Link Wray’s (Gibson) SG - insane behind the bridge space

[Mechanical Birds]

Look at this fuckin guy



Just saw a video today with him playing it and was blown away by the setup. Never seen one like that before. I’ve also sadly never gotten to spend much time with any of the typical Gibson vibrato systems but from what I’ve been told none of them are worth a damn anyway.

Eat yr heart out, Nels Cline <3

[HNB]

It is crooked. That super bugs my ocd. LOL

[wproffitt]

It is crooked. That super bugs my ocd. LOL

It looks like it’s mounted in a straight line with the bridge but one of the two bits of metal that have been folded over to make this trem system (!) has simply been bumped down toward the treble side. Seems like it’d be an easy fix for those who are concerned with such things!

[HNB]

I mean it is off center looking. The strings look like they go right once over the bridge.

[MKR]

I don't care how crooked or not crooked it is.... It's Link Wray's SG so it's cool as fuck by default.

[Scout]

That;s badass

[Mechanical Birds]

Yeah I’ve never seen one set up like that. Looks cool as hell. I read a little bit and I guess it was a thing he did himself to make the strings have more give because he did this yanking back and forth on the neck thing in tandem with bending the strings? It’s weird every time I think about this guy playing all the guitars I appreciate most, not too common of a thing.

I need an SG3 really bad, just dying to mess with one of those. I had an SA-50 with the same trem system but couldn’t vibe with the guitar itself.

[countertext]

Awesome.

The comb on the Maestro is just scootched over a little. As wproffitt said, you could push it back in line.

Did he ever strum behind the bridge in the video?

[smjenkins]

That guitar is Wray-ok.

[burpgun]

Maybe this is just me but this sort of set up solves an aesthetic issue that's always bugged me about SGs, and it's all that open space behind the bridge. I say that as an SG owner: it just always felt a touch off balance, looks wise, to have all that unused area.

[parry]

Maybe this is just me but this sort of set up solves an aesthetic issue that's always bugged me about EVERY GUITAR THAT DOESN'T HAVE STRINGS BEHIND THE BRIDGE, and it's all that open space behind the bridge. I say that as a GUITAR owner: it just always felt a touch off balance, looks wise, to have all that unused area.

Edited for accuracy.
and +1

[geoman]

I kinda agree with that!! Just looks better behind the bridge with strings pulled.

This just shows how conservative Guitar players can be. I am sure that Many think His set up was just wrong. I can see how he wanted more string length to work against. I will have to try this out. I have a short Maestro like that and a vintage Danelectro that is screaming more, more string length, and some vibrato to boot.

I will let you know how it turns out.

[HorseyBoy]

Link always fucked with his guitars. We're talking about a guy who replaced the tuning pegs on his Yammy SG-2 with Firebird banjo tuners. I mean, who does that?

(Answer: Link Wray, that's fucking who!)

[MechaBulletBill]

those original maestro units are great. you see modern guitars with wacky neck angles and just totally wrong maestro repros, it's no wonder people don't like them. i'd say from looking, link wanted a bit of wobble now and then but did NOT want it in the way of his right hand. that's exactly what he got. makes sense.