I've been on the lookout for a bender tele for quite a while, and have finally located a pretty nice instrument. 3 color sunburst, maple board, 3 S/C's, and it feels really loosey-goosey and slinky with nice action. The inscription on the chrome plate on the back of the guitar reads Parsons/Green, not Parsons/White. This is a used instrument, but near mint, and I believe that it is a stock Fender American Series Nashville B-Bender Tele. I've traded my Deluxe Nashville Tele in as deposit, and should be picking up the guitar later this week.

I've been poking around at http://clarencewhiteforum.com and have picked up some stuff there. But those guys are pretty hardcore into this thing and are over my head at this point; and a lot of them are using high end benders like the Joe Glaser model.

Are there any bender players here at Toyz? Any stringing/tuning tips, maintenance tips, advice on using the +/- pitch wheel, or any other insight would be greatly appreciated. I'm a newbie.

I have the P/G bender in a 3-tone two pickup model. The bender works pretty good. The biggest and most consistent problem I have encountered with mine and from reading about others is that the B saddle on the bridge moves around alot. Sometimes (as with mine) you hear what sounds like a squeeky joint in the bender that needs oiling, and what it always turns out to be is that saddle chattering. What it turns out to be is the spring they use to keep the B saddle still on the intonation screw wasn't strong enough and as the b-string see-sawed back and forth across the saddle from the bender action it would rock. Mine got so bad that after just a few hours playing the little allen screw that adjusts the height of the saddle would vibrate up, lowering the saddle until the string was actually almost laying on the neck, and constantly out of tune. I solved the problem by fashioning a spacer that compressed that spring more and locked that saddle down real good. Now it stays in tune and doesn't squeek or vibrate. Also I experimented with those Graphtek saddles which helped alot as the stock saddles sort of suck (I have no idea what they were thinking when they switched to that modern American Standard bridge). I ended up leaving them on because they sounded good to me, though slightly warmer than real tele tone. Other than that it is a pretty low maintainance instrument. Mine is not terribly stock anymore, but I absolutely love it. Hope that helps. Feel free to ask any other questions. I'll try to help if I can.

I've encountered that vibrating allen screw thing with a strat before... what did you use as a spacer? I almost bought the Graph Techs at one point, but reviews seem to be real divided on how much they affect the tone of the guitar, so I passed. I've never played an American Standard bridge before now. Sorry to hear that it sorta sucks... About the +/- wheel on back - it just adjusts pitch of the bend, and the regular intonation is unaffected, right? Is the wheel something you set by ear, once every time you change strings, or how does it work for you? Appreciate your help mapleneck. Happy Thanksgiving.

For a spacer I found an aluminium tube about 1/8" in diameter up at the hardware store. It was about a foot long and I just hacksawed a small piece of it off and voila - a spacer. The whole tube was maybe $.50 so the extra 11+ inches is downstairs somewhere. It solved the problem pretty well.
As for that wheel. All it does is set the stop for the bender. You will get to know that wheel pretty well. It seems to roll around in the case since the guitar sits on it. Everytime I take mine out of the case it is a little out of tune. Not as big a deal as it sounds. Just play a C# on some other string and compare it to the b string with the bender pulled. It usually takes no more than a quick spin. The bender in general adds very little hassle to the playing experience, and can be completely ignored when playing music where the bender is out of place, and plays licks that can't be played without a bender. My bender tele actually has hotter pickups than my strat and I will often take the tele to rock or blues jams and just ignore the bender for the night. really a fine guitar and a great idea. Not to be over used, but a very tasty musical spice. Enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi mapleneck, I brought the guitar home today and have been working out with it for a few hours. I polished the B saddle with some emory cloth and applied some graphite here and there, and it seems to be working quite well. Haven't run in to the chattering saddle or any major tuning instability, but it's early yet. I'll be off to the hardware store when and if that happens. I'm starting to get a handle on the wheel. I set it up as you suggested, and used the C# on the G string as reference point. I noticed that when using the bender, it seemed to be a little bit more in or out of tune at various places on the neck, and I just kept tweaking the wheel until I'd found a happy medium. This is a used instrument, and I'm sure that starting with a fresh set of strings and a set up will be a more accurate gauge. I'd never played a B-Bender before - this is an absolute blast. I was surprised at how easy it was to start playing musical sounding phrases... of course there's been some seasick sounds and demented chords, and more to come, no doubt. And yes, I can see where it would be easy at first to over-use the bender, because it's just so much fun. I'm curious as to how you approached it musically when you got started - did you mostly emulate classic pedal steel licks, or go for later period Jimmy Page type stuff, or just experiment? Well thanks a ton for helping me get started on the right track.

I tried to learn mostly steel licks. I have several tapes that have great examples to take and run with. Will Ray, Dan Schaeffer, Paul McEwen, and Larry Miletich to start with. I got interested in the bender listening to old Clarence White stuff. He is still mister smooth on the bender. But listen to track one of a CD called Nashville Guitars to hear a modern take. It features many studio guitarists from nashville doing their thing, lots of bender licks. The first track is Jimmy Olander using a B and G bender. The double bender licks are incredible. I actually modified a Hipshot so that it would bend the G string while the P/G pulled the B string. That allowed me a few of those double bend licks. Lots of fun and endless possibilities. It was a big boost to my fretboard knowledge because it made me think in neck positions I would not have ordinarily. Really been a great purchase for me.

Yeah, Clarence's stuff is deceptively smooth. I spent some time today with Nashville West & some other Byrds, as well as just winging it with an old Merle Haggard record and the radio. The big finds today were that you can get half step bends with a light tug of the strap; mixing up the bender with conventional bends on the G & D strings; and realizing that this technique doesn't really work sitting down! Yeah, an old friend produces Diamond Rio and I've heard some beautiful Olander stuff, fabulous player. Speaking of dual benders - I surfed the web today and read that the G bender can be added to the P/W, but not the P/G. I'd like to hear more about your Hipshot tweak. Also found some videos by Dan S. that look cool. Right on about the fretboard - I've always thought in terms of triads, but this brings it more into focus. Which is why the half step tug of the strap was such a cool find.

Pretty much 'what you said' on everything. For stiing, get one of those Fender straps and cinch it way up high. You look goofy when you stand up though. I have two straps in my case, one for sitting and one for standing.

When you can do the half steps, all manor of non-country applications for the bender are opened up to you. Also the manual G bend and the B bender at the same time is very cool. Try this (and keep all strings ringing at all times) - make the A triad on the 5th fret (G,B, and E strings). Manually bend the G string a half step, while pulling the bender a whole step (time the bends to be as simultaneous as possible). You basically have a D triad now (don't bend that G string too far - yuck!). Then relax everything back to an A. Then quickly slide up the neck (remember all strings are still ringing) to the 12th fret to the E triad, then make the same bends. This time you are resolving to an A and hold it. Coolest pedal steel lick for the end of a song ever! Also it of course moves to any key, and it also works backwards (start at the 12th fret, then slide down to the 7th for a cool E combination). Very simple, but very effective.

As for the Hipshot. That turned into a project. First you have to get it into your head that you are going to do it, because it really alters the Hipshot. You have to grind an arc out of the base so that it will clear the B-string puller that sticks up through the front of the guitar. I didn't have a dremel or the nerve so I actually sent mine back to Dave Borishoff (a great guy to deal with) at Hipshot and he did it for me. They did an OK job considering they didn't have the guitar to go by, but it could look better. Scooting the arm lever over to the G string was no big deal, but the hip lever then hits the strap button, so that had to be moved. Another minor but noteworthy hint, when mounting the Hipshot, is to use a shorter screw then the original strap button screw, or use spacers (a nut and some washers worked fine) in the old strap button hole. The Hipshot is not as thick as a strap button which can allow the screw to go deeper into the body than it did with the strap button alone. Not a big deal unless you decide to remove the Hipshot someday and replace the strap button. When the hole is too deep screws strip easier, then you have that to fix. Whoops this is now a very long post, sorry. Just as a side note, I put Scruggs tuners on the E strings of this tele, plus the Hipshot has a D-tuner that I scooted over to A. Instant open G! The guitar has a 52 re-issue neck and all 52 reissue hardware (except the bridge) and pups. And I wired the pups 4-way to get the series option. Added a vintage tortoise shell pick guard and voila! Pretty cool guitar I think. I removed the Hipshot a few weeks ago to try and improve on the idea, but after the holidays I'll get that back together. It is by far the most economic way to get the double bend thing happening.

Aha!/duh... Okay, so now I also have the "sitting down" strap, much better. And yes, I look like a total bozo standing up with that strap.

Yeah, the first couple of days were spent doing the obvious major tonality things and just trying to get a handle on it. The half step tug brought the minor and beyond stuff in. Today I was checking out some Eastern sounding quarter-tone things. It's crazy what you'll play in your basement when nobody's listening... Your triad move is a cool lick, I'll use that for sure. It's taking a while to combine the conventional and mechanical bending. My natural inclination when pulling down on the strap is to drift pitch a bit on the manually bent note, just paying some rookie dues I guess. Also, I started re-learning some intros and endings that I'd always played with conventional bends, but it's just so smoooooth with the bender.

Well I've got a Dremel tool, not sure about the nerve... that does sound like a project, but worthwhile. Does the Hipshot affect tone or sustain? Scruggs tuners I've thought about too, so many cool possibilities. Still got my hands full with the single bender for now, but I'll get the itch, I'm sure. What kind of pups did you go with?

I never noticed much tone difference with the hipshot. But I am constantly tinkering with amps and effects too, so it might have slipped by. I have heard others complain that the d-tuner especially altered some sustain. When I put it back on I'll check more carefully.

Scruggs tuners are cool once you get used to them. They are something like 3:1 ratio so a bit difficult to fine tune at first, but you get used to it.

My pickups are out of the same '52 reissue that all the hardware and neck is from. They sound great to me. They have more output than my '57 reissue Strat, though not as sweet. This guitar easily drives Fender amps into classic rock or heavy blues territory without breaking a sweat. Not bad for a tele. Stills rolls back crisp and spanky when it needs to though. I want to hate that bridge so bad it hurts, but what if it is part of that tone? I guess I'll never know since there isn't a handy or affordable replacement.

I poked around at the Hipshot site today. Man, those guys make all sorts of crazy stuff.

My other Tele is a butterscotch '52 RI, and it's one of the best that I've played or owned. Mostly stock, but I flattened the board radius somewhat and installed slightly larger medium jumbo frets, and it plays like a dream. The only other thing I've done is the cap and resistor treble retention mod, which I'll do to the B-Bender as well. A lot of people aren't crazy about the American Vintage series pups that come stock in the RI, but I think they sound pretty nice too. I've A/B'ed mine with some vintage 50's Teles, and the sounds were actually much closer than I was expecting. I've read many comments from people seeking vintage type singles without "icepicky' high end, and I'm in agreement with that on Strats. However I really feel that if you start trying to optimize the high end response on Tele bridge pups, the classic Fender twang gets diluted in a hurry. When I play Tele bridge pups, I roll the tone knob down to about 7, and all is cool. Plus the extra highs are on tap for any extra zing that might be needed for certain passages. The only beef I have is that a bit more output would be nice on the neck pup, but the tone is nice. We've had guests here at the house, and I've mostly played the new Tele at low volume through my cheesy little solid state Park amp. I'll reserve judgement on those pups until I can crank with the band. Something I'm real interested in is finding the *best* middle pup for faux Strat tones in tandem with a vintage-style Tele bridge pup. One thing I noticed real quickly is that the tone pot has got to go in the new Tele. It doesn't have much range at all as compared to the '52 RI. As a reference point, you can't do the "manual wah" thing a la Danny Gatton with the tone pot that's in the B-Bender Tele.

I never have anything turned to 10 these days, especially the tone knobs on my guitar. The volume and tone both on the guitar offer too much tone variation to just park it at 10 and miss all that fun. I like bright, but not icepicky. But I have noticed that "icepicky" means different things to different people. I don't know what the American Standard pickups sound like to tell you the truth. This guitar already had the 52's in it when I bought it. The pot might not be the problem on the tone sweep you were talking about. As long as it is 250K. The real difference is probably the pickups and that bridge. The 52 is just probably more resonant. I would love a 52 reissue. My other tele is one that I have had forever. It is a '76 and I bought it in like '83 I think. It has the 1Meg pots in it, and it is VERY bright. It borders on icepicky if you don't reel it back a little, but it has these wonderfully microphonic old pickups in it, that have this undescribably great tele tone as long as you don't stand real close to a real big amp. It is that see through butterscotch witha maple neck. I love that guitar. The only mod I've made to it is to yank that volume bypass cap.