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Post subject: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:43 am
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just finished doing this today, thought id share the results and bit of story. this thread is probably going to be pic heavy.

ive been after a thinline tele for a long time, but nothing was really yelling at me. the '69 and '72 RI's were too similar to my '72 custom tele, and the modern player thinline didnt come in a colour i liked, though i did like the guitar. then i somehow accidentally stumbled upon the JA-90 thinline, and that was it. that was the one i wanted. it was thinline, it was natural finish (which is also something i wanted on a guitar), and its mixture of components and design meant it was definitely interesting enough. thinline body, set neck, P90's, stop tail piece. all things i dont have on any other guitar. and it was relatively cheap.

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was a nice guitar, i was chuffed. the pickups are HOT, the controls a bit useless, but it feels good, looks good and sounds good. i've always loved the look of a bigsby on a tele, but didnt want to fit one to my other 2 teles, and when i saw the JA90 i instantly pictured it with a bigsby, so i won one on ebay a couple of days ago, and today it came.

heres a quick build thread and some pictures. i warn you now, if youre a perfectionist, pro guitar builder or anally retentive about working on guitars look away now. i am the king of the bodge and the master of using the wrong tool for the wrong job with the right outcome. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: also please bare in mind ive never changed anything on my guitars other than strings :?

first i removed the strings, tailpiece and bridge posts. straight away i was stumped as i thought the bigsby used the posts, or at least the post holes - must do better research next time :shock: so the threaded ferrules for the posts had to come out, somehow. much headscratching, i raided the garage and came up with this :

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the bolt threaded into the ferrule, and doing it up against the washers pulled the ferrule out of the body. job done, went well. :)

next was roughly spacing out the bigsby. this revealed that the post holes were very visible, again not something i anticipated.

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i thought about filling them with filler, then decided to mix some sawdust in with wood glue and fill the hole. so i cut a bit of wood off an old shelf, and it actually turned out to be a decent match to the guitar. so instead i rounded and shaped it by hand on an old bit of sanding pad until it roughly fitted.

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for some reason it doesnt look like such a good match in these photos. there is a small gap round the 'bung', i might fill this if i can be arsed, but i also knew the bigsby would be covering a decent portion of it.

then another unexpected problem reared its head - what i assume is a grounding wire that ground out on the bridge post ferrules. having removed these i had to come up with a new ground contact. so i got some more wire, jammed it in the hole against the existing bare wire, and it now (hopefully, ive not tried it yet) grounds out on the underside of the bigsby.

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the next, most important job, was lining the bridge up. using fishing line to replicate both E strings, from peg, round the string spindle on the bridge, back up to the other E peg. this gave me a decent idea of where the strings were running on the neck and bridge, and also helped keep the bridge relatively square.

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took ages lining it up, used the pickup and a ruler to make sure things were square and equal, then marked where the holes were going and drilled them. scary stuff :o as i said, never changed anything other than strings, so taking a drill to my newest guitar was a bit daunting.

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then it was time to screw the bigsby on and hope that everything works out ok, keeping in mind im pretty much winging it all the way here.

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the bigsby is straight, the saddle bar is obviously angled making it look like i cocked it up. tightened it all down, and checked to see what i could see of the holes.

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not exatly pretty, but with arm in place the hole is difficult to see, and the bunged up hole is mostly covered. it'll do me, like i said i might fill them i might not (probably wont :lol: )

finally time for these :

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anybody notice the not-so-deliberate-mistake ?? :oops: note to self, should have checked how a bigsby is strung before attempting it. also, what a massive pain in the arse stringing a bigsby is.

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finally finished after restringing it about 459 million times :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

so some final pics. to be honest, it probably wont get used much, but a Bigsby just looks so effortlessly cool on whatever you choose to put it in. the unit itself, the 'licensed' bigsby B50, is built very well, feels nice and solid. time will tell whether i decide to fit a roller bridge to help with tuning stability, i will also be fitting some roller trees.

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im chuffed. 8) 8) 8) 8)


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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 8:00 pm
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KILLER!!!!

Leave the holes there, you might have to seal the ground hole just to that the wire doesn't frey or anything (not that it would) but seriously great job given the tools. The OPPOSITE of what ceri would have done but effective never the less :)

Great job!

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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 2:11 am
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Cheers, I wasn't expecting the bigsby to turn up so soon, and I'm quite impatient so had to get it done. I did intend on getting the roller bridge on aswell, but I've been told it might not be necessary, so carried on and got it done.


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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 7:36 am
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moochy13 wrote:
Cheers, I wasn't expecting the bigsby to turn up so soon, and I'm quite impatient so had to get it done. I did intend on getting the roller bridge on aswell, but I've been told it might not be necessary, so carried on and got it done.

:lol: Very innovative methods! I think I might have done it the same way :lol: Still it looked like a tedious job. Interesting post-thank you for posting ! Really cool looking . Congrats! :D

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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 3:43 pm
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Boy you've got big juevos! I'm not sure I would have been confident that the JA90 was solid enough for a bigsby. If does look nice. I find that I rarely put the trem arm in on my Strat, but when I play my Guild, which has a Bigsby, I use it quite a bit. Now change out those pots and caps and you'll have a real unique guitar. You forgot to mention that the JA90 is 24.75" scale length. Here's a pic of my Guild with it's Bigsby:
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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:44 pm
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Very ballsy job! I'm a 45-year pro woodworker and I would have found that task to be just as daunting as it was for you. It was making me nervous just going through your pics! Sweet looking guitar!

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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:53 am
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I added one to my Ibanez AR200 Gold top and it was a snap. I used a Vibamate adapter which made it a reverable process with no drilling. I think they make one for Telecasters too!

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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:15 am
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i looked into the vibramate, and decided that not only did i not like how they looked - they could at least chrome/nickel plate them to match the bigsby, and it raises the height of the bigsby - but considering its something i could quickly knock up in my shed with a flat bit of metal, a drill and a file, i think the price is pretty extortionate.

nice idea, but not for me. i dont intend on ever taking the bigsby off or sellig the guitar, so the screwholes arent a problem.


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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:21 pm
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I thought that too at first, then I actually saw another guitar with one on installed and it looked pretty nice. It doesn't raise the tailpiece up as much as you think and if I change my mind or want to add it to a different guitar, I have that choice. The Bigsby still holds the strings lower than the bridge and I didn't even have to adjust the intonation. Well worth the money!


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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:49 pm
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Wow - that was some serious surgery to install that Bigsby. Nice work!!


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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:36 pm
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Hi, Moochy. Great looking guitar and job.
Excuse my lack of knowledge as I am learning . . . .
What is/was the purpose of the second hole that got filled?
The filled hole at the upper left bridge corner?

Following is my recent purchase: a 1960s Reissue Telecaster
with an "F" Bigsby Tremolo System. Lot of fun.

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Thanks, Toppscore :)

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Last edited by Toppscore on Tue Jul 17, 2012 8:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 9:45 am
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if you look at the first picture, you can see the 2 holes i 'filled' are where the original tailpiece anchored into the body.


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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 10:22 am
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moochy13 wrote:
if you look at the first picture, you can see the 2 holes i 'filled' are where the original tailpiece anchored into the body.


I see. Thanks.

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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 10:51 am
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getting the string eyes over the posts on the bridge. to be honest it will be easier next time because
A - i know how to do it now, and
B - because i strung it, then realised it was wrong, i was trying to make the bridge end right without unstringing off the tuning pegs. i suspect it will be much easier putting the eye on first, then threading the rest of the string where it needs to go without them attatched at the headstock.


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Post subject: Re: just fitted bigsby to my JA-90 tele thinline.
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 3:39 pm
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Moochy. What is the reason you chose this Bigsby system as it's closer
to the neck than my Bigsby system on my Telecaster pictured above?

Notice the difference in space from my Bigsby to the butt end of my guitar
compared to the much more amount of space from your Bigsby to the
butt end of your guitar?

What do you think? Toppscore :)

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