B-Benders in general

[Roger Rettig]

I've only just discovered this new section on the Forum. I'm sure it's in good hands with Dave as moderator.

Not much to add, just my personal journey with the technique.

I first woke up to this amazing option with the Everly Brothers' 'I'm On My Way Back Home Again' (a late-'60s single). That was Clarence, of course. I wanted one immediately but had to wait.

An English luthier named Cedric Thorose offered to replicate the Parsons/White bender on my '82 JV-Series Tele and did a pretty good job. Sadly, because it was a great guitar to start with, it was stolen a few years later.

I tried a Bigsby palm-pedal but couldn't get accustomed to the hand position required. Hip-Shot? Felt unnatural, too.

Then I got Joe Glaser to adapt my G&L Asat Classic. It worked like a charm. I had another JV fitted with Joe's bender (that's in Germany now - Candy Apple Red) then, finally, my current favourite electric, a Custom Shop Thin-Skin '62 reissue got Joe's bender. I love the unobtrusive look of it all and it certainly works perfectly. Locating the ball-end can be a challenge but that's the only 'con'.

At some point, I spoke with Albert Lee about it. I'd played his 'butcher's block' Tele (with the Strat neck) with Dave Evans' Pull-string and had admired the smooth action of the mechanices. He said that he 'couldn't get on with' Joe's bender because it anchors at the neck-plate and not the traditional shoulder-strap fitting.

I was working and earning, so I splashed out on a used Thin-Skin in Butterscotch and had Dave fit his unit. Pretty expensive indulgence, all in all.

The verdict?
Joe's is mechanically superior and, because of the rolling bridge-piece (like a steel's changer), there's no wear on the string.
The Evans has that see-through back with all the 'works' on display and it's heavier than the Glaser. It retains the old brass saddles and the strings saw back-and-forth and cut a groove in the metal.
Having said that, Dave's unit wins on sustain! The pulled note sings out from the chord you're playing and has an inspiring tone.

Of the two I now own, the '62 thin-skin in Lake Placid Blue is my preferred guitar (I like rosewood fingerboards), but the Evans unit has the edge for its remarkable sustain. I haven't yet broken a string on it but it won't surprise me if I do.

Pic 1: Joe's bender on the red JV.
Pic 2: Me playing my first bender (Cedric's) with the Big E.
Pic 3: The Evans mechanism on display.
Pic 4: The Evans non-moving bridge
Pic 5: The G&L Asat Classic.
Pic 6: This shows Joe Glaser's moving bridge-piece.

[Jim Fogle]

Roger,

Nice post and great pictures. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

The Evans mechanism sure requires a lot of interior space.

[Tony Prior]

Thx Roger, nice post. here's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

I've owned a bunch since 1997 when Fender introduced the Tele with the Parsons Green system. I bought one new for $799.

since then I have owned probably 3or 4 more Fender Parson Green Tele's. I don't own one any longer

I've also had -

Hipshots- couldn't manage the Hip lever

Palm levers- they were always interfering with my right hand (picking hand)

Gibson Music City Jr - Les Paul Jr with a Factory Glaser , this was a nice guitar but way too different than the Tele's I play . The Glaser system was Upper BOUT actuated, smooth and flawless. The B or G pulled the bridge not the string across the saddle.

McEwen Sling Shot- mounts to the back of the guitar, actually a very good Bender system. Very well engineered. It does drag the string across the saddle.

What do I have now? just two.

Fender Brent Mason Tele with the Glaser system which pulls off the neck plate. This is certainly a premier system but pulling off the neck plate feels unbalanced, at least for a while.

Fender 08 tele with a Forrest Lee jr installed system. This system includes a custom FL jr saddle, yeh it pulls the string across the saddle. Its not any big deal or issue, going on 3 years now, never broke a string or lost tune. This is my primary working guitar. I do full maintenance to this guitar approx every month or so, clean the fret board, nut, polish the frets , saddles and change strings. I also use NUT Sauce on the NUT and saddles. I have the Bender Spring Tension set to max. This guitar is incredibly consistent. When I say zero issues I mean zero issues, tuning , Bender etc...

Which systems are best ? I can't say but I can say that I slightly prefer the UPPER Bout pull over the Neck Plate pull. But after a few songs with the Mason Tele ,( Neck Plate) its fine and comfortable. I found , for me, the Palm Levers require too much physical attention while playing, they work fine but to me they are a distraction. Neck or Upper Bout pull leaves your picking hand unincumbered. It may not seem so important right now, but it will down the road . The HIP lever was a NO GO right away for me.

here's my site, take a listen to B Simple , its on the 08 tele with Forrest Lee Jr system.

https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website


the two in the stable-

[Roger Rettig]

Nice, Tony!

I recall finding the neck-plate anchor odd at first but it was second-nature very quickly. When I got the Evans (shoulder-strap mount) I admit I had a brief moment of liking the way it conforms with a standard non-bender guitar.

Still, while it's close, I've used the Glaser for so many years that it remains my go-to. Perhaps my liking for that guitar (the LP Blue Thin-skin w. rosewood 'board) is what tips the balance.

Thanks for sharing.

[Roger Rettig]

When I took my G&L Asat Classic to Glaser they persuaded me to let them change the entire bridge for a new Gotoh one. I liked that guitar a lot and it was my #1 electric for several years until I bought the blue Thin-Skin in 2009.

As good as the G&L was, it wasn't a Tele. The neck pick-up was lovely and far more use than Fender's. It gave a warm jazzy tone with 'body' (the Fender neck-p/u always lacked something for me) but the G&L bridge-p/u didn't have the edge that a 'real' Telecaster has.

So, while I agreed to the Gotoh bridge on the G&L (John at Glaser's told me they liked to work with a six-saddle bridge as it was an easier conversion), when it came to the Lake Placid Blue Thin-Skin Tele, I insisted upon retaining the original bridge. I'm convinced that the cheap die-stamped metal plays a part in the Tele's sound.

You can see how, in the bottom photo, they had to make-do-and-mend in order to fit their unit.

One blessing that came with the G&L was its .6105 frets. I'd never had a guitar with fatter, higher frets before and I came to love the sustain with double-stop bends. The Thin-Skin already came with them so, in that regard, wasn't a true '1962 reissue' but suited me just fine.

Oddly, the butterscotch thin-skin (the one that I had Dave Evans fix up) was advertised as having .6105s but actually didn't. They were low-profile (I don't know what) so I got on to Dave's Guitar Shop in LaCrosse, WI from whom I'd bought it and they refretted it for me at no cost.

[D Schubert]

Just a quick observation. I have three benders: 80's Parsons-White, 90's Bill-Bores-Steelbender, early 2000's Forrest-Lee-prototype. I've swapped necks, changed electronics, replaced bridges and saddles. But back to the benders, each one is slightly different but after using a bender for many years they're more-or-less interchangeable in use.

[Craig A Davidson]

I've had Hip-Shots and the Fender with the Parsons but the Glaser I have now is the best.

[Michael Kiese]

Aloha,

My #1 guitar for years has been a Fender Parson's Green Tele. I bought it off of Craigslist in Nashville from Charlie Kelley, Nan Kelley's husband. Great people.

I put a Lollar Imperial pickup in it that's splittable so that I can go from humbucker to single coil. The bridge pup is a Seymour Duncan "Five Two". I don't remember the middle pup. But it might be a reverse wound Suhr vintage style pup.

It has a 5 way switch like a strat.

I really like it. I take that guitar whenever I walk into any situation where I don't know what's going to happen. It's a great swiss army knife. I've played tons of Jazz gigs on it, as well as rock, pop, country, blues, gigs. Now I primarily play it in my Hawaiian band. lol.

I also had a Forrest Lee Jr. Double bender with a B and G bender on it. Great guitar. Loved doing B and G bends at the same time. It felt like you were dancing with the instrument because you had to attach a string to your belt loop and push away from you to activate the G bender. Lots of fun going from IV to iv minor using the double benders. Nice sound.

I also have had a guitar with the Hipshot bender on it. Did a couple of gigs on that.

I also have tried the Joe Glaser Bender on a Brent Mason Tele. Obviously a great guitar.

They all work and get the sound you want.

I didn't particularly care for the Hipshot bender simply for having to install that metal arm every time you take the guitar out to play. I much prefer the strap pull form factor. Less setup required.

I've never tried palm levers on a Spanish Style Electric guitar. That just seems like a whole lotta nope to me. Palm levers do feel good on a Duesenberg style steel though.

That said, I was equally happy with the Parson's Green, Forrest Lee Jr, and the Joe Glaser benders. They all work and sound great!

I like the Parsons Green on my Fender Nashville Tele because it has a long throw, kinda like the Clarence guitar Marty Stuart has. The long throw allows you to milk the pull a bit easier. Some Benders have a very shallow throw, and the change happens very quick.

Forrest Lee Jr actually did a simple mod to my Parson's Green by lengthening the spring a bit, so it was a smoother throw. Previously the string was high tension, which made the pull actuate very quickly. Simple, yet effective.

Forrest can customize the throw on his B Benders. He said most guys like a short throw, but he can put in a long throw as well.

The throw of the Glaser Bender is customizable as well.

The nice thing about the Joe Glaser system is that it allows you to put a regular strap knob on the body so if you're playing a gig where B Bending is not appropriate, you won't accidentally get a "boi yoi yoing!" sound. That's happened to me on a few Jazz gigs. Luckily not too many people noticed. LOL. Btw, that can actually also happen if you're just walking on stage while wearing the guitar. It'll bounce and go "boing boing boing!"

The Joe Glaser system is the most "Ninja" of all the B Bender systems. You don't have to route out a ton of wood out of your body. The back of the guitar still retains it's original look, save that little arm that comes out of the neck plate.

All said and done, I'd recommend the pull strap style B Bender, and I recommend just buying a guitar that already has it installed. It's too much of a pain and a project to install it yourself. You can take a guitar you already own and send it to Forrest or Joe, and have them install it. But that's also an ordeal of shipping, time, and money. Either commission Forrest to build you a new guitar with a Bender in it, or just buy a Brent Mason Tele, or a used Parsons Green like my Fender Bender. Or any other used guitar with a pull strap bender for that matter. I've never met a "bad" B bender system. If you can find one at a decent value, scoop it up.

I've never broken a string on any type of Bender I've had. *Knock on wood*.

I love my Parsons Green Fender Bender, it's my #1 workhorse guitar. But I'm not opposed to buying a used Brent Mason Tele. That's a great guitar. You can get one for around $2,000 if you're lucky. I was thinking about just buying one and leaving it in Hawaii, so I'd have a gigable guitar ready to go when I go home. Makes sense to me.

Enjoy!