het folks , my first guitar with a bigsby , just wondering if this is an inherent bigsby thing but at my gig last night when playing songs with lotsa bending and double stops i would almost feel like a pop and all of a sudden half the strings would be way out , i was not using the bigsby at all these times , actually had to eventually just store it away for the night and go with the tele , any ideas on what the deal is and more importantly how to deal with it?????? , mucho gracias..........:)

nut sauce! file down the string grooves(just abit) and apply graphite or nut sauce or whatever lubricant you have lying around.

nut sauce! file down the string grooves(just abit) and apply graphite or nut sauce or whatever lubricant you have lying around.

thanks , have any idea what the "popping" was ?????? felt almost like it was coming from the bigsby:confused:

May well have been. If the strings weren't following the straightest possible line around the bar, then they will eventually settle and get pulled into line. Bigsbys can seem fraught with tuning issues but with a little care taken to make sure it's all set up nicely and the strings can run freely, they can be very stable.

May well have been. If the strings weren't following the straightest possible line around the bar, then they will eventually settle and get pulled into line. Bigsbys can seem fraught with tuning issues but with a little care taken to make sure it's all set up nicely and the strings can run freely, they can be very stable.

i was thinking about this , hmmm, why aren't the bars grooved???????? is there a grooved replacement???????? i love the sound i get and the playability and just the whole vibe(just looks so cool!!!!!!) but i need tuning stability..........:confused:

trust me
lube the nut and bridge (maybe get a compton)
and all will be well

trust me
lube the nut and bridge (maybe get a compton)
and all will be well

gonna buy a compton this week , will grab some graphite as well , thanks boys , gonna try it at the gig tonight again...........:)

Tuning stability can be an issue with these guitars out of the box. Many have dealt with it and come out on the other side with rock-steady tuning. I am in the middle of the process, myself. Hang in there with me - we'll get there.

Oh, and if you have the stock TOM bridge, that pop could have been the strings hanging up on the bridge. Your Compton bridge will take care of that when you get it.

gonna buy a compton this week , will grab some graphite as well , thanks boys , gonna try it at the gig tonight again...........:)

Could also be you bridge base slipping around a little bit, which would rly affect your tuning.

what a lot of ppl do is put some violin rosin on their bridge base.

Also check the nut, make sure its glue bond is good. Setup your nut, make sure the slots are filed and the strings are sliding right. Just lubing it up doesn't do anything if its pinching the strings.

why aren't the bars grooved????????

Another very good bigsby question. I suspect if you dig deep enough the answer will end up being "because it never has been"

That just seems to be the way it is with bigsbys. You could improve the system no end without really changing the sound but they are what they are. I've learnt to love mine just the way it is and it's now very stable.

I agree with everything thats been said.The best thing is getting rid of that TOM bridge and put on that Compton!!! Also The nut sauce and graphite work pretty well, But one of the best things I did with my 5120 was getting a bone nut made.Less binding the strings, improved tone and action, and a pretty cheap mod!!! Very happy with mine. Enjoy that 5120!!!! Great guitars!!!

dfghjk

A common opinion around here is roller bridges = tonesuckers. I had a 6120-60 with a roller bridge and I found the "tonesucker" opinion to be true. I changed it to a Tru-Arc SS and the tone and sustain improved dramatically, I have since sold that guitar and discovered Comptons.

Plus 1 on the bone nut, and Compton. My bridge had been stuck down with double sided tape too. Still get occasional tuning issues, I can tune up one day, come back the next and its a little out, which I put down to atmospherics, eg room temperature.

A properly cut nut, some lube, and a Compton, and you're all sorted.

It's unlikely to be the tuners, but I'm a fan of lockers, so I swap them out anyway.

The vast majority of tuning issues start, and end at the nut. I'm a big fan of LSR roller nuts.

Marlin

What about a Tru-Arc bridge? Has anyone tried one? Those look pretty cool too, although a bit pricier. I came across them while researching Compton bridges (saw a very positive review by Brian Setzer). I like that they are grooved for the strings. Seems like a neat concept.

I've been having tuning issues with my 5120 as well. So far I have lightly sanded out the nut slots, put some nut sauce in the nut slots, bridge slots and bigsby. Replaced my adjustomatic with a Compton. All these things have really improved keeping my 5120 in tune but it's not perfect yet. I think my next step will be replacing the nut with a better quality and perhaps put some violin rosin under the bridge base to help keep it in place.