homemade b-bender

anybody out there make there own b-bender if so how did you do it

Not like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CLARENCE-WHITES-1968-FENDER-TELE-B-BENDER-PROTOTYPE-/130542109589?pt=Guitar&hash=item1e64ea8395

i guess nobody but me has made there own. if you want to see pics of the one i made
check out my other thread... help with b bender licks... i'll try the pics posted by tonight

Looked at a pic in a guitar book and with an epiphone 12string neck and a plank of wood kept fiddling with a bit of alluminium and snips till i got it right(ish) :oops:
then after using it for a year or two with a couple of tweaks i made a stainless steel version.
Still using it now , never had a single issue with it , retains its tuning and doesn`t squeak. (well apart from my playing ):roll:
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/bargoedboy/wholeBbender.jpg

that looks cool bargoedboy here's a pic of mine it's simple but works great and it cost me nothing. while building it i got ideas on how to make it better



95887

That looks amazing,is it difficult to do?

it wasn't that hard. what you will need are a drill and drill bits a vise a tap and die set a cut'off saw or a hack saw some j.b.weld a spring a telecaster dome knob some 7/8ths inch steel bar some 5/16ths steel bar a 3 inch bolt 2 nuts 2 washers a piece of aluminum flat bar 1/8th of an inch thick 1/2 an inch wide and 4 inch's long and some wood screws

first cut the 7/8th's inch steel bar into a half an inch circle. then cut the
5/16th's inch steel bar into two pieces one 4 and a 1/4 inch's long and the other one 3 and a 1/4 inch's long 97303 it should look like this. then drill a hole in the middle of the 7/8th's piece and 2 holes on the sides then use the tap and die set on the 5/16ths bar and the side holes on the 7/8ths piece then screw them together 97304 it should look like this

for the strap button i used somthing i found in my shop i dont know what it is but it works but you could use a regular strap button just drill a small hole down one of the 5/16th's bars and tap it for a screw then screw the button on maybe use a little j.b.weld on the screw

next take the 3 inch bolt and cut the head off then fill the tele knob with j.b.weld then stick the bolt in and let it dry once it is dry drill some holes in the knob for the string to go thru 97317

of course you will have to drill a hole thru the body once you do put the bolt in the body and screw on 1 nut and 1 washer then put the piece of aluminum flat bar and the other washer and nut. then tighten the nuts against each other to hold the aluminum bar in place






for the original i used a piece of cattle panel and bent it. but useing the bolt and the aluminum bar should work better and it will look better

i hope that helps everyone all you have to do now is drill some more holes in the 5/16ths bar and the aluminum bar for the spring and for the puller, i just used guitar string for the puller it seem's to work fine

if anybody has any questions just ask i'll try to help97320

97321

97322

97323



thanks:grin:

Way to go Telemaster! You got the job done and I'm sure you're bending with the best of 'em! Are you considering putting a back over that (to keep your sesitive body parts out of the moving parts!)?

Way to go Telemaster! You got the job done and I'm sure you're bending with the best of 'em! Are you considering putting a back over that (to keep your sesitive body parts out of the moving parts!)?

yeah i thought about getting a couple of sheets of pickguard material and make one out of that.

and thanks:grin:

That shows some great ingenuity! All kinds of variations are swirling around in my head based on that design.

Kinda makes me want to go pick up a $99 Squire-ish Tele or Strat and see how cheap a b-bender guitar I can make just for fun!

That shows some great ingenuity! All kinds of variations are swirling around in my head based on that design.

Kinda makes me want to go pick up a $99 Squire-ish Tele or Strat and see how cheap a b-bender guitar I can make just for fun!

thanks. so far i've had no problems with it. i'll probably make a few more to have around. b-benders are fun to play :grin:

and if you make one post some pics i'd love to see it

that looks cool bargoedboy here's a pic of mine it's simple but works great and it cost me nothing. while building it i got ideas on how to make it better



95887

Nice job! simple and functional :cool:

I don't see any stop for the upward movement of the lever with the strap button. How exactly do you "tune" the bender or did I miss something?.........Thanks.....JH in Va.

I don't see any stop for the upward movement of the lever with the strap button. How exactly do you "tune" the bender or did I miss something?.........Thanks.....JH in Va.

i haven't needed a stopper. the spring i used is a 20 or 24 pound screen door spring. and because of the heavy pull needed its easy for me to bend to the note i want by ear. now i say easy for me because i'm 6 ft 7 and weigh 275 pounds so the telecaster in general feels like a toy. so for the average person
i would say use a lighter spring, bend to the note you want, and put a screw where the bender stopped.



any more questions just ask

to get a small metal block or angle and put a couple of holes in one side to screw it into the guitar and then have another screw hole going sideways for the puller to stop on.

Being 6'7" doesn't make any difference in the activation of a bender, you need a "tunable stop".... I'm 6'4" and weigh 279 and I need one. Some strings will require more pull than others to come to a pitch and as strings get more use sometimes they'll become more elastic and require a little "tweaking"............JMHO........JH in Va.

okay makes sense. i've never had a bender before so i didin't know. and you're right a piece
of angle iron would work. might have to weld a nut to it for the adjustment screw or maybe just solder it on

Hey man, that is a nice looking bender. :razz:

I put one together a while back out of some odds and ends from the hardware store mostly (I did purchase the string hub from Bill Bores though). Here's some pics. I figure it will help the OP to see as much as he can. And try searching the B bender forum for DIY bender or homemade bender. There are a few on here.

I've since taken the yellow bumper off the tuner screw.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j138/twanglover_2006/B-bender/023.jpg?t=1280782381

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j138/twanglover_2006/B-bender/022.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j138/twanglover_2006/B-Bender%20innards/001.jpgsome of the parts. T-nut, cut off bolts, steel spacer, PVC pipe and some other things I can't even recall the names of.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j138/twanglover_2006/003.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j138/twanglover_2006/B-Bender%20innards/002.jpg
This flat piece is aluminum road sign (No Dumping I believe it was :cool:). The brassy looking rod was from a toilet float kit and the spring from an automotive value pack.

I basically copied the typical PW bender but used what I could find parts wise and made them work. It's not all that hard to do with a little planning. Good luck and feel free to ask me about the details if you like.

thanks greg i really like yours.

thanks greg i really like yours.

Thanks man. It's not much to look at but it works incredibly well. Should probably have anything but a clear cover on it :oops:.

The best part: besides the $25 (IIRC) string hub from Bill Bores, I probably have all of $15 in parts there. My only problem is that I have brass saddles on this guitar and the string is starting to dig in. I need to find a better B saddle.

Thanks man. It's not much to look at but it works incredibly well. Should probably have anything but a clear cover on it :oops:.

The best part: besides the $25 (IIRC) string hub from Bill Bores, I probably have all of $15 in parts there. My only problem is that I have brass saddles on this guitar and the string is starting to dig in. I need to find a better B saddle.

well yours looks a lot better than mine does but as long as they work thats the main thing:grin:

i'm starting to see that problem on my saddles too do you think steel a saddle would work any better

Don`t seem to have a problem with my saddles , they are Brass.
Whats the angle like on your B bender, mine is fairly shallow.

i can raise or lower the angle on mine but it sounds best when it's deep

well yours looks a lot better than mine does but as long as they work thats the main thing:grin:

i'm starting to see that problem on my saddles too do you think steel a saddle would work any better

The deeper the angle, the faster it will cut into the saddles.
Use a carpenters pencil, slide the string over a bit and graphite the hell out of the string groove.This will add a longer life to your saddle.

The deeper the angle, the faster it will cut into the saddles.
Use a carpenters pencil, slide the string over a bit and graphite the hell out of the string groove.This will add a longer life to your saddle.

thanks for the tip

cool bender