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Hi all,

I hope you are all doing well,
I wanted to share with you pictures of my new "Stestbar" Stop Tail Pro II Tremolo bar on my Epiphone Sheraton II.
Unlike the Bigsby, the Stetsbar doesn't require any modification to the guitar.
It's sits right on the bridge bushers and it works really great.
I needed a tremolo, but didn't want to punch holes in the guitar body.
Doesn't anyone here have one?.








Blessings to all,
Abel

Hi Abel,

I had heard about this Stetsbar tremolo before, but never heard of someone using it. How does it work ?
It's not cheap...

Didier

Didier is right about the Stetsbar not being cheap. Its price varies with the model and whether it is gold-plated, but up around the £200 mark in the UK, whereas a Bigsby might be about £120 for an American model and much less for an Asian-made licensed version. Cheaper still for a copy, of course.

However, the Stetsbar is more of an engineering creation than the Bigsby and so must cost more to produce and assemble. Another factor militating against lower price is that no (well-known) guitar manufacturer fits the Stetsbar as OEM, whereas the Bigsby was offered as part of the standard spec on many Gretsch and Guild guitars in the 50s/60s and was available as an option on some Gibsons (though never as a standard fitment at the time). I think the correct comparison is not with the price of the Bigsby, but with either the price - just imagine it - of having the guitar adapted for a Strat-type trem, or for fitting a Bigsby and then, at some later date, having to have the screw-holes made good, including a complete re-finish. You'd be looking at upward of £400 for an as-new re-finish on a Gibson.

Of course, the fact that the Stetsbar can be mounted and de-mounted to/from any guitar without any damage, including screw-holes, is a great selling point. There is another American company now selling special mountings for the Bigsby range which allow fitment without damage or adaptation, but the Stetsbar was first.

Ecca bought one some years ago when I drew his attention to it. I recall that he fitted it to a Gibson 335 and then to his Les Paul Deluxe, which he once dragged down to SMSE and demonstrated it. The unit was every bit as good as he had said.

HTH,

JN

from £237

dave robinson wrote:I'm interested in this for my Epiphone Riviera, do you actually know the cost Didier?

The British distributors, Madison & Fifth (nothing to do with the American property company of the same name), produce a brochure with prices listed. The gold-plated one for the 335 type guitar costs £215.

See:

http://www.madisonandfifth.co.uk/documents/Stetsbar/Stetsbar%20UK%20Brochure.pdf

JN

AlanMcKillop wrote:from £237

Madison and Fifth have actually reduced the price for 2010 (strange when you consider the pound against the dollar).

The most expensive model is now less than £200, £215 if gold-plated.

JN

dave robinson wrote:Found one on the Thomann site - under £180 in chrome.

The Madison & Fifth UK RRP is £175.

JN

Good morning Didier and all,

Originally, I bought an all Nickel one for $219, the golden one was too expensive to me($299). It's hard to justify $80 for a
Golden finish.
In the process of mounting the tiny tension adjustement screws, I didn't push in the Hex key deep enough, and I broke
one. I called the builder (Eric) and told him what I did. He is a very very nice and humble person. He said that should never
have happened according o the specs, and that he was going to send me 2 new screws right away.
I asked him what really justified the price of the Golden finish one. He said it's a very expensif process of "Electro"
something (I don't remember), and he told me that he had a "Like New" used Golden one and that he was going to make
sure it's in perfect condition and that he would just swap it with mine.
The gentleman sent me the Golden one and a prepaid label to return the Nickel one and he said call me anytime if you
have any problem.

I am sure you noticed that he Golden Pro II one has dented bridge height adjustors on each side whereas on the other models,
the bridge is ajusted by 2 top screws (a detail probably).
One thing I noticed is that for us who like to hold the tremolo bar in our palm, the bar is too long and you end up playing right on top of the neck pickup and hitting it all the time. I will call him for an opinion on how to best fix this in my case:

- Cut the bar (in which case you loose the threaded tip)
- Twist the bar at the base at a right angle which will make it shorter and then twist the tip inward so that it is aligned with
the strings and sits in the center.

I would like to know your opinion or if you have a better idea for holding the bar and picking in between the pups.
Eventhough they are really good, they don't have the same tight feel as the Fender tremolo.
Next I will get one for my Telecaster.

Blessings,
Abel