Any other cool guitar devices I need to check out? Get any course 50% off or any bundle 2 courses for the price of 1 with promo code "HOLIDAY22" over at www.samuraiguitartheory.com
I bought Certano Benders for my lapsteel. Similar idea. They also have them available for regular guitars as well. But it does require drilling into the body.
I remember seeing Rob Scallon’s b bender guitar and always thought how cool it’ll be on a few more strings. Sounds super great but does seem to take a while to get over the learning curve
I thought the same when i saw Robs video. Although I am very bad at using trem arms, it would be nice to just mess around with it. And it seems that this doesnt cut into the body like a b bender does.
Your versatility as a player continues to baffle my mind dude. The compositions you throw together to just review a piece of gear are great. The effort does not go unnoticed.
@@PineMountainMusician unique tunings exist in every genre. midwest emo is just wankery with suburban tantruming, super idiosyncratic and mostly completely unoriginal.
I never ever was a country fan, but after picking up guitar, I have a deep appreciation for lots of it. There are some seriously world class guitar players in country music!
I’ve never understood how a guitar player couldn’t listen to and appreciate all guitar. I love the country players. In the 90s when the rock guitar solo died even Shania Twain kept a lead guitar.
Being able to jump into a drop tuning with a flip of a lever sounds so convenient lol It's not hard to just tune down a step but it's still cool that a concept like this exists.
@@daveycroc82 I have that on 2 of my telecasters along with drop banjo tuners on the high E and A strings and strap pull benders on the B and G strings.
I am by no means a country fan, but I am a fan of Telecasters, and this seems like a really interesting product. It would be fun to see how something like this could be incorporated into something like punk rock or ska-punk, though surf seems like an obvious fit.
Page is all over the B bends on the out door album. He uses it very modestly on a few other albums. It's a very prominent sound and part of the melody in All of My Love
Classic country is some of the best guitar work though. When I was learning, country was the furthest thing from my mind. I was learning Led Zeppelin, Rush, Sabbath, Cream, etc but living in the southern states, if you want to gig regularly and make good tips you gotta play some country. It made me a way better guitarist, gave me a new found love for a genre I neglected, and made me sound more like Jimmy Page than learning the Zeppelin songs did. 🤘😂 Considering he had lots of folk/country influence
Marty Stuart is the master of the b-bender. He actually plays the original Parsons b-bender as his main axe and bends in just about every song. Check out his videos with the Fabulous Superlatives for a master class.
Yep Marty is one of my guitar heros! His Clarence guitar is very cool! I’m surprised at how much he uses it still even with so many advances in bender systems and bender technology. Although it should be noted he has and uses many other guitars as well, but him playing Clarence is pretty iconic.
First time I ever heard of the b bender was a Jack White interview and I've wanted one badly since, but would likely never use it, so... I'll probably order one soon
I added a Hipshot to my Jazz bass a long time ago- It's great having a low D. Then when I started playing a 5-string, of course I tried the Hipshot on the low B to take it down to an A. It's awesome and frightens guitarists!
Even their non-trick tuners are a game changer, had a good bass with the giant heavy open back tuners (with the four installation screws), so much neck dive. Hipshot Ultralites solved that issue, though I probably should fill all those holes from the old tuners.
@@ianthomson9363 I’ve played around with a similar set up. Threw one on the g string just for the hell of it cause I had a lefty I couldn’t use otherwise. I always wanted the Michael Manring set up with them in all 4 strings of a 4 string but when I bought it I was not aware this requires a much larger than average headstock.
@@joermnyc for sure. Their bridges are also amazing. The open string hook for the bridge makes changing strings so much quicker and simpler than threading the string through a closed hole.
I'm in the industry and have had dealings with Hipshot. It's worth knowing that alongside making excellent products, they're really great people. Always helpful, even though you know they're rushed off their feet.
I've been a hipshot user for about 5 years now. It completely changes how you play guitar. I have one on a strat and one on a Telecaster. fantastic product
@@RufusWhite the trick is to get a strat bridgewith a low shelf behind the saddles, and then tall bent metal saddles. I use a Guitar fetish bridge, worked out perfectly There are also some very nice people on ebay and reverb who make hipshot saddles that have screws with holes drilled through them that I am looking into getting. just make sure you keep the strat blocked, obviously, I made a video on mine, you can kind of see what all I did
It’s like a Trombone w/F tachment allowing you, the player, to find & alter notes without having to use speed, techniques & tricks. It puts it in 1 place for you to use w/little effort. Nicely done!
A friend of mine in high school her dad play guitar for Chaka Khan and he had a guitar that was like this with multiple bender bars one bar bent multiple strings at the same time while another would only bend one. Very interesting. I was literally just thinking about this today and your video popped up crazy.
This is pretty much the same thing that Michael Manring uses on his Bass. His mechanical parts are way more sophisticated, and since he plays fretless, it really completes the unique sound. What you're doing with it sounds pretty cool though.
came here to say the same! it’s not quite the same but almost - check out Make Weird Music’s more recent interview with him, he really breaks down how it works
I'd love to hear how it sounds trying to use it with Distortion or Crunch to try and find some new techniques! Could be a game changer! Or sound terrible lol!
the benefit of this system is, if you wish, you can install the plate a little higher, so side-hipshot will raise g-string and palm-lever will raise d-string. I got two G&Ls - no need to replace the bridge; to reduce friction I installed roller riders in the bridge. And I put a little graphit underneath the strings where they cross the saddle.
I've thought this for a while, because you seem like the kind of guy to enjoy a country guitarist (and originally a banjo player) in a hard rock/prog metal kind of environment, but with this video I hear too much of their sound to deny it, but you should listen to Mastodon, particularly their more modern work. They're a prog band from Georgia and their lead guitarist is heavily inspired by country and blues and they also happen to be my favorite band on the planet. Three of their four members are vocalists with unique timbres to their voices, and I'm never disappointed with their quality. They even use lapsteel in their EP Cold Dark Place and I'd think you'd enjoy it Mr. Sammy G. Bit of a long shot, but I figured I'd try.
It’s cool how it’s not invasive on the actual body of the instrument. In other words ya didn’t need to drill any holes or anything. It’s like a B-bender + or something. Love it!
I used to do this with the Roland VG8. It was like having a Whammy Pedal for each string separately. The only problem was (apart from all the foot pedal activity) that if your amp wasn't up loud enough then you could hear the acoustic string pitch along with the shifted amplified sound. I'd love to see a mechatronix version of this like the robot tuning machine heads.
I remember seeing Jack White give a run down of his B bender guitar and he uses a hipshot on it for quickly switching to Drop D (and also for adding a G bender I think)
This. I just left a comment saying the same thing before I saw yours. Idk if it was released at the same time but I saw that video when he released “fear of the dawn”
Comments from a pedal steel player: I added a (different) lever-based B-Bender to my Tele - now I can't put the guitar in a case... a significant drawback that often goes unmentioned. With Parsons' design, of course that's not a problem, although pulling the guitar down to activate via the guitar strap is also awkward. Also, as you mentioned, the Hipshot's side motion is also super awkward. Sounds great though and you came up with some nice stuff to play.
the bottom flip seems like a great way for allowing drop tuning riffs as well as regular tuning riffs and chords to be incorporated in a single song. Honestly I would love to see something that is just that switch and no need for the rest :D especially if it could also somehow work with Evertune, and especially once the tremolo version of Evertune gets released...
I've never heard of this either, though I've never played that style of guitar. I am really impressed by it's efficient and effective design. This sounds like some gimmicky idea that would never actually function properly, but man that sounds awesome. Totally agree, I would switch that hip lever with another one by the hand. The low D doesn't seem necessary though (might be cool to half step it for some harmonic minor and modal stuff) For many years I would only play in drop D because at first that's the kind of stuff I started playing, but once I evolved into more full chord shapes and expanded my tastes, I simply learned how to play the vast majority of chords you can play in standard with a different hand shape. I always asserted that I could play virtually anything someone else could play in standard while I was in D (except needing a low e drone) and I was right the vast majority of the time. I can't recall the songs but I do remember there were a couple of times I had to tune up to e but for the most part, I prefer to just have that low D available and play - and still do to this day (over 20 years later lol.)
Hipshot used to make a bridge called the trilogy, that had switches similar to the one on the low E, but for all 6 stings, and each string had three settings. I saw a guitarist in a bar band once doing sort of roots-rock Micheal Manring-ish stuff with tons of pitch shifting on the fly.
Oh, yeah, a friend of mine uses a hipshot b-bender on his Tele, as well as a little switch that loosens the low E to throw the guitar into drop D. He's a killer musician across multiple instruments, and very tasteful. I highly recommend checking out Chris Stafford.
What makes it fun is listening to players to see how they use benders, and to realize how they do it so seamlessly. I saw an interview with Brad Paisley, and he talked about how it allowed transitional notes and phrases you couldn’t comfortably pull off just with your left hand. You have explained this further for me. Thanks!!😎
Looking at this, I'm imagining a mod where you attach a bicycle brake cable to it going down to a foot pedal (like on a piano), rather than using the hip lever. Seems like that might be a good bit less awkward to use. (For that matter, you could probably hook it to a model-airplane servo that's actuated electronically, which would give you something a lot more flexible to connect to the foot pedal.)
"How did it take me so long to discover this?" That is really a good question. How can you listen country as a guitarplayer to and never wondered about this effect? BTW: Even as a metalhead you have heard it in Unforgiven 2 by Metallica
unforgiven 2 features a traditional tele with a b-bender built in. this device requires no such routing, instead having a pretty straight-forward installation process. a traditional b-bender doesn't have a g-bender or drop d lever either. this essentially succeeds the original invention in every way, offering so much more for less effort.
Its more often heard from a lap steel guitar which has pedals similar to this device. I think the most distance the Telecaster country shredders will usually take this is just the B bender. The G is also pretty damn useful as a lot of country intersects minor and major thirds in the same time, like the vocal playing minor and the guitars playing major.
I've known about B Benders for years, but an attachable one that had a drop D and G bender was something I somehow managed to completely miss...plus it's just a good title ;-)
@@rayk9598 oh, I see, thx! been revisiting the unforgiven 2 recently so it’s a fun piece of new information to take into consideration for appreciation from a slightly different angle.
Look up Certano benders located in France. Also available on Reverb. I have one on my budget lap steel, but he also makes a version for Tele's. Easier to use than the Hipshot, but that Hipshot design is pretty smokin.
I owned a HipShot system with B and G benders for about 15 years. I purchased mine from the one and only Will Ray of the Hellecasters. Ever before that, I purchased a second hand 68' Telecaster with a homemade foot pedaled B bender, around 1983. Check out Clarence White playing lead in the Byrds as they perform Dylan's song, You Ain't Go8ng Nowhere, and see Clarence pumping the neck up and down. Merry Christmas to All Telecaster lovers.
The hip shot is indeed a game changer, I’ve got four now. Here’s a nice tip, that little silicone sleeve for the strings passing through the bridge.. snip a quarter inch off and feed the string through that under the string tree as well. And lube your nut. Enjoy
The Hipshot Bender is on all 4 of my teles. In addition to the B bender, the "band guitar" has a toggle on the 6th and 5th strings. That way, when on stage, I can get into a dropped D tuning easily, and an open G tuning fairly quickly by moving both toggles; only having to re-tune the 1rst string for Rolling Stones covers. The problem is, as you stated, having to always use a strap or stand up. I'm now in my mid 70's and my legs won't let me stand all night. So if I sit, I have to use excessive. motion to operate the bender. But I'll figure something out... Great channel. Love all your vids!!
It's great to see you gave credit to Gene Parsons for starting it all. He bent my Telecaster, and it's a top notch job. Yeah... he still works out of his shop at 80 years old. And he's an amazing kind and genuine human being.
Fun fact: the trem bridge was developed by Leo Fender and Paul Bigsby to emulate the sound of steel guitars. Also, the first commercial use of a string note lever was first used on lap steel guitars in the 1930’s. Banjo’s also used tuning levers early on.
I just have a single bend hipshot palm lever b bender on my tele which I love ( country licks are new to me as I only joined my Texan frieds band two years ago - such fun!) You can also now get a palm lever tail piece for a les Paul too - so I got one of those too - both work well and are reversible mods ( handy if I ever want to sell either guitar as the market for such niche mods must be tiny) love your work etc..👍🎸🇬🇧😀
Duesenberg has had a similar device for years. It is a bit different, but with I think better engineering and the option to bend multiple strings at once.
If you have a spare guitar laying around and are ok with drilling some holes in it, check out the Bigsby Palm Pedal (if you can find one. They've been out of production for a long time). I was introduced to it in college by a picker named Boomer Castleman who knew a guy in Sweden or Finland who was selling some (this was in 2001). It was only $60 (plus shipping), but was well worth it. It's basically the palm bender idea from this gadget, but has two adjustable pedals for B and G sitting on a Bigsby tremolo tailpiece. I ended up modifying my with a reverse lever for the A string that drops it a whole step, which can be fun. The only drawback is that the pedals can get in the way of the strings sometimes, but Boomer suggested shortening them to my liking, which was easy to do as they're made out of aluminum, so I filed them down nice and smooth to where my hand could rest around them and they sit out of the way until I press with my palm.
I went with the Rolling Bender on my Strat/Tele hybrid because it let me keep the trem system. I only have a B Bender but still helpful to get pedal steel sounds!
Damnnnnn Sammy Rye! Absolutely beautiful song and playing! You are one of my heros. I can't get past beginner/ intermediate level playing after 3-4 years. I'm straight as an I beam, but I'd huff a thousand cokks to play even 1/4 as good as you.
How do you know huffing a thousand cokks won't make you a better guitar player at the very least you would be good at some thing and if all else fails have you considered selling your soul
!!! Greetings from Montréal, Québec, Canada !!! Just bought myself a 'Telecaster Guitar' sooo, shall look into that 'Hipshot' device !!! Thank you for the video, keep up the great work !!! Cheers !!!
Something I'm assuming would work as well is harmonic bending, another thing this system would enable that would be nearly impossible without it. Cool product.
Will Ray, ex-Hellecaster, is a brilliant user of this system. Another Hellecaster player, Jerry Donahue, does insane simultaneous bends just with bare hands.
The best use for this in my opinion is to access harmonics that aren't available in standard tuning for example bending the 6th of the chord up or the 7th down to get a 970c harmonic 7th or a 932c minor harmonic 7th or bending the 11th up or the #11th down to get a harmonic 11th of 550c.
The second best one is using the option to drop the E string by a whole step and raise the B string by a whole step to play the accompaniment of the Tontoko Family flash game music using the accurate chord voicings on guitar.
Interesting.. my first 'decent' guitar was an Ibanez AH320H - the H denoted the Hipshot D-tuner. It looks like they've built it into this without changing much at all, the lever and tuning knob look exactly the same. The D-tuner was quite helpful as a beginner/intermediate rock & metal guitarist, especially when I started playing live in a cover band.
Actually, after your comment near the end about replacing the hip lever with another palm lever, I think I have seen either this device or something very similar used on a lap steel to sound like a pedal steel. In a video here on UA-cam.
I’m actually building a Tele project right now and planned on installing one of these. My dad has one on his Tele so I’ve been hooked on this mechanism for awhile now!
Any other cool guitar devices I need to check out? Get any course 50% off or any bundle 2 courses for the price of 1 with promo code "HOLIDAY22" over at www.samuraiguitartheory.com
Not a gadget, but I'm using a push/push pot to switch between 50s and 60s tone wiring... Not extreme but nice to have.
Vegatrem VT2 Tele bridge.
Similar function is the Bigsby palm pedals. I had a pair on my '61 Gibson 30 years ago. Raises pitch on G & B strings to simulate pedal steel guitar.
I bought Certano Benders for my lapsteel. Similar idea. They also have them available for regular guitars as well. But it does require drilling into the body.
Maybe Virtual Jeff Pro, or other whammy bar alternatives
I remember seeing Rob Scallon’s b bender guitar and always thought how cool it’ll be on a few more strings. Sounds super great but does seem to take a while to get over the learning curve
IIRC was it Bob from I like to make stuff who built this guitar for Rob. An intriguing project.
@@Craftlngo He also made Rob Scallon's shovel guitar
That’s why it’s fun! Doesn’t have to be easy)
I thought the same when i saw Robs video. Although I am very bad at using trem arms, it would be nice to just mess around with it. And it seems that this doesnt cut into the body like a b bender does.
Was how to butcher a guitar video.
Your versatility as a player continues to baffle my mind dude. The compositions you throw together to just review a piece of gear are great. The effort does not go unnoticed.
He is quite an amazing musician.
He never ceases to amaze and impress with his guitar skills.
-AND- He makes it look effortless and easy peasy!
Indeed!
Now combine it with a chordinero for the ultimate test of finding something that's probably never been done before
And I thought my Steinberger Synapse Transcale had a clever solution with the built-in capo.
The potential for midwest emo riffs with this thing is insane
yuck
@@duderinoificationwhat do you mean yuck?
@@PineMountainMusician midwest emo is just nasty. one of those genres where i just immediately want to yank the power cord to make it stop
@@duderinoification I don’t think so, the guitars are always really uniquely written because of the strange tunings
@@PineMountainMusician unique tunings exist in every genre. midwest emo is just wankery with suburban tantruming, super idiosyncratic and mostly completely unoriginal.
I never ever was a country fan, but after picking up guitar, I have a deep appreciation for lots of it.
There are some seriously world class guitar players in country music!
Some of the very best come out of the country and bluegrass genre.
I’ve never understood how a guitar player couldn’t listen to and appreciate all guitar. I love the country players. In the 90s when the rock guitar solo died even Shania Twain kept a lead guitar.
Cringe
@@kcb5336 ...because mastering the craft means you encounter things you do and don't like.
Chet Atkins is one of the best guitar players of all time and very underrated
Being able to jump into a drop tuning with a flip of a lever sounds so convenient lol
It's not hard to just tune down a step but it's still cool that a concept like this exists.
If you want just that then hipshot also do just a version for dropping the E string. It replaces the tuner instead of going at the bridge.
@@daveycroc82
I have that on 2 of my telecasters along with drop banjo tuners on the high E and A strings and strap pull benders on the B and G strings.
"Gradually, I drifted off to sleep, pranging ducks on the wing and getting off spectacular hip shots." - Adult Ralphie, A Christmas Story (1983.)
"OK Black Bart, now you get yours"
Drink. More. B benders?
fra-gee-lay
You'll shoot your eye out!
@@ultrakool Must be Italien…
I am by no means a country fan, but I am a fan of Telecasters, and this seems like a really interesting product. It would be fun to see how something like this could be incorporated into something like punk rock or ska-punk, though surf seems like an obvious fit.
Is ska still around?
feel like this would also work really well with with something like midwest emo
It’s really cool with synth guitar
Page is all over the B bends on the out door album. He uses it very modestly on a few other albums. It's a very prominent sound and part of the melody in All of My Love
Classic country is some of the best guitar work though. When I was learning, country was the furthest thing from my mind. I was learning Led Zeppelin, Rush, Sabbath, Cream, etc but living in the southern states, if you want to gig regularly and make good tips you gotta play some country. It made me a way better guitarist, gave me a new found love for a genre I neglected, and made me sound more like Jimmy Page than learning the Zeppelin songs did. 🤘😂 Considering he had lots of folk/country influence
Amazed at just how naturally you adopted it in a seamlessly musical way. I’m not into country at all but this all sounded real neat.
It's crazy how quick you get up to speed with new things,even the microtonal guitar you make it seem like you've been using these things forever
Its kinda his job.
@@captaintony1227 how does that go against what he said? It his job; still crazy
@@captaintony1227 still impressive though
@@Home-u6g exactly. He's really well rounded.
It took me long enough to get good at changing my tone and volume in the middle of playing... This thing is amazing
I don't play much anymore but if I start up again, that's exactly why I'll get an electric with only one tone and one volume😀
@@FC-cz6zd Younger me would've appreciated that. My first guitar has two of each 😂
Appreciating the seamless transition at 3:10
lmao it was so seamless I didn’t even notice it
Impeccable transition👌
You are gifted with a video camera skills and guitar
Was there any?
Marty Stuart is the master of the b-bender. He actually plays the original Parsons b-bender as his main axe and bends in just about every song. Check out his videos with the Fabulous Superlatives for a master class.
I was waiting for that. The famous B Bender.
Neverheardofher
I saw Marty at the Ryman with the Byrds amazing
Will Ray of Hellecasters fame is pretty good too!
Yep Marty is one of my guitar heros! His Clarence guitar is very cool! I’m surprised at how much he uses it still even with so many advances in bender systems and bender technology. Although it should be noted he has and uses many other guitars as well, but him playing Clarence is pretty iconic.
First time I ever heard of the b bender was a Jack White interview and I've wanted one badly since, but would likely never use it, so... I'll probably order one soon
Lol, this is the way
Hipshot makes such awesome stuff. I love their extender keys. I have them in nearly all of my Basses.
I added a Hipshot to my Jazz bass a long time ago- It's great having a low D. Then when I started playing a 5-string, of course I tried the Hipshot on the low B to take it down to an A. It's awesome and frightens guitarists!
Even their non-trick tuners are a game changer, had a good bass with the giant heavy open back tuners (with the four installation screws), so much neck dive. Hipshot Ultralites solved that issue, though I probably should fill all those holes from the old tuners.
@@ianthomson9363 I’ve played around with a similar set up. Threw one on the g string just for the hell of it cause I had a lefty I couldn’t use otherwise. I always wanted the Michael Manring set up with them in all 4 strings of a 4 string but when I bought it I was not aware this requires a much larger than average headstock.
@@joermnyc for sure. Their bridges are also amazing. The open string hook for the bridge makes changing strings so much quicker and simpler than threading the string through a closed hole.
I'm in the industry and have had dealings with Hipshot. It's worth knowing that alongside making excellent products, they're really great people. Always helpful, even though you know they're rushed off their feet.
I've been a hipshot user for about 5 years now. It completely changes how you play guitar. I have one on a strat and one on a Telecaster. fantastic product
Do you need anything special to install this on a strat? I had a look on the hipshot web page and could only see ‘telemarketing’ ;)
@@RufusWhite the trick is to get a strat bridgewith a low shelf behind the saddles, and then tall bent metal saddles. I use a Guitar fetish bridge, worked out perfectly
There are also some very nice people on ebay and reverb who make hipshot saddles that have screws with holes drilled through them that I am looking into getting.
just make sure you keep the strat blocked, obviously, I made a video on mine, you can kind of see what all I did
I saw someone say it's like midwestern country emo, that is such a perfect description 😂
What a gorgeous guitar on its own.
It’s like a Trombone w/F tachment allowing you, the player, to find & alter notes without having to use speed, techniques & tricks. It puts it in 1 place for you to use w/little effort. Nicely done!
A friend of mine in high school her dad play guitar for Chaka Khan and he had a guitar that was like this with multiple bender bars one bar bent multiple strings at the same time while another would only bend one. Very interesting. I was literally just thinking about this today and your video popped up crazy.
This is pretty much the same thing that Michael Manring uses on his Bass. His mechanical parts are way more sophisticated, and since he plays fretless, it really completes the unique sound. What you're doing with it sounds pretty cool though.
came here to say the same! it’s not quite the same but almost - check out Make Weird Music’s more recent interview with him, he really breaks down how it works
As a rock guitarist, that makes me wanna play some good old 70s-90s country
I'd love to hear how it sounds trying to use it with Distortion or Crunch to try and find some new techniques! Could be a game changer! Or sound terrible lol!
Thank you Samurai! Your knowledge is appreciated! 🇨🇦🙏
3:14 I dig that cutaway and belly cut on the Tele!!!
that's pretty cool. I think all the other junk gimmicks out there probably prevented you from discovering it sooner
the benefit of this system is, if you wish, you can install the plate a little higher, so side-hipshot will raise g-string and palm-lever will raise d-string.
I got two G&Ls - no need to replace the bridge;
to reduce friction I installed roller riders in the bridge. And I put a little graphit underneath the strings where they cross the saddle.
This is one of the coolest guitar gadgets I've ever seen. It's a shame that even the cheap model is NEARLY FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS
Love it!
Thank you for the demo and link!
I've thought this for a while, because you seem like the kind of guy to enjoy a country guitarist (and originally a banjo player) in a hard rock/prog metal kind of environment, but with this video I hear too much of their sound to deny it, but you should listen to Mastodon, particularly their more modern work. They're a prog band from Georgia and their lead guitarist is heavily inspired by country and blues and they also happen to be my favorite band on the planet. Three of their four members are vocalists with unique timbres to their voices, and I'm never disappointed with their quality. They even use lapsteel in their EP Cold Dark Place and I'd think you'd enjoy it Mr. Sammy G. Bit of a long shot, but I figured I'd try.
Yeah I'm sure Sammy has listened to Mastodon.
It’s cool how it’s not invasive on the actual body of the instrument. In other words ya didn’t need to drill any holes or anything. It’s like a B-bender + or something. Love it!
One of the best guitars I've ever played was a B bender tele, but this seems like a whole new level.
I used to do this with the Roland VG8. It was like having a Whammy Pedal for each string separately. The only problem was (apart from all the foot pedal activity) that if your amp wasn't up loud enough then you could hear the acoustic string pitch along with the shifted amplified sound. I'd love to see a mechatronix version of this like the robot tuning machine heads.
𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺👆👆
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 🎁
I remember seeing Jack White give a run down of his B bender guitar and he uses a hipshot on it for quickly switching to Drop D (and also for adding a G bender I think)
This. I just left a comment saying the same thing before I saw yours. Idk if it was released at the same time but I saw that video when he released “fear of the dawn”
yes, Jack's
"Three-Wheel-Motion Low Rider Telecaster" :D totally crazy guitar
Comments from a pedal steel player: I added a (different) lever-based B-Bender to my Tele - now I can't put the guitar in a case... a significant drawback that often goes unmentioned. With Parsons' design, of course that's not a problem, although pulling the guitar down to activate via the guitar strap is also awkward. Also, as you mentioned, the Hipshot's side motion is also super awkward. Sounds great though and you came up with some nice stuff to play.
I like odd stuff like that, but this bender seems to have too much going on. But, I'll probably end up with one eventually.
the bottom flip seems like a great way for allowing drop tuning riffs as well as regular tuning riffs and chords to be incorporated in a single song. Honestly I would love to see something that is just that switch and no need for the rest :D especially if it could also somehow work with Evertune, and especially once the tremolo version of Evertune gets released...
That pic of the Clarence White/ Marty Stuart tele is iconic. Not very many guitars are so iconic the back is as recognizable as the front.
I've never heard of this either, though I've never played that style of guitar. I am really impressed by it's efficient and effective design. This sounds like some gimmicky idea that would never actually function properly, but man that sounds awesome. Totally agree, I would switch that hip lever with another one by the hand.
The low D doesn't seem necessary though (might be cool to half step it for some harmonic minor and modal stuff) For many years I would only play in drop D because at first that's the kind of stuff I started playing, but once I evolved into more full chord shapes and expanded my tastes, I simply learned how to play the vast majority of chords you can play in standard with a different hand shape. I always asserted that I could play virtually anything someone else could play in standard while I was in D (except needing a low e drone) and I was right the vast majority of the time. I can't recall the songs but I do remember there were a couple of times I had to tune up to e but for the most part, I prefer to just have that low D available and play - and still do to this day (over 20 years later lol.)
Hipshot used to make a bridge called the trilogy, that had switches similar to the one on the low E, but for all 6 stings, and each string had three settings. I saw a guitarist in a bar band once doing sort of roots-rock Micheal Manring-ish stuff with tons of pitch shifting on the fly.
Oh, yeah, a friend of mine uses a hipshot b-bender on his Tele, as well as a little switch that loosens the low E to throw the guitar into drop D. He's a killer musician across multiple instruments, and very tasteful. I highly recommend checking out Chris Stafford.
What makes it fun is listening to players to see how they use benders, and to realize how they do it so seamlessly. I saw an interview with Brad Paisley, and he talked about how it allowed transitional notes and phrases you couldn’t comfortably pull off just with your left hand. You have explained this further for me. Thanks!!😎
I think I'd be happy with just the lever for the b-bender, to be honest.
I think they have one for just the B
Looking at this, I'm imagining a mod where you attach a bicycle brake cable to it going down to a foot pedal (like on a piano), rather than using the hip lever. Seems like that might be a good bit less awkward to use.
(For that matter, you could probably hook it to a model-airplane servo that's actuated electronically, which would give you something a lot more flexible to connect to the foot pedal.)
Its usually hooked to a strap peg, but that requires hollowing some routing of wood
"How did it take me so long to discover this?"
That is really a good question. How can you listen country as a guitarplayer to and never wondered about this effect?
BTW: Even as a metalhead you have heard it in Unforgiven 2 by Metallica
did they use this kind of systems in the song really? 😮
unforgiven 2 features a traditional tele with a b-bender built in. this device requires no such routing, instead having a pretty straight-forward installation process. a traditional b-bender doesn't have a g-bender or drop d lever either. this essentially succeeds the original invention in every way, offering so much more for less effort.
Its more often heard from a lap steel guitar which has pedals similar to this device. I think the most distance the Telecaster country shredders will usually take this is just the B bender. The G is also pretty damn useful as a lot of country intersects minor and major thirds in the same time, like the vocal playing minor and the guitars playing major.
I've known about B Benders for years, but an attachable one that had a drop D and G bender was something I somehow managed to completely miss...plus it's just a good title ;-)
@@rayk9598 oh, I see, thx! been revisiting the unforgiven 2 recently so it’s a fun piece of new information to take into consideration for appreciation from a slightly different angle.
You say the e-d switch doesn’t sell it but switching from standard to drop d would be a selling point for some I would think.
Sounds amazing, looks awful
Yes. It is more a studio device than a live performance device. You don't want to be seen with this. Definite babe repellent.
Jack White used to play a tele with that mod too.
He had a regular B-bender and then used the hipshot for the G-bender an drop D.
Look up Certano benders located in France. Also available on Reverb. I have one on my budget lap steel, but he also makes a version for Tele's. Easier to use than the Hipshot, but that Hipshot design is pretty smokin.
I owned a HipShot system with B and G benders for about 15 years. I purchased mine from the one and only Will Ray of the Hellecasters. Ever before that, I purchased a second hand 68' Telecaster with a homemade foot pedaled B bender, around 1983.
Check out Clarence White playing lead in the Byrds as they perform Dylan's song, You Ain't Go8ng Nowhere, and see Clarence pumping the neck up and down.
Merry Christmas to All Telecaster lovers.
As a video nerd, that transition at 3:14 was spot on :)
Now you just need a duesenberg fairytale lap steel to kick it up a notch.
I could see this being used in some wild mathrock
Matching headstocks really go well with rosewood/colored fretboards
The hip shot is indeed a game changer, I’ve got four now. Here’s a nice tip, that little silicone sleeve for the strings passing through the bridge.. snip a quarter inch off and feed the string through that under the string tree as well. And lube your nut. Enjoy
Trogly's guitar show channel showed us you're getting a reverse firebird with 3 p90s. Really looking forward to seeing that one!
The Hipshot Bender is on all 4 of my teles. In addition to the B bender, the "band guitar" has a toggle on the 6th and 5th strings. That way, when on stage, I can get into a dropped D tuning easily, and an open G tuning fairly quickly by moving both toggles; only having to re-tune the 1rst string for Rolling Stones covers. The problem is, as you stated, having to always use a strap or stand up. I'm now in my mid 70's and my legs won't let me stand all night. So if I sit, I have to use excessive. motion to operate the bender. But I'll figure something out... Great channel. Love all your vids!!
As always duder, sick vids and great demos!
It’s always fun to find gadgets that can widen your horizon and boost your creativity
This looks like it needs rolling saddles and a roller nut to keep in tune during a full concert, but the amount of options it gives you is insane.
I have one of those on a Tele- I just drilled holes in the bridge behind the saddles like a top loader- works great for the dough
It's great to see you gave credit to Gene Parsons for starting it all. He bent my Telecaster, and it's a top notch job.
Yeah... he still works out of his shop at 80 years old. And he's an amazing kind and genuine human being.
Tha was some absolutely great stuff you came up with using that thing!
Fun fact: the trem bridge was developed by Leo Fender and Paul Bigsby to emulate the sound of steel guitars. Also, the first commercial use of a string note lever was first used on lap steel guitars in the 1930’s. Banjo’s also used tuning levers early on.
I just have a single bend hipshot palm lever b bender on my tele which I love ( country licks are new to me as I only joined my Texan frieds band two years ago - such fun!) You can also now get a palm lever tail piece for a les Paul too - so I got one of those too - both work well and are reversible mods ( handy if I ever want to sell either guitar as the market for such niche mods must be tiny) love your work etc..👍🎸🇬🇧😀
I like that this mod lets you adjust more than just the one string, as opposed to a b-bender.
That's an ol piece of country guitar tech.🤠 Sweet 💚👍
That opening demo is already deeper and more engaging than most whole songs I hear nowadays
Duesenberg has had a similar device for years. It is a bit different, but with I think better engineering and the option to bend multiple strings at once.
If you have a spare guitar laying around and are ok with drilling some holes in it, check out the Bigsby Palm Pedal (if you can find one. They've been out of production for a long time). I was introduced to it in college by a picker named Boomer Castleman who knew a guy in Sweden or Finland who was selling some (this was in 2001). It was only $60 (plus shipping), but was well worth it. It's basically the palm bender idea from this gadget, but has two adjustable pedals for B and G sitting on a Bigsby tremolo tailpiece. I ended up modifying my with a reverse lever for the A string that drops it a whole step, which can be fun. The only drawback is that the pedals can get in the way of the strings sometimes, but Boomer suggested shortening them to my liking, which was easy to do as they're made out of aluminum, so I filed them down nice and smooth to where my hand could rest around them and they sit out of the way until I press with my palm.
this is one of your best videos for sure
Sounds great! Cool sound!
This is actually amazing. Thank you for showing us this! 🤔 Now, we need to send one to Sugizo of Luna Sea.
I went with the Rolling Bender on my Strat/Tele hybrid because it let me keep the trem system. I only have a B Bender but still helpful to get pedal steel sounds!
This is so cool! I had seen these on lap stroll guitars but I never thought of using them on a standard electric!
This looks like something Jeff Beck would have an absolute field day going wild with
He doesn't need this he does it without this contraption.
it's nice to be back on the channel and listen to some ol' Sammy G playing. thanks
Damnnnnn Sammy Rye! Absolutely beautiful song and playing!
You are one of my heros. I can't get past beginner/ intermediate level playing after 3-4 years.
I'm straight as an I beam, but I'd huff a thousand cokks to play even 1/4 as good as you.
How do you know huffing a thousand cokks won't make you a better guitar player at the very least you would be good at some thing and if all else fails have you considered selling your soul
Welcome to the family.👍
That last little jam you did was SICK
𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺👆👆
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 🎁
2:16 Bingo! before you even said anything about it that's exactly what I was thinking; Fender Tele & Country Music. ;)
you are adapting quite well man. welcome to the 'country' ! I enjoy your channel always.
sounds dope af
Very happy to see a good number of lefty versions available
That has to be a nightmare for tuning stability
But imagine this combined with a Floyd and metal soloing
At some point you'd be best off making six little bridges with six little whammy bars.
!!! Greetings from Montréal, Québec, Canada !!! Just bought myself a 'Telecaster Guitar' sooo, shall look into that 'Hipshot' device !!! Thank you for the video, keep up the great work !!! Cheers !!!
I need this ...Thanks! Great video love your stuff! 🍻
OK, using the volume pedal there totally nailed the sound of a pedal steel!
B benders are pretty cool. Always loved the tele sound
Something I'm assuming would work as well is harmonic bending, another thing this system would enable that would be nearly impossible without it. Cool product.
I'm watching this video now. Very Cool! Waiting to see if this device eliminates the possibility of using a tremolo bar...on the same guitar.
have been subbed for a while.
I JUST found this thru your short on it I am ashamed of myself for not having found this earlier 🤣🤣 great video
Will Ray, ex-Hellecaster, is a brilliant user of this system. Another Hellecaster player, Jerry Donahue, does insane simultaneous bends just with bare hands.
My playing is very simple, so I was failing to see much of a practical use for this, until you said slide. Then 🤯
The best use for this in my opinion is to access harmonics that aren't available in standard tuning for example bending the 6th of the chord up or the 7th down to get a 970c harmonic 7th or a 932c minor harmonic 7th or bending the 11th up or the #11th down to get a harmonic 11th of 550c.
The second best one is using the option to drop the E string by a whole step and raise the B string by a whole step to play the accompaniment of the Tontoko Family flash game music using the accurate chord voicings on guitar.
Interesting.. my first 'decent' guitar was an Ibanez AH320H - the H denoted the Hipshot D-tuner. It looks like they've built it into this without changing much at all, the lever and tuning knob look exactly the same. The D-tuner was quite helpful as a beginner/intermediate rock & metal guitarist, especially when I started playing live in a cover band.
damn dude awesome demo of something that is surely not easy to make sound so great. That tele is really nice looking
Actually, after your comment near the end about replacing the hip lever with another palm lever, I think I have seen either this device or something very similar used on a lap steel to sound like a pedal steel. In a video here on UA-cam.
I’m actually building a Tele project right now and planned on installing one of these. My dad has one on his Tele so I’ve been hooked on this mechanism for awhile now!
Awesome! It amazes me how creative people can ve with a guitar