Installing the Chet Arm

All of this talk about the Chet Arm (https://www.gretsch-talk.com/thread...regular-bigsby-arm.213220/page-2#post-1439203) got the wheels in my head to spinning and I decided to put a Chet Arm on my Guild T-400.

The process took less than a half-hour, and had I been replacing all six strings, it would have taken even less time. As it was, the lower three strings were in fine shape, and I didn’t feel like throwing away $20 + worth of Thomastiks, so I had to spend a little extra time removing the rivet ends from the shaft of the Bigsby, and then reinstalling them on the shaft. Nothing all that difficult, but it probably added over five minutes of fiddling to the task.

So, to start, you will need to remove the strings. If you are not comfortable with removing and reinstalling the bridge, a bit of Painter’s Tape should do the trick. Once the strings are removed, you can start your work in earnest. Once the strings are off, you can carefully rotate the arm of the Bigsby upward and be prepared to catch the spring, which will have nothing holding it in place. Some Terrycloth can come in handy if you want to be cautious with regard to the top of the guitar. Once there is no string tension, the Bigsby is free to flop around, so be forewarned.

Once the Bigsby is rotated up, the set screw which holds it to the shaft becomes accessible and a 2.5 mm Allen Wrench will do the trick. Just loosen the old arm, slide it off the shaft, then put the new arm in place. The set screw goes into an indentation in the shaft, which is aligned with the roll pins that the strings affix to. (Of you have a straight through Bigsby without the roll pins, this job is, of anything, easier.)

Once you have snugged down the set screw, you are at the halfway point and you can reverse the steps above and be back in business, but there is one caveat; testing the height of the arm. This is a matter of personal preference, but I have found that the Chet arm rides a bit lower than the butter knife, and I prefer it to be higher. I already had some extra springs, so I grabbed a 1” spring, in place of the 7/8” spring, which is perfect for my tastes, but YMMV and this is a personal choice.

Once the spring is in place, start installing strings and, from that point on, it’s a simple restring job. In my case, I removed the bridge, so I had to put the bridge back where it belonged, which was easy, because the natural finish had yellowed slightly and left some dandy tan lines. Once it was tuned, I had to tweak the bridge height, because I had gone with lighter strings on the top three and was on the ragged edge of buzzing. After that, a quick intonation check, and then I was back in biz.

Tastes vary, and I realize that not everyone sees it this way, but I find the appearance quite pleasing. More importantly, I love the feel of the Chet Arm. It seems perfectly suited to tasteful, even restrained, use of a Bigsby, but it can handle a dive bomb run, too.

In my case, this is a change I had been thinking of for some time, and now was the time. I would definitely recommend giving some forethought to the spring height. I won’t say that with a 7/8” spring it is unusable, but there is definitely a limitation in downward travel with the shorter spring. If you are cautious, and don’t rush beyond a speed which is comfortable for you. It took me less than 30 minutes, but I’ve done a lot of this sort of thing, so I’ve already made the mistakes.

 

They are a bit higher, but I’ve never had a problem closing the case on one. Because my guitars are on hangers, it’s only an issue when or if I’m taking a guitar somewhere, but if you store your guitar in it’s case, this is an issue I would want to clarify.

You could keep something like this in your case and easily remove the handle itself, although the greatest point of interference is likely the pivot itself, which is perhaps 1/4” higher than the pivot for the butter knife.
https://www.amazon.com/EKLIND-64920...,B003FPONCI,B00129CEKC,B07FDTQ8LQ&srpt=WRENCH

 

I have a Duane Arm, but I haven’t used it in a while. I definitely liked it, but the Chet Arm appeals to me greatly.

My Guild is a modern reissue of the DE 400, Duane Eddy model, that Guild made, way back in the ‘60s. Ironically, these had a Butter Knife Arm, including Duane’s original Guild, as far as I can tell.

The choice of a Bigsby arm is strictly personal preference. The Butter Knife isn’t bad and the Duane Eddy Arm strikes me as an improvement on the Butter Knife. The Chet handle has the advantage of making it easier to hook a finger around the handle, and I find that I use that a bit. Earlier tonight, I saw that someone is selling a replica of the Merle Travis Arm on eBay. It’s cool, but a bit big for my tastes.

 

Here’s a pic’.

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Tonight, as part of my deep commitment to public service and self sacrifice, I put my Guild in its very thin case to see how the Chet Arm did. Left in playing position, item lid of the case was perhaps 1/2” from completely closed, just from the weight of the lid. I could close it easily and latch it. However, if I swiveled the arm down to where it was pointing straight towards the strap button the case closed even more easily. I did have to keep a finger under the arm while pivoting it, because it comes close to contacting the top of the guitar, and I’m not fond of the idea of a finish scuff.

I didn’t try with any of my Gretsch, but chose the Guild because that case is very thin, and a much tighter fit than any Gretsch case I own.

 

That is a beautiful sight, Dan. Do you still have your Jet?

 

I miss my Jet at times.