NGD: Tele B-Bender Content

[ericmeyer4]

New tele day!

Specs:
USA Fender neck
Ash body
Kinman Broadcaster pickups
CTS 250k pots, .220 Orange Drop cab, Switchcraft jack, CRL switch - 50s wiring
Double cut vintage bridge with compensated steel saddles
Hipshot b-bender



Hipshot Will Ray labeled b-bender - I took the tension spring off and replaced it with a rolling string tree. I think it works a little better and looks a bit nicer.



Double cutout bridge to allow for easiler picking near the bridge. I took off the original brass saddles and replaced them with steel compensated ones. The steel should keep the string from cutting into the saddle after alot of b-bending and it should add a bit of twang.



Fender amp knobs (ala Muddy) and a bent switch (ala Gatton)



Replaced the cup/retainer clip setup with a LP jackplate.



Bakalite paisley pickguard



And the required family shot - B-bender with my '86 1968 RI w/ Duncans

[the guy who invented fire]

Very cool!

String benders can give you a lot of cool sounds!

I used my Melody Maker again at a gig last night...so much fun!

[ItsaBass]

Effin' sweeeeet! I've wanted a B bender for a while. Not sure if i want it to be a Tele, though. I wish Gibson would do a Page #3 B Bender Les Paul...

[MetalManiac]

Sweet! Great pics. You're really quite the Tele Guru.

[That90'sGuy]

That's one of the sweetest teles I think I've ever seen. Just plain awesome!

[Fender_Punk]

Very nice! I always enjoy seeing a well-modded Fender. Congrats on the NGD.

[Sprinter]

Nice!

[ericmeyer4]

Thanks guys!

I need to go back over the wiring. I went with the 50s wiring and I noticed if I roll the volume down past 8 it chokes off the tone and a lot of the volume. I'm going to try it with the standard wiring and then with the treble bleed.

[cayle_6]

That's really nice!

Btw, where did you get those hangers?

[ericmeyer4]

That's really nice!

Btw, where did you get those hangers?

I got them from stringwing.com. They have a ton of stuff for both electric and acoustic instruments.

[GuitarDoc]

Very nice looking Tele.

What does the back look like? Who installed the B-Bender?

[ericmeyer4]

Very nice looking Tele.

What does the back look like? Who installed the B-Bender?

I did the bender install myself. It was pretty simple, you take out the screw that holds the strap button on, place the bender on the body, then reinstall the strap button with a longer screw. The only tricky part was moving the locking washers around to get the bender arm lined up. The cool thing is that you could set the unit to bend any string you want just by moving the arm.


I also took another crack at the wring last night and replaced the 50s style with the treble bleed circuit. My initial impressions were good, but I haven't had a chance to really dig into it. Another thing I noticed is that the neck pickup is a little muddy when played by itself. I might change that out for a minibucker later on down the road.

[GuitarDoc]

Wo. I thought you had to rout out the back of the guitar to make it fit and work properly.

That's pretty simple.

[ericmeyer4]

Wo. I thought you had to rout out the back of the guitar to make it fit and work properly.

That's pretty simple.

Hipshot makes a Parson/Green style bender that requires routing, but it was like $300 plus installation. There are several others on the market, but those too were upwards of $600 for the unit and included the installation fees. This one I got second hand on eBay for $75 and took about 10 minutes to install. I figured, for the time being, this was the better buy. And if I wanted I could go back and add additional bending and drop tuning levers.

[TheLivingDead]

That's pretty cool right there.

I'd have no idea what to do with a B-bender though!

[ItsaBass]

That's pretty cool right there.

I'd have no idea what to do with a B-bender though!

Bend the B!

[TheLivingDead]

Oh!

[Kam]

That is one of the coolest guitars I've ever seen.

I, too, thought the B-bender required some major surgery to install. The one you've got there seems very simple and hassle-free, which is really cool.

Anyway, that's definitely a unique and personal instrument. I hope you enjoy it.

[ericmeyer4]

That is one of the coolest guitars I've ever seen.

I, too, thought the B-bender required some major surgery to install. The one you've got there seems very simple and hassle-free, which is really cool.

Anyway, that's definitely a unique and personal instrument. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you! Now I just need the time to play it. I might change out the neck pickup for a minihumbucker or firebird pickup down the road. I need to get to know it first. Initial impression so far is that I love the sound of the bridge pup, kinda of meh on the neck. However, I haven't been able to put the guitar through its proper paces.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Nice stuff man!