I am too lazy to go back and look, but I think I have titled a blog post the very same way before. Oh well.
I’m on the internet looking at things to do to my new/used Epiphone Sheraton VSB instead of play it and I see this:
It’s for sale at the Music Zoo so way out of my price range, but man it looks cool! It’s a used Gibson Custom Shop Alex Lifeson ES-355 Electric Guitar in Alpine White with adjustable wide travel Tune-o-Matic bridge and Maestro Long Vibrola tailpiece. All in gold hardware!
I’ve been looking at adding a gold Bigsby tailpiece (probably a B70), but have been hesitant. Then I thought about adding some modern thing that may not look as classic, but will work better. Now I think I’m headed toward a Maestro in gold. I loved the one I had on my old Epiphone “1965” SG G-400. It was nice and firm. It didn’t do crazy bends, but it gave me the feel I like on my strings. And I could get a little warble with little effort.
Which tailpiece would you add if you had Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket?
Confessions of a Wanna Be Guitar Player 
ooh – Lifeson… wibble… sorry one of my idols.
I’d go Bigsby – you can get some that can be added with least amount of damage – not sure on a Maestro whether they’d add more work – personally I don’t use vibs much
Good point. The Maestro requires 6 new screw holes. Not a fun thing unless I am very serious.
Hey – just remembered an article about fitting a Bigsby to a Sheraton – I’ll find it and send to you
Got it! Thanks!
If it came down to the choice between those two I’d go for the Bigsby B70 but since your Casino has a stopbar tailpiece (I think) I think a better (although less traditional) option would be a stetsbar. It’ll fit right on to the existing posts with no drilling. They’re not cheap though.
A good friend of mine fitted one to his SG and loves it. http://searcysw.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/installing-stetsbar-tremolo-on-gobson.html
I really like the idea of the stetsbar, but the price seems prohibitive. Although the guitar modifications necessary for the other types seem prohibitive too. I haven’t actually made a decision and think it will be some time until I commit one way or another. But thanks for the suggestions!
And I have to admit that I find the stetsbar a bit on the unattractive side. I like the clean lines of the Maestro with its cover and the classic 50’s automobile stylings of the Bigsby.
I couldn’t agree more. It all comes down to what is important to you: how it looks or how it performs. If the former then the Maestro easily wins, albeit that it is practically useless for its intended purpose. If the performance matters then the Stetsbar beats the others by a country mile. If it is a combo of looks and performance, which it would be for me, then the Bigsby is the only choice IMO.
Hahahahaha! I have to laugh because I know I am doing this almost entirely for looks. My playing ability is just too poor to justify owning even half the guitars I do. Plus I have guitars with whammy bars. My only reasonable justification is that I like the feel of strings on a guitar with a trem bridge more than a stop tail piece. But I like palm muting better on a stop tail guitar. So it goes both ways. Maybe that’s why I need to get a starcaster next so I can put a bigsby on it and have two semi-hollow bodies. One with and one without! That’s what I did with my two strat style guitars. And my SG and Epiphone Crestwood are kind of the same. And I don’t think I will ever try to put a whammy on an acoustic (but I am sure someone has)! But I have my dobro to contrast with my steel string acoustic.
I guess I am just all about balance when it comes to guitar ownership and whammy bars. Very Zen.
Wow. I have even impressed myself! 😉
And if you go for a Bigsby then I’d suggest also budgeting for a rocking bar bridge too. Tune-o-matics (even the roller ones) and vibrato are a recipe for tuning issues.
Agreed. And that is another reason to not make any changes to the guitar. I think I am starting to talk myself out of it…this week!
Just stumbled across this and thought it might be of interest. It’s a cool project anyway but it particularly talks about installing a Bigsby without drilling new holes.
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/20075-massive-makeover-see-a-vibey-74-epiphone-get-totally-transformed
Great article. And even better because I have an Epiphone ET-275 from the same time period. It is my office guitar that I occasionally play at work (when I have a chance). But mine isn’t a hard tail. The article does make the conversion look pretty easy!
Thanks for thinking of me!