I have been thinking about buying a b-bender Telecaster but the Nashville Tele seems rather expensive to me as I just want to fiddle around a bit.

The hipshot model as used by Will Ray doesn't seem as natural as the Parsons/White model. So I thought about buying a cheaper Telecaster and a DIY B-bender kit.

Has anyone here used such a kit? Is it easy to do? Which cheap Telecaster would you recommend I use - one I wouldn't mind drilling, that would not break in the process and that would sound ok when finished?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-09-18 15:56 by gwen.

Hi Gwen,
I haven't used a kit yet, but I'm still tempted.
is it easy to do?
It depends on your router and wood working skills, I'd say.
it's pretty though, from my point of view - but it can be done if you follow the instructions carefully.
btw, is it a Parsons/Green - or Parsons /White model you'd want?
they're not quite cheap either, about $ 380.
for a reasonable guitar I'd use a Squire Tele - maybe not the Affinity series as the body is a bit thinner.

some hopefully usefull links:

[www.hipshotproducts.com]
[www.bbenderguitars.com]
[www.tdpri.com]
[www.iorr.org]

good luck with the project and keep us informed



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-09-18 22:42 by open-g.

It seems the Parsons/White is usually considered better than the Parsons/Green. There's a lot of talk about Glaser's but I have yet to find information about this one.

How much do you think it would cost to have it done by a pro ?

Nashville are about $1200 in the US, but crossing the Atlantic they put on some weight and land in Europe at around €1500. With a €500 guitar and €250 B-Bender, even if I have to pay someone to do it, I'm still far quite from retail price.

It's pity nobody's ever seen fit to market a lower cost licensed B-Bender,with the option of a ready routed Tele body onto which you could transfer donor parts [or build a new guitar around ].
How cool would that be ;^)
Wouldn't have tocost a fortune with Asian manufacture from decently durable materials.
I think they'd easily sell enough to justify the exercise. There must be a lot of curious players out there who would dabble if the cost and availability weren't so prohibitive.

I have not been able to find Parsons/White kits - it seems they only sell those along with the actual fitting job. However Parsons/Green are quite easily available.

Parsons/Green really seem more difficult to use.

I could find some pre-equipped Telecaster (not Nashville):

[cgi.ebay.fr]

There may be some more experts here: [www.tdpri.com]

There are B-Bender bodies and a Parsons/White (or similar) kit for sale here:

[www.wdmusic.com]

gwen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are B-Bender bodies and a Parsons/White (or
> similar) kit for sale here:
>
> [www.wdmusic.com]
> 13483_ctg.htm

Yes, but still not satisfying, is it?
I mean $ 500 for some metal levers and springs is a bit over the top, innit.
now add $ 300 for a pre routed body - you might aswell go for the ebait item.


they didn't even research and construct the real thing, which would justify that price - they are just rebuiling.

like Spud said:

"Wouldn't have tocost a fortune with Asian manufacture from decently durable materials.
I think they'd easily sell enough to justify the exercise. There must be a lot of curious players out there who would dabble if the cost and availability weren't so prohibitive."

must agree to that
...and those kinda prices are what held me off, so far.

open-g Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, but still not satisfying, is it?

Well, not really ;-)

Stay tuned for some news pretty soon !

So you pulled the trigger, Gwen?

looking forward - I'm tuned.

(deja vue message)

Open-g - I'd love to say more, but you know that ebay feel - Paypal'd the money, now will the seller send the damn thing at all ? Will it get lost or broken on the way ? Will it look and play as good as it looked on the photos ?

Yeah, I know.
keeping fingers crossed.

I received it today. An old Peavey Reactor that was sitting in a shop until the owner decided to fit it with a Parsons/White type B-Bender. It was on Ebay until I did "Buy It Now" for $529 (the previous prototype by the same seller, based on a Squier Affinity, hit $610). It's more or less what a DIY would have cost me.

The routing is may not be as clean as Gene Parsons' work, but it probably is much better than what I would have done. And it works and sounds great. I thought it would take me ages to get the move, but actually it is quite natural and you can get basic licks quite easily.

congratulations gwen!

Congrats from here too.
sounds like good deal and you're allready gettin' the feel for it - great.

what kind of pickups are in the Reactor?
how about some pics?

It seems the pickups are the stock Peavey pickups. The guitar is "crafted in the usa". The bridge pickup is very decent and sounds good. I haven't really tried the neck yet, it seems to sound muddy and lack definition, like lower end Tele neck pickups.

The original object on ebay is here, if you want some pics until I upload some:

[cgi.ebay.com]

Jimmy Page has really done some great solos with it, especially with the Firm back in the eighties. Here´s a link about the B-Bender:

[blogcritics.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-11-28 14:24 by Svartmer.

That looks just fine and the price is right.
I would have pulled the tigger too.

what about the tuners?
do they really suck, like the seller suggested?
well, no big deal if it's so


hey Svartmer, thanks for the link.
thats a good read.

The tuners do feel a bit weird. But I probably will change the neck as well (modern c-shape), sooner or later.