Off on a new bender

[John Harrison]

Well, thanks to fellow TDPRIer, Pete Willging (thanks, again, Pete - I'm loving the guitar!), I've now got an excuse to hang out here, too. Since acquiring a mid-90's, b-bendered, American Standard, a couple of weeks ago, I've been sponging up all the wisdom you all share, here. From my initial experiments, it's clear there's much to learn!

[Don Miller]

The hardest thing about playing a b-bender is not playing it tooo much...

Whatcha get? An American Std with a Parsons Green?...or a Parsons White?...or something else?...

Theres some great tab hidden in the archives of the Clarence White forum....

[John Harrison]

Hi, Don. Yessir, a sunburst American Standard with a Parsons-White B-bender. I'm already looking to optimize it (change of pickups, probably, to start). I've wanted one, for some time, and lucked into trading with a fellow TDPRIer who was looking for an amp I had.

I've already begun investigating the CW Forum, too! Like I needed another excuse to go online!

[Darrell]

mid 90's B-bender was swap the bridge pup out (several times). I found the Hwy 1 bridge pu, and the Alinco II pro to work favorably in the guitar. Both of these pickups offered plenty of sustain/midrange to hold those bends with just the right amount of edgyness.

Welcome on board. It seem the AS B-bender gets a lot of knocks. For the price, there aren't too many competitors. I am not giving mine up anytime soon that's for sure.

I think the mid 90's fender benders are the most desirable. Most if not all are Alder wood, and no mid pu garb.

[Darrell]

If you have a PG or PW bender?

[tonytrout]

The difference between the P/G and P/W units are this:

The P/G unit is a one piece unit that looks like a metal plate on the back of the guitar and the P/W has a clear plastic see-through cover where the rout is in the back of the guitar.....

That's the best way I know how to explain it......if anybody can do any better, please take a shot at it.

[slack]

Originally Posted by tonytrout

The difference between the P/G and P/W units are this:

The P/G unit is a one piece unit that looks like a metal plate on the back of the guitar and the P/W has a clear plastic see-through cover where the rout is in the back of the guitar.....

The original P/W string benders had metal plates as well. Here's an early one installed in 1976 on a 1966 Tele:



The P/G is back plate mounted and licensed to Fender. It is apparently a somewhat simplified version, and thus perhaps somewhat compromising the original design for the sake of cost and licensing. The P/W is the original design and according to Gene superior to any other bender.

[Muttcaster]

Originally Posted by tonytrout

That's the best way I know how to explain it......if anybody can do any better, please take a shot at it.

I'll take a shot at it! :D

The P/G has a "finger" for the bender and the P/W uses a round wheel. On the P/G, the string is "pulled" and on the P/W, it's "rolled".

Here's a P/W:
http://www.gbase.com/guitar_pics/78/182110.jpg