Duesenberg multibender

[jhundt]

have you guys seen this one? It's a German product, kind of like an improved Bigsby Palm Pedal set. Very nicely made, too. This link is in German, but if you scroll down the page you can see several video clips of the bender in use, both in a lap-steel open-E configuration and on a conventionally-tuned guitar.

http://www.thomann.de/de/duesenberg_multibender.htm

[garytelecastor]

Can you play these in the standard position?
I don't speak or read German, so there needs to be some translation.

[jussishow]

I tried one yesterday ! They had one installed on a Stratocaster in a shop in Oslo... The levers got in they way of each other in the standard position IMO, but I guess You could get used to it/get around it ...

What I like about the Duesenberg is that it looks simple to move the levers around (from string to string) or add/remove levers without havin' to take everything apart ...

Wouldn't replace my Hipshot with one, but a Strat->Lapsteel project could be fun !

/J

[jhundt]

garytelecastor - scroll down the page a little to the section headed "Smart Navigator". There are links to 4 video clips (with the bender installed on a standard Strat-type guitar (Standard Guitar 7, 8, 9, 10)

Here's the German text translated:

DUESENBERG MULTIBENDER
Replacement bridge for Strat-style guitars
realistic Pedal Steel Sounds
easy installation
includes 2 levers
30 day Money Back guarantee

Installing on a Strat-style guitar: use the six standard tremelo mounting screws, and put the cover plate on the back of the unit in the tremelo rout. That's it!

[eddiewagner]

hi guys, i am kind of a multibender verteran. i also found the levers very much in the way all the time. the best place for that device, in my opinion, is on a lapsteel. eddie

[garytelecastor]

First off-thanks for the translation.
Second-what kind of cost are we talking about here. I saw something on the page about 198euro's. What does that translate to in dollars?
I was thinking about this as I read this; Aren't we Americans a pain? Man, I envy anyone who is bi-lingual. I speak just enough French, Spanish, and Japanese to keep from starving and that is about it. Sorry to impose.

[jhundt]

198 Euros is about 290 US dollars today, thanks-but-no-thanks to the collapse of the dollar's value over the last few months. It's definitely not a good time for Americans to buy European products. Though it IS a great time for the Europeans to buy from the US.

I'm happy because I got one for 50 Euros, and Eddie gave me an extra lever so I can set up a real crazy lap-steel one of these days. I thought I might modify one of these budget guitars:

http://www.thomann.de/de/tenayo_slider.htm

sorry, German again, but you can look at the pictures!

[eddiewagner]

Originally Posted by jhundt

I thought I might modify one of these budget guitars:

http://www.thomann.de/de/tenayo_slider.htm

sorry, German again, but you can look at the pictures!

arghhhhh!!!!! jon!!!! what are you doing. don´t show me stuff like that. specially since i need an additional lever for a lever-lap-thang! you are a mean cat. eddie

[jhundt]

Eddie - call me if you want the lever back! +31 35 640-9570, or email. I'm happy with the 2 levers on the Duesenberg. If you want to use the other lever, you're welcome to it.

BTW - you said on the Amp forum that you can't get a good acoustic sound. Do you want to try a Fishman Power Bridge? I have one that I'm not using, maybe it will work for you?

[Iain]

My (Brit-made) Bennett with its multibender



I don't have problems wuith the levers getting in the way of each other. Picking and bending at same time can be tricky, but that's MY fault, really, not the levers'. Good product, well made.

[jhundt]

Iain - are you using the open E tuning suggested in the Duesenberg instruction sheet?

low E - B - E - G# - B - high E

1st string raise E to F
2nd string raise B to C#
3rd string raise G# to A

or do you have a different setup?

I know the levers can also ne used to lower a note, but then you need a spring assembly; I can't find any information about how that works anywhere.

[eddiewagner]

Originally Posted by jhundt

Eddie - call me if you want the lever back! +31 35 640-9570, or email. I'm happy with the 2 levers on the Duesenberg. If you want to use the other lever, you're welcome to it.

BTW - you said on the Amp forum that you can't get a good acoustic sound. Do you want to try a Fishman Power Bridge? I have one that I'm not using, maybe it will work for you?

no jon, i did not mean it that way. more like: when will i see an end to all that inkering. please keep the lever, looks like you are after something interesting. right now i am totally busy to get the band road-ready. lapsteel-project: next winter. talk to you later, eddie

[Tim Armstrong]

For us English-speaking folks, just click on the little British flag towards the top of that page and you'll get their English-language version:

http://www.thomann.de/gb/duesenberg_multibender.htm

So, I'm thinking that'll work on a hardtail Strat bridge?

I think I know what to get my brother for Christmas!

Cheers, Tim

[jhundt]

Tim - does the hardtail mount with the same six screws as a wang-bar bridge? If not you might have to drill some, though they would be covered by the hardtail bridge if you wanted to replace it sometime.

[Tim Armstrong]

Originally Posted by jhundt

Tim - does the hardtail mount with the same six screws as a wang-bar bridge? If not you might have to drill some, though they would be covered by the hardtail bridge if you wanted to replace it sometime.

Nope, just checked, but it's for a $49 non-vintage lapsteel, so I reckon a little drilling won't hurt anything!

Cheers, Tim

[jhundt]

49 bucks for a non-vintage lap-steel! Whoa, you big spender!

[Iain]

Mine's tuned (high to low) e b g# E D B

Levers take the high E up a semitone, the B up a tone and the G# up a semitone.
Beats carrying a pedal steel around! And fakes the A&B pedals (and F lever) pretty well.

[eddiewagner]

Originally Posted by Iain

Mine's tuned (high to low) e b g# E D B

Levers take the high E up a semitone, the B up a tone and the G# up a semitone.
Beats carrying a pedal steel around! And fakes the A&B pedals (and F lever) pretty well.

hi iain, that sounds equally intersting and confusing. what string-sizes do you use? does that tuning work well without any levers? that would be cool, something to tinker about for christmas. thanks, eddie

[Iain]

Actually, that's just a basic E7th tuning and the B and G# levers are like pedals A&B on an E9th pedal steel.

The top E's lever combines with the B to C# lever to give you a major on top 3 strings 3 frets up from open position (eg E major at 3rd fret) and if you then let the B to C# lever off you get the 7th of that chord - good passing move from 1 chord to 4th chord, for example.

Standard set of E7th tuning strings, by the way.

[eddiewagner]

Originally Posted by Iain

Standard set of E7th tuning strings, by the way.

thanks for the info. what sizes does such a set have? eddie

[J. Hayes]

an "improved version" of the Bigsby Palm Pedal which doesn't ring true to me. For one thing you can't palm mute with that bender unless you move the levers out of the way. I'm adding a shot of one of my Bigsby equipped guitars (a Les Paul) to show you how they're not in the way at all and can be used when needed...........JH in Va.

[jhundt]

of course you are right J. Hayes, but I couldn't think of a quicker way to describe the Duesenberg to someone who had never seen one. Maybe I should have said "inspired by the Bigsby Palm Pedal" instead of "improved"

[markinlondon]

Originally Posted by eddiewagner

thanks for the info. what sizes does such a set have? eddie

I use the same tuning on my lap steel (mostly), it's fine with normal 11's, but my lap's scale is quite short. Wound or plain third string makes no difference.

I heard a guy playing the Deusenberg device in a shop in Denmark St a few months ago. It was on a Strat and he was playing "Hawaiian" style with a nut extender. Amazing steel sounds from a cheap Strat. I don't think I'd want to use that device in the "Spanish" position.

[Iain]

string guages:-
15
18
22 (W)
30
36
42

I get them from www.steelguitarforum.com, by the way


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[tantamo]

Hi folks, I have one of these for sale up on ebay right now.

[Joe-Bob]

I've seen something very similar to that on an ES-335.