Bootlegger Guitar DeVille with The Original USA Licensed Bigsby B5 and Vibramate V5. The Convertible Guitar

The B5 sometimes referred to as the Bigsby “horseshoe” is extremely versatile. One of the original vibrato units it’s a classic, found on vintage guitars and now our DeVille. Smooth action and the great sound of the Bigsby can be heard in all types of styles of guitar music.

The Vibramate’s V5 Quick Mount Kit lets you mount an original Bigsby B5 on an electric guitar with a Tune-o-Matic-type bridge and a stop tailpiece. The Vibramate kit includes three felt pads on the bottom of the mounting plate that protect the top of your guitar. Vibramate automatically positions the B5 incorrect orientation, for a clean, original-equipment appearance.

The best of both worlds the Vibramate V5 allows the Bigsby B5 to be installed without drilling into the guitar. The Vibramate mounts to the original bridge mounting studs and allows the option of returning the DeVille back to a stop tailpiece guitar.

Let the big boys stop building archtop guitars, we will always love and build this classic style that helped develop the sound of early electric blues, country, and rock.

DeVille Red Burst

The Cadillac DeVille is also are semi-holly body archtop.  This style was originally known as a Jazz guitar but rapidly found its way as a hallowed blues & rock guitar.

Our classic features two real not-painted F-holes (excellent resonance) and a single cutaway. Gold hardware, gold pickup covers, gold Grover tuners, and stunning black to cherry red see-through flamed maple finish.

Double Arched Top And Back

With our custom Bootlegger, 3×3 head and our whiskey diamond fret inlays and logo the guitar fits perfectly in any smoke-filled Jazz club, blues joint, or rocking roadhouse.

Our body is slimmer than most Jazz styles at 1 1/2 inches thick compared to a Gibson 335 that is 1 3/4 inch thick. Our body size is closer to a Les Paul. We wanted a more comfortable, lighter version of this classic semi-hollow body style. Both arched back and top for acoustic tone. Ships with its custom wood vintage style hard case.

Design

Bootlegger head design is as much function as it is formed. As a race car builder, driver I understand that any angle or bend can be a point of weakness under stress. We run brake lines and fuel lines with as little bending as possible. It works the same with guitar strings the straighter from the tuning post to the nut means less stress on strings and strings hold tuning and resonate better.

Quality

The neck is best compared to a PRS JM shape, Fender modern C shape or a Gibson Slim Taper D shape for feel and playability. It is by far the easiest and most recognizable shape for guitar players across the board. It delivers that vintage feels with a modern twist to keep it relevant and functional for guitar players playing any genre of music.

All Bootlegger builds use graphite nuts, along with our head and neck design this is best possible pro setup for your guitar.

Specs

Body

• Wood top 15mm Flamed Maple  bottom 2 pcs Sapele 42mm
• Finish Black / Cherry Sunburst Clear Natural Gloss / Polyurethane
• Two F Holes
• Binding Top and back White ABS
• Semi Hollow-body  construction Arch Top and Back

Neck

• Set neck 16th fret
• Neck Profile C
• Binding white ABS
• Finish natural matte Polyurethane
• Truss Rod Dual Adjustment Location Head

Finger Board

• Material Hardwood Walnut
• Radius 350r
• Number of Frets 22
• Scale 24.75 (Gibson)
• Width 1st 43mm 12th 53mm Bootlegger standard
• Thick 1st 20mm 12th 22mm Bootlegger standard
• Fret width 2.7mm Silver Nickel
• Inlays Whiskey Diamond white / black pearl
• Side position markers 1.5mm
• Nut Material black Graphite / Width Thick 3.4mm / Length 42mm
• Inlays, White Pearl Bootlegger Whiskey Diamond

Head

• Thickness 12mm Angle 12 degree
• Tuners Grover Gold
• Finish black matte front Polyurethane
• Finish back natural matte Polyurethane
• Binding ABS White
• Logo custom Whiskey Bootlegger Art (borrowed from our favorite whiskey labels)
• Truss Rod Cover Plastic 98 (Proof)

Hardware

• Gold finish
• Three way pickup switch
• Tune O Matic Bridge
• Tuners Gold Korean
• Bridge Bigsby and Vibramate

Controls

• Volume & Tone metal chrome knobs
• Three way switch tip Black.
• Jack Plate Oval

Electronics

• BLG 98’s matched modern passive Alnico humbuckers with a bright, clear tone and a sweet top and deep bottom end that is the perfect choice for rock blues and clean jazz.
•    Neck Pickup A500K  / 7.50KΩ
•    Bridge Pickup  B500K / 8.40KΩ
• Conductive shielding for hum noise and radio interference reduction

Strings & Set Up

• Strings 10m D’Addario
• Setup 2mm

Miscellaneous

• Weight 6.8 lbs
• Measurements 39 x14 x 1 3/4
• Guitar and case 14.5 lbs
• Case Dimensions 42 x 16
• Included Keys & Related Truss Rod & Tuning Tools.
• We are a Los Angeles California company, we design and build professional quality guitars and tube amps. We have sold and shipped guitars and amps all over the world.
• Chuck Wilson

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