ok - so how do you un-install string ferrules?

[mayfly]

Hi Folks,

I'm going to be installing another bender - but this time in an existing telecaster.  The routing template (that goes on the back) needs to sit flush - and the string ferrules are in the way!

So - how do you get them out?  They were originally installed using "the soldering iron trick"  Should I do that again?  Should I pound em out and hope for the best?
Opinions please folks...

 

[Cagey]

I can't picture what is going on there, but I wonder if you couldn't just drill some little 5/8" reliefs or maybe a slot on the underside of the template that sits on the body so it would clear the ferrules. Then you wouldn't have to pull them.

 

[reluctant-builder]

The bender is quite a contraption ... what, exactly, does all that machinating accomplish?

 

[line6man]

The bender is quite a contraption ... what, exactly, does all that machinating accomplish?

When you pull on your guitar strap, the B string's tension increases.

As Cagey said, though, why can't you simply modify the template? If you have a band saw or table saw, cut out four pieces of wood and arrange them to form a rectangular slot over the part of the template that goes over the ferrules. Then, use a template bit to route a recessed slot. It will take you no more than 10 minutes.

Or, if you don't mind the unsightliness, grab a Forstner bit and drill a row of holes in the template. :blob7:

 

[mayfly]

The issue is that there are alignment marks on the template at that exact location that I need to preserve to, well, align the template.
Mis-aligned template makes for an unhappy B-string...

So I figure I'll make a support for the wood around the ferrules and pound those suckers out of there.  Or press them out if I'm in a pleasant mood 

 

[line6man]

The issue is that there are alignment marks on the template at that exact location that I need to preserve to, well, align the template.
Mis-aligned template makes for an unhappy B-string...

So I figure I'll make a support for the wood around the ferrules and pound those suckers out of there.  Or press them out if I'm in a pleasant mood 

Well, the other solution is to shim up the template.

 

[B3Guy]

alternately, you could bend the b-string with a term/vibrato bridge . . . or even with *gasp* your fingers?! (I didn't know you could do that . . .)

heck, bend your b string with a Windows PC if big clunky devices are what you're after . . .

 

[bagman67]

alternately, you could bend the b-string with a term/vibrato bridge . . . or even with *gasp* your fingers?! (I didn't know you could do that . . .)

heck, bend your b string with a Windows PC if big clunky devices are what you're after . . .

The idea (for some, anyway) is to simulate a pedal steel guitar, in which a single voice in a chord is bent - which is, in many circumstances, physically challenging or outright impossible (certainly no widely available vibrato bridge can do that).  And they're only big and clunky until they're installed, whereupon they are integrated in the guitar - which looks, admittedly, kinda frankenstein'd from the back view, but overally it's not that huge of an aesthetic hit from the front. 

There are players who have integrated the bender into single note play, as well - Jimmy Page comes to mind - and they do things that are also difficult to replicate using a standard guitar, and that are also unlike anything you could get out of a standard pedal steel.  Just consider it a different kind of guitar, rather than lamenting what you have to do to a guitar to get the functionality the bender provides.

And as for big, clunky devices - B3's ain't exactly petite, but there's only one way to get a truly authentic B3 sound, and that's with... a  B3.  ccasion14:

peace

Bagman

 

[rockskate4x]

alternately, you could bend the b-string with a term/vibrato bridge . . . or even with *gasp* your fingers?! (I didn't know you could do that . . .)

heck, bend your b string with a Windows PC if big clunky devices are what you're after . . .

Unfortunately none of these can do the job of a b-bender, which moves the b up to a c# while leaving the other strings. This way you can bend one note in the middle of a chord the way you can with a pedal steel. A tremolo bridge can never have the same effect.

 

[B3Guy]

alternately, you could bend the b-string with a term/vibrato bridge . . . or even with *gasp* your fingers?! (I didn't know you could do that . . .)

heck, bend your b string with a Windows PC if big clunky devices are what you're after . . .

Unfortunately none of these can do the job of a b-bender, which moves the b up to a c# while leaving the other strings. This way you can bend one note in the middle of a chord the way you can with a pedal steel. A tremolo bridge can never have the same effect.

ah, I was just bein' an arse  :icon_thumright: If I ain't got nothin' constructive to say, I'll sure as heck throw down some sarcasm  ccasion14:

 

[pabloman]

I have a narrow punch that I can insert from the other side and just tap them out.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Is this going in the 8 ball Tele?

 

[mayfly]

I have a narrow punch that I can insert from the other side and just tap them out.

Did you damage the finish around the ferrules doing that?  BTW - I've got a good collection of punches as well - I'm sure I can find one to fit.

 

[mayfly]

Is this going in the 8 ball Tele?

Yep.  I never play the thing as all my songs have bender in them!  I just want another instrument I can put into rotation - and why not start with one that I own? :headbang:

 

[pabloman]

The finish was good. It was on a String thru TOM setup Jackson with a poly finish. I had to take out the top and bottom ferrule. Good luck!