Yeah that rabbet lap joint corner is a neat technique that’s clean and strong and just a little different. Pairs great with the grill cloth.
Re: Gear talk: TALK ME OUT OF IT
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2024 9:41 pm
by TylerDeadPine
twelvepoint wrote: Fri Mar 01, 2024 2:31 pm
Yeah that rabbet lap joint corner is a neat technique that’s clean and strong and just a little different. Pairs great with the grill cloth.
yes! Also good use of small wood pieces. I am overjoyed you appreciate that part
I've been playing after hours through our Helix into the Aux In (power amp input) of this amp and it's been GREAT. The speaker is a really nice full range for acoustic, and it just works great
Look pretty spectacular! Excellent work.
Re: Gear talk: TALK ME OUT OF IT
Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2024 8:44 pm
by llllllllllllllllllll
A few years ago I bought a 70s medallion Firebird for a fair price. It had been routed for humbuckers and was converted to hardtail w/ the requisite snakebite.
I put humbucker sized Firebird pickups to put it back to vintage spec functionally, if not cosmetically.
I think the lyre vibrolas that my guitar originally had look great, and occasionally I look around to see what’s available out there, and it would probably coat $200-$500 depending on how vintage correct I want to get.
I love bigsbys and all sorts of trems that annoy people, but have never played one of the Gibson vibrolas. Talk me out of it
This is what my guitar would have originally looked like
If you can, you should at least make the effort to find one you can try before going that route. I'm not much of a guitar player myself but I am a gear nerd & I cannot say I remember reading or hearing of anyone being a huge gibson vibrato fan to the point that they'd be actively seeking one out, especially at those prices. The fact that so many have been taken off of guitars over the years should say something (to be fair, there's also plenty of folks like me that disable or remove all trems...like when I added blocks to my first guitar (a squier strat) so it'd stay in tune better).
Now in fairness, that may have a lot to do with Gibson keeping a clamp on these from being sold separately. Pretty sure any you see have been removed from a guitar that had them factory-installed or maybe someone got around the litigious entity that Gibson is known to be by making a copy that doesn't trigger an instant lawsuit.
Bigsby on the other hand has a lot of fans. A lot of haters too, sure, but definitely a loyal and dedicated following.
I certainly wouldn't add anything to an instrument based on looks alone, especially something that dramatically changes how it functions.
Re: Gear talk: TALK ME OUT OF IT
Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2024 1:39 pm
by jirbling rake
Garth wrote:
I certainly wouldn't add anything to an instrument based on looks alone, especially something that dramatically changes how it functions.
the points Garth makes are excellent. On the other hand, I often buy things I've never tried, because there's no other way for me to try them.
In the case of the Vibrola, he does already have the original holes for that, so getting it setup with one of these isn't destructive: https://www.stewmac.com/search/?q=vibrola
...but this is TMOOI, so: $273 (just for the vibrola) is an expensive way to find out you hate the thing. And no-one else may want that if you try to sell it, so then you have that just sitting around, annoying you.
Re: Gear talk: TALK ME OUT OF IT
Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2024 2:21 pm
by numberthirty
llllllllllllllllllll wrote: Fri Mar 08, 2024 8:44 pm
A few years ago I bought a 70s medallion Firebird for a fair price. It had been routed for humbuckers and was converted to hardtail w/ the requisite snakebite.
I put humbucker sized Firebird pickups to put it back to vintage spec functionally, if not cosmetically.
I think the lyre vibrolas that my guitar originally had look great, and occasionally I look around to see what’s available out there, and it would probably coat $200-$500 depending on how vintage correct I want to get.
I love bigsbys and all sorts of trems that annoy people, but have never played one of the Gibson vibrolas. Talk me out of it
This is what my guitar would have originally looked like
First, are you looking for "Function..." or looking for "Form..."?
Second, that current bridge...
Could you put a tune-o-matic in that set of holes?
Re: Gear talk: TALK ME OUT OF IT
Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2024 2:24 pm
by numberthirty
Ok. Based on that "Originally..." picture, scratch what I said.
If it winds up being "Function..." more than form, consider the Stetsbar. It will just fit into the tune-o-matic holes. It's also a pretty great system. Lots of "Not A Fixed Bridge..." options in that one unit.
Re: Gear talk: TALK ME OUT OF IT
Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2024 8:03 pm
by llllllllllllllllllll
Thanks for your replies!
I wasn’t clear in my post, but my attraction to the lyre vibrola isn’t just for the look, though maybe it is the biggest factor.
Firstly, i feel that returning the guitar to some semblance of its original form might be an investment in its overall value. I realize that the seller usually eats shit on most mods, especially on vintage instruments, but returning something to its ‘vintage correct’ form may net a bigger return in a sale. I paid $2k for mine and feel like it was a fair price, but of course if I did have to sell to a stranger I would take more for it.
Second, like I said, I do like vibratos, even if just for little wiggles here and there. Generally I get a similar sound by bending the neck, but I won’t do that to a vintage Gibson, even if I do shake the guitar a lot.
I like that the vibrola might change the sound of the guitar for better or worse. To v. loosely paraphrase this cool guitar player I used to correspond with on Twitter had said that the big vibrolas can kind of act like a reverb pan when the guitar is played loudly. Who knows if that’s how the guitar would respond but it sounds interesting and fun.
Lastly, the guitar needs a little nut work by a professional anyways so I figure while its getting fixed I might as well
I wasn’t clear in my post, but my attraction to the lyre vibrola isn’t just for the look, though maybe it is the biggest factor.
Firstly, i feel that returning the guitar to some semblance of its original form might be an investment in its overall value. I realize that the seller usually eats shit on most mods, especially on vintage instruments, but returning something to its ‘vintage correct’ form may net a bigger return in a sale. I paid $2k for mine and feel like it was a fair price, but of course if I did have to sell to a stranger I would take more for it.
Second, like I said, I do like vibratos, even if just for little wiggles here and there. Generally I get a similar sound by bending the neck, but I won’t do that to a vintage Gibson, even if I do shake the guitar a lot.
I like that the vibrola might change the sound of the guitar for better or worse. To v. loosely paraphrase this cool guitar player I used to correspond with on Twitter had said that the big vibrolas can kind of act like a reverb pan when the guitar is played loudly. Who knows if that’s how the guitar would respond but it sounds interesting and fun.
Lastly, the guitar needs a little nut work by a professional anyways so I figure while its getting fixed I might as well
I have a firebird VII with original vibrola, and I don't find it adds an amount of incredibleness, while likely killing some sustain - that said, I have a les paul to do that, and this sounds different so I have no reason to change it to stop tail. It's not great for anything but smaller bends, but I like working within those parameters, and yeah it accomplishes the neck bend thing for sure.
I think it looks perfect, and it sounds better because of that.
(mine looks like this one but with the flower or whatever on the vibrola)
