| In case anyone's interested, I found a place that carries them. It's
called Center Stage Music on Moody Street in Waltham. Real small place, but
they'll order the Hip Shot and install it on most basses for $50 or so.
It requires no modifications to the instrument at all, although in some
cases a direct match of the tuning key may be a problem if you have a highly
stylized instrument.
Seems to be a real neat device. I tried out a Fender J-bass with one
and it kept tune perfectly. If your nut snags a little bit, you need to pull
the string, but you could easily change tuning in a song without a problem.
I'd hoped that you could set different stops so that you could tune
to any semi-tone interval down to low C, but you can only set it for one
interval. Probably not that big of a problem.
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| An analog to the Hip Shot bass 'widget' is the 'B-bender'. Used
on the B string of a guitar (typically), the bender allows the player
to raise or lower (either/or...not both) the string a whole tone
by pushing the guitar down against the front strap mount. Through
a series of levers, the strap button movement (about 1/2 inch, I
think) is translated into moving the string ball retainer in the
appropriate direction. These units are EXPENSIVE...like $140 plus
your guitar gets severely modified. Does anyone out there know
of a local outfit thast does this mod? I've only seen one place
in LA that does it.
Other guitar widgets:
o Bigsby "Palm Pedals" - Like tiny whammy bars (two of 'em)
typically attached to the B and E strings
o B-Bender, rev. 2.0 - Ultimately provides the same function
the B-Bender ref'd above, but works
via a lever that extends over the 'tail'
of the guitar; you press it against
your hip.
As a pedal steel player, it drives me crazy not to be able to get
the same bends on the guitar. I've seen Albert Lee use a B-Bender
(rev. 1.0) and it was hot! Graham Parsons had one, but I never
saw him play it live.
Any other little goodies out there that I can fantasize about?
Regards,
Johnny Jupiter
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