B string benders????

James Taylor · Post by **James Taylor** » 8 Nov 2014 12:59 pm

Just how effective are these" B " string benders on, six string guitar for producing a pedal steel sound ? JAMES TAYLOR

Les Cargill · Post by **Les Cargill** » 8 Nov 2014 1:08 pm

Quite effective. It does not turn a guitar into a steel.

Watch Marty Stuart use one if you can, region codes and videos being what they are.

James Taylor · Post by **James Taylor** » 8 Nov 2014 3:33 pm

Les, Thank you for informing me . JAMES TAYLOR SCOTLAND in the backwoods .

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 9 Nov 2014 12:32 am

I'd say that if you're trying to copy pedal steel licks, you'll get closer with a b-bender than with a lap steel most of the time.

Micky Byrne · Post by **Micky Byrne** » 9 Nov 2014 2:30 am

James...I have one...you have to alter certain chord shapes if you're going to use the bender a lot. The Parson's "Green" is built on a a steel frame and sunk into the routed guitar.It makes a heavy guitar. Some that are built "into" the guitar are not as heavy. You can also get B and G benders...not for me. You can also get Hip shots...different principle and not having to route the guitar body. I'll stick to Pedal steel

Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.

www.micky-byrne.co.uk

Micky Byrne · Post by **Micky Byrne** » 9 Nov 2014 2:36 am

Here's a link for you James.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9junQ40wno

Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.

Micky Byrne · Post by **Micky Byrne** » 9 Nov 2014 2:48 am

Here's a good Link from Albert Lee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8RPjjpbZhA

Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 9 Nov 2014 3:15 am

effective is not really the proper question...Many Bender owners are utilizing the B pull in a very limited typically expected manner. The thing about the B Pull is that in the hands of a player that understands the phrasing, much like a Pedal Steel player, the results are quite interesting.

The B Pull is excellent and in the scheme if things is the same as the G Pull except the pulls and phrases are located in different chordal positions on the fret board.

The G pull allows for a yank out of the common 2nd fret A chord to pull a whole tone on the 3rd string above A. while the B requires you leave off the 2nd fret 2nd string note of that the same chord and pull the 2nd string up TO THE A chord. A different but nice feel...Another stock B string pull is out of the common D chord position on the 2nd fret..working your way up the fret board.

regarding Marty, you can see him pulling very often at the 9th fret positions ( A chord) or 7th fret ( G chord) playing fundamental Pedal Steel into's and licks that fall naturally right in those locations .They sound awesome !

effective ? sure....but creative may be a better word. Both the B pull and the G pull require quite a bit of practice, not just for the music but for the mechanics of it all, just like the Pedal Steel..the Pedals and the Pulls or releases are part of the phrasing...not an afterthought...

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 9 Nov 2014 5:36 am

The Frankenbender, attributed to Brad Graham

James Taylor · Post by **James Taylor** » 9 Nov 2014 9:45 am

Thanks , Jeff ; Micky ; Tony and Charlie for all your information JAMES TAYLOR SCOTLAND

Les Cargill · Post by **Les Cargill** » 9 Nov 2014 9:52 am

An example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQqxp5lbp8w

First solo about 40 seconds in... you can see the strap move against the guitar body.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 9 Nov 2014 11:01 am

I've had my Hipshot B and G puller since about '84. I didn't buy it to play onstage, I used my Kline. I bought it as a challenge/game for myself. My Dad used to do mathematical games to amuse himself, I do puller games. I bought it for the sole reason of figuring out pedal steel things. I don't play White's style, I play Lloyd's style! If you think like a pedal steeler, it can be very effective,,,, and fun!
I remember when I first got it, a friend who is a Nashville Cat said, "JB, I can do that with just finger bends!" I then played the intro to "You're Still On My Mind" for him, and asked, "Steve, can you do that?" He said, "Well, no,,,,I can't do that."
With benders, you can do bends on "inside" strings in a cluster. Very steelie!

Marty Forrer · Post by **Marty Forrer** » 9 Nov 2014 11:20 am

A Duesenburg Multibender will bolt straight to a strat or Tele and gives you the ability to raise or lower two strings.

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 9 Nov 2014 12:51 pm

Marty has another pull on "Clarence," that drove the "traditionalists" crazy. He has the original b-bender, and a few years ago, added a pull on the 1st string, controlled by a big round knob on the front of the guitar.

BTW, the guys at RS guitarworks, in Kentucky, built Paul's and Kenny's silver sparkle guitars. And sometime last year, they built Marty a sparkly Tele with all of "Clarence's" mods. Double bodies, B-string bender--But I'm not sure about the other pull. I've seen Marty play it a couple of times--it's all there. Maybe he leaves "Clarence" at home, and takes the RS guitar on the road.

Tom Quinn · Post by **Tom Quinn** » 9 Nov 2014 3:33 pm

Gene Parsons is one of my best friends. He makes the best benders and he can do some pretty amazing things with his. I had a bender in my '54 and played it for years. Watch Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives if you want to see Clarence's old bender in action. He's really, really good with it...

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 10 Nov 2014 3:52 am

I'll just add this for posterity , I bought a new B Bender in 97, used it for a while but didn't really understand what I had in front of me . I was a B pull novice and never grad-yee-ated..So I sold it..

Years later, make that decades, I added the Hip Shot G and B pull to one of my Tele's..at this point, yes I was more aware of the pulls, phrases and fret board positions. I had grad-yee-ated...I kinda liked what I had, except...my right hand was no longer in the comfy zone on the Tele bridge, I couldn't block/mute anymore with the two Bender levers.(I modified it so I had both the B and G on a palm lever, I could never get used to the hip thing).

So..I removed the Hip Shot and sold it on Ebay !

Fast forward a couple more years...I now have another 97 B Bender guitar and I like it a ton. I prefer the G Bend but B is fine. The G pulls are basically an octave down from the B pulls..I prefer that...The only issue is again, you have to learn how to play with the pull already engaged or ready to be engaged, and if you are moving around you can engage the strap pull by accident..whereas you pull the B part way when you don't want to and it sounds real bad !

These are excellent guitars but really understand that the pulls and phrasing are part of the music not just hardware...or you will be where I was back in 97 , which in the scheme of things I'm not really that much more past 97 but I am a bit smarter in the use...trying to be non-predictable...

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 10 Nov 2014 5:35 am

Tony,
It sounds to me as if you didn't have the Hipshot set up correctly. The B hip lever should be set so it's as close to your hip as possible. Then, with just a slight push of the neck, away from you, the lever is engaged. Over on the Bender Forum on TDPRI, I've encountered many who think you have to "thrust/shoot" your hip out to make it work. If you have to do that, the Hipshot has not been set up correctly!

I fingerpick. I set the G bender bar at a 45 degree angle, and play it with my wrist or forearm, depending on where I'm picking. No problems palm-blocking at the bridge! Some guys cut the lever shorter. I don't like having two palm levers like the old Bigsby unit. I find them very awkward to use! My setup works seamlessly, as there's no reaching for anything. I play my Strat "trem" the same way, with my wrist. If I could only have one bender on a guitar, I would chose the G bender. Much more steel-like! Here's a pic of my Dano with the G lever in playing position.

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 10 Nov 2014 5:53 am

Tony Prior wrote:I kinda liked what I had, except...my right hand was no loner in the comfy zone on the Tele bridge, I couldn't block/mute anymore with the two Bender levers.

Do you mean they were in the way while you were actually using them or when you weren't.

I too prefer the palm activated version and so removed the hip lever and put a palm lever in the b position.

When I'm not using it, it just folds completely out of the way and doesn't bother me at all.

I couldn't get on with Bigsby palm pedals for the reason you describe (although if I'm recording I will almost always use the Bigsby equipped guitar if I'm doing bender parts - just not for live when I'm not using the benders all the time).

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 10 Nov 2014 7:16 am

two replies, one post.

yes the Hip Lever was in the correct place , I just didn't like it...

I prefer the strap pull systems for me..others may not...

and yes, the two palm benders were in the way of my right hand for muting or blocking when they were IN THE BENDING ( forward) position..but when moved out of the way, of course no issue but then that kinda defeated the purpose for me !

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 10 Nov 2014 7:29 am

Tony,
"I prefer the strap pull systems for me..others may not..."
I don't like having to pull down on the neck, as it slows, or even stops my left hand movement up and down the neck. Doesn't work well for slide either. The slight push outward, pivoting the body so the B lever contacts my hip works much better for me.
"the two palm benders were in the way of my right hand for muting or blocking when they were IN THE BENDING ( forward) position..but when moved out of the way, of course no issue "
In my above pic, the G lever is in playing position, and muting/blocking is not a problem. And it stays in that position all the time,,,, always ready. Moving the lever in and out of playing position would be a pain! I suspect we have very different right hand playing styles. No biggie. As a fingerpicker, my right hand "floats." No real anchor.
John

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 10 Nov 2014 7:53 am

John Billings wrote:Tony,
I suspect we have very different right hand playing styles. No biggie. As a fingerpicker, my right hand "floats." No real anchor.
John

as a finger picker here, my right hand is anchored !

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 10 Nov 2014 9:24 am

I've been using "benders" for over forty years ever since I saw Al Bruno come to the Imperial Inn after hours with Boomer Castleman's prototype of the Bigsby Palm Pedal. I knew Clarence in the old days and had seen his unit but it didn't interest me as I was playing a Gibson and Al Bruno was mine (and everyone else's) guitar hero... He was more accomplished in overall guitar playing than Clarence IMHO so as soon as they were on the market I bought a Bigsby Palm Pedal and added it to my Gibson Trini Lopez guitar (see picture)...

I've always played benders more like Al in that he never used one to play "steel licks", it was always used to enhance his guitar work... These units have two levers raising both the B and G strings a whole step. In the old shot of me and my "Trini" you'll see that I also have a short lever on the D string to raise it to E... Here's a shot of Al with his Gibson....

In the early eighties when I was still in SoCal I bought a Telecaster and tried a BPP bender but the levers were too long so I ordered a HipShot from David Borisoff with a B hip lever and a G palm lever and played it until 2005 when I acquired a Parsons/White bender, installed by Mike Nihen (AKA Stringpull) in Fairfax, Va. My Tele now has a P/W bender on the B string along with a G bender from "Rolling Benders" in Conneticutt. The rolling bender is easy to install. You just remove the bridge saddle, set the Rolling down there put the screw back in and string 'er up. A small lever protrudes behind the bridge that you just depress with the heel of your hand... I have four of them, one on my Tele for a G, one on a Strat for a G and a couple for B Benders on another Strat and a Tele Deluxe. I'm going to add some more shots of various benders here. At the moment I have about 11 or 12 Bigsby Palm Pedals, A B/W bender, 4 HipShots, 4 Rolling benders, a Van Rosa bender, two Bowden benders and maybe a couple of others.... Here goes...JH in Va.

I've got a lot more but that's enough for now... Anyway, as far as Benders go, I have all kinds and I don't think any brand's any better than the rest, they all have their place and very proficient users and endorsers... I think the Parsons/White is over rated and not worth what you have to pay for one as it doesn't do anything any other bender won't do and it doesn't do it any better......JH in Va.

James Taylor · Post by **James Taylor** » 11 Nov 2014 9:11 am

What a tremendous education from you all. I only recently heard about benders and it seems they have been around for quite a while. Thanking you all for my edification, as this is all so interesting. JAMES TAYLOR SCOTLAND ;well seen to be from the remote Scottish north.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 11 Nov 2014 11:50 am

A B&W bender on my Nashville Tele:

Click Here

My install of a B/G bender on on a telecaster:

Click Here

I also have two Parsons style B benders. They are the smoothest. The hipshot with practice is pretty awesome and such a low cost addtion to a guitar. You can also gain one or two toggles with the HipShot. Any bender is going to require a lot of practice to get good sounds out of it. The Hipshot may force you to alter your picking hand position for some riffs. The B/G bender though also requires you to pay attention to how much pressure your putting on the strap to avoid accidental actuation. Same with the belt buckle for the G bend. I've heard amazing riffs out of all styles of benders in the right hands so I think the player is the key, not the bender style.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 11 Nov 2014 11:58 am

"You can also gain one or two toggles with the HipShot."
Mine actually had three toggles; both E strings, and the A string. Onstage, I could pop into Dropped D tunings, and Bottleneck Low Bass G tuning. Very, very handy for a song like "Mercury Blues, where I could play in Standard Tuning, drop to G tuning for the Dobro licks, and add some gain, and play the bottleneck stuff. All on one guitar! Instantaneous, no retuning! Now that I've retired I have guitars dedicated to those alternate tunings.

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B string benders????

B string benders????

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