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Blue Strat

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Talkin' to yourself there, blue? ;):D Yeah, you'll be outside the 7-11, wearing bread-bag pants and shouting to the night about your whammyless guitfiddle, scaring the guy who's lookin' for returnable empties...

 

Must be somethin' in the air, as I just ordered one of those Epiphone "E-Z Benders", a string-bender that attaches to the stud tailpiece for pedal-steel style effects, bending a note within a chord or lick. Beauty part is, they only cost less than $35.00, not $350.00!

 

I can't wait to throw it on my open-D guitar; if they'll fit side-by-side, I'll get a second one and have individual benders on the 2nd (A) and 3rd (F#) strings. Twang-glang-kerrang!!

 

As for those Stets Bars, they look really well made, fugly, and yes, that's a hefty price for yet another mousetrap! It'd better be a better one!

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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I don't even use the tremolo on my strat, why would I want to spend that kind of $$ to put one on my Les Paul? :P

 

Seriously, though, it is cool that you can do it without any surgery. It's a shame it's so pricey. I wonder how stable it is regarding tuning...

May all your thoughts be random!

- Neil

www.McFaddenArts.com

www.MikesGarageRocks.com

 

 

 

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Originally posted by Caevan O'Shite:

Must be somethin' in the air, as I just ordered one of those Epiphone "E-Z Benders", a string-bender that attaches to the stud tailpiece for pedal-steel style effects, bending a note within a chord or lick. Beauty part is, they only cost less than $35.00, not $350.00!

Hey Kev!

 

Where did you find the $35 tremolo?

BlueStrat

a.k.a. "El Guapo" ;)

 

...Better fuzz through science...

 

http://geocities.com/teleman28056/index.html

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First off, it's not a trem, but a "bender"- sometimes called a "string puller"- that one string will anchor to, so that you can raise its pitch by a preset amount when you depress its palm-lever for "pedal steel"-type effects, bending notes within a chord or lick. Think Clarence White, Nashville, and Jimmy Page...

 

This one attaches to Gibson-style stud-tailpieces, with no modification needed on most or all guitars. (I'm not sure about the guitar case, though!) No routing or permanently installed hardware, and little or no change to your overall set-up. Cost me $34.94, with Fed Ex ground shipment. You know I'll post about it when I get it on my guitar!

 

Here's the EZ-Bender page at MusicYo.com ; check out the little vid-demo, it explains it all seeing and hearing it played a little.

 

http://www.musicyo.com/product_images/772_hero.jpg

 

If two will fit side-by-side, I'll get a second one and have individual benders on the 2nd (A) and 3rd (F#) strings on my open-D guitar, a Les Paul "Gem" with soapbars.

 

http://www.musicyo.com/product_images/772_full.jpg

 

Fantasticsound- a.k.a. Neil- tipped me off to where I could find these; THANKS, NEIL!! They were out of them at that time, but I registered for an automatic e-mail notification when they got 'em back in. Now I'm just waiting for it; it should be in sometime next week or so!

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Might want to get some small strips of brass to cushion the screws a little, you odn't want them digging into your tail piece. Those set screws have a tendency to do that, ya know. :(

 

That's not really what I'd be looking for, although it's kinda neat, I guess.

BlueStrat

a.k.a. "El Guapo" ;)

 

...Better fuzz through science...

 

http://geocities.com/teleman28056/index.html

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quote; Jesuschrysler said: Stewart-Macdonald has'em for $105.95

I've heard from others that their's and the Freedom Guitar Bowen Handle are junk. :(

Don't sell anything. Just keep it all. Let it pile up and see it grow tall. Up thru the roof and into the sky. More is always better so pile it sky high.
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Originally posted by Caevan O'Shite:

...Fantasticsound- a.k.a. Neil- tipped me off to where I could find these; THANKS, NEIL!! They were out of them at that time, but I registered for an automatic e-mail notification when they got 'em back in. Now I'm just waiting for it; it should be in sometime next week or so!

I thought you'd forgotten all about this, Kev! Cool that you'll finally have one! I'll look for Dan Schafer's number if you have any questions regarding the bender. (He helped develop it and probably owns at least one of every bender ever made! :D )

It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman

 

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Neil, that is so very cool. And appreciated!

 

Yeah, they were flat out of stock for quite a while. I ordered one yesterday. When I get to see if it looks like they'll fit two side-by-side, if so, I'll put two on there.

 

I'll let you know when I get to try it out.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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It would be easy to make that style bender into a tremolo. You'd just want the cam for each string, all connected on a shaft, with a lever at one end of the shaft. Connect it to the stop tail piece and away you go. :)

 

Kev, I might want the dimensions of the clamp section when you get it. I might make a DIY tremolo out of aluminum. :thu:

BlueStrat

a.k.a. "El Guapo" ;)

 

...Better fuzz through science...

 

http://geocities.com/teleman28056/index.html

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Just so you know, it will only raise in pitch, and is not spring loaded; the string anchors on it, and the string's tension pulls the lever open. When you push down on the lever, it pulls the string tighter and raises its pitch; when released, the string pulls the whole schebang back again. A set-screw is adjusted as a "stop" to determine the full-range of the bend, so that if you want a whole-step up bend, you set it accordingly. Half-step? Adjust for less range of motion, fine-tuning by ear (or tuner). It's like the pedals and knee-levers on a pedal steel.

 

Stewart MacDonald has some stop-tail stud-mount whammies for Les Paul-style axes, as well as Bigsbys, for considerably less than the Stets bar, if you're interested. Apparently, they have about a half-step up and down range of pitch change; Floyds they ain't.

 

http://www.stewmac.com/catalog/images_1sm/4616_1sm.jpg

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Originally posted by fantasticsound:

Originally posted by Caevan O'Shite:

...Fantasticsound- a.k.a. Neil- tipped me off to where I could find these; THANKS, NEIL!! They were out of them at that time, but I registered for an automatic e-mail notification when they got 'em back in. Now I'm just waiting for it; it should be in sometime next week or so!

I thought you'd forgotten all about this, Kev! Cool that you'll finally have one! I'll look for Dan Schafer's number if you have any questions regarding the bender. (He helped develop it and probably owns at least one of every bender ever made! :D )
I'm a fan of string benders (I mean that in the generic sense). I've got a Hipshot which I put on my Tele from time to time and it's conceptually very similar. My question is this: Have you tried it Neil? Does it return to pitch fairly well? I've tried all sorts of things to keep the Hipshot in tune, and don't get me wrong - it's a cool tool - but it's not the most stable device insofar as tuning.
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BTW, I'm on my second Hipshot - sold the first one with a Tele years ago. On that one I had dual benders - the B hip bender and a G palm bender. I really liked that arrangement and it WOULD be cool to be able to use two of these on a single guitar. And the price is certainly more than reasonable - assuming it stays in tune.
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Originally posted by Caevan O'Shite:

Stewart MacDonald has some stop-tail stud-mount whammies for Les Paul-style axes, as well as Bigsbys, for considerably less than the Stets bar, if you're interested. Apparently, they have about a half-step up and down range of pitch change; Floyds they ain't.

 

http://www.stewmac.com/catalog/images_1sm/4616_1sm.jpg

Well, I'm not going for the Floyd effect, just a slight detuning for surf music riffs. I can make one of the StewMac trems too. It's not that difficult.

BlueStrat

a.k.a. "El Guapo" ;)

 

...Better fuzz through science...

 

http://geocities.com/teleman28056/index.html

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I'll keep ya posted when I get mine, too, Philip! I'm expecting to at least have to use some Teflon gel on it, or even a mix I made of the Teflon gel and powdered graphite- Super Lube! I might even have to go to a Graph Tech saddle (or saddles).

 

However, from my experiences aproximating this type of "bender" by pulling on the string with my finger between the bridge and stop-bar tailpiece, it probably won't be too much trouble. I already apply the aforementioned "Super Lube" to the nut-slots and bridge-saddles (in very small amounts) and always pre-stretch my strings 'till they will barely go out of tune at all, and even then only by a little bit.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Originally posted by Philip O'Keefe:

I'm a fan of string benders (I mean that in the generic sense). I've got a Hipshot which I put on my Tele from time to time and it's conceptually very similar. My question is this: Have you tried it Neil? Does it return to pitch fairly well? I've tried all sorts of things to keep the Hipshot in tune, and don't get me wrong - it's a cool tool - but it's not the most stable device insofar as tuning.

Never have tried it, Phil. I worked at Gibson Customer Support and wanted to purchase one. At that time, they wanted $50 for it (even to employees) and, as Kevin also encountered, they were out of stock for months at a time.

 

I'm guessing you and Dan could swap a lot of techniques, Phil. He worked with me a lot at Opryland, but at the same time was touring with Shania.

It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman

 

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Thanks Neil.

 

Yeah guys - please keep us posted once you give this thing a try. I may just have to pick up one (or if possible, two) for my Les Paul if they work as well as we all hope.

 

So, please tell me more about that "super lube". I've got an old tube of teflon (from Radio Shack, if memory serves) and I just put a tiny amount of that on the bridge saddle and nut slot. If that's unavailable, I've been known to use pencil lead (graphite) in an emergency... where are you getting the powdered graphite, and in what ratio are you mixing them?

 

Hope I'm not asking you to reveal some old family secret. ;)

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"Family Secret"! Hah! Heh heh!

 

I've got the zactsame Radio Shack "Archer"-brand Teflon gel lube as you, Phil. (Catalog No. 64-2301A, if anyone's interested.) Works great, huh!?! I can't remember what, where, when about the graphite, it was just something that was around the house, I think you can find the stuff in most hardware stores and the like; they sell it for putting into temperamental locks, etc.

 

I just mixed it up in a little plastic bottle. DO NOT get it on bare wood or scratches and cracks in a finish, especially maple. It'll make a stuborn grey stain that wicks under clearcoats and around nut-slots on maple like a sonuffabitch! A small gob of goop will do. "Slicker 'an snailsnot onna brass doorknob inna rain."

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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