The Steel Guitar Forum

Here's a good shot... http://pie.midco.net/lbeck1/changer.html

Add a standard twenty six speed shifter and two hand brakes and the crosswind gear off my 195 and you would have it all. I think this was used on " Together Again "
Bud

Pete B., I can't believe all luthiers are that dumb.
I guess that's why no luthiers build steel guitars. It's not the angle, it's the radius.If you can't understand this by now, you never will. The Bigsby has almost no string angle over the cam but has a small radius, and is a horrible string breaker. It's hard to get this idea accross to folks that haven't actually had to live with this problem fo 50 years.
Today, this is no propblem anyway unless you are trying to make a string last until it rusts off. Change the strings the way you should, put them on the guitar the way you should, get a string from a company that DOESN"T use Mapes wire, and you won't have a problem. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 24 February 2003 at 09:07 AM.]</p></FONT>

I personally don't have a problem with string breakage, sustain, or tone.
I don't care what brand of steel I'm playing at the time!
All this shop talk don't change a thing when the steel hits the strings, bay-bee!

Maybe we can get Ray Montee to post a pic of his Quad Bigsby.
The pedal necks have changer fingers almost identicle to the Williams pictured above.

You don't care what kind of guitar your playing?
Bigsby and Williams both pull the strings at a shallow angle, but the Bigsby has a tiny radius and breaks strings many times faster than williams which after much testing here, is as good as any other "standard radius steel guitar". But no better, (after much testing).
Gee, I'm saying the same thing over and over, RADIUS!

FWIW, Ray still has some of the original strings on his Bigsby, and that axe still sounds killer.
He recently gave me a Speedy West style demo/lesson using his Bigsby.

When asked why he never changed those original strings, he replied, "'Cause they never broke!"

And no... I don't care what kind of guitar I'm playing. I'm not one to "Blame the Instrument" as they say.

Pete, don't write this crap, someone might think you are serious. If he played this Bigsby even one night on a job and used the pedals, he has had to change at least half of everything the pedals activated. How do you know this anyway? Did Ray say this to you or are you just composing again? I have owned 16 Bigsby guitars and played over half of them professionally, The last time a Bigsby was on the "Opry", I played it with Jean Sheppard. I was lucky to get through the evening at the Opry with out breaking any strings. Now what were you saying about giving C6th lessons?
I love picking on you, I'll buy lunch in Chattanooga Pete! And I'm looking forward to seeing you,
Your buddy,
Bobbe

To me, people are like numbers. Their prowess can be measured by things they say or do. Their accomplishments can have a direct bearing on the symbolic scoring from 1 through 10. For the things he says, and does, I'll give Bobbe Seymour a perfect ten. He is a connoisseur of good food, is able to fly his aircraft with fearless intrepidity, and fears no man, or obstacle in his quest to master the steel guitar. He won't hesitate for one second, to tell you just where the bear made the brook crossing. Bobbe is a staunch advocate of doing, and getting things done right. I believe that very few know his true potential. Until someone bowls him over musically, or in the field of creativity, he is representative of a perfect 10.

Bill H.

Hey, If I'm lyin' I'm dyin'!
Click on Rays email and ask him yourself!
He says he's got strings from 1956 still on there.

As always, I'm glad to help locals adjust their Emmons Push-Pull guitars (I've only had one for 20 years, so I'm not as qualified as some others, but I'm local, free, and willing! ), always glad to get folks jump started on the 6th tuning, and I'm giving Travis style fingerpicking lessons too!
I'm dead serious!
Dude... yer the one that got me goin' on this stuff!
I got a local picker with an '70's Emmons student model that we're gonna get "dialed in" this weekend.

Thanks for the lunch offer!
I'll take a rain-check as I can't make the Chatty show this year.
The wifes gonna pound one out right about that time so I gotta get my diaper changing technique up to speed!
~pb

Pete, sorry your not going to perform at the Chattanooga show this year, now who am I going to abuse? Seriously Pete, we'll miss you, you are a fun guy.
Now as for the Bigsby string breakage, Ray is putting the world on. Bigsby is my favorite steel of all times, I love the look, tone, feel, investment etc., but they are the string breakingest steels ever built. Sometimes the strings will break in the pack before you even put them on the guitar, the guitar scares them so badly.
So Pete, 'til next year, hope to see you there.
Youir buddy ,Bobbe,

I'd say Bobbe has a point with radius. Bigsby breaks strings more freaquently than the permanent changer Sho Bud I used to have; with same string brand, same scale, both guitars with no rollers on the nut. Sho Bud had a larger radius on the changer fingers, Bigsby less string angle, hmmm... Then again, the only string to break more frequently on the Bigsby is the 011 G#. We all know, that tuning to high G# and pulling it to A without NEVER breaking that string is a mission impossible. So either live with it or tune to D9 . Also, you have to remember, that probably very, very few Bigsbys ( if any ) were originally ordered with an E9 copedant using high G#. Most of them had either the Isaacs E9 using E as a first string ( like Ray's ) or were tuned to D9 ( like mine ). Bigsby strings were made by V.C Squire Co. and obviously were of a very good quality . <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jussi Huhtakangas on 26 February 2003 at 01:23 AM.]</p></FONT>

V.C. Squire was a very good string, The G.H.S. string co. was spawned from this string builder. The wire they used was from Worcester Wire company, the best wire for strings I've ever seen or used. Anything Bigsby did wasn't bad , V.C. Squire was just a good example of this.

Ima Bigsby Fanatickk First Class

Back in the old days (early 70's), at least from what I was told, Sho-Bud strings were made by Squire and Emmons strings were made by GHS. For me, Sho-Bud strings tuned up and stayed in tune quicker and lasted longer. Every time I tried a set of Emmons strings, they kept stretching and I kept tuning them until they broke.

At Dekley, we used and sold sets made by D'Addario. The story was that they were an offspring of Squire. Those strings tuned and played very well, and I still look for D'Addario strings when I need extra singles.

Howard R. Al Dente was fine player, great sustain, never broke a string in his life, inventor of the Calzone bar, and no cabnet drop except when he had too much grappa.
But he broke seats about twice a month. He loved that pasta frau Diavola!
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 01 March 2003 at 04:01 AM.]</p></FONT>

Jim Smith, If you'll look back far enough, you'll see that the forman at V.C. Squire was the founder of the GHS string company, Ever heard of Geo. Lewis? He owned 20% of Sho-Bud once in the 60's. He also owned a third of GHS strings. He now puts out a great string called "Geo. L" . He was also once a 50% partner with Bill Lawrence in the pickup business. GHS and V.C.Squire both bought the string wire from Worchester Wire Company in Mass. The wire supplier is where the quality is, not the actual string winder(builder). The biggest indicator of a quality string , is the quality of wire from which the string is manufactured, not who wound it. Unfortunatly, most steel players don't know who made the wire that they are using, and this is the most important thing to know. "Cobra Coil" strings are now built from the most expensive, best wire, obtainable, as are two other manufacturers of steel strings in this country. Stay away from any maker that uses Mapes wire. Believe me, I found out the hard way on this one.
It amazes me at times to see folks argue about one string that is so great and better than another when actually, they are both made by the same company, the only difference is the color of ink on the envelope! A common happening!
Moral of this story is, find out who manufactures and supplys the wire for the builder, not just who packages the product for resale.
Bobbe Seymour

Thanks for the history lesson Bobbe. Maybe my experience with Squire and GHS had more to do with the winder than the wire.

Sooooo what you are saying Bobbe is that the radius breaks the string right?
Regards Brendan

Brenden, yes, absolutly. It's not a friction thing, it's the bending fatigue action that causes a string to break.

Jim, I think you have the answer, the winding and how it's done can make a difference on the wound strings. Squire was doing the wound strings by hand as late as 1979 and possibly longer, I don't know exactly when since Fender bought them out.