Ibanez With Bigsby

[Lucius Paisley]

Recently acquired an Ibanez Les Paul Custom which came with a Bigsby attached. I'm not all that familiar with this setup, so I'm just wondering if I'm "wasting" it being there if I have no plans to use it and if it'd be better to change it back to a standard hard tail, or keep it as an affectation to the guitar. I mean, it does look pretty cool.

The Bigsby is attached with a Vibramate so there's no cosmetic problems with removing it.

I guess another concern is if it is worth it to keep it otherwise "stock" or if there's any upgrade I should consider. I think it works and sounds fine as is, but I guess there's an age consideration despite how well it's been looked after.

All suggestions welcome and considered.

[Bizman62]

A lefty with a Bigsby, now that must be a rarity in itself! The combination itself seems to be quite common, tons of images with Google image search so it definitely is a widely accepted modification. If the guitar stays in tune with the Bigsby and if you like the looks, why not keep it.

Then again, since the setup allows for flawless uninstalling, you might get a decent sum by selling the lefty Bigsby including the Vibramate.

Definitely there's music styles where the Bigsby trem adds just the twang needed so if think your playing might evolve in such directions, either just for spicing your current style or diving deeper into the roots, keep it. If that were mine I'd try to learn some typical licks and tricks using the Bigsby.