HipShot B-Bender Annoying Issue

Hi all, I'm a part time bender (.... not sure how that sounds)

I occasionally fix my hipshot b and g bender to my tele when I'm in the mood or when the projects I am working on require it. I love how easy to install the hipshot is. Although I have a number of electrics I only really play my Nocaster so it's great to be able to alter it to fit my needs of the time.

After a period of none-bendering I excitedly refixed the Hipshot but then realised why I take it off! The B string tensioner (I think that's the correct term) is not strong enough to create enough tension over the bridge so when I ben the B string, the string slips on the saddle.

I have tried bending the tensioner to create more pressure but this has not worked, I am considering installing a String Tree/Retainer and although I think this might work, It would mean drilling into the front of the guitar (not a huge issue). If the string tree would fit across both G and B strings I would be tempted, but it is not wide enough.

I don't have as much of an issue with the G string.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

i had the same issue with my P/G amer stand. B bender that i added a HipShot to, slid the B lever over for a G bend, and the G lever over for an A bender.
i resolved the issue by screwing in miniature eyebolts to run the strings thru. have used it this way since '96 with no issues at all. will try to get a pic up, but my PhotoBucket thingie has really been wonky lately.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd52/dedrinkel/mytelecasters033.jpg

not the greatest pic in the world, but if you look carefully you can see the little eyebolts between the HipShot tail and the bridge area. it didn't bother me to drill the holes; i consider my guitars to be tools, not "lookers".

any hardware/hobby shop should have the little eyebolts. good luck.

Get a top-loader bridge plate, and use the Teflon tubes. Just make sure you get one that matches the screw pattern in your current plate.

Thanks for the advice. I have installed a cheap roller string tree for the b string, the g string doesn't give me many issues. Unfortunately thats another hole in my tele, but it's ok. It's an instrument, not an ornament.

using string trees to hold the "bent" strings down is an idea i had not thought of.!! kewl, i will have to "file" that away for future reference.

and now i have another reason why i LOVE this place.

I'd rather drill a hole in the back of the bridge plate than in the top of my guitar.

I had all kinds of problems like that with my hipshot to. The strings were floppy and the attack sounded crappy. I ended up putting grooves in the saddle to keep the strings from falling off (kinda like the saddles on a Les Paul have) It kept the strings from not moving off the saddle but it still sounded whimpy so I got rid of it. The guitar was a telecaster with a modern 6 saddle bridge. I think the hipshot might work better on the ashtray style bridges. Now I bought a Timara and lifes been good and hands free. I also had the same idea about the tree but didn't get that far so I would try that. Hopefully it doesn't cause more resistance with tuning problems.

"The guitar was a telecaster with a modern 6 saddle bridge. I think the hipshot might work better on the ashtray style bridges."

No doubt about it in my mind. Three saddle bridges with holes and Teflon tubes for me! I never liked those spring thingies that hold the strings down. A compromise in design to allow use on more types of guitars, I would think.

"The guitar was a telecaster with a modern 6 saddle bridge. I think the hipshot might work better on the ashtray style bridges."

No doubt about it in my mind. Three saddle bridges with holes and Teflon tubes for me! I never liked those spring thingies that hold the strings down. A compromise in design to allow use on more types of guitars, I would think.

I'm putting a hipshot on my Tele this weekend ordered a "Wilkinson" 3-saddle brass, bridge (TOP AND BOTTOM loader- so I wouldn't have to drill). Any tips you can send my way to avoid playing issues or problems like listed above sounds like you may have a handle on things :wink:

Threaded saddles, raised up a bit. Shim the neck.

"The guitar was a telecaster with a modern 6 saddle bridge. I think the hipshot might work better on the ashtray style bridges."

No doubt about it in my mind. Three saddle bridges with holes and Teflon tubes for me! I never liked those spring thingies that hold the strings down. A compromise in design to allow use on more types of guitars, I would think.

+1, thats the only way I was ever happy with mine.

But if the bridge has already been slotted, rather than drilled, for the string, so you can't use a tube, you could try using a length of brass or steel bar drilled so that two intonation bolts can be passed through it, mounting it behind the bridge structure and passing the string under it on the way to its slot. This will mean taking the bolts out to fit it, but might be a good solution with some Nut Sauce or similar to help things along.

cosmiccowboy,
I hope you got everything set up to your satisfaction! One of the toploader bridges I used sometime ago needed the holes slightly reamed out to get the Teflon tubes in. But sometimes you can just squeeze the end of the tube, and push/pull (with needle-nose pliers) it through the hole. The Teflon tubing is available at any bike shop. It's just bicycle brake cable liner. I only use little short pieces of it, maybe 1/2" long.
I don't like to shim necks. I want that neck firmly seated along the whole length of the neck pocket. Tone and sustain issue for me.
When I got my first Hipshot in the Mid-Eighties, it had both G and B benders, and a toggle on the low E. I put the three strings not using benders through the body, and I noticed that those strings sounded better than the three going to the Hipshot, they sounded thinner and did not have as much sustain, and there was no settling the difference by changing the EQ on my amp. So I mounted all 6 strings using the toploader holes. Now the strings "equaled out" tone-wise, and I just EQd the amp a bit differently to get my sound. I believe the issue was different amounts of downforce on the saddles.
Then I got two more toggles to give me Bottleneck G tuning. And I though to myself, in a moment of sheer idiocy, "I can make this thing work even better!" So I built a bridge using 6 Schaller roller saddles, and installed a roller nut. The result? Complete loss of tone and sustain! Went cryin' to my luthier! He said, "JB, you don't need all that cr@p!" He re-installed the 3 saddle toploader bridge, and spent time making a new nut that was abdo-lutely perfect. The nut is so important to making any bender work right!
I put on new strings, tuning them up to pitch, then stretching them with an old Fender "string stretcher." Tune back up to pitch, then pop the strings one at a time, out of their nut groove, and run a #2 pencil back and forth to get graphite in the groove. Finish with a very tiny drop of Vaseline, applied with a toothpick. Pop the string back in, and move on to the next. Using this method, your lube doesn't end up somewhere between the back of the nut, and the ' tuning machine.
JB