new b-bender project diary. rare shelton b-bender content, self installation :-)

[soltwanger]

hi all,

well i have kept it a secret until now, but i just couldnt wait any longer to tell you guys about my new project. I wasn't sure if it was happening for sure, but now i am. My birthday is next monday (22nd) so my present to myself is a new tele. it isn't a partscaster and it CERTAINLY isn't off the shelf. i guess it is a bit of a freak heh heh.

first step: buy highway1 tele body off fleabay (tick, ker-ching!) got an awesome deal, £160 ($300) for this beauty:



will be arriving some time this week :-)


second step: now THIS is the special part: a discontinued shelton b-bender kit. I won't go into details but John Shelton produced these in the late 90s, and marketed them predominantly in Japan. They were only released in a small batch and have long since been discontinued. Albert Lee and John Jorgenson are the famous users of these bender systems. the design is like a hybrid between a glaser and a parsons/white. What makes this special is that all the routing is done underneath the neckplate and scratchplate, and is very minimal. Uncanny..... anyhows, I won't go into detail as to how i aquired this, (lets just say I have friends in the right places ;-) but i can tell you that I got it for £75 ($140) which is an absolute steal in my book. here's a few pics off a japanese website which might help you build an idea of this system:









beautiful, innit. Arriving some time next week also! Well I intend to do all the routing and installation myself, with my new router (christmas present) so I am itching to carve that highway1 way into the middle of next week.


third step: Add Squier affinity neck, minus 'squier' plus own decal. possibly f*****, possibly 'solocaster' or 'bend-o-caster' or mabye 'timbocaster' in respect for my dog. or not.

I love my squier affinity neck (taken off my first ever guitar: squier affinity butterscotch :-) as it just feels so comfortable and personal, what with 2 years worth of gig sweat worked nicely into that maple grain. I am certain it will match that body perfectly :-)

I will also ad a nice blackguard, and eventually brass saddles and a pickup upgrade. should be fun!

I will let this thread die, then revive it when i start the project diary. lots of pics of mutilated tele bodies to come! hehehe :-)


Chris, please feel free to move the thread, it wasn't strictly just a b-bender thread so i put it on the main board. hope you don't mind :-)

[0le FUZZY]

...Jumpin gee-hosa-phat!!

...Watt a buncha stuff stuck in at rascal jes ta bend won string !

beautiful, innit

...Ahhhhh ------------Noe!

...Looks lika Rube Goldberg kinda thang tew me HEE! HEE!.





(deranged internet-based alter ego, with my own lexicon and all.)

Please visit my page

[Spidercaster]

Good luck Sol. Let us know how it progresses.

oh, and Happy Birthday!

[eryque]

Looks like an ingenious solution to me, and *much* less invasive than the other types.

Have you ever played one so you can compare using it with a Parsons or Glaser bender?

[dean]

Looks like its going to be a great project! Have fun with it.

Dean

[Pete Galati]

So, the strap button gets moved to the neck plate. That's strange. I don't like that aspect of it, but it might actually be a better bender system.

[soltwanger]

thanks fuzzy for your creative input , thanks everyone else for your support! pete galati, the strap-on-neckplate thing is actually very similar to the glaser/mcvey benders. once you look past the superficial hinderance, the benefits of this design are vast. less routing, (no 'horseshoe' shape like on the parsons/whites) and also, if you dont want to use the bender you can just hook your strap back onto the stationary button in the standard place on the body horn. genius!

Originally Posted by eryque

Looks like an ingenious solution to me, and *much* less invasive than the other types.

Have you ever played one so you can compare using it with a Parsons or Glaser bender?

nope! but for £75 i CANT go wrong! beggars can't be choosers, eh?!

thanks again all

[BritishBluesBoy]

Right on Sol... That's great. Keep us informed OK...??

BBB.

[Fatmanstratman]

Well Sol, I'm not B-Bender sort, but having said that - you can play better on one string than I can with all six... AND in your sleep!

I'll be keeping an eye open for the diary - sounds like an interesting project to me!.....

Don't forget to post regular pics of each step, and when you've finished the job, please remember to post a link to an audio clip!

Good luck!

Oh... and HAPPY BIRTHDAY for the 22nd!!!.....

[getbent]

cool... let us know how it goes

[jwells393]

Well ......... I for one don't think this thread should be moved. It should be left here where everyone can see it when it pops up again in the future.

Sure would like to know what's happening under the bridge plate.

..........Click ----->Bender.jpg

[BrianF]

Originally Posted by soltwanger

and also, if you dont want to use the bender you can just hook your strap back onto the stationary button in the standard place on the body horn. genius!

FWIW... this is a solution that works with any bender. On a Parsons White bender...just simply install an extra strap button to one of the neck plate bolts and you have the same thing! genious!

Good luck with your project Sol!! ...looks like fun... It will be cool to compare it with your buddy Nick's PW bender...

[eddiewagner]

interesting thing sol. keep us on the loop about the progress. you will kill with that guitar! i have just practiced for 2 weeks with my bendertele and first results start to show slowly with a little help from the good folks in the bender-department of this wonderful forum.

[soltwanger]

Hi all, thanks again for all the replies. I will keep you updated with ALL of this, and just to please you fatman i will post a sound clip. possibly of me screaming over the sound of a router carving into what sounds like a human hand. That will keep you amused :-)

jwells393, the pull system is just a lever under the bridge plate (or in the case of a vintage ashtray bridge like mine, behing the bridge) that you just thread the string through. it is totally simple, and seems pretty unobtrusive. I haven't seen much of the system, so I don't really know much about it. I have a pretty good idea in my head though.

BrianF, Me and Nick (nickg on here) are going to have a serious comparing session, My idea is for me to record a backing track with drums/bass etc and we can have a bender showdown, each playing a little solo spot. what you guys think?? i have a lot to learn, so i if anything my little idea is a great non-cheeky way of stealing his hard-earned licks

in the blue corner:
Sol Philcox with his highway-1-hybrid shelton bendercaster into fender hot rod deluxe

in the red corner:
Nick Goodwin with his fender classic 50s with parsons/white bender into Dr.z carmen ghia

mwahahah this could be really, really interesting......

thanks again all!!

[Pete Galati]

Originally Posted by soltwanger

the strap-on-neckplate thing is actually very similar to the glaser/mcvey benders. once you look past the superficial hinderance, the benefits of this design are vast. less routing, (no 'horseshoe' shape like on the parsons/whites) and also, if you dont want to use the bender you can just hook your strap back onto the stationary button in the standard place on the body horn. genius!

Ok. I guess there's probably an advantage to being able to move the strap to the regular strap button, so the bender won't work.

Unless your strap has two strap button holes, I think it's gonna hang really low when you move it to the regular button, or really high when you move it to the bender button. I'm just thinking of how much longer my strap has to be for an SG or 335, which have strap buttons at the neck heal.

Definately interested in seeing this bender projects progress.

Pete

[daviddoubleu]

Sounds like a really cool project. I'd love to learn more about how you put this project together Sol. Look forward to the updates. I've just put a blackguard and Wilkinson Brass Swivel saddles on my blonde highway. It's gone from being a good tele to a killer tele!

David.

[bender-freak]

i have had one of these systems installed in my Silver Sparkle Amer stnd Tele for quite some time now...it does what it is supposed to do, bends the B string as well as any other system i have or currently use...only thing i found irritating is having to remove the pickguard to set the spring tension....is necessary on mine, anyway....i had to do this quite a few times before i finally got the tension set for my liking, but once there, i haven't had to fool with it any more on that guitar....i have also added a hipshot with a G bender to this setup; works flawlessly......have a P/G system with B,G, and A bend that works great...have several teles with Hipshots which are above all IMO the best for for me; some don't like them.....congrats on the Shelton and keep us posted...

[soltwanger]

hey thats great bender-freak, i really wanted to get an opinion on these. thank you very much. that sounds like an awful lot of benders! i can only dream.... hell, i haven't even tried one before so i had better not get ahead of myself

thanks again

[soltwanger]

After over a month of waiting, look what arrived today! The blackguard went on pretty much as soon as i opened the box. something about it just looks great. The neck is from my beloved nashville deluxe tele, the squier affinity didnt fit as i feared. never mind, MIM necks can be bought dirt cheap these days, this one has gone to a better home.



And also, on the same day, look what else arrived!!!



it may look like a hideous jumble of parts, and i have no shame admitting i am going to have a hideous time putting them all together. The dude included the router templates too, which was nice. not pictured is the engraved 'shelton's patented stringbender' neckplate, which looks as cool as f*** but i had to use it to attatch the neck to the guitar. lots lots more pictures on the way, i will be keeping y'all updated

[BrianF]

Looks like a great project Sol.. your determination is very admirable and we're pullin (or is that bending ) for you!

Bill Bores makes and installs Glaser-like benders as well. The Shelton looks similar to me. In describing the differences between installing a Glaser and PW type bender... Bill described it 'like installing a ship in a bottle".

Have patience and take your time will likely maximize your success...

BTW your playing is astounding...if Nick G can rip like you....the UK has and up and coming Twanger Tandem on their hands LOL... How'd you guys get so good so young?

[jwells393]

How much was the kit? I found a website that sells it installed for $495 plus shipping.

[soltwanger]

495 plus shipping? bwahahahah i got it for £75 (probably around $130) but that was because i know john shelton's son very well and he got me a deal on one of the kits they had lying around in the garage.

and thanks BrianF, i appreciate the support with this huge undertaking (well, huge for me anyways ) Nick g is one incredible player, he has taste, tone, style, speed and chops beyond his years and any age for that matter. I haven't heard him play the bender properly, except when he phoned me just after getting it. i can't wait to hear how he's geting along with it.

thanks y'all!

[jwells393]

Looks like you did really well soltwanger. I hope you'll be posting some good close-up pictures of the installation.

[soltwanger]

Originally Posted by jwells393

Looks like you did really well soltwanger. I hope you'll be posting some good close-up pictures of the installation.

yep i sure will be!! i have the choice of waiting a week and doing it in my grandparents' garage, or doing it in my room tomorrow. no need to say what I am going to do.....

anyone got any tips on drilling through really really small bits of metal??

[BrianF]

Originally Posted by soltwanger

anyone got any tips on drilling through really really small bits of metal??

It should be done with a drill press...with some sort of vise (mounted to the drill press table) to hold the parts in place while drilling.

[soltwanger]

hey thanks brian. im sure i could do that.... although the metal has to be threaded :-(

[BrianF]

Originally Posted by soltwanger

hey thanks brian. im sure i could do that.... although the metal has to be threaded :-(

Sol... If you have access to a drill press to accurately and cleanly drill your holes...thats a great start. You need to pre-drill the hole for the correct size TAP that you will need to TAP threads into the hole.

The threads are cut with a TAP which is tricky and easy to mess up on small material in particular. The TAP is held with a TAP wrench and can be done by hand BUT... the TAP must go into the hole exactly at 90 degree angle ( you may need to make some sort of alignment jig for this).....and it is very easy to break a small TAP off in the small hole. This is a bad thing..

If you do TAP the hole for threading...make SURE that you use cutting oil, and when you are cutting the threads...turn the TAP about 3/4 of a turn and then BACK OUT to continually remove the cut material...keep repeating the process and keep adding cutting oil.

[soltwanger]

hi all,

yesterday (friday 26th) i came home at lunchtime from college. I immediately grabbed my tools and everything and headed downstairs to our conservatory. I spent until 7pm that night installing my bender into my tele. it is by no means a 100% oerfect installation, and i changed so many of the design features to fit around how i saw fit.

well here we go, a nice shot of all my stuff balanced precariously on top of a completely unsuitable small rickety woodworm-infested dining table.



the first cut is always the deepest! no turning back now, here's the actuating rod channel that runs through the length of the guitar. i did not have a suitable router guide, not a long enough router bit so i had to make do by using multiple passes and guesswork. the pictures are actually very flattering:



now here is the little (ahem) cavity for the spring return mechanism. the completely hideous mess in the middle was down to my £19.99 router that couldn't hold at one depth.



and finally for the routing: the lever cavity on the back of the neck pocket. i was quite pleased with this one:



and thus the routing is finished! see next post for other stuff like drilling etc.

[soltwanger]

here is the neck pocket stuff. this bit is the needle bearing that actuates the rod:



here is the arm that actuates it all. sorry for blurry pic.



here is a little shot of the final metal drilling stage. this took me about an hour and a half to drill 3 holes (with a set of £1.29 drill bits) I HATE drilling :-(



here it all is, the spring mechaniusm is ready to be fitted. almost done now!

[soltwanger]

DONE!

i made to many spur-the-moment alterations to the original design it is obscene. but it works! still a few problems, like string breakage and suchlike. it can all be easilly fixed but at the moment i cannot be arsed. I never want to see another router, drill, screwdriver, hammer, guitar or bandage in my life. here it is in all its glory!



and the back:




PHEW that was a marathon, i can tell you.

soundclips etc to come once i sort out the problems!

[BrianF]

Hey Sol...looks awesome! great job!

[Mr. Sparkle]

Good stuff, dude. Keep it rolling.

[jwells393]

Thanks for the pictures. Sure would like to see what's happening under the bridge.

[soltwanger]

hi, thanks all!

jwells393, i promise you you do not want to see!! i altered the design loads. the string pulling rod thing seemed like the crappiest idea known to man, couldnt really work with a vintage bridge. soooo is what i did, was just thread the string through the back like normal, except it also passes through the hole that is supposed to be for the pulling arm. thus, whenever i activate the bender, it just pulls the string like that and works in the same way as a behind the nut bend. and, i dont lose the tele twang that i possibly would have done i had used the original method of passing the string through the pulling arm from the top.

[Madhatter]

looks like you did a great job installing that...
I'd love a b bender some day too

[Buckocaster51]

That's interesting.

In picture #3 of this series it looks like the body has been nearly routed into two pieces.

There has to be a story about whey you did not use the templates in picture #1.

I'm still a bit baffled about how that string is attached to the bender. Would love to see a picture of the top of the bridge.

and...I think it is about time that you DO go into the details about how you came across that gizmo. ... am I correct in thinking that they are really hard to find?

Input! I need more input!

[soltwanger]

Originally Posted by Buckocaster51

That's interesting.

In picture #3 of this series it looks like the body has been nearly routed into two pieces.

There has to be a story about whey you did not use the templates in picture #1.

hahahahaha i did use the templates!! i just didn't have the right router guide. hey, i know the installation is shoddy as anything. i don't care, i'm not selling it. you can't even see any of the routing anyway hehe. you think brent Mason's grey tele is pretty to look at??

well.... i can tell you i got hold of it because john shelton heard my music, and told his son adam to listen to it. we have since became good internet buddies, then he mentioned his dad was the inventor of the shelton b-bender system. i asked him if there was any chance he still had any kits lying around, and he did. so i said '£75. final offer' and thus my plan was born.

so thankyou Adam and John. you guys are legends for doing this for me.

Buckocaster, there isn't much happening under the bridge, apart from a lot of string breakages at the moment, which i will eventually sort out if i can be bothered any time soon. The string just passes up through the guitar as normal. there is nothing on top of the bridge that pulls it. it just literally passes through the actuation rod holo on its way through the body. as i said before, the movement and principal is similar to that of a standard behind-the-nut bend. This was my own addition, as the string tower thing just seemed wrong to me. so i changed the design. I still need to file the hole down and possibly line it with rubber or summat, as i think the sharp edges are causing the breakages. but as i said, i cannot be bothered at the moment, all i want is a nice cup of tea ......

[Buckocaster51]

Originally Posted by soltwanger

all i want is a nice cup of tea ......

and I think you earned one!

[BrianF]

Originally Posted by soltwanger

I still need to file the hole down and possibly line it with rubber or summat, as i think the sharp edges are causing the breakages.

summat?

Rubber will be too soft. The string will slice right through it. You will need some sort of very smooth, hard (ie steel), and rounded edge for the string to pass over. The angle that the string takes as it goes over the saddle will also compound the necessity of this.

Note in a Parsons White style the string angle (as it goes over the saddle) is fairly shallow...not too shallow, but shallow enough that it doesn't break the string and smoothly slides over the saddle, while still maintaining sufficient downward pressure on the saddle.

Even brass saddles are too soft (the string eventually saws a notch in brass)...needs to be hardened with no sharp edges and string break angle not too steep in order to not break a string.

[soltwanger]

excellent, thanks brianF! the string isn't snapping over the saddle, it is snapping at the actuation rod that the string passes through (the bit that bends it) and I do think sharp edges are the problem. the easy solution is just for me to take your advice and try to round off the steel.

thanks!