B-Bender Ric

[loopyreed]

Just curious...anybody ever seen a Rickenbacker with a B-bender? If so, I'd like to see one too.

I imagine a properly equipped bender Rick would give any bender Tele some stiff competition in the false-pedal-steel game.

[jimk]

Interesting.

JimK

[jingle_jangle]

MUCH cooler is the Bigsby Palm Pedal--no routing and the ability to bend two or more notes with no whang-dang-doodle strap button nonsense...

http://www.bigsbypalmpedals.com/

I've got a vintage BP-12, but it's gold, so it eventually will go onto one of my Gretsches.

[blueflamerick]

How about a Timara string bender instead?

http://www.timarastringbenders.com/t-2000.html

[jingle_jangle]

Wow. Looks it was adapted from a Muncie top loader. How would you get it to fit a Rick, I wonder, since it hangs off the bridge?

[loopyreed]

Personally I prefer the Higgins Peg Bender - http://www.bradivarius.com/pegbender.html - over most I've tried. But what I was looking for was someone who already has a B-bender Ric, if it exists. I wonder how it sounds or if it's even possible. I bet Gene Parsons could rig something up, for the right amount of money of course.

[jingle_jangle]

Yeah, except that thing and the, er...guitar (?) he's got it hooked to are strictly from the back pages of a '50s crooked-bookshelf DIY magazine like "Plastic Wood Monthly" or "Elbow Grease Review", in terms of eye appeal. It is another "invention" with a "workmanlike", as opposed to "elegant", solution to a problem. About all it needs is steam power and we'd have a really radical concept!

Some of you guys might think that I focus too much on looks, but there is an axiomatic saying that, "if it looks right, it is right", and that thang looks all wrong, period...so does the instrument that it adorns. And although both work to the inventor's satisfaction, there's something lacking there that keeps it out of the realm of being a real product. I wonder if MVP Gretsch has resurfaced yet again?

I agree with one thing--non-invasive is best, and the Palm Pedal is non-invasive and not strap-happy, either. The idea of hogging out a Rick and then plastering on a cover to hide the nastiness is just hard on my soul...

[loopyreed]

Yeah, except that thing and the, er...guitar (?) he's got it hooked to are strictly from the back pages of a '50s crooked-bookshelf DIY magazine like "Plastic Wood Monthly" or "Elbow Grease Review", in terms of eye appeal. It is another "invention" with a "workmanlike", as opposed to "elegant", solution to a problem. About all it needs is steam power and we'd have a really radical concept!

Some of you guys might think that I focus too much on looks, but there is an axiomatic saying that, "if it looks right, it is right", and that thang looks all wrong, period...so does the instrument that it adorns. And although both work to the inventor's satisfaction, there's something lacking there that keeps it out of the realm of being a real product. I wonder if MVP Gretsch has resurfaced yet again?

I agree with one thing--non-invasive is best, and the Palm Pedal is non-invasive and not strap-happy, either. The idea of hogging out a Rick and then plastering on a cover to hide the nastiness is just hard on my soul...

That's something I don't understand about that website. Why did they show that guitar...thing? Nobody thinks it looks good. Looks like somebody took their Peavey T-60 to Intro to Bandsaws class and that was the midterm project.

Although the looks are a bit off on the Higgins, it is actually a very elegant solution to the problem since most Bender players prefer the Parsons/White strap-activated action but, like you said, are a little wary of carving a huge hole in their prized guitar. I figured most Rick owners would be opposed to that, but maybe there is someone here crazy enough to have done it.

[jimk]

I've been following this thread, and biting my tongue (and now my tongue ith thore). Here's how I'd address the situation; fageddaboutdit and get a lap steel. No drilling, no oopsies on Ricks, and all the cool licks via the slide you want. And by bending a string behind the slide with a finger, you can achieve some pedal steel like effects, just like a B bender.

JimK

[jingle_jangle]

OK, Jim you can let go of your tongue now...

I think there is a place for a somewhat more flexible dual-purpose instrument for types of music that demand it. To start out with a guitar (a very commonly-played instrument) and adapt it to play steel-type slides and chord transitions does serve a purpose, sonically and creatively (as any Byrds/Burrito Bros. fan can attest).

I just have difficulty with hogging away at any guitar for this sort of thing. I don't even like to drill extra holes if they can be avoided. And guitars remain for me one of the most visually engaging of musical instruments, due to their deceptive simplicity yet amazing variety.

So, the Palm Pedal gets my vote, although on a Tele it does look strange.

[kiramdear]

I haven't seen one of these in 35 years. Very cool.

[jingle_jangle]

That's the one for SGs and the like. (As if the neck wasn't bendy enough )

I've got one of the Model 12s, which is for thinline, large-bodied, semi-hollow guitars "like ES335s" according to the manufacturer. (They have apparently forgotten Gretsch, from whom they obtained the rights a few years back.) This morning, I got mine out of its box and held it up to my 6122-59 Che Atkins, and it's a perfect fit; even mounts using the same holes as the standard Bigsby that's on it.

So, it's time to try this thing out. Interesting possibilities, although it is quite limited in scope with only 2 levers.

They make them with up to SIX levers, which makes the guitar look like a cross between a combine and a medieval torture device.

[winston]

Interesting Paul. I have never seen a Bigsby Palm Pedal before. Let me know how it sounds.............I hope you don't end up playing nothing but country music as a result though..............it's easy to get "hooked".

[kiramdear]

They make them with up to SIX levers, which makes the guitar look like a cross between a combine and a medieval torture device.

Perfect for punk rock.

[jingle_jangle]

Interesting Paul. I have never seen a Bigsby Palm Pedal before. Let me know how it sounds.............I hope you don't end up playing nothing but country music as a result though..............it's easy to get "hooked".

I'm gonna use it for surf