Bendmaster Deluxe...

I think as time goes on and we get more and more people in here with their Westones, that the BD is going to be a big part of why they want help/advice so I'll start , and the rest of you can pile in as needed...

The Deluxe features on may of the Westone guitars and oddly enough, not on any of the other Matts!



... this is a complete Deluxe set-up - right down to the bridge posts! and they are a remarkably robust piece of kit.... apart from the E/A, and to a lesser extent, the D/G locking bolts, which have a tendency to strip out the threads in the baseplate. Steve777 has got a fix for this and hopefully he will add that here...

(Note that I have a slightly longer 4mm bolt to use on the E/A lock)

The other thing to be aware of is that these have saddles that are set at the fretboard radius, and so when you take them off, you need to be aware of where they will go back - I mark mine underneath in Roman numerals scratched into the metal.

corsair wrote:The Deluxe features on may of the Westone guitars and oddly enough, not on any of the other Matts!

As I undertand it, the Bendmaster Deluxe was designed by Tom Presley of SLM for his Westone models. It was his Floyd Rose copy, without actually copying Floyd and having to pay his license fee.

This is why you don't see it on anything else from Uncle Matt.

There are quite a few significant design differences between the two and they are NOT interchangable (ask me how I know), although a BD and a Floyd will both work on the same posts - you will not be able to set up the guitar to make scale if you try to interchange the two - and you will not be able to remedy the situation without some serious modifications to the guitar or the tremolo - either re-locating the studs forward on the Westone guitar or cutting the knife blades back on the Floyd.

Ok John, I'll put together my solution for the BD string locknut. However, at present, I'm working off a friends laptop that has no software on it apart from XP (ugh!) and IE7 , whilst my hard drive is away having its data recovered ( HD crash)! Once I have re-instaled linux on a new HD, I should be up and running with a step by step robust and viable repair.

Thanks, Steve!

I seem to remember you sharing that with us at the old forums, too, Colt - thanks a heap, man! I wondered why it wasn't used on the other Matts; I mean APII designed a whole new trem setup, eh - the ACT 3 - when the perfectly good Bendmaster was available! :?:

Thanks John and Steve this is good stuff -- the details on the saddle placement is awesome.

I have to ask - do you have anything on the regular non-deluxe Bendmaster rig vs. Bendmaster Deluxe? A pictorial comparison would be very useful to give us newbies a direct comparator, and then again could be important if someone is considering swapping and sharing parts, as well as comparison of peculiarities to each model type.

As far as the APII trem goes - I would guess that Mats considered that line to be a focus of efforts - a signature "make" if you will, and thus got into the separate design.

Ian

anaerobe wrote:do you have anything on the regular non-deluxe Bendmaster rig vs. Bendmaster Deluxe?

Sorry fella but I've never even seen an FT in the flesh and my GT with the other Bendmaster is 1200 miles away - maybe someone else has one and could take some pix and post 'em?

Just a wee bump on this thread because I have a Spectrum LX with an FT Bendmaster arriving shortly and will put up some pix once I've had a good look around at it. Barry, is your GT equipped with the other type of Bendmaster; the 2 post non-locking floater?? If it is, could you put some detail shots of it here, please?

corsair wrote:Barry, is your GT equipped with the other type of Bendmaster; the 2 post non-locking floater?? If it is, could you put some detail shots of it here, please?

Yes.
And, yes:

• TEAR DOWN (DIRTY)
  
• CLEANED AND ASSEMBLED

thought you might enjoy having a look at this...apart from a very minor rust film on the rollers it looks like new. i've never seen one in that nick before...no string clamp however.



i think i'll wait for a spectrum project, i'm very curious how a spectrum plays.

Ahhhh... beauty, thanks, Barry!! I wonder if Polly or Admin could move some of those detail pix into here for comparison purposes??

silence86 wrote:thought you might enjoy having a look at this...apart from a very minor rust film on the rollers it looks like new. i've never seen one in that nick before...no string clamp however.

It's also missing the post inserts - the fluted things that those bridge posts screw into in the body...



.. but it has the bar insert and looks in good nick!! I recommend more than 2 springs though!!

i think i'll wait for a spectrum project, i'm very curious how a
spectrum plays.

You won't be disappointed; I really, really like them... best neck on any guitar I've ever played....

corsair wrote:Ahhhh... beauty, thanks, Barry!! I wonder if Polly or Admin could move some of those detail pix into here for comparison purposes??

Never mind. Yer whim is my command oh world traveler. I was just being lazy.

It's also missing the post inserts - the fluted things that those bridge posts screw into in the body...

yeah, right...thanks for the measurments, it shouldn't be a problem to produce some replacements using these.

Ah, you're a prince amongst men, Barry - Thank you!!

Glad I could help, silence... you may be able to source the inserts from FR or Kahler, maybe??