YouTuber Samurai Guitarist has been on the hunt for gadgets that will “completely transform” how he plays acoustic guitar, and one of his finds sticks out above the rest.
The guitar he uses during his quest is a Martin SC-28E, which, as the guitarist explains, is “one of the highest-end performance guitars” that Martin has to offer. “Some might say,” he says, “I've done some bad, bad things to it.”
The gadgets employed in the video range from a guitar snare pad to an actual spring reverb, which is mounted via magnets beneath the bridge of the guitar. He also found a gizmo that can drop-tune any string by a whole step, perfect for drop D fanatics who cannot afford the EVH D-Tuna accessory for Floyd Rose tremolos.
But the gadget that comes up trumps is the Bowden B-Bender – a nifty creation that can be fitted to practically any acoustic for the off-the-cuff pitch shifting bends.
Benders like this can be a common sight on electric guitars, and Samurai Guitarist was clearly keen to share the love with the acoustic world, equipping Bowdens to the B and G strings on his Martin for the video.
Pressing down the lever creates a bend to a specific pitch. The interval the bend creates is also adjustable.
Its creator says Bowden B-Benders are “non-invasive”, meaning no guitar needs to be modded or permanently altered as a result of installation.
Instead, they slot into the string holes where the pegs usually sit. The acoustic strings are then fed through the bender and attached to a peg before being tuned to pitch.
In the video, Samurai Guitarist sets them both to go up a full tone first, and later sets it so the G string goes up a half-step to fully showcase its versatility.
“I love the sound of benders, you get a pedal steel type of thing and you'll never be able to get those sounds without physically bending the strings,” his review of the gadget begins. “Especially with the thick acoustic strings.
“It's such a cool, unique timbre. I will never play this guitar in the same way because of these things.
“However,” he adds, injecting a little realism into the conversation, “because it's a fairly bold stylistic choice, I do find they get in the way.”
He also notes that accidentally bumping them will cause the strings to go out of tune, making them fairly temperamental and hardly flaw-free.
Nevertheless, he concludes that he “loves the personality they bring to the instrument” and it means that acoustic B-Bender lovers need not look at electric guitars with envy any longer.
Head to Bowden B-Benders to learn more.
