Trem for Telecaster?

[MKR]

+1 on using a taller spring on the bigsby. one trick i have picked up is to put a penny under (or over) the spring if it's a regular stock bigsby spring. i found it has made the bigsby more resposnsive and a bit more JM like.

Also i would give a big +1 on the squier bigsby'd cabronitas. Those guitars are seriously awesome and the bigsby played like butter on the one i had. i stupidly sold and i would say this was my most regretable sale that i would like to have back. I miss that guitar a ton. they're discontinued now and never seem to show up on the used market anymore.

[wademp]

I built a tele with a Jazzmaster trem, mustang bridge, and gretschbucker pickup in the bridge once. The JM tremolo required a route, of course, but was VERY cool!!

[empyrean]

I'm shamelessly plugging this one so much lately, but I'm just so damn proud of it. Tele with a Hagstrom tremar.



It definitely turns it into another beast and I'm going to be finishing off another project with string thru strings for the correct tele experience. Still, I really like it. I can get a little stratty and jazzy with it, but stil plays like a tele.

[StevenO]

Hey, if a Bigsby is good enough for Elvis...

[Telliot]

[rbrcbr]

I don't know if you're still thinking about this, but Mastery actually makes a Tele bridge that is open in the back to allow the strings to pass to the bigsby. Much like the modded, notched bridges people have done on their own. It's called the Mastery M4.1, made specifically for Bigsby B5 users. I'm getting started on a tele custom project with a bigsby and that's what I'll be using on mine! Check it out.

[Mechanical Birds]

This is one of my favorite guitars on the board. Always a treat when I get to see it.

Ever since I found out that Tele Deluxes existed sometimes with a Strat tremolo I’ve wanted one. One of the reissues would be great for me even but I’ve only ever seen one for sale :/

[Mechanical Birds]

I'm shamelessly plugging this one so much lately, but I'm just so damn proud of it. Tele with a Hagstrom tremar.



It definitely turns it into another beast and I'm going to be finishing off another project with string thru strings for the correct tele experience. Still, I really like it. I can get a little stratty and jazzy with it, but stil plays like a tele.

Same goes for this one, love it!

I got a Univox Badass from a fellow forumite and have yet to be able to do anything with it because the Tremar needed replaced and was stuck in the guitar something awful which necessitated some pretty gnar digging/drilling to remove the broken screws. I need to get it filled so I can install the new Tremar and have a dope ass guitar.

Yeah though, that Tele totally slays.

[Danley]

"As-it-sits" pics of the guitar I posted earlier in the thread- and some additional thoughts on the conversion (actually the earlier pic is prob. ~2008 .) The only reason I did this is because I traded a Jaguar body to someone in exchange for a Jazzmaster body and the other party flaked, so I was left with no body. Stupid way for me to conduct a deal in my youth and to allow it to happen. Another Jazzmaster body was outside my budget for the project, so I used a stripped Mexican Telecaster body attacked with a router.

I placed the vibrato 'forward' of where it would be on an actual Jazzmaster for aesthetic reasons only; it's almost Classic Player position (they weren't out yet when I built this I think) but not quite. I actually like the location of the bridge pickup on this guitar, it adds some meat/volume relative to the neck. The whole conversion is as straightforward as it looks.

The bondo used to fill the Telecaster pickup route shrunk almost immediately; the Duplicolor finish checked with about the same speed. Thinking of either ditching this body for a Jazzmaster body, or else refinishing it again since I did a poor job first time around and I don't prefer the 'relic' look on anything. I actually enjoy the overall aesthetic plan of the guitar though; better in fact than the Fender 'Alternate Universe' version. In retrospect I sort of wish I saved up for an actual Jazzmaster body and used the Telecaster body to make a 'real' Telecaster, but can't complain too much because it still works well.




Fender ripped me off:

[jesterpunk68]

Jimmy Page has a jazzmaster tremolo on his telecaster



He plays it in it might get loud too


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSaWnC8PZd8

[Maggieo]

Do a B-bender instead!

[wooderson]

I was surprised at how much I disliked the Fender Jazz Tele - granted it was off the wall at Guitar Center so no setup to speak of, but it just felt off. Without the contour of an offset, the trem felt like it was in the wrong place.

That Hagstrom trem, though... I like.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

I put a Bigsby B5 on my own Tele project but never had the intention of getting that Tele tone. I liked the compact size of the body & wanted a guitar with vibrato & Filtertrons. In the end I settled for a roller bridge off an old Yamaha guitar...



The B5 really is a different beast to a Jazzmaster unit. I find it less responsive, something I hadn't expected but have grown used to now. The Jazzmaster vibrato has a much wider range and is far more articulate. The B5 is much more subtle & takes more effort if you really want to get into distinct pitch bending.

I've seen Hagstrom & Deusenberg units mentioned as a worthy alternative to the Jazzmaster. Bigsby always seems to the the first or second on the list around these parts but maybe look into the other 2 as well.