b-bender spring tension

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Hi,

Would it be possible that the spring in a b-bender telecaster looses his tension a little?

Story is, i took the b-bender unit from one guitar and installed it in another guitar. But now in the new guitar it seems that the spring did loose some of the tension. I must say that more then once i took the sping out then installed it again because i wasn's satisfied so i had to do some tweeking here and there. All in all i must have taken out the spring at least 10 times.

Sorry for the lousy English, i hope my problem is clear (well, the b-bender problem that is

I was wondering, if this is the case would it be an option to simply cut off one ring from the spring?

Thanks,

Michell

Michell...
The spring is probably fine (no problems). If it is too loose...drill one or two more pilot holes for the anchor screw...further away from where the existing one. Space them apart by about 3/8 of an inch (or so). It does not take much of a difference in space to make a very noticeable difference in spring tension. Fantastic job!

BrianF,

Are you referring to a Parsons/White type bender?

I don't have any experience with that type, as I have a saddle bender(Glaser) which has an easily accessible spring tension adjustment.

However, I would be interested to know...don't the P/W or P/G benders have a tension adjustment of any type? Your post seems to indicated the only "adjustment" possible is by moving the spring terminus.

I would have though that if this (easily adjustable tension) was not addressed in the original design, makers of today's P/W surely would have modified those specs to include this feature by now.

Will be interesting to learn more about the non-saddle type benders. Thanks.

I have a P/G Bender that I got off the 'Bay that had a very loose spring. As soon as I put the guitar on and stood up, the Bender fully engaged. This mildly annoying to say the least.

I had a hard time finding a replacement spring. Fender treats the P/G as one part number. All my music store buddies couldn't order me anything without a part number and I certainly didn't want a whole new P/G bender mechanism.

So, I found Gene parson's number online and gave him a call. He was very nice. He also does not stock the spring. He told me to cut the spring a few links at a time. Cutting one link off will not do anything.

So, I got out my Dremel and a pair of needle nose vice grips and had at it. About 10-12 links later, the bender worked well. That was about 1.5 years ago and it still works well.

Fender (or someone else) should make P/G replacement springs in different tensions. I tried every spring I could find and none had enough tension to do the job.

BrianF,

Are you referring to a Parsons/White type bender?

Yes I was referring to a Parsons White style. Neither it or the Parsons Green have an adjustable tension.


don't the P/W or P/G benders have a tension adjustment of any type? Your post seems to indicated the only "adjustment" possible is by moving the spring terminus.

Your assumption is correct. The only way to adjust the spring tension is to change the length of the spring ie by cutting links off, getting a longer spring (check www.mcmaster.com) or moving the spring anchor point. I agree this is a short coming but in reality once it's setup, it never has to be adjusted again.


I would have though that if this (easily adjustable tension) was not addressed in the original design, makers of today's P/W surely would have modified those specs to include this feature by now.
I know Bill Bores has been working on this mod. I know Gene Parsons has incorporated the feature into his more custom one of a kind designs.

Fender (or someone else) should make P/G replacement springs in different tensions. I tried every spring I could find and none had enough tension to do the job.

Go to www.mcmaster.com and type 'spring' in the search box and the look down the list on the left side and click on 'extension spring'. You will see a wide variety of springs here with different lengths, outside diameters, wire diameter etc.

Remove the spring from your PG ...(ie the one that is too loose). Measure attributes of your spring and pick out one from McMaster's catalog that will likely help you out...ie shorter or one with slightly larger wire diameter etc...

They are not that expensive although you have to buy a pack of more than one... McMaster usually ships within a day or so...

Here's a link to Bill's adjustable throw and tension PW bender..
http://www.benderguitars.com/images/gallery/jsmith/jsmith_001508w.html

http://www.benderguitars.com/images/gallery/jsmith/jsmith_001495w.html