off? Maybe I remember you adding a bigsby or planning to on a JTV?

 

How well does it work with the modeling on the white falcon?

 

TOM bridge?

 

Crusty or another "expert" had said in the past that bigsbys would cause major issues for the modeling as the strings move across the piezos. I have seen a couple of cool, JTV 59s with bigsbys in this forum but the bisby is right up against the bridge so it appears the string angle behind the bridge is much steeper. I don't know if that helped with the piezo/bigsby issue or if there really isn't a major issue at all.

 

I missed the boat on warmoth L5 semi hollow bodies but rumor has it they may start doing a starcaster type deal. Somehow a semi hollow with filtertrons and bigsy seems like a cool idea. . ..especially in metallic purple!

[johnnyayyy]

The modeling on the White Falcon works fine, nothing weird, normal JTV operation. GraphTech T-O-M bridge. Nothing weird happens when the strings move across the saddles, maybe due to the graphite saddles.

 

You will need to put a damper on the strings between the Bigsby and the bridge to kill string resonance, same as people without Bigsbys are doing with the stock JTV59/89 bridge:

 

http://line6.com/support/topic/111-make-your-variax-sound-100-better/

 

 

I use a strip of scotch tape there and between the nut and tuners because it is nearly invisible but velcro or hair scrunchies or whatever will work.

 

I use the same scotch tape damping on my real (non Variax) Gretsch as well, at higher gain settings the resonance from the strings behind the nut and behind the bridge sounds terrible to me.

 

I do not use the White Falcon much, it sounds exactly like my Tele transplant (same Bigsby/GraphTech on that one, no issues) but the Tele has a great neck and is much more fun to play. I put metalflake binding on the WF body and neck and never finished working on it so the edges of the neck are pretty uncomfortable - needs more sanding and clearcoat, will probably get around to it eventually...

 

I have used it for a couple of shows, I chose red metalflake for the binding and Gretsch logo but later realized the guitar looks too much like a Christmas decoration/candy cane in red and white so I am planning to paint it black and probably change the binding to silver or gold eventually.

 

The couple times I did use the WF live I had not reinstalled the magnetic pickups, no pots or switches either, just a bunch of unfilled holes (I put all the Variax bits in a Radio Shack project box and stuffed the whole thing inside the guitar, all control of the guitar is done via HD500), got lots of "WTF is up with that?" questions about it afterward :lol:

 

 

[johnnyayyy]

 

TOM bridge?

 

i was thinking when looking at pics of your transplants, why do you use the Tyler bridges on such nice guitars? A GraphTech is a huge improvement over the Tyler IMO, in both appearance and especially in functionality, no more KLICKYKLACKY from the piezos flopping around in their slots (if you ever notice wird ticks and clicks while you are playing, the problem is likely the Tyler bridge)... I am planning to put a Bigsby on my JTV89 eventually and will be changing to GraphTech TOM at the same time, just gotta few projects I have to work on first

[johnnyayyy]

If I remember correctly you had a bigsby on a chinese white falcon knock off?

 

Would love to see a tricked out L5, and a purple Starcaster JTV sounds... out of this world! DO IT!!!!

 

Here are some pics of the Falcon and Tele transplant ( I had forgotten why I did two transplants until a few minutes ago, used to play in a band with a second guitarist and the plan was for me to use the Tele and him to use the Falcon but by the time I get them both up and running we had gotten rid of the other guy), you can see the scoth tape in the pics.

 

The original goal was to have no Variax components showing so that the banjo and sitar sounds would blow people's minds live, the only giveaway on the Tele is the output jack, the guts are hidden under the pickguard between the pickups, no routs/panels on the back of the guitar, 2 controls aknobs only (volume and modeling), tone control is buried under the pickguard (I select models and program the tone knob on a per patch basis with my HD500).

 

The dead giveaway that something weird was going on with the Falcon the couple of times I used it live was I think the total lack of controls and pickups :lol: I have a nice set of DeArmonds and some Gretsch knobs that will be back on there shortly  (after I paint the thing black).

 

Sorry I never got around to posting the pics til now - stuff came up and I was away from the forums for many months and by the time I came back I had completely forgotten, not that it would have mattered as the old forums were locked by then anyway.

 

[toasterdude]

The modeling on the White Falcon works fine, nothing weird, normal JTV operation. GraphTech T-O-M bridge. Nothing weird happens when the strings move across the saddles, maybe due to the graphite saddles.

 

You will need to put a damper on the strings between the Bigsby and the bridge to kill string resonance, same as people without Bigsbys are doing with the stock JTV59/89 bridge:

 

http://line6.com/support/topic/111-make-your-variax-sound-100-better/

 

 

Great news. I don't use the bar much but did the sound of bigsbys. Got a Gretsch setzer Hot Rod. . .yeah purple,  a purplish dano hodad and an epi riviera gold top with 3 p90s all with Bigsbys.

 

Having a JTV with bigsby would be great.

[toasterdude]

Hmmm. . .haven't noticed any issues with standard bridge. When they first came out L6 really played up how much the new bridges had to do with improved sound. Now that I have my old graphtec on the purple tele I see that any difference is minimal and may actually be that graphtec is better.

 

I am trying to figure out post spacing on the stock JTV 59 bridges. I have 3 "gutless" bodies laying around that can be cool project guitars. If spacing was the same I could always swap those bridges for TOM. Hmmm. . .bigsby on double bound purple flame explorer? Nah, not even I am that out there. . . .lol.

 

i was thinking when looking at pics of your transplants, why do you use the Tyler bridges on such nice guitars? A GraphTech is a huge improvement over the Tyler IMO, in both appearance and especially in functionality, no more KLICKYKLACKY from the piezos flopping around in their slots (if you ever notice wird ticks and clicks while you are playing, the problem is likely the Tyler bridge)... I am planning to put a Bigsby on my JTV89 eventually and will be changing to GraphTech TOM at the same time, just gotta few projects I have to work on first

[toasterdude]

Cool pics! Never pictured a blood dripped dripped tele. I would love a tele with bigsby and may do one without JTV guts. Or maybe just buy a reverend guitar with bigsby. The white falcon looks scary without its "guts".

 

L5 is no longer an option. The warmoth starcaster is not out yet. My third option, is a unfinished Gretsch Billy Bo body I won on ebay. Purple flake, some dearmonds and a bigsby may be cool. Or just metallic purple with pearloid guard.

 

These would be a bit down the road. Still waiting for my purple firebird with tele style neck and pickup config to be done.

 

I have another firebird body that I was toying about doing metallic green witha Presidented beer logo. I live in santo domingo and people there would freak over a gringo playin some electrified bachata with a bad lollipop Presidente guitar! The only neck I have laying around for that is a warmoth Charvel type that had a chip so I got it for like 100 bucks. Hm m m mm .

 

Would love to see a tricked out L5, and a purple Starcaster JTV sounds... out of this world! DO IT!!!!

 

Here are some pics of the Falcon and Tele transplant ( I had forgotten why I did two transplants until a few minutes ago, used to play in a band with a second guitarist and the plan was for me to use the Tele and him to use the Falcon but by the time I get them both up and running we had gotten rid of the other guy), you can see the scoth tape in the pics.

 

The original goal was to have no Variax components showing so that the banjo and sitar sounds would blow people's minds live, the only giveaway on the Tele is the output jack, the guts are hidden under the pickguard between the pickups, no routs/panels on the back of the guitar, 2 controls aknobs only (volume and modeling), tone control is buried under the pickguard (I select models and program the tone knob on a per patch basis with my HD500).

 

The dead giveaway that something weird was going on with the Falcon the couple of times I used it live was I think the total lack of controls and pickups :lol: I have a nice set of DeArmonds and some Gretsch knobs that will be back on there shortly  (after I paint the thing black).

 

Sorry I never got around to posting the pics til now - stuff came up and I was away from the forums for many months and by the time I came back I had completely forgotten, not that it would have mattered as the old forums were locked by then anyway.

 

C

[tomb68]

i was thinking when looking at pics of your transplants, why do you use the Tyler bridges on such nice guitars? A GraphTech is a huge improvement over the Tyler IMO, in both appearance and especially in functionality, no more KLICKYKLACKY from the piezos flopping around in their slots (if you ever notice wird ticks and clicks while you are playing, the problem is likely the Tyler bridge)... I am planning to put a Bigsby on my JTV89 eventually and will be changing to GraphTech TOM at the same time, just gotta few projects I have to work on first

 I thought it was just me. I really notice it since I play with my fingers and not a pick.

[johnnyayyy]

 I thought it was just me. I really notice it since I play with my fingers and not a pick.

 

IMO the Tyler bridge is unusable for fingerpicking, eh, it might be okay for super gentle fingerpicking like playing The Girl From Ipanema or The Look of Love something like that but you can look forward to hearing lots of lollipops mixed in with your playing if you try putting any kind of any snap or twang on there.

 

I only hear the clicks and pops occasionally when playing with a pick - I see GraphTech makes a bridge that looks like a good candidate for replacement: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Graph-Tech-Ghost-Resomax-NW-Wrap-Bridge-CHROME-PN-8593-C0-/390539905816?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item5aedfe0b18

[ur2funky]

Sweet Dexter Tele!  ;)

 

IMO the Tyler bridge is unusable for fingerpicking, eh, it might be okay for super gentle fingerpicking like playing The Girl From Ipanema or The Look of Love something like that but you can look forward to hearing lots of lollipops mixed in with your playing if you try putting any kind of any snap or twang on there.

 

I only hear the clicks and pops occasionally when playing with a pick - I see GraphTech makes a bridge that looks like a good candidate for replacement: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Graph-Tech-Resomax-NW2-Wrap-Around-Bridge-PS-8593-C0-CHROME-/330839608007?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item4d0793cac7

 

I notice the bridge that is linked isn't the Ghost saddles one...they are a bit more expensive.

[tomb68]

IMO the Tyler bridge is unusable for fingerpicking, eh, it might be okay for super gentle fingerpicking like playing The Girl From Ipanema or The Look of Love something like that but you can look forward to hearing lots of lollipops mixed in with your playing if you try putting any kind of any snap or twang on there.

 

I only hear the clicks and pops occasionally when playing with a pick - I see GraphTech makes a bridge that looks like a good candidate for replacement: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Graph-Tech-Resomax-NW2-Wrap-Around-Bridge-PS-8593-C0-CHROME-/330839608007?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item4d0793cac7

I agree, I have figured out some hand placement solutions that accommodate picking with a pick, but finger picking, especially more aggressively is impossible. This sucks because the JTV-89 has the widest string spacing of all my guitars and is really comfortable for that sort of thing. 

 

I saw the Graphtech wraparound bridges on their site that have the ghost pickups already installed but I don't think anyone has put one on a JTV yet.  Looks like a good possible option though. 

[arislaf]

What about the 69?What graphteck possible to use?

[johnnyayyy]

Sweet Dexter Tele!   ;)

 

 

I notice the bridge that is linked isn't the Ghost saddles one...they are a bit more expensive.

 

Ooops... I fixed the link, Ghost version @ $199.99

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Graph-Tech-Ghost-Resomax-NW-Wrap-Bridge-CHROME-PN-8593-C0-/390539905816?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item5aedfe0b18

[toasterdude]

Hmm. . .I may have to try one or several of those. My tele xplant has graphtecs. Just got another JTV 59 for under 900 on ebay this week. That warmoth starcaster is looking more and more a done deal once they have em.

 

If that graphtec works I can put one on my LP and one on my explorer and have one ready for starcaster leaving me 4 old line6 bridges that I can use to make my old 59s into LP copies. 2 black, one TSB and one CSB.

 

I dig graphtec a bunch.

[toasterdude]

Do we know for sure the post spacing will line up properly? May pull trigger on one to find out. . . .lol

[ur2funky]

You saw Fender is reissuing the Starcaster?

[johnnyayyy]

Do we know for sure the post spacing will line up properly? May pull trigger on one to find out. . . .lol

 

 

GraphTech Ghost Wrap Bridge PN-8593-C0 specs from http://www.graphtech.com/products/product-detail/pn-8593-c0-ghost-loaded-resomax-nw1-wraparound-bridge---chrome?id=06eef684-d221-4fbb-8fea-0c0f97cb8f29 :

 

 Measure  Post Spacing String Spacing radius Thread         inches     3 7/32"             2 1/16"              12"     

5/16 - 24UNF

 

I just took a look at my JTV, post spacing is 3 7/32", it's a match.

[tomb68]

GraphTech Ghost Wrap Bridge PN-8593-C0 specs from http://www.graphtech.com/products/product-detail/pn-8593-c0-ghost-loaded-resomax-nw1-wraparound-bridge---chrome?id=06eef684-d221-4fbb-8fea-0c0f97cb8f29 :

 

 Measure  Post Spacing String Spacing radius Thread         inches     3 7/32"             2 1/16"              12"     

5/16 - 24UNF

 

I just took a look at my JTV, post spacing is 3 7/32", it's a match.

 

 

Anyone trying this? I really want to, but need a confirmed "it works" before spending the $$$. 

[johnnyayyy]

Anyone trying this? I really want to, but need a confirmed "it works" before spending the $$$. 

 

I will be changing mine but will wait until my warranty expires - this mod I am sure will void your warranty

[tomb68]

I will be changing mine but will wait until my warranty expires - this mod I am sure will void your warranty

 

I will hold off then and hope that future flash/firmware improvements address the piezo overloads. I don't expect miracles from software dealing with mechanical issue though. Will continue to adjust technique and try some different strings to ease the symptoms. I am considering sticking a nice ultra high impedance buffer preamp in front of everything. It works wonders on my other piezo equipped gear(basses) so it couldn't hurt.

[guitarno]

    Just curious - How complicated is swapping out this bridge for the stock JTV-59 bridge? Do the piezos terminate with the same connectors that are on the original? It would be a lot more doable for me if it was a more-or-less drop-in replacement. I would hate to have to go out & drop another $200 on an almost brand new instrument for this, but if it's a significant improvement in the modeling sounds, or should I say, a reduction in added extraneous noise, it might be worth it to me.

[snhirsch]

I am considering sticking a nice ultra high impedance buffer preamp in front of everything. It works wonders on my other piezo equipped gear(basses) so it couldn't hurt.

 

I strongly suspect the Variax electronics have an input preamp with the appropriate impedance, gain and headroom.

[Charlie_Watt]

It absolutely has to have an ultra high impedance preamp.  Piezos require it.  Adding another will be useless.  The important thing is that there is enough headroom all the way through the signal chain - A/D, Modeling, D/A.  Any clipping will cause evil artifacts.

[toasterdude]

I am away from home for a month once again. I go home for 2 days and leave for 3 weeks. Once I get more than two days down time I will order one and have it installed on my LP transplant. If it works and improves the guitar I will buy more and install on all my transplants. The great news with that is the old bridges can go back on the donor bodies. I still have all the original pickups so all I need are pots and a plastic cover to convert the variax output to standard 1/4 inch and I will have 4 decent LP type guitars.

 

What I will do with them I have no idea. . . . .. lol. Maybe hold onto them so if in a few years gen 3 variax comes out, I stick the gen 2 parts back in these suckers to sell em, and then buy 7 gen 3 guitars to update transplants? lol Doubtful.