B Bender trouble

Hi, I'm new to this forum and the B bender. The pitch adjuster on my P/G bender appears to be stuck. I had it set at a whole step-it was working fine yesterday. Today I picked it up and it was stuck at almost a Maj. 3rd and won't move. I only brought it to a rehearsal and back. Any ideas? I really love this thing but it's starting to stress me out! Also it's pretty noisy on the release but I've read about the cork thing, I'm building up the courage to open this thing up. Thanks!

I'd like to hear an answer to this too. BY "pitch adjuster" I assume that you mean the wheel on the back of the guitar, right? Mine doesn't have any settings, only + and - and I'm not really sure how to set it. Even so, this is really just a tension adjustment, no? Getting stuck on a maj 3rd only means that it's more difficult to do lesser bends.

Also I'm not sure what you mean by the "cork thing"--but I'm relatively new here too so perhaps someone can enlighten me in the process of answering your question.

The wheel adjusts the stop point. There is no tension adjustment, the only tension mod it to cut the spring shorter.

I had a constant creaking sound on mine where the string dragged on the saddle. White lithium grease was my choice to lube it a few times, but thats temporary. Eleven years ago, Graph Tech saddles fixed it for good.

Its been yearssince I was inside mine. About eight years ago, the stop fell apart. In the middle of a gig It went from whole step to to end, so whenever I did use the bender, I had to stop it by ear. Angriest gig i have ever played, lol. They are easy to work on, and it bolted right bach together, I think I had to remove the linkage to perform that repair. nothing on mine ever broke, I would suggest taking it apart and lubing the demons out of it.

Benders are great, like a bag of migranes.

Yes I have the wheel, just + and -. The wheel moves but won't change pitch. Maybe it's become disconnected somehow.

I read here that there is a cork pad that helps to quiet the stop points. When I release the bender there is a bit of a "clang" noise, I think my cork pad is worn or gone. Thanks so much for the replies and suggestions. I'm playing all weekend but when I get home I'm gonna open her up and take a look!

The wheel adjusts the stop point. There is no tension adjustment, the only tension mod it to cut the spring shorter.

Interesting. So if I wanted to I could set the bend to, say, one whole tone? I wouldn't normally try to go beyond that anyway, and the half-tone bend could still be hit. I'd never have to worry about overbending again! :grin:

Is this correct? I hope so, as I've been having trouble with overbending.

Yes I have the wheel, just + and -. The wheel moves but won't change pitch. Maybe it's become disconnected somehow. ...

Possibly loose set screw in the wheel.

I use a tuner to set the wheel to a whole tone bend

Sometimes that mechanism below the bridge can get hung up. Take off the string and use an ice pick or something to move the large piece of metal around. If that does not work, remove the whole P/G and have a look inside. DO NOT REMOVE THE INSIDE SCREWS!!! Only remove the small outer screw that bot the thing onto the guitar.

I did not know you got a B Bender, Muudcat, congratulations.

Interesting. So if I wanted to I could set the bend to, say, one whole tone? I wouldn't normally try to go beyond that anyway, and the half-tone bend could still be hit. I'd never have to worry about overbending again! :grin: Is this correct? I hope so, as I've been having trouble with overbending.








correct. Set the wheel to make a whole tone bend . Then you will have effortless pedal steel licks that sound dead on without having to stop by ear. You can even pay attention to bending say....the g string then in the opposite direction a whole tone for really cool licks.

So...thanks to y'all in this forum and the close-up pics on stringbender.com I have successfully replaced the cork pads for the stop, took out a couple coils of the spring to tighten the tension a bit and replaced the the allen screw for the stop that had fallen apart, just like Chet had said. I did indeed have to take pretty much the whole thing apart but I'm a better person for it! They look intimidating at first but really aren't that bad once you get in there. I definatley studied it for a good 15 min. before undoing anything. Thanks again everyone!

How do you like the improved tension? I did that spring shortening to both of my parsons greene's. No more accidental bends, and it feels more stable to me when bending, not like an effortless toy.