Loosing sustain in mounting a Bigsby on a LP???

In my opinion a trem will always reduce the sustain of a guitar to some extent because it gives a route for energy from the string to leak away into trem movement and then friction in the trem system will then dissapate this energy as heat.

A proper stop tail doesn't have moving parts that allow oscillation and so the string will vibrate longer.

Whether the small loss of sustain is a proplem is down to the guitar itself, the exact trem in question, the playing environment (amplification volume the guitar is exposed toduring playing for example) and the desires of the guitarist for the instrument.

That word 'shimmer' is really good - it's why I would never deck the trem in a strat you loose that aspect of the guitar sound. I think Joe has nailed the guitar voice trade off and then it comes down to what you prefer.

See thats exactly why I deck the bridge on my strat, because I go and play a telecaster and think "man if I had a solid string through body I'd have tons of sustain."  I was once so dedicated to decked bridges I milled a block of 1080 steel with a buddy of mine http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn38 … 250106.jpg The bridge would stay decked with or without the springs!  Plus the steel gave the strings a lot more of a bell like tone.  Anyway some people are into shimmer I'm into a solid note.  Chords I'll just bend the neck a bit if I need shimmer, at least I won't have to retune after I do it.