Newly Restored "Speedy West Bigsby"

Bob Muller · Post by **Bob Muller** » 30 Nov 2018 3:31 pm

Last night we had a unique opportunity to see and play the "Speedy West Bigsby." Todd Clinesmith did an amazing job of restoring this guitar! The guitar is currently owned by Deke Dickerson, who is now going to place it on exhibition in the Musical Instruments Museum (MIM) in Phoenix, AZ. Anyone can see it there on display for the next two years. We had about 50+ people show up to see, hear and play this historic guitar.

Bottom side of guitar

Todd Clinesmith assembling guitar

Bigsby name plate

Fully assembled guitar

Top view of guitar

Todd test playing the guitar

Todd playing guitar with Deke Dickerson and the band

Jeremy Wakefield playing the guitar with the band

Some of the people who attended

More of the people who attended, and there were even more in the hallway we couldn't see.

Several other players got a chance to play the guitar throughout the evening. There was a lot of great music, and all of us had a fun time together! Other video, sound and interview clips we taken and some may be posted at a later date.

Some of the Steel players in attendance

Russ Tkac · Post by **Russ Tkac** » 30 Nov 2018 3:55 pm

Very nice!

Rick Stratton · Post by **Rick Stratton** » 1 Dec 2018 12:22 am

Thanks Todd and Deke!
You're appreciated!

Bill Ladd · Post by **Bill Ladd** » 1 Dec 2018 5:54 am

Awesome!

Slim Heilpern · Post by **Slim Heilpern** » 1 Dec 2018 7:07 am

Very cool! Here's a blog post about this event by Kim Field, with video... http://www.kimfield.com/blog/2018/11/30 ... sqXbQCcIko

Walter Jones · Post by **Walter Jones** » 1 Dec 2018 8:47 am

Bob, thanks so much for sharing, what a treasure.

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 1 Dec 2018 10:18 am

Thanks for posting Bob: (and fyi it is Todd Clinesmith).

Ross Shafer · Post by **Ross Shafer** » 1 Dec 2018 10:25 am

Way cool.....spectacular maple slabs!! Beautiful restoral Todd!

Tucker Jackson · Post by **Tucker Jackson** » 1 Dec 2018 12:53 pm

So gorgeous. Even more spectacular when you think that this guitar was found abandoned in a trash heap almost beyond recognition. Todd had his work cut out for him but he really came through.

Bill Ladd · Post by **Bill Ladd** » 1 Dec 2018 2:28 pm

Tucker Jackson wrote:So gorgeous. Even more spectacular when you think that this guitar was found abandoned in a trash heap almost beyond recognition. Todd had his work cut out for him but he really came through.

Man, it would be cool to see some before pictures.

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 1 Dec 2018 3:00 pm

absolutely awesome story... congratulations to everyone involved in this rescue mission ... you guys just made my day, and put a big smile on my face

Bob Muller · Post by **Bob Muller** » 1 Dec 2018 4:05 pm

Slim Heilpern wrote:Very cool! Here's a blog post about this event by Kim Field, with video... http://www.kimfield.com/blog/2018/11/30 ... sqXbQCcIko

Thanks very much for adding the great story, and sound clip.

My chance To play the guitar.

Ron Funk · Post by **Ron Funk** » 1 Dec 2018 7:41 pm

Bob -

Wow - what a restoration. Beautiful work. Sounds clips are great. Must have been a fun night.

Questions for you, or Todd:

Could you tell us what the tuning is on each neck?

What do each of the four floor pedals do?

How does that gorgeous front 'apron' get attached to the steel?

Does the front 'apron' require its own case? lol

Thanks

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 2 Dec 2018 2:07 am

Ron Funk wrote: Could you tell us what the tuning is on each neck?

What do each of the four floor pedals do?

How does that gorgeous front 'apron' get attached to the steel?

Does the front 'apron' require its own case? lol

Thanks

I was wondering about those questions too. Looks to me like the aprom would fit into the lid of the case. They probably thought it wasn't quite heavy enough without the apron in there

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 2 Dec 2018 9:21 am

Besides the incredible restoration, is anyone else blown away by the fact that Bob Muller has a stage in his house?

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 2 Dec 2018 9:54 am

Stunning.

Todd Clinesmith · Post by **Todd Clinesmith** » 2 Dec 2018 10:09 am

Thursday night was a blast.
Thanks to Bob Muller for opening his door to any one who wanted to stop by and be a part of this amazing event.

Also to Deke, who basically said: Before this guitar goes into a museum for 2 years I want it to be played by any one who wants to check it out. So many collectors out there buy instruments and stash them out of the public eye and touch. Kudos to Deke.

The plaque on the steel was (re)designed by Jeremy Wakefield . The front apron was made by TK Smith. I did the restoration on the steel. There was a ton of metal work, and wood work to be done to get the steel back to original condition. I made about a dozen patterns to recast the undercarriage parts. Also 2 of the original bridges were missing. I made a pattern for this as well. I had a good 200+ hours into the steel, including pattern making. Forumite Russell Davis donated a few original parts to the guitar as well.

In the near future I will dig up all the before after and in between photos of the restoration and post a new topic about this. We may even get the story to publication.

Here are the tunings on the steel ( all high to low):

Neck 1 E6:
G#
E
C# ( D ped 2)
Bb (B ped 1)
G#
E
C#
B

Middle neck F#9
E
C#
G# ( A P3)
E
Bb
F#
Eb (high)
F# (high)

Inside neck A6
E
C#
A (Bb P4)
F# (G p4)
E
C#
A
F#

At the event the other night we did not have the clamps for the front apron so it was not attached properly. Here is a final photo of the complete restoration with the leg clamps.

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 2 Dec 2018 10:51 am

That guitar sure did get around..

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 2 Dec 2018 11:19 am

Thanks for the info, Todd.

So can we assume that the mechanism allowed single raise, no lowers?

Todd Clinesmith · Post by **Todd Clinesmith** » 2 Dec 2018 11:32 am

Yes at this stage of the Bigsby Plunger system, it was half step raises. Later on, lowers were achieved on the plunger mechanisms . Also whole step raises were achieved .
There are only a few Bigsby's left ( that I know of)with there original plunger mechanisms in working and original order . One would be Bud Isaacs guitar. A lot of guitars got modernized. The plunger system is surely limited, but the pedal action is very direct, and far less pedal travel, compared to Bigsby's later cable driven bridge changer.

Ron Funk · Post by **Ron Funk** » 2 Dec 2018 6:17 pm

Todd

Extreme Thanks for your Exemplary devotion and craftsmanship.

Ron

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 3 Dec 2018 12:51 am

So just to clarify - this is restored to the way it was when it first left Paul Bigsby's workshop?

Do we know what modifications were made subsequently - I imagine Speedy would have wanted to keep up to day with all the latest hot changes and surely didn't play this configuration right up to 1956 when he moved over to Fender?

Most pictures I've seen show it with 4 pedals but, again, I would imagine Speedy maxing out the pedal count at the earliest opportunity?

Mike Anderson · Post by **Mike Anderson** » 3 Dec 2018 5:43 am

To Bill Ladd and Jeff Mead - here's the original thread by Deke announcing the rediscovery of the Speedy Bigsby, complete with pics:

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=1916816

I've been following this odyssey with great excitement this last week, starting with Deke's Instagram posts about the impending reveal, so huge thanks to Deke, Todd, Bob Muller, and everyone who posted pics and videos, what a wonderful thing to happen!

The only minute contribution I can make is to just quickly point out: ASHTRAY!

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 3 Dec 2018 6:08 am

I recall seeing the Speedy guitar when it was on display at the CMHOF a few years ago, but it didn't have the "Speedy West" front apron piece, which according to the commonly-told story was lost. Is this front piece the original, or a Clinesmith replica?

Mike Anderson · Post by **Mike Anderson** » 3 Dec 2018 6:24 am

Herb Steiner wrote:I recall seeing the Speedy guitar when it was on display at the CMHOF a few years ago, but it didn't have the "Speedy West" front apron piece, which according to the commonly-told story was lost. Is this front piece the original, or a Clinesmith replica?

Handcrafted by the irreproachable T.K. Smith.