There was only a couple times that I could really see what was going on the camera angles are really bad, but I do wonder can one use cable insted of rods?
Gary Shepherd
From: Fox, Oklahoma, USA
Posted 23 Nov 2006 6:54 pm
I think if you go to www.youtube.com to see the video, you might get a better view. Do a search for BradDavisMusic.
I may be mistaken but if memory serves me, I believe MSA built a similiar system for Phil Baugh in the 70's. Help someone who remembers.
Phred
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"From Truth, Justice is Born"--Quanah Parker-1904
Bob Carlucci
From: Candor, New York, USA
Posted 23 Nov 2006 8:13 pm
Correct Fred I do remember that unit also,,,looked pretty unweildy, but probably worked great,,,
I dunno, I see no need for that sort of device on an acoustic guitar really... I can play most of what I heard on a standard acoustic without devices If the guitar is set up well with light strings,,It was some basic Clarance White pedal steel licks that most of us that play 6 string can cop pretty well by now... It was ok, but IMHO it seems it would be more appropriate on a tele through a Twin/Pro/Super/Deluxe etc etc... bob
Lee Baucum
From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
Posted 23 Nov 2006 8:22 pm
Might be fun installed on a lap steel or reso.
Charles Davidson
From: Phenix City Alabama, USA
Posted 23 Nov 2006 8:33 pm
Fred your right.Phil used one of those MSA devices[I think it was on a Peavey T-60 guitar,I remember seeing him and Buddy on austin city limits years ago,He played The Shadow Of Your Smile,was great.Buddy and Phil,what a pair!!!!Bama Charlie.
Charles Davidson
From: Phenix City Alabama, USA
Posted 23 Nov 2006 8:37 pm
P.S. I may be wrong,but I think I saw an ad for that contraption back then,must not have caught on.Maybe Reese could tell us more about it.
Bill Hatcher
From: Atlanta Ga. USA
Posted 23 Nov 2006 9:26 pm
Phil is playing the opening licks on "He stopped Loving Her Today" with the cable pull standard guitar. He had the cable system raising and lowering several strings on the different guitars he had the unit on. I remember seeing it on a Gibson L5S guitar. He was an incredible player. I called him once in Nashville and asked him if the assembly would ever be made availiable and he said he was trying to get that together. He sadly passed on before that materialized.
Baugh had more musical things going on with his bender set up than anyone else ever!
Brint Hannay
From: Maryland, USA
Posted 23 Nov 2006 10:22 pm
Here's a link to the video of Phil Baugh playing Shadow of Your Smile on YouTube. Unfortunately the video doesn't show the pedal device, but the performance is very cool!
[This message was edited by Brint Hannay on 23 November 2006 at 10:24 PM.]
Cartwright Thompson
Posted 25 Nov 2006 3:29 am
That Phil Baugh clip is awesome, too bad the joker wearing the derby didn't get a chance to play...I think he knows that song!
Dave Mudgett
From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
Posted 25 Nov 2006 1:04 pm
The mechanism on this acoustic bender must be different - action at headstock instead of bridge? But the cable/floor unit does look similar to the 6-string changer Phil Baugh used. I saw Phil a couple of times in the early 80s in Nashville - I forget which club. I thought he had tremendous musicality as well as technical ability, and man, I wanted one of those floor bending units. But I'll admit, I might never have started on pedal steel if got one, so maybe it's good I didn't find one back then.
I use B-Benders occasionally - I think they're cool, but - IMO - pretty limited, as compared to Baugh's unit. I'd sure like to see that one made available again now.
That version of "Shadow of Your Smile" is on the "Nashville Super Pickers - Live from Austin City Limits" LP. The guitar looks like a Music Man Sting Ray.
Brint Hannay
From: Maryland, USA
Posted 25 Nov 2006 8:04 pm
Ever since I heard "The Shadow of Your Smile" on the Nashville Super Pickers LP back in the 80s, I tried like H*@! to track down one of those pedal units. I believe it was called the Pedal Pitch, and was indeed made by MSA. Finally an article appeared in Guitar Player magazine about various string-bender units, mainly the Parsons/White and Glaser, but at the end of the article there was a list of addresses for other bender systems, including an address for the Pedal Pitch at MSA/Micro. I wrote to them immediately, but my letter was returned to sender, addressee unknown. Years later, I think mid to late nineties, someone advertised in the classifieds in the back of Vintage Guitar a guitar with this device installed. I couldn't afford it at the time. AAAARRGH!!!!!!! I'd still kill to get one! Even though I've played pedal steel since before I heard of this. I think Reece should seriously consider reviving this idea!
Phil Baugh also plays a great solo on "Sweet Dreams", and Buddy Emmons and Baugh tear up "Killer Joe", Buddy does a fabulous "Mansion on the Hill", Johnny Gimble is great as always... They need to issue this in the Austin City Limits DVD series! Especially if there are any unreleased cuts....
[This message was edited by Brint Hannay on 25 November 2006 at 08:18 PM.]
Darrell Owens
From: California, USA
Posted 25 Nov 2006 8:10 pm
I had a chance to play around with the Phil Baugh pedal system, and it was a great idea. Too bad it was never produced.
So far as the Brad bender is concerned, you can do the same thing by pushing the B string up behind the nut and between the first and second string posts. Be careful not to get blood on your guitar after you stick your finger with the cut off end of the string.
The B-bender (Parsons, Glaser) works good on a tele, but no one has successfully mounted on on an accoustic guitar and lived to tell about it.
Actually, though, I believe Casper Rawls in Austin has successfully used a Parsons/White on acoustic.
Charles Davidson
From: Phenix City Alabama, USA
Posted 25 Nov 2006 10:09 pm
I've seen Marty Stuart play a Martin with a bender on it,don't know if it was a Parsons or not.Years ago when I played a lot of guitar,I had a Hipshot installed on my tele,It worked great,and you did'nt have to butcher your guitar to install it.
Jim Sliff
From: Lawndale California, USA
Posted 25 Nov 2006 11:40 pm
"The B-bender (Parsons, Glaser) works good on a tele, but no one has successfully mounted on on an accoustic guitar and lived to tell about it."
Actually, that's not really true. Gene has made and advertised an acoustic version of the Stringbender. Bob Warford has one mounted in a Larivee I've played and it works great. It's a different design from the standard Parsons-White unit, but does the same thing - it's a should-strap activated bender.
Another good one is the Higgins Peg Bender. It replaces the 2nd string tuning peg with one that has a pull mechanism activated by a lanyard that attaches to the guitar strap. Once you get used to it and fine-tune the lanyard, it feels like a short-throw Parsons-White bender, and almost exactly like Warford's bender on his Tele, which has a short throw.
I mounted a Higgins on a D-28 (also one on a Tele and another on a Line 6 Variax) and it works great. It was fun ripping along on a fiddle tune and throwing a bend in here and there, or playing slower tunes with more legato bends. Look up Brad Higgins or the Higgins Peg Bender.
Gene's bender I think is no longer in production. It was a complicated and expensive mechanism to produce. He was working on a "drop-in" unit, but there were too many question marks regarding the ability of various guitars to handle the pressure on the neck, and how it had to carry to the bridge.
The obvious advantage to a shoulder-strap unit is that you don't have to sit in one place, stranded by the foot-actuated cable.
[This message was edited by Jim Sliff on 25 November 2006 at 11:41 PM.]
John Billings
From: Ohio, USA
Posted 26 Nov 2006 9:16 am
Bob C.
There are many, many things that can be done with a bender that cannot be done without one! A good friend of mine, a Nashville picker once told me, "I don't need a bender. I can do all that stuff with just my fingers." I said, "Can you do this?" He replied, "No." End of his arguement. Simply play a 3 string chord. Now bend the string in the middle up a whole step while letting all three strings ring clear.
For instance: 2nd string, 8th fret...3rd string,7th fret...4thstring,10th fret. Pick all three strings, let them ring and bend the third string up a whole step..And that's just a simple, very basic thing. I have used a Hipshot double bender since they first came out. It also has three levers. Unless one really spends some time, and a good deal of thought, while playing these devices, one simply can't understand what they're truly capable of doing. I find them to be a fun challenge, and more of a mental game for me. But it's a blast to play some Lloyd licks and watch your guitar-playin' buddies jaws hit the floor!
John http://steelguitaramericas.com/
John Billings
From: Ohio, USA
Posted 26 Nov 2006 9:20 am
PS: Brint. I talked to the guy who had that bender add in VG. I even got pics of it. I just thought he wanted too much for it. I didn't want the guitar that he was selling with it. I could kick myself now!
Gareth Carthew
From: West Sussex, UK
Posted 26 Nov 2006 9:50 am
For someone with a little mechanical experiece it shouldn't be too hard to create their own version for personal use.
A simple pedal/lever, some bicycle brake cable...
The hardest part will be fabricating the end to attach through the headstock and I can't see that being too difficult.
Al Marcus
From: Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)
Posted 26 Nov 2006 6:34 pm
I met Phil Baugh at MSA when I was picking up one of my steels from Reece. He showed me the guitar wth 6 pedals and wires to it.
I think they were thinking of possible putting it on the market.
It was a great idea and , of course , Phil sounded great on it...
