Whats a "B-Bender"?

forgive my youthful ignorance .... what the heck is it?

forgive my youthful ignorance .... what the heck is it?

It's a device that raises the pitch of your B-string up a whole step in order to simulate pedal steel licks. Most are activated by pushing down on your strap but others like the Hipshot are inexpensive and activated by pushing the neck forward or for some people pushing the back of the guitar against your hip.

Check out this thread to see benders in action in popular songs:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/b-bender-forum/332712-definitive-b-bender-song-list.html

Here is one of the most thorough yet concise explainations of B-benders I have seen...

http://www.dariocortese.com/country-instruments/b-bender/

It includes photos, explainations of the various variants as well as a video demonstration.

That should help:

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Also, for more detailed info try the Clarence White Forum (and if you buy the Byrds' "Live at the Fillmore" and "Live at Royal Albert Hall" you'll hear great examples of B-bender playing by the late Clarence White, considered by many to be the master of all time...he invented the style and the contrast between those two CD's shows just how far he took it in a few short years (1968-71). By the time of his death in '73 (killed by a drunk driver) he'd turned the bender from a mechanical "effect" into an entirely new musical instrument.

http://www.clarencewhiteforum.com