Conference napalm::guitar

    
    
    I have not heard of them until recently.  A country player,
    (I think his name was Albert Lee) demo'ed one in a recent
    Guitar Player sound page and he made it sound pretty cool.
    I got the impression that you had to butcher your guitar
    to install the thing, though.
    
    frank
    

    You definately don't have to butcher the guitar to use one.
    You unscrew the strap button, and insert the hipshop and replace
    the button. The rest is a flat plate that sits on the face of
    the guitar with felt backing.

    re: .1
    
    Frank,
    
    I think what you're thinking of is the Parsons-White string bender,
    which requires you to rout out a big channel through the body of
    the guitar.  I understand that Jimmy Page used one on several of
    the songs he did with "The Firm".
    
    From the diagrams in Guitar Player on that device you really had
    to cut up your guitar for it.  
    
    I remember the ads in G.P. for the Hipshot, but can't remember ANY
    details.   I've definately never seen one.
                                 
    Greg
                                              

    
    re: .3
    
    Ya, that must be the one.  I really must plead gross
    ignorance about these things having never even heard 
    of them until that GP issue. 
    
    Hey Mark, I think you should buy this Hipshot thing. 
    It might sound kinda hip.
    
    frank

    Yeah, I'd agree...if it's cheap and doesn't require any irreversable
    mods to the guitar, how can you go wrong?  It might be fun and if
    you don't like it, you can probably sell it for what you paid. 
    If it doesn't take any mods, maybe the store would let you try it
    out for a weekend or something too.
    
    Go for it!
    
    And let us know how it is, if you decide to give it a try.
    
    Greg

    
    I knew a guy who played local in the Worcester area who had one
    on his Tele.  Yeah, it worked just great, you just have to get used
    to shifting the guitar to your left, so the levers bump your hip
    and bend the string.
    
    The Parsons/White bender has had more popularity but *does* require
    serious surgery to your Tele.
    
    

    I have seen the parsons string benders in guitar player, too. 
    These require the back of the guitar to be routed out. It consists
    of metal linkage which connects from the bridge to the strap button
    closest to the headstock. By placing downward pressure on the guitar
    you can bend one of the strings (I think the B string). 
    
    Neat idea, but requires radical butchery.
    
    Mark J.
    

    I forgot to mention one thing about the Hipshot. The lever that
    does the drop D is just a lever that you flip with your hand, but
    the B string bender works off of a Hip lever, similar to a knee
    lever on a Pedal Steel/Lap steel, Hence the name "Hipshot". As was 
    mentioned in a earlier reply, you have to get used to holding the 
    lever against your hip and push the guitar forward to effect the 
    bending. I would imagine you could play the guitar in your lap and use
    the lever as a knee lever rather than a hip lever. This would be
    great for playing slide.
    
    The lever is easy to remove for when you want to put the guitar back 
    in it's case.
    
    I am thinking a little more seriously about buying one now. I will
    have to start saving my pennies, as I just blew all of my stashed
    cash on some other toys.
    
    Mark Jacques
    

    Parsons-White String Bender
    
    I have had a Parsons-White string bender for 8 or 9 years now. 
    You are right in that installation requires major surgury.  The
    back is routed out plus a couple holes for the wheel that pulls
    the b string and for the stop adjustment.  The stop is normally
    set for a full step bend/pull on the b string.  Gene Parsons also
    has an e string bender now, works off the guitar strap peg on the
    end of guitar.  I can't see much use for an e bender.  One puts
    pressure on the neck to pull the string. It is very easy to learn
    to use the Parsons bender.  In fact, several guitarist couldn't
    tell I was playing a bender by watching me play.  Using the hip
    seems awkward.
    
    I have had a lot of fun with the bender.  It is amazing the number
    of different bends and sounds one can get.  I listen to other players
    that use them for ideas.  Albert Lee, Frank Record (emmy lou harris),
    Ricky Skaggs, the early Eagles, Bob Warford (linda ronstadt), Clarence
    White (late byrds, flying burrito brothers), etc.  I had Gene Parsons
    put it in for me while I lived in San Fran area.  A few other local
    pickers also had them.
    
    Gene does a top notch job of installing them.  Mine and my brother's
    have worked flawlessly.  Sounds like the hip shot is cheaper.  The
    Parsons-White bender is $250 installed.
    
    Let me know if anyone gets a bender.  Would like to trade licks.
    
    I am currently moving from Utah to Colo Spgs, and my guitar is still
    in Utah.  Should have it out here in a few weeks if anyone wants a
    demo or wants to see how it is installed.
    
    Dave Gleason
    CSC/CS
    

   
     Re. .9 what kind of guitar is your Parson-White string bender installed
    on? All the ones I have seen have been on Telecasters. I am surprised
    he came out with an E string bender, like you said I can't see much
    use for it. He should have done a G string bender instead. I would
    like to be able to drop my G string by a whole step and back again.
    That would work great with bar chords.
    
    	I am sure the Parson bender must be easier to use than a Hipshot,
    but keep in mind the difference in price, plus the fact that the
    Hipshot is easy to attach/detach, and is not an irreversable change
    to the guitar. I believe Hipshot offers a deluxe model which has
    a G string bender as well as B string bender and drop D lever. That
    one sounds like it would be worth getting into.
    
    
    Mark Jacques
    

    Has anyone had any further experience with hipshots since 1988?
    I'm interested in getting one, primarily for the drop D side.  A number
    of the songs my country band wants to play have sig riffs which feature
    a low D.  Playing those notes an octave up just doesn't get it.
    
    I'd also like to know if hipshots are available for bass.  Or at
    least the drop-D component.
    
    I'd also heard an interview with Adrian Legg (on Fresh Aire maybe?) in
    which he described a tuner that he uses which can do something like
    this.  But if memory serves (remotely possible, but unlikely), he
    described a tuner with some sort of built-in stop which would allow him
    to simply reach up and twist to the stop, dropping the string by a
    whole step (or whatever he'd set the stop at).  Apparently he had these
    thingys on all his strings and used them to change to alternate tunings
    on stage between songs without having to have multiple guitars set up.
    
    Can anyone cast any light on this?
    
    	Rick 

    I remember the hipshot for bass, but now I can't remember where I saw
    it.   Best guess would be one of those mail-order music catalogs.
    Mike
    

Hipshots are available for Bass.  They have a lever for drop tuning along 
with a set screw to tune the dropped note.  I use mine for drop D tuning on 
the E string (that eagles tune "Get over it" is one song).

The set screw tunes the low note, so you just need to throw a lever to get 
down to D, in perfect tune.

Any reputable music store should stock them for you.  Depending on the type 
of tuner (Shaller, Gotoh, etc.) it could run you 70-90 bucks.

Joe

    Can I get the same rig for geetar?  This is good info for our bass
    player.  At  <$100 it's much cheaper than a 5 string :-)
    
    I've seen them in the Carvin catalog, but not in every issue - the
    latest copy, for example, does not list them.
    
    	Rick
    

re: .14

>    Can I get the same rig for geetar?  
    
Do you really need  one for guitar?  It's so easy to manually tune the
low E down to D, and you even have the fourth (D) string to tune it 
against.  I've been playing dropped-E stuff on guitar for years and
never felt the need for a special tuner. 

Bass is a different matter, though, as I feel like the low E on bass
is the most difficult to tune.  Fortunately, the bass hip-shot tuners
are commonplace and very easy to find.

-Hal

    I had forgotten about this topic, but have since had my own bout with
    "bender-mania".   A friend of mine has Teles equipped with each of the
    three major benders (Parsons, Glaser, and Hip-shot) so I've been able
    to demo em side by side.
    
    The Parsons is clearly the daddy of em all.  Playing one of these is
    almost like sex :-)  The bend is activated via the forward strap button;
    push down on the guitar and up goes your B-string.  It can be adjusted
    for full and half step bends.  The movement is effortless and natural;
    it just feels really cool to have the guitar respond in this way.  My
    immediate reaction was "I want one!".  Unfortunately it'll cost you up
    to $500 to have one installed these days.  Still, I can see why someone
    would pay the bucks.
    
    The Glaser works off of a similar idea, but the mechanism is activated
    by a lever protruding from the neck plate which replaces the strap
    button.  This one had a two way action; pulling down bent the B and
    pushing the guitar way from you bent the G.  The double bend capability
    was more interesting, but this one didn't feel as nice as the Parsons.
    
    The Hip-shot was the most awkward of the three to use.  I didn't like
    it that much, but it did the job.  It's also cheap and requires no
    permanent modification of the instrument, so it's still tempting.
    Another plus is these can be configured to bend any combination of
    strings you want.
    
    Note that Fender now offers an American Standard Tele with stock
    Parsons bender installed.  It looks slightly different than the
    original ones I've seen; the forward strap button looks like it's
    attached to a bent metal arm that hooks around the back of the guitar,
    while the original had the button sliding in a channel cut into the
    body.  The new method looks a little clunkier but is obviously easier
    to manufacture.  Also, on the originals the mechanism is visible
    underneath a plexiglass cover, but on these new ones it's hidden
    by sheet metal.  Just preference I guess, but I always liked seeing
    the mechanism exposed.
    
    /rick
    

        I seem to remember that Adrian Legg uses Scruggs tuners on his
        guitars, but maybe custom made...
        
        Andy
        

    RE: HipShot
    
    I have a hipshot B-bender on my Tele and it works "ok". It has a pull 
    adjustment so you can get less than a 1/2 tone gain, to a full tone gain, 
    or anything in between. It only cost me $20.00, so it wasn't a major 
    expense. As Rick mentioned, you don't need to screw it into the body 
    of the guitar, so it doesn't need to be a permenent installation, 
    however it really doesn't work great for me since it throws the "B"
    string out of tune from time to time. If you're just looking for something 
    to tune your low "E" string down to a "D" without alot of fuss then this 
    is the ticket!
    
    Personally, I don't think that my HipShot was worth more than $20.00.
    
    
    	Have fun,
    		  Fred