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bending without a whammy bar...ok or not?


eflat

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Just wondering who here bends their guitar, so to speak? Instead of using the whammy bar, I mean pushing down on the bit of wood above the pickups (the horn bit on a strat) and pushing the neck away.

 

I'm fairly sure this is bad for the guitar's action, tuning, truss rod etc, but do people still do it? And if so, why?

 

Also, exactly how bad an idea do you think this is?

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in before slash hitting himselh in the face doing it post.

 

 

i've done it for years, most fender guitars can withstand A LOT of abuse. dropped thrown burned. they can take it. I am always, without even thinking about it, more delicate with set neck and hollow bodies because, well, they are more delicate.

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yeah its safe, those screws are really in there, especially if you drill out the body holes so the screws only thread into the neck. just dont press too hard or it could whack out your alignment unless you have a really nicely fitted neck.

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Pronating your fretting hand a little is all that is needed.


I would be cautious when forcing it with two hands or however you described it.


If you feel the need for this much of a dive then look into getting a tremolo

 

Huh, pronating is a word! Learn something new everyday. :thu:

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Used to do this a lot. But I only got into using a trem a couple of years ago, and haven't had a hard tail guitar for a similar amount of time. So between the two things, have not done any serious neck flexing in a good while.

 

Am actually looking forward to getting back into it when my tele arrives. It's a different thing to using a trem, and I sort of miss it, I find.

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in before slash hitting himselh in the face doing it post.



i've done it for years, most fender guitars can withstand A LOT of abuse. dropped thrown burned. they can take it. I am always, without even thinking about it, more delicate with set neck and hollow bodies because, well, they are more delicate.

 

 

ah crap I have done it with a set neck hollow body

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I would have no concern doing this with a Fender (or similarly constructed guitar), but would be very careful doing it with a Gibson.

 

Two reasons. One is the construction... Gibson has a weak spot where the grain runs out at the point the headstock angles. Everybody knows about the famous Gibson headstock breaks. SGs can also break at the neck joint. Second is that mahogany is a more brittle wood than maple. Maple will bend more before it breaks.

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