Evans Pullstring Chapter 2 - here's #2

[Silverface]

Got my gold guitar back from Dave Friday and it's stunning...and this is sort of a prototype, a lot like his originals but very refined and "user-friendly", with added features. I'll post more pics and stuff when I have time; some of the non-visible details:

Back attached with embbeded nuts and machine screws - no more stripped wood like the backs of my other benders.

Fine-tuning of the spring tension is REALLY fine - because you do it with a hand tool yourself without having to take the back off. No guessing at screw placement for the spring to hook onto - this thing goes from almost no tension (great for sitting down) to "bet you cant bend this!" (well, not THAT tight - but close)...it's probably my favorite feature other than...

...playability. It's smooth, linear, and I swear I never thought anything could be smoother or more even-feeling than my PW's...but this is. It's not a huge difference, but when you've played them for 35 years you notice, and it makes it really fun to be able to slow down or speed up in the middle of a pull with perfect control.

The stop is also more finely-tuned than other benders I've played, and the adjuster is tight enough that it can't move around. I haven't had to adjust it since I got it. And the stop is very exact, positive, but still quiet.

I've screwed around with a lot of benders over the years, but this is really a high-class machine. Sheesh, I can't wait to see how the production units turn out, since this one is really just a test!

[Johnny Isaacs]

Looks great! I'm sooo getting one of Dave's benders! Question Jim: Is this a short or long pull or somewhere in the middle? I'm assuming it can be adjusted like most quality benders. It looks like the strap lever is really close to the neck... does that affect anything in your opinion so far?

Thanks for the pics and congrats to you!

Johnny Isaacs

[Silverface]

Johnny -

The strap lever IS closer to the neck than on a PW installation...and I hadn't really thought about it, but that angle may have something to do with the improved control. I hadn't even noticed 'til you mentioned it.

As far as the throw, I didn't quite explain it completely as I was in a rush, but it IS a long throw...or a short throw. Or one in between! Somehow Dave worked out the rod, hub lever and bellcrank angles, rod length and whatever else makes it work out mechanically to have ALL THREE in the same unit. He sent instructions and explained on the phone how to switch it, and it sounds like a 10-minute job to me (it might take longer to remove and replace the back than change the throw!). So you don't have to pay for some extra part to make it work, nor be limited to having one or the other.

Also, for guys who WILL change the trow often those machine screws and back inserts are a real blessing. I have those on my oldest bender, a real odd brass geared one, and never liked the idea of backs attached with wood screws like a pickguard - especially since I (like several others I know) remove the back regularly to alter spring tension for different uses. Of course with this one you don't remove the back too alter the spring tension (youdo it easily from outside) but that throw change will be so tempting guys will probably be removing it pretty often.

For me that's a really cool thing from a stylistic stand point, as I can switch it from a shorter throw for gigs where I need to play faster stuff; the longer one for Clarence-like things, i.e. Byrds/Burritos type material, or the in-between position, which is the one I'm most anxious to mess with - it may be my "magic bullet".

But that's the deal - it's 3 benders in one package.

Another couple pics...One of the strap lever, and in the other you can sort of see the spring (partially covered with a yellow netting for muting unwanted spring reverb from inside) and to the right and below it the tension adjuster - there's a small hole in the bottom (directly to the right of it in the pic if you could see it) - just stick the tool in (a nice allen ball-head driver even came with it, but any same-sized allen wrench would do), give it a few turns, and you've fine-tuned pull tension.

That adjuster is really great for me, as I have a whole line of screw holes on my PW from changing the spring tension - and some of them are starting to get a little "loose". No worries about that here (or stabbing yourself with the spring if it slips while moving it - I did that a month ago, the hook-end of the spring went into the tip of my left index finger and it was sayonara guitar playing for almost 2 weeks. The second time I've had it happen, and it's not fun).

[lmcgillet]

Congratulations from me too! Truly a great looking guitar and obviously *** the *** Rolls Royce of the B-benders.

Good luck and Greetings -
Luther

[Silverface]

Thanks - It's really kind of amazing; I had a chance to buy an original back in '73, didn't (I was a broke college student), and then Dave stopped making them...so I ended up with a PW early on. But I was casually trying to track Dave down for decades to see if I could cajole him into making a one-off bender. Then suddenly he appeared just at the time my left-hand problems were improving after 4 years of being unable to play 6-string, and after some chatting it was apparent he wanted to get going again, and Gene had his blessing.

So I leaped at the chance, not knowing it would end up being such a vast advancement in technology. I promise I'll get more pics up this week - anyone with any shoulder-strap bender experience (or someone wanting to take the plunge and not screw around with testing "bolt on" units) should check with Dave...he's gotten everything pretty much together and is just waiting for final test results, which will be done this week.

[J. Hayes]

what's the cash outlay for the Evans? It might determine whether some of us are able to order one.........JH in Va.

[Johnny Isaacs]

Thanks for the update Jim! I'm really excited to get one of Dave's benders!

Johnny Isaacs

[Silverface]

Jerry - honestly, I don't know yet! Since this is a prototype and may or may not be finished nothing's been determined as far as an installation price on this one, but I think Dave has pretty much finalized...or will pretty quickly...pricing. Part of the pricing question will, I would guess, be whether players want one installed in their own guitar, a new body with one that they can build-out themselves, or one of Dave's original butcher-blocks. There have been some people asking me if those will be available, and I think Dave's decided to do it.

I'd suggest just shooting him an email or calling him.

[Silverface]

Some more pics I shot quickly yesterday during a quick trip home....

[gumbo]

That is sure some beautiful engineering there....congratulations Dave...!

[Silverface]

I finally got a full-back shot that is reflective of the whole package, and this is where you REALLY see the difference between the Evans and other benders. The amount of precision work is staggering, when you think about little things like the block at the strap hub - it has to be made individually for EACH guitar, since no two Teles ever seem to have exactly the same dimensions - and different decades can be radically different!

I've been playing more than I've played in 10 years (and my left hand is not bothering me *at all*, which is a miracle guys - I was DONE a year ago and could not play for 10 minutes!) and this "machine" is so far beyond anything in construction, thought-out details and playability I'm just stunned...and I'm pretty darned cynical when it comes to new benders or "reissues" of any kind. I guess Dave is just a throwback to the days when craftsmanship took years of study and was well-respected.

[J. Hayes]

That's some d@mn fine work on Dave's bender mechanism. Does the routing go as far into the guitar as a P/W bender does? It really is well thought out and the pivot points are really interesting. I like the way he has the spring away from the pulling rod, that's a cool concept. It this pretty much the same way the old Evans units were made?.........JH in Va.

[Silverface]

First - Jerry, yes, it's nearly identical in theory to his "2nd design", which was more refined mechanically than the first ones. This is the same thing, but REALLY refined - just beautiful, and everything thought out mechanically like a real engineer (hence the spring adjustment and some of the other details.

But for me, this next thing was REALLY important, as it's something I suggested - a pull in between the stock 5/8" and the long-throw 1 1/8".

So tonight I got around to doing the change, to see if the throw adjustment 1) was easy enough to do without special tools, 2) seeing exactly here my idea of an "in between" position" would be, and 3) just HOW long it would take to do and adjust, tune, etc.

From the time I started removing machine screws from the back until it was back on, the stop adjusted, and the spring tension adjusted just a little looser (to my liking at this setting):

9 minutes.

I could NOT believe it. I'd never done it and while I had instructions I was still very cautious about unscrewing things to ensure parts didn't go flying. I doubt it would take me 5 minutes next time!

I could change the throw between sets at a gig! Heck, with enough stage patter by someone it could almost be done between songs.

And the best part was Dave hit the nail right on the head - I wanted to get a setting exactly between the stock short throw (5/8") and a long throw(1 1/8"), both of which are ALSO on here (I'd been playing it in short-throw mode, which is how it was sent).

Not only is the throw exactly what I wanted to try...even after just a few minutes of playing I think I found MY "magic bullet". Just long enough to emulate "there's a lot of music in a long throw" yet short enough I can move REALLY fast when needed. I've never played any other bender with this throw length, and it really does seem the best of both worlds.

And the cool thing is, it's SO easy to change AND I have all 3 settings on the same guitar. This is, again, where those back-panel machine screws are a big advantage, as I can see some players changing throws like they change strings!

BTW, the "stop" adjustment was just a minor twist of the tool...and I backed off the spring tension to put myself right back on the edge of *almost* self-actuating, so it has a nice, light feel.

I'd been excited about this bender before, but this little session just blows me away.

Oh - details: changing the throw consisted of removing the back (obviously!), loosening two rod screws (one at the bellcrank, one at the hub lever), moving the rod/screws to the next set of holes, tightening them (just barely snug, BTW, is all they need), and putting the back on. No loosening the main clevis bolts to move the strap lever and hub rod so you can remove the pullrod like on a PW, and no moving the spring adjustment screw to a new (or old) hole and having to pull it via hand or pliers.

Other than the back, two screws, more the rod, tune it.

I'm just stunned it was this easy. Heck, tomorrow I'll mess with the long throw as well now that I know how simple the job is!

[Ramblin Ray]

I have P/W String Bender #30 from 1976. I'm a bit confused about the chronology of the Evans. Was Clarence working with both Dave and Gene at the same time, or did Dave just make his version of Gene's later on? I also see Dave calls his a pull-string (which makes more sense to me) and on my early brochures from Gene , he also refers to the unit as a pull-string, but later changed it to string-bender. Can someone clear this stuff up for me? Thanks!!

[Don Miller]

This lays out the chronology..

http://www.evanspullstring.com/

[Ramblin Ray]

Thanks Don!

[Silverface]

Yeah, in an a nutshell:

Gene custom-built Clarence's original bender; Bob Warford followed with his own version. There WAS no name for it at the time.

Dave Evans, with input from both (a lot from Bob) decided a production bender could be made - on his site are some early "wedge" designs and the later one that's similar to the new unit. He called it the Pullstring. Anyone who HAS one, by the way - PLEASE let Dave know. He's trying to locate all the old units!

Gene worked out his own design and wanted to go into production; Dave, being a friend, graciously bowed out. Gene started producing units under the name "Pullstring".

Regardless of the name, people had started calling ALL the gadgets "stringbenders" since the performed the same function as a hand-bend. So Gene went with the flow and changed the name.

Gene's patent ran out several years ago and clone makers popped up (there were already a few doing them under the legal radar). Several month ago, Dave discovered the internet (something we're giving him no end of grief over) and found out several people, me one of 'em, had been trying to find him for 30 years to see if he'd build a one-off unit...I didn't think it would violate the patent since it was SO different. Dave showed up on the Clarence White Forum initially saying "Hi! Here I am!" and showing some interest in building...but only if Gene would give his blessing, patent or no patent.

Gene (and Warford) are both real supportive of the idea, as they know what kind of work Dave does.

So he's been "tooling up", testing has been completed (I've had one unit and have spent some time now doing everything I can to make it foul up, break, bend, snap, crackle, pop...and at every throw setting, spring adjustment, etc...and it's stable as a rock), and he's ready to roll!

[Silverface]

Well, this was almost anticlimactic!

I changed the throw from medium (7/8") to long (1 1/8") throw, and having now changed the throw once it took under 5 minutes!

Not only was it east and quick to do, but the long throw (some thing I am really used to, as my main bender for years has been a long-throw Nashville West) is exactly the right pull length. Also, I again found the Pullstring to be just a little more even/linear through the whole pull than the PW. This is also where the spring adjustment system really shines again, as I could fine tune the "balance" point (between rest and pulling action) to a hair-trigger point that is smooth and easy feeling without accidentally actuating the Pullstring.

I'm really convinced that if you wanted to, you could hold the back on with just a few screws and change the throw between songs if the front person is doing band intros or something!

Dave's really put together something amazing that's FAR beyond the capabilities of any other unit I've ever seen. I've also, during the course of testing this thing, tried to everything *wrong* - overtighten parts, twist the guitar every direction, drop it...and I can't get the mechanism to foul up, drift out of adjustment, go out of tune...nothing.

I'm just flat amazed. 35 years or so of playing these things and I never thought I'd see anything like *this*.

[slowhand4955]

Does anyone know how Bill or Bob Warford installs his B- Bender without having to route out the body of the guitar? How well does Warfords bender hold up? I took a look at his website and he has one in a Les Paul guitar. As you know, the Les Paul does not have a pickguard or face plate to hide a route on the front of the body. I have emailed Bill Warford but he insists that he has to install the bender himself for a lot more than I can afford at this time since I was laid off my job and work being extremely hard to find these days. If it wasn't for my band of weekend warriors I'd no income at all. From what I remember, twenty years ago you could buy a Parsons White Bender kit for around $60.00 with instructions for routing. But now a days, You have to send your axe to them. I've been building, customizing, repairing, and painting guitars for over twenty years part time and I even installed a few of the Parsons White benders for satisfied customers. But what I didn't like about them was the cover plate on the back of the guitar from the modification. But when I ran across Mr. Warfords bender and saw the pics on his website, I was floored because his device allows the beauty of the guitar to stay intact. I like guitars that show more guitar and less pickguard or faceplate much like the Les Paul. I have built many Telecasters without a faceplate using a pickup ring in the neck position to show off the paintjobs the customer wanted on the guitar with great satisfaction with the end results. I do not know Mr. Warford and I would like to buy a few B-Benders from him if I could. I believe I could make my own if I just thought about long and hard enough, but I'd rather buy them. Anyone have any ideas? Does anyone have such a bender that was put in by Mr. Warford?