B-Bender
A mechanical device fitted to a guitar that raises the second string by a chosen interval — most often a whole tone — when the player pushes the neck away and down.
The original design hides inside the body and runs a lever to a pivoting mechanism attached to the strap button, so the pull is produced by the player's body rather than by a pedal or a bar. It gives a country-style pedal-steel bend on a normal-looking guitar, and because the movement comes from the torso it leaves both hands free for chords or bends elsewhere on the neck. Later versions add a second lever for the G string.
Example: a slow bend up a whole tone on the B string while holding a chord is the move that made the device famous in country and country-rock playing.
See also
Related
- PageTremolo
- PageAction
- PageArchtop
- PageBaritone guitar
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley
- PageAd-Rock
- ReferenceCircle of fifths