'53 ES-295 with fixed arm Bigsby!

Hi,

What do you all think of this '53 ES-295 with fixed arm Bigsby? Anyone knows this guitar? Could it be a factory original Bigsby or is that not possible? I think it's a very cool guitar! Please share your thoughts with me, I'm thinking of buying it!

https://reverb.com/item/2985137-gibson-es-295-1953-gold

If you're serious about the guitar and it sounds that you are, ask the seller to take off the Bigsby and take a photo of the butt area of the guitar. If there are extra holes, more than what is required to attached the Bigsby then it is not original. On a side note, post 1955 ES-295s have an extra fret, 20 total vice 19 on the earlier ones. Now go buy a guitar and help the economy!

Not many reactions here...:hmm

My '52 ES-295 has a Bigsby also. Not sure if it's original. I'm no Bigsby expert. But it's been on there for a very long time and has left a very pronounced shadow on the top, so I'm leaving it there. Has the same aluminum bridge as the one you're looking at, too.

Btw, I might sell mine, if you're interested.

I just spent some time trying to find a timeline for Bigby's. I know I've seen one somewhere, but couldn't turn it up.

I think, as in not sure, that they weren't widely available until 1955 or 1956, and the first models were the fixed arm model 58dutchie mentions. Forum member bigsby'd knows all about these, as his handle would indicate, but I haven't seen him around for a while. Anyway, they were hugely popular in the late '50's, and many were dealer-installed on new guitars, so a Bigsby might be original to the guitar, but not factory.

This is all going from memory, so if anyone knows exact details or can correct any of this, please do.

barbarossa said:

My '52 ES-295 has a Bigsby also. Not sure if it's original. I'm no Bigsby expert. But it's been on there for a very long time and has left a very pronounced shadow on the top, so I'm leaving it there. Has the same aluminum bridge as the one you're looking at, too.

Btw, I might sell mine, if you're interested.

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