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Author Topic:  B string benders????
Greg Cutshaw


From:
Corry, PA, USA
Post  Posted 11 Nov 2014 12:53 pm    
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There was a guy who played for Tommy Cash. He was the world's greatest imitator of pedal steel on a regular guitar by an infinite margin IMHO. I saw him at Ponderosa Park with the Tommy Cash show opening for Ernest Tubb. This guy was doing chromatic E9th riffs and pedal pulls and had the Sho-Bud tone nailed. If you closed your eyes, you heard pedal steel played better than many road players were doing at the time. Buddy Charleton stared agape at this guy the whole show from one of the side curtains. Not sure but his first name might have been Wayne. On top of this he played Orange Blossum Special on a guitar using a bow.
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John Booth


From:
Columbus Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 11 Nov 2014 12:55 pm    
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Charlie McDonald wrote:
The Frankenbender, attributed to Brad Graham


OH MY LORD
That's Bee-utiful ! Smile
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Brett Day


From:
Pickens, SC
Post  Posted 11 Nov 2014 5:01 pm    
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Diamond Rio's lead guitarist Jimmy Olander uses a B-Bender on his Fender Telecaster. A great example of the sound would be on Diamond Rio's song "Mama Don't Forget To Pray For Me" before the chorus after the second verse. It sounds like a steel lick that usually ends a song.
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Steve Hinson

 

From:
Hendersonville Tn USA
Post  Posted 11 Nov 2014 9:41 pm    
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Wayne Gray was the guitar player you saw with TC,Greg...a wonderful guitar player and a very nice man.
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Jerry Hayes


From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
Post  Posted 13 Nov 2014 7:21 am    
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Brett, Jimmy O's guitar is more like an Esquire as it only has a bridge pickup. Also he uses a Glaser B and G bender and uses them very tasty... Listen to "Meet in the Middle" for a good example of his work....JH in Va.
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Jerry Hayes


From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
Post  Posted 13 Nov 2014 7:32 am    
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If you ever want to get into "acoustic" guitar bending there are several options you can go with.. Richard Bowden (Pinkard & Bowden fame) makes some nice devices. I have the one for the Ovation guitar which you simply take the strings off, set it behind the bridge and put the strings back through and it's ready to go except you have to have a new B string. He also makes one for a "pinned" bridge acoustic that has a screw which goes down into the B string pin hole and attaches with a wing nut, you can intall one in 5 minutes.. Here's a shot of my Ovation bender from Bowden...



Or you can use a Bigsby Palm Pedal (if you can find one..... See photo...JH in Va.


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Brett Day


From:
Pickens, SC
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2014 8:28 pm    
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Jerry Hayes wrote:
Brett, Jimmy O's guitar is more like an Esquire as it only has a bridge pickup. Also he uses a Glaser B and G bender and uses them very tasty... Listen to "Meet in the Middle" for a good example of his work....JH in Va.


"Meet In The Middle" featured great guitar work by Jimmy-one of my favorite songs! If I played guitar, I'd have a bender on it
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James Taylor

 

From:
United Kingdom
Post  Posted 15 Nov 2014 10:35 am    
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Well, well some amazing stuff in this little debate and it has certainly opened my eyes. I never knew of any of this . JAMES TAYLOR
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Bobby D. Jones

 

From:
West Virginia, USA
Post  Posted 15 Nov 2014 10:28 pm     B String Benders
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It seems a lot of it goes to the hands the guitar is in. When I played with a band we had a gig one night and the house band asked me to set in with them after our show. The guy who ran the show has 2 sons who were great guitar players in their own right. He came on stage and started singing George Jones' He Stopped Loving Her Today. The son playing lead guitar had a Fender with a B bender and a volume pedal. It was confusing trying to figure out if sound was me on my MSA or the guitar player and his Fender. I would not want to play in a band with a Guitar with a Bender.
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Robert Bergland


From:
Austin, TX
Post  Posted 25 Sep 2023 3:01 pm     Official B bender hardware
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So, I want to install a Parson/green on a Tele myself, but the only kits I’m finding are the hipshot ones. I would really like the chrome one that says parsons/green. Does anyone know where I can procure one? The lucite cover ones are super cool too, but I feel like those are demo models?
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Tony Prior


From:
Charlotte NC
Post  Posted 27 Sep 2023 1:54 am    
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This thread is 9 years old, so keep all the comments in perspective.

Regarding the Parsons Green vs the Hipshot PG, it appears that only Hipshot was licensed to offer the PG kit. There is a slight difference, the PG has a Chrome string tower while the HIPSHOT has a Brass string tower. When I had the Fender PG guitar many years back, I acquired the brass tower from Hipshot and installed it in the Fender PG system. You may find a Fender PG system on EBAY or REVERB, or maybe contact Gene Parsons directly.


These days I only play a B Bender, one is the custom installed Forrest Lee jr system in a very fine 08 Fender Tele, and the other other is the Glaser system which is in the Fender Brent Mason Tele.

Many years back I did settle on the B Pull over the G Pull, it just seemed to fit my style of playing. That 08 Tele with the FL jr system it pretty much my go-to guitar for every gig. I have gone into the G pull world a few times, its extremely effective, but I kept reverting back to the B Pull, which is where I reside.

There's is an original tune on my website titled "B Simple" its in one of the music players. Its played on the 08 with the FL Jr system


Have fun !
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Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years

CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website
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Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 20 Sep 2024 9:17 am    
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I have long since concluded that they got it right first time in the 1960s, just pulling the B.

It emphatically does not replicate steel, but does allow movement within an otherwise static chord.

Then, of course, one can ape the signature PSG licks and the bender can sound like your A pedal. My preference is for altering chords with it.

I have played benders since the late-'70s. My Glaser-equipped '08 Thinskin, along with my Super 400, would be carried first to safety if we had a fire. Smile
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, Quilter TT-12 & TT-15, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Barry Yasika


From:
Bethlehem, Pa.
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2024 4:43 am     B String Bender?
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I was fortunate enough to see Roy Buchanan back in the seventies when his somewhat diminished notoriety was at it's peak. I was pretty much a guitar pup who loved blues and country type things. I watched Roy play a chord and then bend whatever given string he chose to bend into a kind of steel guitar colored sound. A lot of his solo's he did, in mixed major and pentatonic scales and his style really did give a lot of steel referral type roots. A good example would be his instrumental rendition of "Sweet Dreams".

I also "films" of Danny Gatton the same type thing, though sadly I never got to see him play. But, I guess once I heard those two guys doing what they were doing and doing it so well, I saw little need for a B string bender. Truth be told, I always wanted one regardless.

Then Albert Lee came along and kind of redefined the world of the Telecasters sound. After hearing him play, I could see no reason at all for a B bender.

I suppose there could always be someone out there (even now) who does for the B bender what Hendrix did for the Whammy bar. So when I look at it from that respect, I think there's still untapped potential in the B bender. Then again.........I kinda feel the same way about most any instrumental tool.
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Dave Mudgett


From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2024 10:02 am    
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Quote:
... But, I guess once I heard those two guys doing what they were doing and doing it so well, I saw little need for a B string bender. ...

I am all in on Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton. Saw Roy quite a number of times, and Danny a couple. Each of them totally mind-bending at the time (no pun intended), and I agree that they didn't need a bender. But I always thought it would have been interesting to hear what a bender would have added to their lexicon.

Quote:
Then Albert Lee came along and kind of redefined the world of the Telecasters sound. After hearing him play, I could see no reason at all for a B bender.

Not exactly sure what you mean here, but if you're implying Albert didn't use a bender, that's not true. Albert used a B-bender plenty. If you have any doubt, look at this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1Rx-zaBjow - which for me is one of the ultimate showcases for great bender playing. I don't think of this type of bender playing as emulating pedal steel at all. It is its own thing, and IMO the way the really good bender players handle it makes it seamless and not obviously mechanical. And all Telecaster.

Being a Roy/Danny-phile, I came to benders late - got a American Std Tele with the Parsons-Green system in the mid-90s. I've had several benders since, and I keep coming back to an MJT parts Tele with the Forrest Lee system installed, that I got on the forum about 10 years ago. Had to diddle to get the longest throw possible, but the return tension was still so tight that it hurt my shoulder to pull on it. I expect part of this is because I prefer pretty heavy strings (12, 16, 20p, 30w, 40, 54 hi-lo.) Ultimately, I decreased the spring tension by moving the far end of the spring closer to the puller. It's great now.

I'm with Roger on this - I'm not into emulating pedal steel on a bender. When I show up with just the bender and no pedal steel (not everyone wants deal with a pedal steel in the band), they sort of expect that I'm gonna do just that. Nyet - you want pedal steel, you gotta make room for a pedal steel.
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Barry Yasika


From:
Bethlehem, Pa.
Post  Posted 21 Sep 2024 10:47 pm     B Benders ?
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Dave, I stand corrected on Albert Lee's use of the B Bender. I saw one of his show's in Sellersville Pa. playing the Ernie Ball. I thought I remembered seeing a whammy bar on that guitar but never occurred to me that he may have have a B bender as well (does he?). His use of it is certainly seamless, at least to my auditory perception and there never seems to be any intention on his part to mimic a steel guitar. Either way I guess we live and learn and I appreciate the information.

Now I really want one Smile but my age has caught up to me, making this a exercise of futility at this point. I forgot to mention, I actually tried using a Bigsby Palm Pedal but found it clumsy and a kind of an interference on the guitar's intonation. For me, (not everyone) it seemed more trouble than it was worth. Interesting post to read through!!
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Lee Rider


From:
Fort Bragg, California, USA
Post  Posted 22 Sep 2024 10:01 pm    
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There are some folks that can emulate a B bender with fingers, but folks like me don't have that kind of dexterity. The bender, for me, helps tremendously.

Here is a good video of Marty and Gene on benders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr6dQlv-CYo
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