The Bob Warford & Clarence White Telecaster - The Second B-Bender Tele - Ask Zac 146

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Today we spotlight Clarence White's former #1 Telecaster, which he used on some of The Byrd's "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" tracks, and likely the "Nashville West" recordings. After Gene Parsons installed the B-Bender on his sunburst backup Tele, it knocked the white Tele to the #2 position, and it was soon traded to his bandmate Bob Warford for a Nobel acoustic guitar. Wanting to also use a B-Bender, Warford & his dad engineered their own system based on Gene's original design, but with a few improvements including the allowance for a slimmer body to fit in a standard guitar case. Once learning the ropes of the mechanism, Bob would feature the B-Bender-equipped Tele with such greats as the Everly Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Herb Pedersen, and Chris Hillman. Today's video drills down on the modifications done to it, and we look at the ingredients to his rig to produce the memorable tones he featured on Ronstadt's "Willin'" and "Dark End Of The Street."

Spotify Playlist

Bender plans and photos

Gear Used:

Crook Paisley Tele.

Strings:
Webstrings pure nickel 9-42

Pick:
Blue Chip TPR 35

Amp:
2021 Fender Handwired 64 Princeton Reverb with a Jensen Neo 10-100 speaker.

#askzac #clarencewhite #bobwarford

[davidhoover]

Zac, I absolutely love these history lessons! Please keep them coming.

[NickRatnieks]

My friend Dick put together a three pick up Telecaster made with a Mighty Mite body and a Schecter neck- or possibly the other way around and gold-plated Kluson tuners in the late 70s. The key element to the guitar was three Velvet Hammer pick ups that he bought from Red Rhodes in his workshop- as seen on the front cover of "Velvet Hammer In a Cowboy Band". Dick had been staying in Ritchie Blackmore's California home with his family- hoping to start a new career in California in 1977 but it did not happen. Now, my brother bought this guitar in the mid-80s and one of his friends who had some DiMarzio pick ups in his guitar convinced him that the neck pick up was not powerful; enough- total sacrilege! So he took it out and I don't know what he did with it. Now, Bob Warford was in Michael Nesmith's Coutryside label house band and he played on Red's album I just mentioned and on Nesmith's fabulous "Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash" where Nesmith called him- after his law qualifications Dr Robert K Warford! Sadly, my brother died recently and my sister wanted a guitar on his coffin, so we got out that Tele with the Velvet Hammer pick ups- it has a great red sunburst finish and some MOP inlay done by Dick Knight who in his time was regarded as Britain's top luthier. One of the songs in the chapel we played was Gene Clark "Full Circle Song"- with Clarence on guitar and "Georgia On My Mind" by Jerry Reed. My brother learned to play that just like Jerry- took a lot of effort to learn it!

[bhhNC]

Zac, I'm enjoying your deep-dives into bending technology history.

[too]

New to your channel here. Your history lessons are great and I now will be going through your previous videos. Thanks for making these cause they are really invaluable to those interested in the history and how/why/when/where things happened.

[vayabroder]

Sweet sound! I now think of that 2nd Clarence White Tele as the “Marty Stuart guitar” 😉 Happy 2023 to you and your family, Zac! Thank you!

[sjperry]

I was at a taping of Marty Stuart’s TV show and came this close || to holding the Bender guitar. But, by the time Marty turned around to grab it, it had already been taken backstage.

[stephencambron]

Outstanding historical knowledge share. Thank You! The guitar solo on Willin’ is what opened my eyes to the b-bender sound. Yes, Clarence on SHOTR and the Live From Fillmore West Buckeroo melted me. After my journey with a ‘77 Sho-Bud Pro I was still enamored with the tele b-bender. Used a Hip-Shot with B, G and drop E for years then finally had an internal b-bender installed so I could play it while seated behind the steel. Of all the songs/leads I ever played nothing pleased me more than trying to match BW’s performance. Still melts me to this day…..

[johnreilly]

Saw Clarence with the Byrds in 1971! Cool subject good info.

[mrjessemarshall]

Really makes you think about the life on the road for musicians back then.

[ScrewballMcAdams]

Great history lesson, Zac. So little info about the players of my time was available back in the day. Nice to finally hear details about how they made the music I grew up with and love to this day. Thanks.

[Liam_Doherty_UK]

I have (at my age) only just discovered the 'B Bender', and all its history & associated pioneers. Having spent a life time as a rock player, this new discovery has relit my passion for guitar. Brent Mason signature Tele in hand, I'm busy learning how to play all this 'real good stuff'.
Watching and listening to your videos is a real inspiration. Checking out the albums all these great B bender aficionados played on is a real thrill. Thank you so much, for making all these excellent videos. Best wishes from Liverpool, UK.

[BossNotes]

I can say these boys were on a mission making a guitar with the steel guitar characteristics, it was ground breaking at that time, everybody wanted one excluding jimmy page. Just the thought of making the B&G string sound like a steel guitar was brilliant !
Sadly clearance didn’t get to see the entire thing revolutionized into what is is today !
He’s picking Polk salad with “ Annie “ now & we can thank him & Woodford for there invention !

[jeffsquires]

ZAC, is the tele that Marty Stewart plays today Clarence Whites guitar. Love Marty and Cousin Kenny.

[anthonymcgill]

Terrific deep dive on the Warford/White telecaster. Appreciate the work put into this…Well done!

[gregmize]

Love these stories Zac! You're a true historian!🎸🎸🎸🎸

[Heavenreck]

Amazing video as I always. I watched the Reverb interview with Marty after this video on the Clarenece guitar that he owns and how he came to own it, which is a lovely story of its own. When I look at the levers I go back to the ultimate genius of the Glaser bender and just how revolutionary it is( Also a cool video you have shared before)I still need to pick a Tele of mine that I don't mind holes drilled in so I can get one of those installed. Thanks for sharing.

[ER-yqlc]

When I saw Marty's guitar the back reminded me of a Danelectro too. I have an old Silvertone body I pulled the back off and I'm cobling a B-bender together for it inside. It will have a tele style neck, bridge and pickup, but use the original lipstick in the neck.

[davidedwards]

I am from Liverpool, but love bluegrass, great to see this stuff.

[ZeppelinUK]

Hi Zac, I always look forward to videos like this where you shine the spotlight on classic Teles from the past...🙂

[georgepacion]

Thanks Zach! I installed a Bigsby Palm Pedal on my Tele in 1974 . Clarence was my inspiration. I learned how to palm on stage playing 5 nights a week. Some strange embarrassing noises came from my guitar until I got a grip. Maybe some day you can speak about the “other benders” out there