Bigsby vibrato tailpiece
The Bigsby vibrato tailpiece (or Bigsby for short) is a type of mechanical vibrato device for electric guitar designed by 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, vibrato bar, or tremolo arm, the latter a misnomer since vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces (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 "tremolo" to refer to what is really a vibrato effect (see vibrato unit).
Design
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 bridge rocks forward causing the strings to loosen, lowering their pitch. When the arm is released, the strings return to normal pitch.Bigsby vibratos are still factory installed on a variety of electric guitars, including certain instruments branded as PRS (Starla), Epiphone, Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, Guild, Hamer, Ibanez, Schecter Guitar Research as well as luthiers companies such as Motor Ave. Many electric guitars can also be retrofitted with a Bigsby, which requires no additional routing, but may require additional holes to be drilled. Adapters, such as the models sold by Vibramate, can be used to install a Bigsby Vibrato on a guitar without drilling any holes. Variations in guitars, such as between flat top and arch top, require different models of Bigsby. 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.
See also
- Tailed bridge guitar
External links
- Bigsby guitars, who still produce the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece.
- History of Bigsby guitars.
- Vibramate