Gretsch Projet Problem

MNM7

Howdy folks of GFSA

I have a Gretsch Projet with a Bigsby Vibrato. Now I love this guitar. I have one issue though and I don't know if this a Gretsch problem or a Bigsby problem. When I use the Bigsby the guitar stays nicely in tune, no problem. But when I do string bends on the G and b string, it goes out of tune, which really beginning to frustrate me. I was told that it's due to the Bisgby vibrato. But I'm not convinced. So if anyone knows anything regarding this and can tell me what the problem is and what I could do to fix it. Strings I have on are Ernie Balls 9 guage. Everything on the guitar is standard factory build. No Mods anywhere.

singemonkey

Well if this happened on every Bigsby, there wouldn't be Bigsbys.

So that seems a pretty cheap and cheerful "solution" and probably not based on anything. Mine does not go out of tune when I bend strings.

First problem to look for with any tuning issue is the nut. And chance that the strings are sticking in it? Any little *pling* sounds when you bend or use the vibrato arm? Might be worth grinding some pencil graphite into the slots anyway and seeing if it makes a difference.

Gearhead

Ditto for the bridge, are you sure your strings slide over the saddles properly?

MNM7

singemonkey wrote: Well if this happened on every Bigsby, there wouldn't be Bigsbys.

So that seems a pretty cheap and cheerful "solution" and probably not based on anything. Mine does not go out of tune when I bend strings.

First problem to look for with any tuning issue is the nut. And chance that the strings are sticking in it? Any little *pling* sounds when you bend or use the vibrato arm? Might be worth grinding some pencil graphite into the slots anyway and seeing if it makes a difference.

I played on it last night and and did bends and its till went out of tuning. No "pling" sound, that one hears when the strings stretch, and it still went out. It wasn't even big bends. I bent the strings half a step up and still got tuned out. Specifically the G and b strings. Checked the nut and it doesn't look as if the strings get stuck. The guitar was serviced a while back and the tech, who's name I won't mention but will say that from hearsay and personal experience is very good at what he does, did a small adjustment to the nut in terms of a bit of filling the slots where the strings lay to make it more open, and smoother. Now the tuning issue happened before that so it could not have been anything he did. I will look into the pencil grindings and see if that helps.

Gearhead wrote: Ditto for the bridge, are you sure your strings slide over the saddles properly?

I will look into that as well.