What is a String Bender?
The String Bender is a system of levers and springs that is places in an appropriate fissure in a solid-body guitar. It works on one or two chosen strings (usually the lower two), by raising them a half or a full step, depending on the adjustment. To comand the system, you need to work on the neck of the guitar: in fact, the various levers and springs that control the system are attached to the hooks on the body of the instrument. The effect gives a sound similar to that of a pedal-steel, which is normally used in country music. The designer of the system is Gene Parson, who built the first model on the specific request of Clarence White. It’s a pretty common instrument, even outside typical country music (Jimmy Page used it with Led Zeppelin).
