Travis bar on a Bigsby

[Mike Nye]

Just for the heck of it, I bought a Travis bar and put it on my NC. I've never used one before. How high above the top of the guitar should I set the loop end?

George,

You can bend the handle to YOUR liking . . .

Try to make the bends as GRADUAL as possible, so as NOT to put a KINK in the handle as KINKS are time consuming to work back to being straight again . . .

Use carpenter's logic . . . measure TWICE - CUT ONCE ! ! !

[Norm]

That's the thing people keep forgetting about those custom handles like the Chet handle and the Travis handle. They were bent to the personal taste of those two men, in their basement or garage workbenches. You would be better off to do as Paul suggested some years back:

In January of 2004 I decided to make myself a vibrato handle for my fixed bracket. I went over and got some 1/4 welding rod. I already had some 1/2 brass rod so I cut a 7 1/2" piece and drilled a hole in my desk top which is over an inch think and bent the handle. I then took the handle and a piece of the 1/2" brass rod over to a machinist friend of mine and had him to put the knob on it. It's great! I sent it to the platers and had it chrome plated. I could have had it gold plated but I like the chrome better.
Any of you can do the same thing and make them as long or as short as you want. I just thought I would pass it along.
Paul Yandell_CGP

(Nice to be able to add the 'cgp' after his quotes now)

In any case, what really works out best is for each individual to ask themselves just where they want the tip of the rod to end up and bend one to their own personal taste. I made three before the Chet handle came out, one was a Travis style one (which I found too hard to even think of getting used to). As it worked out I was able to use the current Chet handle with no problem.

I understand the desire to have one's guitar look like their hero's but making the guitar play better to your own hands makes more sense.