Maestro on an SG?

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ECW

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I bought a 2011 60's Tribute (Lefty) with the intention of adding a long Maestro.. since it's so hard to find an affordable lefty with one installed. Took it to the shop here in Nashville and they told me the neck is not set at an angle to be a good candidate. I guess the neck needs to be at a greater angle set in the body so the bridge can be high enough for the proper tension downward on the top of the Maestro. Is there any way to tell from looking if an SG has the right neck angle before I buy? Or any other info would be helpful. Any previous experience with this? I have a short Maestro also that seems to be a little lower where the strings come over.
Thanks!
 
Silvertone

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Yes that is correct. I had an issue putting a Maestro on a custom built Firebird. I built it with a lower neck angle because I like the bridge low. This does not work with a Maestro. It should be easy to tell. You want quite a high bridge height. I'm not sure what the minimum height would be but you should be able to find out and it will then be a quick measurement off the top of the body of the guitar to the strings at the bridge.

Cheers Peter.
 
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Bad Penguin

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Why not go another route that doesn't mod the guitar at all?
OIP (3).jpg

Les Trem for lefty.
 
Von Trapp

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This is indeed a b!tch. Firstly, I'd like to strongly advice against getting anything but these https://crazyparts.de/tremolos--vibrolas/vibrolas-aged/index.php since the cheapos kan have a weaker flange and thus have the comb tilt forwards instead of back. Secondly, it's not just a question of neck angle but also the spring angle. Consider the following reply from the above company:

Since Gibson useing different Neckangles for Standard USA and Customshop Series Guitars please check yourself which Guitar you have and which unit you will need, we are not able to response to questions which Model - which Year - which unit is needed for your Guitar...we know a lot but not anything sorry! Following infos maybe help to find the correct unit! THX. We accept no responsibility for incorrect assembly or setup, may you ask your local luthier if you are not sure about correct installation!

10° spring angle – Gibson USA Series Long Tremolo (Only on request! We have some units in stock but ltd. Qtys. please ask)

13° spring angle – Gibson Custom Short tremolo (All Short units we stock have 13 degree angle!)

18° spring angle – Gibson Custom & Vintage Guitars Long tremolo (18° units will sending if you dont send any notice you need 10° unit!)


Despite asking both this company and Gibson repeatedly what exactly this "spring angle" sh!t means I got no wiser. Gibson just didn't seem to know (?) and these guys dodged my repeated questions so much that I think they just suck at English. All I can say is that the 13 degree one was too high for my guitar. The question is of course, is 10 or 18 lower but that remained unanswered... Gibsons answer was "The 10 degree Vibrola would be low enough to provide the proper break angle. That’s why we use them here at USA."

(NOTE: That doesn't mean it's too high for yours, mine is a Diablo and thus differs in shape from all other SGs.)
 
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ECW

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Bad Penguin said:
Why not go another route that doesn't mod the guitar at all?
View attachment 47021

Les Trem for lefty.
Click to expand...
I bought 2 of these Lefty SG 60's tributes last year... because the first was so amazing. NOS. I then put that Les Trem on the new one.... and it sucked to me. No more snappy twang.. It was all spongy tone. Esp since I could pick up the first one and compare. I hated it.
When I first got them... a few weeks apart I would sit at night and pick each one up, play and try to pick the best. I picked the same one every time... even though I didn't know which one I picked up. The only difference was the string brand. The "best" one had EB's... the newer one had D'addario. Then I put EB's on the newer one and I could not pick a winner any longer. This was why I now always use EB strings. First time ever having two identical guitars to do such a test. That's probably why I took off the Les Trem. W/o that other one to compare.. I might not have even known what I was missing. Thanks
 
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ECW

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Von Trapp said:
This is indeed a b!tch. Firstly, I'd like to strongly advice against getting anything but these https://crazyparts.de/tremolos--vibrolas/vibrolas-aged/index.php since the cheapos kan have a weaker flange and thus have the comb tilt forwards instead of back. Secondly, it's not just a question of neck angle but also the spring angle. Consider the following reply from the above company:

Since Gibson useing different Neckangles for Standard USA and Customshop Series Guitars please check yourself which Guitar you have and which unit you will need, we are not able to response to questions which Model - which Year - which unit is needed for your Guitar...we know a lot but not anything sorry! Following infos maybe help to find the correct unit! THX. We accept no responsibility for incorrect assembly or setup, may you ask your local luthier if you are not sure about correct installation!

10° spring angle – Gibson USA Series Long Tremolo (Only on request! We have some units in stock but ltd. Qtys. please ask)

13° spring angle – Gibson Custom Short tremolo (All Short units we stock have 13 degree angle!)

18° spring angle – Gibson Custom & Vintage Guitars Long tremolo (18° units will sending if you dont send any notice you need 10° unit!)


Despite asking both this company and Gibson repeatedly what exactly this "spring angle" sh!t means I got no wiser. Gibson just didn't seem to know (?) and these guys dodged my repeated questions so much that I think they just suck at English. All I can say is that the 13 degree one was too high for my guitar. The question is of course, is 10 or 18 lower but that remained unanswered... Gibsons answer was "The 10 degree Vibrola would be low enough to provide the proper break angle. That’s why we use them here at USA."

(NOTE: That doesn't mean it's too high for yours, mine is a Diablo and thus differs in shape from all other SGs.)
Click to expand...

Wow. What a nightmare. Their website is a disaster too! I can't even find any un-aged long tails there currently to put in a cart. Aged are like $375. And no left handed of course. I do have 2 cheapo lefty arms though.. and I believe the baseplates are universal.
 
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ECW

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Silvertone said:
Yes that is correct. I had an issue putting a Maestro on a custom built Firebird. I built it with a lower neck angle because I like the bridge low. This does not work with a Maestro. It should be easy to tell. You want quite a high bridge height. I'm not sure what the minimum height would be but you should be able to find out and it will then be a quick measurement off the top of the body of the guitar to the strings at the bridge.

Cheers Peter.
Click to expand...
I suppose I could ask people on this forum to measure theirs? I was just about to order a custom NR Firebird w/ a Maestro. Now I know what to watch out for... and to make sure the builder knows how to deal with this issue B4 I pay. thanks!
 
Von Trapp

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ECW said:
Wow. What a nightmare. Their website is a disaster too! I can't even find any un-aged long tails there currently to put in a cart. Aged are like $375. And no left handed of course. I do have 2 cheapo lefty arms though.. and I believe the baseplates are universal.
Click to expand...

Yes, it's complete bloody terror, that site. It seems they don't have any at the moment but as I THINK you need the 10° one I'd send them an email. As for left handed, I don't think they ever made those. I mean:
b5a165f1c7d08a880d80728f9d5765fe.jpg GettyImages-112083785-scaled.jpg

And if that was good enough for him, it's good enough for you!
 
Silvertone

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ECW said:
I suppose I could ask people on this forum to measure theirs? I was just about to order a custom NR Firebird w/ a Maestro. Now I know what to watch out for... and to make sure the builder knows how to deal with this issue B4 I pay. thanks!
Click to expand...

My bridge height was pretty low. With a ruler off the fret tops I shoot for about 9/16" which gives me a little more than 1 thumbwheel of adjustment to the body. Here is how that looks with the Maestro I got from eBay. Granted I believe it is one of the higher ones, I think. There was not enough break angle so I just drilled for stop tail and left the Maestro bracket like Derek Trucks.
maestro height01.jpg

I would purchase the lowest angle one you can get and give it to your builder. That is something if I had checked before setting the neck angle I could have adjusted easily.

Regards Peter.
 
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Jason

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Did you find a 2011 60’s tribute lefty in “natural” by any chance? That’s one I’ve been searching forever for.
Edit: NVM I saw your other post. Nice ebony model.
 
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papagayo

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Kahler is not cheap, what a beautiful part :thumb:


Temp 47863.JPG
 
MR D

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Bad Penguin said:
Why not go another route that doesn't mod the guitar at all?
View attachment 47021

Les Trem for lefty.
Click to expand...

Yes, you beat me to it...as I'd have suggestted the 'Doozy' as well.......IMO, the 'Doozy' LT II's are the best Tremolo out there...cant beat the price, no mods installation. Goes on/off the guitar in seconds and the ones that I have on my SG's/Firebird/Explorer all stay in tune better than any other tremolo/vibrola I have had on any other guitar....the only one that comes close to a 'Doozy' LT-II is a 2019 SG Original w/Maestro...after I cut the NUT slots on that guitar, the Maestro performs pretty close to what the LT-II does on my SG Standards in terms of tuning stability.
 
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