chris77 wrote
This is especially for the fanboys of the Big G and the famous F... ?
the Bisby Merle Travis, 1947. Is that a Strat headstock on a les paul body, years before they were conceived? Surely not... ?
I freakin' love this guitar. I have this notion that a lot of guitar companies miss the aesthetic boat by trying to avoid the classic headstock shapes. But these shapes are often the cherry on the cake that makes a guitar look great. It's actually amazing that Fender was able to trademark it's headstocks when you look at the Bigsby guitars. The Washburn Nuno Bettencourt models used a similar headstock to this (upside down though) and it's one of my favourite modern guitars.
You look at the Merle Travis guitar and it's just too obvious how influential it is. Both Fender and Gibson's first solid bodies look like their attempts to make the same guitar. Fender kept the essential shaped-board-with-strings concept, while Gibson added a heavily carved top. Both changed the headstock design, although Fender decided to move from the not unappealing, but not appealing either, headstock on the tele, to the Bigsby influenced Stratocaster headstock.
Did you guys know you can buy these (or at least very similar) now? Check it out: www.bigsby.com
