The “B-bender”

January 27, 2008 by Chris

I realize that some people who view this blog are not guitar players but just bloggers who happen to come across my page from time to time. For those few, I want to bring different insights about guitars and techniques that us players use that are invisible to most eyes and ears of music lovers! This topic may just bend your mind! (ok, that’s a bad one)

The tool that I wish to talk about is the “B-bender”. Basically, this devise bends a string a full tone (going from one note to the one directly above or below it) without having to use your fingers. It is also known as “The Third Hand”.

Ok, now imagine this if you will. Have you or have you ever watched someone pick any string on the guitar and then with another finger go to the head of the guitar (the part that you tune with) and push down on that same string that they hit? You would hear a bending or a sliding of a note, it would have sounded like a wah, wah like sound, didn’t it? Now that is what the B-bender device does but on the fly. The Pedal or Slide guitar is where the sound originates from.

This sound is just so relaxing to play. When I do through this lick in somewhere in a song, it has this calming effect on me and others as well I guess! The most popular song that show cases this is on the Eagles tune called “Peaceful Easy Feeling”, it’s the beginning guitar lick. Although I’m not a country player, I just love to throw this sound in just for some dramatic flare whenever I can!

The list of guitarist who use this type of device is a literal who’s who of guitar legends! Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards …

You get the picture now don’t you. BTW The image above is the schematics of this device.

This device was made by a man named Gene Sez in around 1966, but the main idea for this came from Clarence White. Clarence wanted to be able to deliver this effect but having it tied up to his guitar strap and soon it became guitar history! The first recording of this sound was when they were the house band at the Nashville West in El Monte in 1966. This CD is now considered by Guitar Player Magazine, “One of the top 20 essential country albums of all time.” Not bad of an idea now is it!

Keep on Jammin’ (or should I say bendin’?)

Peter Schmidt

January 20, 2008 by Chris

Good old Peter has been one of those great friends growing up in my early moving to Toronto period! We lived together at this dorm called Co-op Housing in the late 80’s.

Peter and Jeff Healey.

We soon found out that we were both guitar players early on and really liked our own playing styles. he was a lover of the blues then and now has taken it to a higher level today!

He use to be in a band with a few other high school and fellow Co-op students in a band called “The Big Kahuna”. They played mostly Stones, Red Hot Chilly Peppers and my favorite band that they covered perfectly was The Black Crows.

While gigging one night at a bar at 1130 Queen St East, called Stratengers, and I videoed them live and it was the start of my love affair with the video camera! I found a copy of it on a old “C tape” and when I can, I’ll throw it up on youtube for you all. Oh those were more simpler days. I don’t think that they have bands playing there but according to most T.O. pizza critics they have the best pizza on Queen St not to mention some awesome east Indian food!

He has played in numerous great blues bands, has toured extensively in Canada and the US and lives around 4-5 months of the year in Cuba! He teaches out of his condo in North York and just lives and breaths the blue 24/7. I STRONGLY SUGGEST that if you are looking for a serious blues teacher then he would be the be all and end all of your search! If you choose to contact him pleas tell him to “Do it up BIG TIME” and you’ll get a free first lesson!

Peter with his band in Cuba.

Please go to his site and check out for yourself his playing and PLEASE LEAVE a comment or e-mail him, it would be a favour for me if you did! If you do so, I’ll give you a free lesson off line and make it worth your while!

As Keith Richards would say “Love Ya Live!”

Keep on Jammin’ (Peter Schmidt)

Well to tell you the truth

January 16, 2008 by Chris

I will have to come straight out and tell you good readership that I have had my hands more then full these past 2 months. Our little puppy has taken more of my time then I have expect it to. I really LOVE having this blog and putting entries in it, but my energy has been focused on the health of our little one!

After we picked her out of the litter and brought her home with us, she seemed to be a normal rambunctious, little ball of endless energy! Then shortly after that our priceless addition to our family started to show cracks in her health.

She kept passing what seemed to be these strange fibrous objects in her stool. Her appetite was not bad and her unbridled enthusiasm to eat and gnaw at anything in front of her started to fade. So we took her to our neighbourhood vet to see what the problem could be.

He viewed a present that she/we gave to him and he thought that there was wood chips present in her stool. We both thought that that was it as well, but we couldn’t be sure. Remember, we are first time puppy/dog owners. The bedding in the stall that she was held in was indeed pine shavings and as anyone who has had a Labrador Retriever knows, they WILL EAT ANYTHING THAT IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM!

We also had advance blood work done on her and it revealed that she had round worms and bacterial infection in her blood stream. She also had eye and ear infections to boot. The round worms in concert with her bacterial infections slowed down her eating. The round worms also used the food in her stomach as a source of their own nourishment.

The eye infection made her look like she had some neurological issues (similar to one who has just had a stroke, we seem them all the time at work) and her ear issues made her ears smell off, to say the least!

Now fast forward to today and things are looking a lot better. The only problems that we have with her from time to time are loose bowel movements (that we are treating with some Pepto Bisomal in her food) and for her eyes we use topical antibiotics.

As she gets better so does our increased time for blogging! Her walks around the neighbourhood are getting wider in area and the obedience classes that we all attend seem to be paying off. So wish us all luck and you WILL see more of this page in the near distant future!

Keep on Jammin’ and watch your step outside on our front lawn!

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