Hipshot String Bending System
No! You do not route or remove wood to attach your Hipshot to your guitar. The unit attaches to your guitar with your strap button screw. Therefore you do not even have to drill additional holes in your guitar. (We do provide you with two additional small screws which you can use at your discretion to help secure the unit to your instrument). The Hipshot is also felt lined so that it will not scratch the finish of your guitar.
The hip lever works very similar to a pedal steel player's knee lever. Our patented hip lever (which is easily removable) allows you to bend your B string up to C sharp by a slight movement of your guitar against your hip leaving your hands free to play! It takes less than 1 lb. of pressure to activate the lever and total travel of the hip lever is about 1 inch. With a little practice you will be b-bending with the best of them, and using it at your gigs.
Yes! The Hipshot will also fit on Strats and Strat style guitars, Les Pauls and most other electric guitars. There may be some minor bridge modifications. We can usually do these modifications for you. Just send us your bridge (not your whole guitar). Turn around time is usually 3 to 5 days, but please call first to receive a Return Authorization number.
The Palm Lever usually attaches to the third or G string. As your push the lever down with your palm, the lever automatically bends your G string up to G sharp or A (depending on how you want to tune it). If you tune the lever to G sharp, you have the same configuration as the A and B pedals of a pedal steel guitar (i.e. if you hold an E chord and operate the Palm and Hip Levers together you get an A chord or the 4 chord). If you tune the Palm Lever to an A note then you perform the same types of licks you would with the B-bender. The Palm Lever also swivels out of the way when it is not in use, so that it will not interfere with your right hand muting techniques.
The Toggle Tuner is an attachment to the Hipshot String Bending System which allows you to perform on-the-fly retuning. The Toggle Turner can be mounted to your 6th string (tuning your Low E to D), 5th string (tuning your A to G) and your 1st string (tuning your high E to D). Retuning these strings puts you into Open G tuning! Some songs that have been performed in this tuning were "Honky Tonk Woman" by the Stones and "Sweet Judy Blue Eyes" by Crosby, Stills & Nash. Open tuning and altered tunings are great for slide, blues and many other styles. Simply reach back with your right hand and give the toggle tuning lever a quick flick to retune for instant altered tunings. You can see how these additional attachments make the Hipshot an extremely versatile tool.
Not at all! We find that players become accustomed to using the Hipshot Hip lever in just a few hours of practice. We have many players using the hipshot on recordings, live gigs and on National Tours. Will Ray of the Hellecasters recorded an excellent b-bending teaching video call "Will Ray's B-Bending Mania" which Hipshot Products offers. This will give you an excellent jump start and have you playing "twang" guitar in a few hours.
Usually installation is easy and straight forward and can be done by the musicians themselves. Installation involves removing the strap button screw, positioning the felt lined Hipshot on the guitar and reinstalling a new strap button screw which we provide. The new strap button screw is the same diameter as your old screw, however, it is slightly longer to insure secure fit. Then you simply restring the guitar and play. If bridge work is necessary it is usually minor and does not detract from the value of your guitar. In fact the Hipshot installs so easily that you can switch it from one guitar to another between gigs.
Instructions: