Putting a Bigsby on a Les Paul or SG: When to Drill, and When to Bolt It On
If you want a Bigsby on a Les Paul or SG you already own, my advice is short: don't drill it. Use an adapter plate that bolts into the stopbar bushings, keep the original tailpiece and studs in the case, and the whole thing stays reversible. The only time I'd drill is on a guitar where resale truly doesn't matter to you, and even then I'd think about it for a week first.
That's the answer. The reasoning matters too, because the choice between a drilled retrofit, a bolt-on plate and a factory Bigsby changes what the guitar is worth later.
Three ways a Bigsby ends up on a Gibson
Every Bigsby-equipped Les Paul or SG I see falls into one of three groups, and the first thing I do when one hits the bench is work out which group it's in.
Diagram: the three routes, and what each one leaves in the top if the Bigsby ever comes off. Simplified and not to scale.
1. The drilled retrofit
This is the old-school way. The Bigsby gets screwed straight into the top of the guitar. Bigsby designs the B5 "horseshoe" for flat-top solidbodies, and it mounts with four screws through the top. That's why you see so many on SGs and Les Paul Juniors. The B7 is the one designed for carved tops like a Les Paul. It mounts with six screws: two go into the top, and the rest hold the hinge at the tail end of the body.
Done well, it works fine and it sounds fine. The problem is what happens later. Take the Bigsby off and you have screw holes in the top that weren't there before, plus two empty stopbar stud bushings, because the stopbar was the first thing to go. You can plug and touch up those holes, but on a nitro finish the repair rarely disappears completely, and anyone checking a used Gibson closely will look exactly there.
2. The bolt-on adapter (Vibramate and similar)
This is the one I recommend. An adapter plate like the Vibramate V5 anchors in the guitar's existing stop tailpiece bushings, so you don't drill anything. The Bigsby mounts to the plate, felt pads sit between the hardware and the finish, and the install needs nothing more than a screwdriver.
Here's a real one. We had a 2020 SG Standard '61 in Vintage Cherry come through with a Bigsby on a Vibramate plate, and in my listing notes I wrote that it stayed in tune and that the vibrato added "a smooth, expressive movement that gives the SG a different personality." It had low action with no buzz, and the original stopbar, studs and mounting hardware were in the case. That last part is what made it an easy guitar to sell.
A Bigsby on a Vibramate plate, fitted to a 2020 SG Standard '61 that came through the shop (sold). The plate sits in the old stopbar bushings, so nothing new was drilled into the body.
The original stopbar and studs from that same SG, kept in the case. Converting it back to stock means unbolting the plate and putting these back in.
3. The factory Bigsby
Gibson has offered factory Bigsby versions of various models over the years, including Custom Shop Historics like the one below. On those guitars the Bigsby is part of the original spec. Taking it off is the modification, not putting it on.
The best example we've had was a 2026 Custom Shop three-pickup '57 Les Paul Custom with a factory gold Bigsby. It weighed 9.92 pounds on my scale. That's very reasonable for a one-piece solid mahogany body with no weight relief, three Custombuckers and a Bigsby hanging off the tail. On a guitar like that, nobody should be thinking about converting it back to a stopbar.
The factory Bigsby on a three-pickup '57 Les Paul Custom reissue that came through the shop (sold). Note the hinge wrapping over the tail of the body, which is the B7-style mount built for carved tops.
Which adapter fits which guitar
This is where people order the wrong part, so here are the details that matter:
- Flat-top solidbodies (SG, Les Paul Junior and Special): the Vibramate V5 with a B5 is the usual pairing. The V5 needs standard non-staggered stud spacing of 3-1/4 inches, which covers most Gibson stopbar setups.
- SGs with the big "batwing" pickguard: the standard V5 won't clear it. Vibramate makes a short-tail V5-ST for large-pickguard SGs (and Flying Vs). The SG Standard '61 above has the small teardrop guard, so it doesn't run into this problem.
- Carved-top Les Pauls: a V5 and B5 will go on, but the back of the Bigsby can sit slightly raised because of the arch. The better match is a B7 on the V7-LP kit, which sits on the top and anchors at the end through the strap button hole. Check which B7 variant the kit asks for, because not every B7 version fits.
- Genuine Bigsby only: StewMac lists the V5 as working only with USA Bigsbys, not the import B50.
What a Bigsby changes on the guitar
Bolting one on doesn't turn your Les Paul into a different instrument. It does change a few things, though:
- Weight at the tail. Bigsby lists the B5 at about 287 grams, around 10 ounces. You'll feel that on the strap.
- The string path over the bridge. The strings now go to the tension bar instead of a stopbar you can raise or lower. If the angle over a tune-o-matic ends up shallow, strings can jump out of the saddle slots when you dig in. A properly notched saddle fixes most of that. Here's how to notch tune-o-matic saddles correctly.
- Tuning stability depends on setup. Whether it holds pitch comes down to the nut and the saddles, not the Bigsby. I covered that in detail in Do Bigsbys Stay in Tune?, so I won't repeat it here. Budget for a nut check when you do the install.
The resale question: how much does a drilled Bigsby cost you?
People argue about this, and nobody can give you an exact percentage. The best data comes from the vintage ES-335 market, where Bigsby holes have been debated for decades. The traditional rule of thumb was that a Bigsby-equipped ES is worth about 25% less than an original stoptail. Charlie Gelber, a longtime ES collector and dealer who writes about these guitars at es-335.com, argues the real hit on most ES-335s and 345s is closer to 10–15%. Either way the discount is real, and on a valuable guitar even the low number is a lot of money.
On a modern production Les Paul or SG the money involved is smaller, but the pattern is the same. Extra holes shrink your pool of buyers, and the buyers who remain use the holes to negotiate. A guitar on a bolt-on plate with the original parts in the case doesn't have that problem. If you do the conversion, keep those parts. They cost you nothing to store and they matter a lot when you sell.
For factory Bigsby guitars it works the other way. A buyer who wants a '57 Custom with a Bigsby wants the Bigsby, and pulling it off to "clean up" the guitar would hurt value.
What I check on a used Bigsby-equipped Gibson
- Find out which group it's in. Ask the seller, then confirm it yourself. Look for a plate under the Bigsby, and check whether the stopbar bushings are empty or being used.
- On a plate install, check for marks. The felt pads should protect the finish, but look at the top around the plate for pressure marks or imprints in the nitro.
- On a drilled install, ask what's under the Bigsby. If you plan to take it off someday, you're buying a guitar with holes in it. Price it that way.
- Look for evidence of an earlier install. Filled screw holes near the tail or touch-up around the stud area means it had a Bigsby once, even if it doesn't now.
- Make sure the original parts are included. On a retrofit, the stopbar and studs should come with it.
If you'd rather start from a clean stopbar Les Paul and do it the reversible way yourself, our 2023 Les Paul Standard '50s in Honey Amber is exactly that kind of guitar, and the rest of our in-stock guitars are listed with any mods spelled out. If you're on the selling side with a Bigsby-converted guitar, our cash offer page is the place to start. Tell us how it was installed and whether the original parts are with it.
FAQ
Can you put a Bigsby on a Les Paul without drilling?
Yes. A Vibramate-style adapter uses the existing stopbar bushings and, for the V7-LP kit, the strap button hole, so you don't need any new holes. On a carved-top Les Paul, the B7 on a V7-LP is the better-fitting combination than a B5.
Is a B5 or a B7 better for an SG?
The B5 is designed for flat-top solidbodies like the SG, and it's the usual choice on a V5 plate. If your SG has the large batwing pickguard, you'll need the short-tail V5-ST to clear it.
Does a Bigsby lower a Gibson's resale value?
A drilled retrofit usually does, because the holes are permanent. On vintage ES models, estimates of the discount run from about 10–15% up to the traditional rule of thumb of 25%. A reversible plate install with the original parts included costs you very little, and a factory Bigsby is simply part of the spec.
Should I remove a factory Bigsby and put a stopbar on?
Usually not. On a guitar that left the factory with a Bigsby, the Bigsby is original equipment, and removing it is the change that hurts value.
