Bigsby tremolo bar.

I'm not at all familiar with the Floyd Rose, but I think what makes a Bigsby diferent from other "trems" is the way it's "sprung." Instead of multiple springs attached to the claw and accessed through the back of the guitar body, a Bigsby has one short, thick spring under the base of the handle.
I've got a Memphis LP copy that had one added by a previous owner. My Memphis isn't quite as beat-up as Neil Young's "Old Black," but it's been around. In this shot of an "Old Black" lookalike, you can see the spring at the pivot point of the handle.

Hope this helps.

Whoa! That thing looks interesting. Thanks Doug C.

Could you give me a review perhaps? What are the pros and cons of a Bigby? How does it sound?

Thanks again.

It's not just the way it's sprung - it's the way it releases string tension. Partially hidden in that picture (but you can still see it) is the way the bar attaches: it goes to a cylinder. That cylinder is where the base of the strings are.

You can see the ball ends of the strings; they're on the fingerboard side of that cylinder. The strings go through that cylinder, then wrap around over the top and head towards the tuning pegs.

When you press on the bar, that cylinder is actually rotating - that's what reduces string tension.

One of my guitars has a Bigsby. They're pretty cool. Strings seem to break more often with a Bigsby than with a Strat/Rose type, though.

You do get more breakage from what im told by a friend with one. But they are just so cool looking, its worth the string breakage.

:shock: It's said that you should never put a bigsby on a Fender :shock:

http://www.nymphusa.com/tele/bigsby.asp

Whoa! That thing looks interesting. Thanks Doug C.
Could you give me a review perhaps? What are the pros and cons of a Bigby? How does it sound?So far, so good, but I haven't "test-driven" mine that much yet because I've got the Memphis all apart for some repairs and mods.
Noteboat's right, though; the whole mechanism is very different from what's on my Johnson JS-050-¾ Strat copy. The times I was trying out the Bigsby, it seemed to go back into tune okay. The nut and saddles that came with the Memphis were pretty funky, so I had them replaced with Graph-Tech parts. The G-T parts may help it get back into tune, and (I hope) with string breakage, too.
I'm looking forward to trying it out some more when I get the new pickups and everything back into the Memphis. 8)

From a technical perspective, the strat/floyd trems act a a fulcrum point and bend the string by actually moving the bridge. The effectively changes the scale length of the guitar (though not much). The Bigbsy's bridge is fixed and the stings are pulled tighter or looser across the bridge (which doesn't move).

From a technical perspective, the strat/floyd trems act a a fulcrum point and bend the string by actually moving the bridge. The effectively changes the scale length of the guitar (though not much). The Bigbsy's bridge is fixed and the stings are pulled tighter or looser across the bridge (which doesn't move).Ah ha! Okay; I just learned something new, and it didn't hurt a bit. :wink:
Thanks for the info.