Bigsby String Changes

I have a number of folks that are friends who work in guitar stores, and some of them are professional guitar technicians. I cannot think of one thing that makes any of these fine folks shudder more quickly than a request for a string change on a guitar with a Bigsby tailpiece. It’s not that the setup is tough, that is reserved for the Floyd Rose vibrato in my book, but Bigsbys excel at pulling out the stops against frustration. I have a number of guitars with Bigsby tailpieces. Every Gretsch I own has one, except the double neck which has two. Allow me to take you through my process to change strings on a guitar with a Bigsby.

Your Kit

Obviously if you are going to be changing strings, you need some core tools, lotions and potions and wipers.

Buy a bag of fine microfibre cloths, looking for smooth not shaggy. The very fine ones for glass are best. A bag of automotive drying towels is also a good idea as you want to separate your wipers and its really clear when they are different materials. I use the cloths for the guitar polish and the towels to clean and condition the fretboard. I don’t want fretboard conditioner on the guitar finish. If the fretboard is maple or lacquered (or dipped in poly like my Fender Rosewood Telecaster), I use the MF cloth and just the polish. More on that later.

Get a bottle of credible guitar polish. If your guitar is older or has a nitro-cellulose finish, some folks prefer a polish with a bit of carnauba wax blended in. This is a personal choice. I favour the Taylor Guitar Polish, because it does a good job, doesn’t stink and doesn’t leave a residue when you use a proper microfibre cloth. For more serious work, where I don’t want to go abrasive, the Jim Dunlop Platinum 65 Deep Clean is my choice. Some poly finishes really hold the dirt, and this product works very well.

Get yourself a good set of side cutters for clipping strings. Electric strings are most often steel, some are nickel plated steel, some are Monel, with acoustics running a wide range of materials. You want a solid set of side cutters that can cut a string cleanly and not leave a beveled end, particularly when you trim back at the tuners. Good side cutters will last you a very long time, whereas cheap ones will cause you annoyance and pain.

You will want a bottle of fretboard conditioner for your instruments with non-maple fretboards, or fretboards that are not all coated up such as is common on Rickenbackers. Your regular guitar polish is fine on those. You can go with something as simple as lemon oil, which works well, albeit with a longer set time, or a dedicated fretboard conditioner. I have tried over a dozen and my current preference is the Taylor Fretboard Conditioner. It has no dyes, is not corrosive and is a bit thicker than most others. As an aside, the first time you condition your fretboard, you may look at the cloth and think, “jeez this was filthy”. It is far more likely that you are removing excess dye that the maker did not clean off the fretboard prior to shipping. A lot of manufacturers are using dyes on their fretboards to make the wood look darker. Even the big makers do this. Don’t worry. In short order, you will have a conditioned fretboard that looks great and is no longer seeping dye.

You are also going to want a set of fingerboard protectors for when you are using your fret polisher. I used to use only 0000 steel wool, but it is messy and you need to tape over your pickups to prevent the filings from getting stuck to the magnets. I have since moved to a set of fret polishing sponges from Stewart Macdonald for the heavy work (customer guitars, or a new guitar shipped from overseas, or a used guitar). Once I have a nice polish, I just use a Stew-Mac fret polishing stick. These are great. If your frets are more corroded or there are signs of verdigris, a cream polish may be needed. For this I use an automotive product called Autosol on a dedicated applicator and separate wiper. It does a great job, but use those fretboard protectors to avoid glopping the cream onto the fretboard.

At any time, I am going to recommend a lubricant for the nut slots and the saddle slots, and this is particularly important on a Bigsby equipped guitar because the tailpiece is pulling on the string from the tuner to the string end. A string that binds on the nut or a saddle will make a twang noise as it releases and has a higher probability of breakage. Bigsbys are co-dependent. A change on one string impacts all of them. This is one reason why many people say Bigsbys are impossible to keep in tune. I do not agree, but they do require more work to prevent this from happening.

The Bigsby Special Tools

In order to change the strings on a Bigsby, you either need four arms about six feet long with foot long narrow fingers, or you have to hit the makeup section in the drugstore. Most Bigsbys, and all the vintage ones, do not feed the string through the roller. Instead the end donut of the string rides on a tiny post coming out of the roller. This is a classic design and quite the pain in the ass, because that string is going to do everything it can to hop off that pin as soon as you look away, and without those extra arms, you won’t be able to keep tension on the string at the roller whilst fitting the string elsewhere. What you want is a triangular foam makeup sponge. You could probably buy them much cheaper if they weren’t called makeup sponges, since marketers artificially inflate the prices of anything that women use. Sephora sells ONE for $20 which is absolutely a tax on the insane. I am cheap so bought a bag of 24 from Amazon for about $12 CAD.

In order to get the string end on that little post which is on the lower side of the roller when in position, a set of hemostat forceps are the thing. Again, you can get a pair, one straight, one curved on Amazon for about $12 CAD. They are small and allow you get the string end over the post.

At this point, you take your triangular sponge and use it like a wedge between the body of the guitar and the string end on the post. Now the string is held in place so you can attach it to the tuning peg and wind it on.

Do the outer strings first. The reason for this is that the Bigsby does not have a locking alignment and will twist slightly on the body. By doing the outer strings first, you put tension on both sides. This will reduce your need to use your hemostats like a push broom to align the strings on the roller as by default they tend to make an angle as the string goes around and over the roller. This is not good, so you want to check alignment of the strings from the nut across the saddle to the roller. This is an eyeball job and takes a second, and if a string is not coming across the roller straight, use the round nose of the hemostat to gently push it into place.

Mount the strings as you would normally, give them a good stretch, tuning to pitch between stretches and if you have chosen good strings and have done your alignment and used your sponges to set those strings firmly on the little posts, you will be back to playing and great sound in no time. I try to plan my Bigsby string changes to do more than one guitar during a string change session, I do them one at a time and get a bunch done together. The first one may be a bit slower but proper practice makes for efficient work.

Thanks for reading and until next time, peace.