Different vibrola Chet used

[Brian Ingram]

And to me it speaks volumes that he never put an intonation adjustable bridge on his '59. It's almost like they were having tuning issues with the gibsons

Perhaps.

I used to own a Les Paul Custom, on which I once put a fine-tuning tailpiece. I really liked being able to reach down and tweak the knobs to get each string exactly in tune.

But then again, I play a number of other guitars without that capability. And since the tuners on each are decent quality and have a fine-enough gear ratio, I don't really miss the fine-tuning of that Les Paul, now that I've sold it.

For me, it was a cool idea that I was initially excited about, then ultimately found I didn't need. Maybe it was the same thing with Chet.

[Mike Nye]

Both the bridge and the body of the unit have Made in Germany on them.

Made by Shaller . . .

A guy had one on a Fender Coronado. It actually improved the guitar's looks as the stock tailpiece was hideous looking ~~

[guitarchuck]

Made by Shaller . . .

Like Mike Nye said, probably made by Schaller since it has made in Germany on it. Floyd Rose had units made by Schaller. Who knows? I wonder if Paul modified this unit? It's interesting anyway.

[Ray Bohlken]

You all the time read about Chet looking for more sustain and I wonder if this was an effort to get that into his sound on the Gibson in addition to the tuning featuress of the Floyd Rose. My hearing is kind of suspect, but it sounded like he got a brighter sound on the Gibson Gent in that Youtube video posted above while he was playing Country Roads.
Thanks for posting this. It's always neat to learn something esle about Chet's gear and how he used it.
Ray

[Mike Nye]

You all the time read about Chet looking for more sustain and I wonder if this was an effort to get that into his sound on the Gibson in addition to the tuning featuress of the Floyd Rose. My hearing is kind of suspect, but it sounded like he got a brighter sound on the Gibson Gent in that Youtube video posted above while he was playing Country Roads.
Thanks for posting this. It's always neat to learn something esle about Chet's gear and how he used it.
Ray

Gibson CGs sound EXACTLY like an ES335/ES355. If I were to make an investment, I'd definitely go with a 59 Gretsch CG to get 'That Gretsch Sound' that made Chet famous ! ! !

[bill raymond]

Norm wrote: And to me it speaks volumes that he never put an intonation adjustable bridge on his '59. It's almost like they were having tuning issues with the gibsons

Perhaps it has something to do with Gibson's use of the antiquated "rule of 18" to calculate fret positions instead of the mathematically correct 12th root of 2 derivative used nowadays by most other makers. It doesn't make a huge difference, but it does provide for an imperfectly fretted board.

[Mike Nye]

Norm wrote: And to me it speaks volumes that he never put an intonation adjustable bridge on his '59. It's almost like they were having tuning issues with the gibsons

Perhaps it has something to do with Gibson's use of the antiquated "rule of 18" to calculate fret positions instead of the mathematically correct 12th root of 2 derivative used nowadays by most other makers. It doesn't make a huge difference, but it does provide for an imperfectly fretted board.

Most modern-day scaling is derived from IBEX equations calculated by classical guitar maker Irving Sloan . . .

[Mike Nye]

There was also a time in Gretsch's Brooklyn, Cincinnati and Arkansas production where frets slots were mis-cut . . .

NOW, most fingerboards are radiused and fret slots are cut by CNC mills . . .

[Eddie Estes]

Here is the story of me and the vib.

Paul gave me the vib. He was one in a million and
I will treasure that till the day I die.
Because of Paul I gotnto play Jerry Reed's chopped Baldwin
and play on the Reed tribute and best of all he was my friend.

Eddie

[Eddie Estes]

Email Micah sent me:

Hi Eddie!  The CG with the special vib was and is the first one, I have that guitar.  When Chet first got the guitat it didn't have a vib on it, so daddy put that vib on the CG, Chet didn't like it, so daddy changed it to a regular Bigsby, that's why the guitar has a piece of plasic on it covering up the hole in the guitat.  I also have the EMG pickups that was once in it, they still have the fingernail ploish on them that chet paint on the front pickup so he would know where to play chimes, later on daddy put regular gibson pick ups in it.  The neck has the red tape on the neck for the position markers because it was built without any, so after that Gibson started building them with red posion markers and later on daddy had them change to the peral markers.  Hope this helps.
 
TX,
Micah