New Stainess Steel Evans Pull String!

I just received my '69 Thinline reissue body back from Dave Evans with a radical new version of the Pull String B-Bender. Due to some ongoing medical problems I needed to try to find a way to continue playing the Pull String without back or shoulder pain. My original prototype is heavy (9.5#), not because of the Pull String but because of the part-walnut butcher block body - as have been my Parsons-Whites. I figured with almost every Tele I service weighing in at 8+ pounds the only way I was going to get a significant weight reduction was with a Thinline.

But Dave took it a step further. I'm jumping ahead, but the total weight gain of the guitar was under 11 ounces.

Dave and I discussed what it would take to install a Pull String in the Thinline - some routing and some wood (maple for size/weight vs strength ratio) added to strengthen certain spots. But for weight control Dave had an idea for a stainless steel and Delrin redesign of the Pull String - still with fully adjustable spring tension and variable throw from 5/8" - 1 3/16". His engineering skills allowed him to work out mass reduction without compromising structural integrity.

The changes (which remind me of The Terminator) don't negatively impact the playing at all. In fact, the changes and reduction in mass foster a very precise, high-tech feel. There's no slop, no adjusting your playing to ensure a positive return, no changes at all except a very significant reduction in effort - meaning lower spring tension (it's a feather-light touch with no accidental bends when set right at the "balance point") - and lower spring tension means lower pressure on the neck and back.

This means when I pull it down it takes only a light thumb pressure, with almost no change in the pressure at the strap (and no strain on discs/joints). Yet when you release the pressure it pops right back up. I mean, this thing is REALLY precise with a super-light touch - but if you want to set it tighter there's 2/3 of the spring length left to work with!

So the total "specs": '69 Thinline reissue mahogany body; stock pickups/electronics/pickguard (for now...I always end up hot rodding the guts); Warmouth Broadcaster neck with compound radus and Kluson tuners (which I use almost exclusively for both quality and weight reduction); stock bridgeplate with intonated brass saddles; 6.69 pounds (weird coincidence with the model year). Dave guessed at the setup and pretty much nailed it - I have very few adjustments to make (and I'm WAY over the top anal about setup). The only lighter electric I have is my Custom Shop '54 Commemorative, nicknamed "The Helium Strat" - by .31 pounds.

The stainless steel version has passed the prototype stage and is in production. IMO the Pull String has been the Lamborghini of benders for a long time - the stainless version moves it into Space-X territory. Highly recommended.

Without back cover:
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/692102/20294696/403212670.jpg

With back cover:
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/692102/20294696/403212667.jpg

Front view:
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/692102/20294696/403213237.jpg

Back view:
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/692102/20294696/403213238.jpg

Hub lever and tension adjustment (made with an allen driver through a hole near the lower strap button):
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/692102/20294696/403212676.jpg

Light but ultra-stiff bellcrank. Note Delrin pull rod endpieces in this and preceding photo:
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/692102/20294696/403212680.jpg

You sure can see the (deserved) pride Dave takes in his work! There's not the slightest thing off-center, bent, dinged, or "impact adjusted" (i.e. whacked with a hammer).

I'll be up late tonight...:mrgreen:

WOW! Seriously, that looks amazing!

That's just brilliant!!!!

Congratulations to all.. :grin:

Congrats Jim! I knew Dave was working on this, but didn't know it was going to you! I really like the looks, too!

Fantastic. Congrats.

Silverface why do you have all the cool guitars?

Silverface why do you have all the cool guitars?



...because he can..:sad:

Silverface why do you have all the cool guitars?

Come to think of it......he sure does! Jim, maybe some time you can take a "Bender family" picture!

that is beyond sweet. enjoy it.
whats next, carbon fiber b-bender?

That looks like the way to do it. Sweet lookin' guitar.

Here's a shot of the "updated" top - I took the 68 bridgeplate and intonated brass saddles off my Pull String #002 prototype (recently Dave installed all the "production specification" parts on it - it had been in prototype mode and not all the "upgrades" had been installed). He had to do a bit of extra routing so I ned to repaint the black routed area - decided I'm going to refinish it completely (NO idea how yet). So since I neded to remove all the parts I replaced the Japanese Thinline pickups, switch and bridgeplate with the '68 bridgeplate I've used on my primary bender guitar for decades, along with the one-off Fralin dual-coil pickup (not a Velvet Hammer - far more aggresive, but great in its own way) and Harmonic Design mini-Strat (HIGHLY recommended as a superior rhythm pickup to the typical Tele chrome-cover pickup.).

There's a really weird wiring scheme - more convoluted than the Velvet Hammer system - with a 4-way switch, push-pull phase switch for the neck pickup, and a push-pull switch that sends the secondary coil on the Fralin directly to the output, bypassing everything. The last 5% of the volume control travel actually causes a slight shunt to ground, so the hottest output is at 95% and full-up gives you a sweeter sound. Throw the phase switch in and the single or dual bridge coils and nedless to say - there' a learning curve!

But - because of the hollow body it has some of the same resonance and complexity of the Nashville West guitars, plus everthing from crystal-clear Tele tones to Strat #2/#4 position sounds to raw P-90 in-your-face agressiveness just with minor adjustments of controls. This is the type of guitar that *IS* the perfect one to demonstrate cranking the amp/playing lightly and using the controls and right-hand dynamocs to manipulate both tone and overdrive - without pedals.

And I still can't get over the weight! Or lack thereof...:razz:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1600/692102/1237577/403238525.jpg

(kinda cool seeing the back of the chair THROUGH the guitar!)

PS - have to wait on the "family picture" until I refinish "#002" and figure out what pickups to put in it.

Fabulous guitar Silverface - but how do you stop the B string sawing through the brass saddle?

Best use of NASA technology yet!

BigDaddy - funny; my son in law works at Space-X (he is actually the guy who performs the final manufacturing/QC operations on the Falcon Rocket's engines) and he said "dang - that looks like MY stuff!

Joyster - I've been using brass saddles for decades with b-benders because I prefer the warmer sound. To prevent wear I use a tiny drop of dry Teflon every couple of week. It probably slows the wear down but I wouldn't notice since I've never used brass saddles without Teflon. But wear isn't an issue - with the type I currently have (I forget who made them) every couple of years I switch saddles with one of the others and move the slightly grooved one to the low E after rubbing out the groove - with those changes and the fact if the saddles are reversed they do the same thing one set of saddles lasts 12 years before I'm back to where I started - and can repeat the process as very little metal is removed when "de-grooving"!

Time to check on a lefty Evans.....