HipShot G lever....."Cut it off"

I was wondering if anyone else here that has a HipShot bender with the G lever had cut it off. I remember someone here mentioning that they'd done it but I can't remember who. I've had a G lever since they first came out in the eighties and I've always just cut 'em off to a length that wouldn't interfere with palm muting and tightened it down while it was sticking straight forward. This way, to activate it, all you have to do is slide your hand to the rear a little bit and it's there. I don't like the idea of moving a longer lever out of your way to use it.... For the same reason, on my Bigsby Palm Pedal guitar(s) I always cut the G lever off at least a half an inch and it works fine too. Here's my latest aquisiton (Telecaster) that I added a hipshot to. I had two Strats with HipShots so I took one off and put it on this Tele which I'd tuned down a whole step so it's now actually an A bender and an F lever..... Here's a couple of shots of it.....JH in Va.

Probably me, Jerry. That's how long I've been using the Hipshot, too, since they first came out. I figured out real quick cutting that lever down and tightening it so it ran the same direction as the neck is the ONLY way I could use one and still do my palm muting for the Atkins/Travis type type stuff I love.

I 've done that on all my Hipshot equipped guitars. Same with the Bigsby P.P.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd52/dedrinkel/mytelecasters008.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd52/dedrinkel/mytelecasters007.jpg

Never had a problem with the lever myself. In fact, on my main b-bender guitar I have removed the hip lever altogether and moved the g palm pedal to the b position. I never use palm muting and b-bending in the same solo so have never had an issue swinging it in and out of position as required.

I don't use the benders either when I'm doing "Atkins/Travis" style stuff, but I certainly do use palm muting/damping when i do chicken pickin' stuff and I don't wanna hassle with moving the G lever out of the way. Just a difference in preference is all.

and it's very easy when it's cut off as you can mute and catch the lever at the same time very easily. I like using the B bender part better with T/A pickin' though... B/F, you'll probably agree with this thought that when the lever's cut off and straight out you can activate it and still use your same right hand position and picking style with your thumbpick, flatpick and fingers. When the thing's off in one direction or the other it just doesn't feel right.........JH in Va.

and it's very easy when it's cut off as you can mute and catch the lever at the same time very easily. I like using the B bender part better with T/A pickin' though... B/F, you'll probably agree with this thought that when the lever's cut off and straight out you can activate it and still use your same right hand position and picking style with your thumbpick, flatpick and fingers. When the thing's off in one direction or the other it just doesn't feel right.........JH in Va.

When I got my very first Hipshot, I figgered out in just a few days that "searching" for and trying to play "around" the G lever after I "found" it was a huge PITA. When it is "cut off" and tighened down the way we're talking about (for me anyway), I don't have to do any more than press down with my wrist to activate the G palm pedal and my right hand with the thumb pick never moves from it's normal position. It's almost more of a reflex motion now than something I have to plan in advance for in the midst of a song.

After more thinking about all of it, I realized there are a few Atkins tunes that I'll throw in a few bender licks, Copper Kettle, Bells of St. Mary's(harmonic licks to get the Bud Issacs sound from the original recording), Maiden's Prayer, Yellow Bird, Big Daddy's Alabamy Bound, etc. But the vast majority of my feeble attempts at Chet's song I don't use the benders.

Not to hijack the thread, but I just got a G lever and haven't installed it yet and have never used a G lever or G bender. Why does the G lever have two thumb screws for adjustment on both sides of the fulcrum while the B and drop levers come to a positive stop in their rest position and only have a tuning screw for the movable position?

you use to adjust the height of the lever in front. The one on the lever side is the one which adjusts the "travel" to fine tune the bend.........JH in Va

Another thing to look for..... Look at your HipShot, if there's a screw coming through the bottom if the unit into the cross rod that your lever(s) are mounted on you're OK, if not you'll have to compensate. I learned years ago on my first HipShot which I'd got with only the B-Bender and D flip lever. I ordered a G bender lever and installed it and found out immediately that when I used the B bender that the G string would go flat as the crossbar would flex. If there's no stableizing screw in it you'll have to devise a way to keep the cross bar from going down toward the face of the guitar when you use the B-Bender. What I did was cut a piece of aluminum block (or you could use a hard wood) and make a piece to slip snugly under the crossrod so that when you use the B-bender the crossrod will stay even and won't flex................JH in Va.

Great idea!
I do a fair bit of G bending, sans bender.
I'd always just remove the G raise off my Hipshots.
Clever solution!

you use to adjust the height of the lever in front. The one on the lever side is the one which adjusts the "travel" to fine tune the bend.........JH in Va

Another thing to look for..... Look at your HipShot, if there's a screw coming through the bottom if the unit into the cross rod that your lever(s) are mounted on you're OK, if not you'll have to compensate. I learned years ago on my first HipShot which I'd got with only the B-Bender and D flip lever. I ordered a G bender lever and installed it and found out immediately that when I used the B bender that the G string would go flat as the crossbar would flex. If there's no stableizing screw in it you'll have to devise a way to keep the cross bar from going down toward the face of the guitar when you use the B-Bender. What I did was cut a piece of aluminum block (or you could use a hard wood) and make a piece to slip snugly under the crossrod so that when you use the B-bender the crossrod will stay even and won't flex................JH in Va.

Thanks for that info. Doesn't a screw or block underneath and supporting the crossbar interfere with the G lever? I'll check mine out tonight.