Installation and costs of b-bender

I have some questions about that little cool thing :
-Installation of b-bender is always linked with wood-crafting?
-Is it a worthy venture in highway one tele?
-How much would luthier take for it's installation(the version with drilling)?

Thank you very much in advance. :smile:

You can install a Hipshot B Bender by yourself. No woodworking required.
BTW welcome to TDPRI

Yes, Welcome to the TDPRI! For me it IS worth it, but I have more than one guitar. If you know the bender is what you want, I'd say go for it! However, I couldn't tell you where to get it done in Poland, or how much it would cost to ship. Here you can have a Parsons/White-style installed for as little as $600 US currency. Tell us more about your ideas/plans.

installing a bender in, it sure is! Here are a couple of shots of my #2 bender guitar which started life as a Highway One Tele. I bought a HipShot Parsons/Green bender unit and shipped the body to California for installation by the notorious Brian Friend. Brian did a super job and this guitar is a jewel in the bender world IMHO. I have a much older Tele with a P/W bender that's my #1 but this one could be very easily. It has a Warmouth Neck, Joe Barden bridge plate, S/D pickups, and some other things. I keep it tuned to D G C F A D (low to high) for some lower range things so it's actually an "A" bender...........JH in Va.

Perhaps you should have a chat with Paul .. aka TELESAVANT .

I think he could possibly offer you a cheap , but professional alternative .

Does TELESAVANT install b-benders? What kind of cheaper but professional alternative could he do? I haven't been hanging around the b-bender section long, but I want to get into one soon.

"You can install a Hipshot B Bender by yourself. No woodworking required.
BTW welcome to TDPRI"

How do you figure that? Besides routing the body there's the precision-drilled hole for the pull hub.


That's not what I'd call "no woodworking!" Go to the Stringbender site and D/L the installation info....it's not a simple bolt-on unit. Maybe you're thinking of the "Hipshot bender" like the one Will Ray uses...a totally different animal. That sort of creates confusion when the question was about the shoulder-strap types ("-How much would luthier take for it's installation(the version with drilling)?".

I have still to play a Hipshot-version of the PG, but I sure hope the modifications got rid of the wierd "hitch" in the pull. I've played a bunch of PG's and every single on had a very non-linear pull. It would start out smooth, sort of stiffen, and then WHAM you're at the note. Not smooth at all compared to the PW.

The "no routing" Hipshot is sort of a fun intro to bending, but it feels like a toy IMO cmpared to a PW...or even a Glaser or PG. Will Ray is a genius on one, but even he mods them to increase stability.
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"You can install a Hipshot B Bender by yourself. No woodworking required.
BTW welcome to TDPRI"

How do you figure that? Besides routing the body there's the precision-drilled hole for the pull hub.


That's not what I'd call "no woodworking!" Go to the Stringbender site and D/L the installation info....it's not a simple bolt-on unit. Maybe you're thinking of the "Hipshot bender" like the one Will Ray uses...a totally different animal. That sort of creates confusion when the discussion has been about the hipshot-produced version of the PG bender.

I have still to play a Hipshot-version of the PG, but I sure hope the modifications got rid of the wierd "hitch" in the pull. I've played a bunch of PG's and every single on had a very non-linear pull. It would start out smooth, sort of stiffen, and then WHAM you're at the note. Not smooth at all compared to the PW.
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Hey, Silverface, usually your posts are pretty lucid, but...

Check the post you quoted which clearly stated "Hipshot". I suppose you just missed your morning coffee?:mrgreen: :shock: :wink:

"You can install a Hipshot B Bender by yourself. No woodworking required.
BTW welcome to TDPRI"

How do you figure that? Besides routing the body there's the precision-drilled hole for the pull hub.


That's not what I'd call "no woodworking!" Go to the Stringbender site and D/L the installation info....it's not a simple bolt-on unit. Maybe you're thinking of the "Hipshot bender" like the one Will Ray uses...a totally different animal. That sort of creates confusion when the question was about the shoulder-strap types ("-How much would luthier take for it's installation(the version with drilling)?".

I have still to play a Hipshot-version of the PG, but I sure hope the modifications got rid of the wierd "hitch" in the pull. I've played a bunch of PG's and every single on had a very non-linear pull. It would start out smooth, sort of stiffen, and then WHAM you're at the note. Not smooth at all compared to the PW.

The "no routing" Hipshot is sort of a fun intro to bending, but it feels like a toy IMO cmpared to a PW...or even a Glaser or PG. Will Ray is a genius on one, but even he mods them to increase stability.
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Silverface is thinking of the Hipshot Parsons Green Bender...

BTW Jim...despite the fact that the Hipshot Parsons Green Benders are completely manufactured by Hipshot from the ground up....essentially they function the SAME as the Fender Parsons Green B Bender. The main exception being that a lighter weight Aluminum backplate version is available.

"Check the post you quoted which clearly stated "Hipshot". I suppose you just missed your morning coffee?"

I had plenty of coffee and was quite lucid, thank you.

The ORIGINAL question was directed towards the type "with drilling". "Use a Hipshot" doesn't answer HIS question - it's just an off-topic post hawking Hipshot hip/palm bolt-on benders. That was my point, and that's where these things get confused - there are screw-on or clamp-down units, and there are ones that take some woodworking/drilling. Hipshot happens to make both, so the response was an attempt to just send him another direction. Why not just answer HIS question instead of the question you wished he'd asked?

When the question is about a specific type, bringing up the other kind doesn't help (unless you sell them), since the OP was reasonably clear in his question.

It's called "on topic".

Brian - that's kind of what I assumed. It didn't appear the the upgrades would change the physics of the thing, and even though it's actually closer in design to Clarence's original guitar and Mur's duplicate, the PG/Fender Bender/Hipshot-Parsons likely still has that odd pull.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't installation require drilling a pull-finger hole that's at a slight angle to the body (essentially "leaning back" toward the lower strap button)?

What would really be an improvement is a do-it-yourself install that required simply routing and the one finger hole drilled at an easy 90 degrees to the body. It sure would make it accessible to more players who can probably handle a router fine (one of my few woodworking skills!) but shudder at the thought of precision-drilled holes through the top.

Guess t doesn't matter all that much if the "hitch" or hump still exists in the pull.

The ORIGINAL question was directed towards the type "with drilling".

Actually, the OP asked 3 questions, one of which is whether "Installation of b-bender is always linked with wood-crafting?" This seems to open the door for discussions of any of the Hipshot models and make the "use a Hipshot" response just as "on topic" as any other.

Just sayin'.

Guess it doesn't matter all that much if the "hitch" or hump still exists in the pull.

The 'hitch' CAN still exist and I think I know what you mean. My guess is that most if not all the PG units you have played have been off the rack and not fine tuned? However The PW IS much superior to the PG...no doubt. Most of why it is superior is that the mechanism is more solid, more precise and less linkages that need fine tuning...there's less slop or backlash in the mechansim. The hitch is a very subtle thing. I believe I have dicovered was causes it and how to fix it. What happens is that the rod that connects from the strap lever to the puller is screwed into the strap lever clevis. How many turns it is screwed in is sort of arbitary but at the 'end of the day' (I hate that phrase LOL) it affects the effective length of that rod. If the rod is not screwed far enough into the clevis, then what happens is that the bender puller tower comes to rest before the strap lever is fully realeased...since the rod is too long. It only has to be SLIGHTLY long for this to occur... This is when you feel that hitch and it is totally annoying. If you shorten the rod by screwing it in further it elliminates this. Another way to fix it would be to change the rest stop point on the strap lever but this is not easy to do... In summary this unit could stand a real redesign but it still works and can be made to work well with a fair about of hand tweaking.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't installation require drilling a pull-finger hole that's at a slight angle to the body (essentially "leaning back" toward the lower strap button)?

Silverface, it's a straight hole 90 degrees to the body for a P/G, but the installation is not for the faint of heart. The placement of that hole is critical not only for the alignment of the string, but for the alignment of the unit on the body. Mess that up and it's a hard fix.

The install instructions from Hipshot show a Fender unit, but the units interchange. Sometimes it's better to let a pro do it.

http://www.hipshotproducts.com/faq_pdfs/faq44103e035091f.pdf

Brian is dead on (as usual) when he discusses the "hitch" and how to fix it. Since he is Hipshot's authorized installer, I don't think there is much that he doesn't know about P/Gs. Neither of my P/Gs have it, but one Fender I recently played off the rack did. Like everything else, it's all in knowing how to set it up.

Um...regarding "Hipshot"....could it be possible that the OP could've been referring to the "original "Hipshot" "B" bender in regards to 'not a lot of woodworking required"???


Just a thought, y'all.....

Well I see that I triggered a quite nice discussion:). Thanks a lot for infos about different b-benders, as I see from posts any b-bender require at least slight woodcrafting. That might be a problem for me since I have no idea and place to 'make some holes' in my future guitar. Well, maybe I'll take some time and think/read about the whole thing. I probably will have a chance to try at least on b-bender in London where I'll stay through June.
Anyway I have some other questions:
-Will installing a b-bender cause a sound deterioration of the instrument?(I've heard some such opinions.)
-Will it cause some serious problems with keeping in tune the B string?
-Someone mentioned that one guy is a Hipshot's authorized installer. Maybe somebody have a list of such people?
Once again thanks for replies and devoting your time on my problem. Thanks!

-Will installing a b-bender cause a sound deterioration of the instrument?(I've heard some such opinions.)


No, one install made the guitar sound better.

-Will it cause some serious problems with keeping in tune the B string?


No

By now Myse1f has taken up playing piano!

Well I see that I triggered a quite nice discussion:). Thanks a lot for infos about different b-benders, as I see from posts any b-bender require at least slight woodcrafting. That might be a problem for me since I have no idea and place to 'make some holes' in my future guitar. Well, maybe I'll take some time and think/read about the whole thing. I probably will have a chance to try at least on b-bender in London where I'll stay through June.
Anyway I have some other questions:
-Will installing a b-bender cause a sound deterioration of the instrument?(I've heard some such opinions.)
-Will it cause some serious problems with keeping in tune the B string?
-Someone mentioned that one guy is a Hipshot's authorized installer. Maybe somebody have a list of such people?
Once again thanks for replies and devoting your time on my problem. Thanks!.....No Woodworking needed, no holes, no routing, 10 minute install, single, double, or triple, short, or long throw, on my tailpiece, or added to any existing Hipshot tailpiece, and used in conjunction with those existing pulls...................Thanks for the plug Flat!!

whoops