PRS B-Bender

[alantig]

I’d bet that Shawn will be able to give us a definitive answer to this question...

I was editing some video from Experience PRS 2012 (so I’m a procrastinator - I’ll tell you about it sometime), and I was looking at the video of Ricky Skaggs and Brent Mason. Because of the lighting, it’s really hard to tell, but it looks to me like Skaggs has a B-bender installed on his PRS - he’s pushing the guitar down, the strap isn’t moving, and the pedal steel-like sounds are pretty unmistakeable. I’ve never heard that anyone had installed a B-bender in a PRS, but this seems to be one. Does anyone know for sure?

I’m 99% sure - the only thing that leads me to doubt it was Mason was playing some licks w/the pedal steel sound right before that and he wasn’t moving the guitar. And I’ve seen Johnny Hiland and David Grissom (among others) do similar things.

 

[Shawn@PRS]

I've never seen one on a PRS, but I'll ask Paul about it.

 

[alantig]

The lighting was way too dark to see the back of the guitar. It may have been added later - there was no way to tell with what I was looking at.

 

[jvin248]

.

Quick google didn't show any PRS guitars with it, but benders have been put on Les Pauls, so it would be the same process for most PRSs.

Get a used SE and find a system to mod into it for experimenting.

custom build

production Gibson

Custom mod

 

[garrett]

I'm going to bet he had a Joe Glaser B Bender on there. Note the strap connection relocated to the neck joint.

 

[alantig]

I'm going to bet he had a Joe Glaser B Bender on there. Note the strap connection relocated to the neck joint.

Makes sense. I thought the strap was going to the neck joint. These will give me a better angle to look at it.

 

[garrett]

Makes sense. I thought the strap was going to the neck joint. These will give me a better angle to look at it.

He's definitely B-bendin' for sure. Brent is just being his amazing regular self.

 

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

 

[dsenoj]

That was my first Experience. I remember the discussion about the guitar. Paul wanted to make an electric for Ricky Skaggs but Ricky Skaggs wanted a B-Bender on it. PRS built the guitar and shipped it to someone in Nashville to install the B-Bender.

 

[alantig]

That was my first Experience. I remember the discussion about the guitar. Paul wanted to make an electric for Ricky Skaggs but Ricky Skaggs wanted a B-Bender on it. PRS built the guitar and shipped it to someone in Nashville to install the B-Bender.

Perfect - thank you. Confirms I'm not nuts. Well, not about this. Everything else...

 

[dsenoj]

Perfect - thank you. Confirms I'm not nuts. Well, not about this. Everything else...

Unless we're both nuts.

 

[Lister]

Funny, I was just watching the youtube vid of Gene Parson talking about Clarence and how B-benders came to be and now I want one!

Seeing that pic with the JR with bender has me wondering whether a SE One would work with a bender...Hmmmmm.

 

[alantig]

I don’t see why it wouldn’t work on an SE One.

I’d love to try one. It’s just a big investment in money and cutting up a guitar. As cool as they are, what really astounds me is watching guys like David Grissom, Johnny Hiland, and Brent Mason doing that with just their hands.