Bender in real-life gigs-practical tips?

Just thought I'd start a thread for live gigging advice for bender players. Mebbe specify which bender you play....
For ParsonsWhite... I say ALWAYS bring a small flathead screwdriver (or small flat turny type tool) to fine tune your upper stop screw. It seems to need tweaking at the strangest times.
Also, make sure if your playing non-bender songs not to flail around like you're playing a Les Paul or even a regular Tele. It seems to actuate the bender and, well, you know the rest of the story.... :)

I gigged for 13a years with an American standard B bender tele. (Parsons Greene) i didnt like thw very loose actuation that even just the weight of the guitar made that string bend accidentally. After havingi the guitarguitar a fewmuch months, I removed the bender, which has no tension adjustment, and cut three loops off of the spring. I bent over another loop and reinstalled the bender now with a much stiffer tension. I gigged it for years as my main and often only guitar.

I now have a mcvay. The bender is flawless. It never goes out of tune, even after a string change. The tension can be adjusted to any level if very very stiff to really loose with a simple screw adjustment. The bender operated smoothly, and silently and is guaranteed not to ruat, bust, or gather dust. Charlie Mcvay is a meticulous machinist and a great guy. This is what i reccommend no queation.

Great suggestions, Chet!

Anybody wanna buy a 9.9/10 PW bender?

Don't jump up and down when you are playing rhythm.
I have an older Parsons-White bender and I haven't done any adjustment on it in years. It's set for a full step pull and it stays at a full step. I keep an old medicine bottle in my guitar case and in that medicine bottle I keep a Q-tip that has oil on it. I simply touch the B string at the bridge and it lubed for the gig. I've never broken a string on mine.
Lots of things you can do when playing a song in the key of E. Just practice and you will find some fun things to do.

Don't jump up and down when you are playing rhythm.
That's interesting. I'm usually a pretty stationary player, but at the jam we had a few guys with a punk background. All the jumping and posing and headstock waving must've been contagious...I'll check the video clips to see how much hopping around I was doing....

Don't jump up and down when you are playing rhythm.
I have an older Parsons-White bender and I haven't done any adjustment on it in years. It's set for a full step pull and it stays at a full step. I keep an old medicine bottle in my guitar case and in that medicine bottle I keep a Q-tip that has oil on it. I simply touch the B string at the bridge and it lubed for the gig. I've never broken a string on mine.
Lots of things you can do when playing a song in the key of E. Just practice and you will find some fun things to do.

Ive never really done many windmills and splits, but i am not a statue either. So, i always ha e my benders set up pretty stiff, to where its almost never an accidental actuation of the bender.

That oiland q tip of yours reminds me again of the creaky squeaky parsons greene saddles. With the old parsons greene i had, and parsons white benders, the string drags across the saddle. On the parsons greene this squeaked. It sounded like a tiny sailboat rigging.

I used to try white lithium grease. It would work for a while but was temporary. Every few times i played guitar i had to lube. I changed to Graph Tech saddles about two years into owning that guitar. (The b string saddle had to jave the back carefully cut out for the string path of the bender). The noise was over and the giluitar tone even seemed a tiny bit darker.

Again, this is more that thrills me about the mcvay. I NEVER HAVE TO LUBE ANYTHING ON IT. The saddle rocks and stretches the string, rather than dragging it across the saddle tighter.

Chet, do you know of any used McVays? PM and we can talk...

Chet, do you know of any used McVays? PM and we can talk...

Well occasionally i see used crooks on ebay with mcvay g benders. I dont usually hear on anyone getting rid af a mcvay bender.

I recommend you contact charlie directly and get one in your favorite tele. I have taken mine on multiple gigs and not even touched my backup guitar, which i should probably get another bender so i play it more too.

Thanks. Just picked up a BSB Squier Tele today. Promo month at the local Long&McQuade...(Canada's big box music store) Maybe Charlie can work his magic on it....? :)