THINK BIGSBY

I read with interest the Longtermers article in the last edition of Guitarist, which mentioned the awkward procedure of restringing a guitar fitted with a Bigsby B7 tremolo arm. Quite a lot of guitarists find this somewhat fiddly. I find the easiest way to restring with a Bigsby is to first slightly bend the end of the new string just under half an inch from the ball at the bottom of the string. This makes it easier to hook under the bottom bar of the Bigsby. Then pull the string tight and place a capo around the 9th fret. This will then hold the string tightly in place while you then pull the string through the machinehead and tighten as usual. Dennis Homes, via email

Many thanks indeed, Dennis – this is useful advice that we’ll be trying next time we grapple with a B7! The capo was the missing part of the equation that could make all the difference here. All the same we wouldn’t like to attempt it in on a darkened stage any time soon! We’ll return the favour and give you some help next time you’re stringing up a guitar by awarding you a superb Korg tuner as this month’s star letter.

Hughes & Kettner Correction We would like to correct a small detail in our recent review of the Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit 200. The review wrongly compared the Black Spirit Floor 200 with the standalone FSM432 controller, suggesting the FSM432 has a power source for external pedals when in fact it has an alternative power IN if you don’t use one of the H&K amps that phantom powers it. In fact, neither product can power external pedals. Reviewer Nick Guppy corrected this in a later draft, but unfortunately the earlier piece was printed. Apologies for the confusion.