Haha yeah I remember that. It's like the rack was exactly where you wanted to grip plus the bar was so short it made it impossible to avoid adjusting the grip to avoid the pinch. That, the collared bars, useless leg extension that also pinched, thick cement weights or those shit collars you used on the smooth metal bars it seemed like my first mish mash weight set was just one major pain in the ass from top to bottom.
I didn't get pinched on my old bench. The uprights were so narrow that I had to worry about racing to the other side and catching the end of the bar, before it hit the ground.
Eventually, I got smart and just pulled the bar towards me on the side I was unloading first. That kept the bar balanced, so I could go to the other side and unload it.