Vibrato on Guild X-175B

[Caillou]

Hey there !
I read a lot of tunning stability issues with the vibratos on the Guild guitars. I’m interested about the X-175B Manhattan and I notice that there is no roller/tension bar on the vibrato compared to the other Guild guitars. Does it improve the tunning stability ?

[One_Note]

A Bigsby without a tension bar will have smoother action and will feel far less stiff. The Guild X175B doesn't need a tension bar because it has enough angle on the strings going over the bridge to provide sufficient down pressure and sustain. It's because the neck is angled back sufficiently, and it has a tall bridge on a wooden base.

A tension bar is basically a band aid to make a Bigsby work on a guitar that has a relatively low height bridge compared to a typical archtop - that's why you see them on guitars like Telecasters and ES-335s.

Will it stay in tune better? Maybe, there's a lot of factors that go into it. I've had problems with a B5 because the roller tension bar didn't roll very smoothly. On the other hand my B7 with tension bar stays in tune very will, as well as my B6.

[st.bede]

The one thing I have noticed, is that thicker gaged strings work better for tuning with bigsby… I have went down the bigsby rabbit hole. I was never able to achieve really stable tuning with thin strings… but I had some nice cake with Alice.

[RomanS]

A Bigsby without the tension bar will ALWAYS be more pleasant to use - softer lever action, better tuning stability.

A Bigsby with a tension bar is kind of a "last resort" when the neck angle or body shabe doesn't allow the use of a "regular" Bigsby.

[Stefan Eff]

I‘ve owned a Guild Manhattan a few years ago and there wasn‘t any tuning issue. Played 10/46. Great guitar!

Tension bar Bigsbys are far more vulnerable for tuning issues and they’re darn stiff.

[st.bede]

Just in case…

for anything that I need to do whole step and above bends, I use 9s. If I am doing a lot of faux pedal steel I like to drop down to 8s.

I only have one guitar that I would choose for jazz type stuff with a bigsby(ish) vib. That has 9s on it and I have to retune often.

I have tried a roller bridge on a LP… better but still. Also, I have replaced the nut with graphtech on one guitar… better. I have used the D’Addario lubricant. That has also helped… but, not alleviated the problem.

I have not tried 10s, or 11s… I try and keep tension low as to avoid CTS stuff.

Maybe it is just my fate.

[Stefan Eff]

A floating original Bigsby stays perfectly in tune if there are no issues with the nut or the bridge.
In this case best advice is a bar bridge (Truarc!) and a Graphtech nut. I would avoid roller bridges for several reasons.