B-bender costs?

Love the sound of the B and G benders, thinking about getting a B-bender, have no idea how much or what brand, or style to get. I have a mex. standard tele. any advice? also, feel like I'll be learning the guitar all over again. did it feel like that for anyone?

Get a Hipshot for around $150.00. Parsons/White, Mcvay, Glazer: around $500.00 for install. (not exact, but ballpark figure)
I bought a used mim 60's Classic with a B&W Bender installed for $800.00.

get yourself a forrest lee jr. bender installed in it. 650 of the best dollars ive spent on gear!!! very fast turn around too!!

Get a Timara

See if you can find a nashville b bender. I just picked one up in Pennsylvania it's a 1999 red in color for $700.00

Parsons/White, Mcvay, Glazer: around $500.00 for install. (not exact, but ballpark figure)

Not sure about McVay but PW (real ones) and Glaser installations actually run around $1000, and Evans (IMHO the king of the hill) around $1100.

For a first bender I would check with Forrest or Brian Friend (who does Bores installs). Both offer excellent pricing on a quality product. B&W I've also heard great things about. All 3 are serious benders in that some routing and/or drilling has to be done. You can get your feet wet with a Hipshot or Higgins peg bender; I prefer the Higgins as it's similar in operation to a shoulder-strap bender, just with a shorter throw.

In any case the "different instrument" feel depends on how you approach it. Some players get a bender to play quick on-off switch type bends, which to me seems more like the bender is an "effect" than an "instrument". Others approach it (usually those who are inspired by Clarence White, Bob Warford and other early-adopters) as a totally different instrument, where the bender is an integral part of the playing and an entirely different style applied.

It really depends on why you want it in the first place.

this is what you do when you can't afford string benders! LOL!!
EnWI9w-nKf4

As much as I love Jerry Donahue's playing, which is the apex of manual bending, there is only so much one can do without a mechanical device.


this is what you do when you can't afford string benders! LOL!!
EnWI9w-nKf4

very true, it's impossible to keep certain strings ringing because you're bending into them. I wasn't putting down string benders, just the opposite I wish I had one! love their sound

I'm telling you man, you can't go wrong with Forrest Lee Jr.
Fastest turn around time. A true pro.

i'm telling you man, you can't go wrong with forrest lee jr.
Fastest turn around time. A true pro.

+100000000000000000000000

If you're new to B-Benders, to me it makes sense to get the cheapest and easiest one to install. Why spend $1,000 to find out it's not your thing?

Just get a Hipshot or something just as cheap, and play around with it.
My 2¢
WR

Helle_man makes a good suggestion. The Hipshot is the easy and cheap way to see if you'll like a B-bender. Here's a video of some guy using a Hipshot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYm1CzPA5lQ
Hmm... this Helle-man reminds me of someone... :lol:

Pardon my ignorance, but why is it a B-bender? It seems like the G string would be a better candidate. When I see guys playing those pedal steel licks on regular guitars, they are always bending the Bejesus out of the G string.

Pardon my ignorance, but why is it a B-bender? It seems like the G string would be a better candidate. When I see guys playing those pedal steel licks on regular guitars, they ware always bending the Bejesus out of the G string.

Brad Paisley uses a G-bender. Both give interesting voicings so many have both a B and G bender installed in the same guitar. With the Hipshot bender you can make it bend either the B or the G string.

With the Hipshot bender you can make it bend either the B or the G string.

...by switching it from one string to another? Or, did you mean by having one string connected to a hipshot and the other to a routed strap-button bender at that same time?

...by switching it from one string to another? Or, did you mean by having one string connected to a hipshot and the other to a routed strap-button bender at that same time?

I believe you can set the hip lever to do either B or G. If you want both, you can set the hip lever to B and use a palm lever to bend the G string. Hope this makes sense. Here's a link to their product page. http://store.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=19

I believe you can set the hip lever to do either B or G. If you want both, you can set the hip lever to B and use a palm lever to bend the G string. Hope this makes sense. Here's a link to their product page. http://store.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=19

Thanks. The Hipshot seems more reasonable for a novice like me.

If I were only allowed one bender, it would be a G bender. You can play all the B bender stuff by just moving up one position. You can get many more interesting intervals with a G bender.

You can play all the B bender stuff by just moving up one position.

Respectfully, that's incorrect.

You can't play any of the licks that require two adjacent static strings - there's no place to go if you can't move either string next door; There are some "rakes" with bends that require a partial chord with the bend in the center; many fast runs that include successive bends are not possible; you can't play the open string/open other string harmonic, followed by tremolo behind the nut....

This has been discussed to death before, especially on the Clarence White Forum where tab's been posted that's unplayable without a mechanical b bender. The same would be true of certain things played with a G bender.

In the past most of the claims have come from Nashville-style speed pickers who use benders; there seems to be a distinct stylistic difference between west coast-influenced players who cut their teeth listening to Clarence White, Bob Warford, Al Perkins and Bernie Leadon and those in the Glaser-type camp (Jimmy Olander, Brad Paisley etc). Neither style is "wrong" - just different.

But the idea that you can change a position and play B bender runs making a G bender "better" is just not true.

Bumped to make a correction - the Evans Pullstring is $950 installed. I dunno where I got the higher number from!

At $950 (and having played most styles) the Pullstring is s tremendous deal for anyone really serious about b-bender playing.