ZB Pedal Steel Guitars - Please help!

Johnie King · Post by **Johnie King** » 10 Jun 2018 5:16 am

Wow those ZB steels were beautiful An guess three still as much a looker as the guitars of today

J R Rose · Post by **J R Rose** » 23 Jun 2018 8:59 pm

Just got this today in my area. Like I really needed another pet. Pretty sad shape but I have always wanted one just to look at. My long time friend and mentor Jim Florence (RIP) as he described in his post on the first page of this thread had #0017, D-11, Red Aprons and Blonde top. Best sounding guitar you will ever hear. This looks like it has had a refinish job but looks like the real Scranton Decal? D-11, serial # 1117. Has the push pin on the pedal rod connectors. I am guessing from what I have read here it will be a 68 year model. Also has the solid handle as someone else mention on the case and five buckles and is perhaps a faded pink interior. Also got the ZB volume pedal with it. Lots of work to be done on this girl. Wish me luck, J.R. Rose

Eric Dahlhoff · Post by **Eric Dahlhoff** » 23 Jun 2018 9:33 pm

Looks like a great score - have fun with that!
How a bout a couple pics of the mechanics?

john buffington · Post by **john buffington** » 25 Jun 2018 5:11 am

Congrat's on a great find JR, I'll bet that is a tone monster for sure.

Jerry Dragon · Post by **Jerry Dragon** » 25 Jun 2018 8:13 am

I will be parting out a D10 soon.

J R Rose · Post by **J R Rose** » 25 Jun 2018 7:20 pm

Will not be parting this girl out. She is solid as a rock. Four factory knees. It appears to be late 67 or early 68 which makes it a Zane Beck guitar. Case and pedal too. It has the standard under carriage, Black except for the chrome piece in the middle from end to end. Will do some more pictures with under carriage shots later but right now I am out of town. This girl has been tamper with by someone who had no clue of what they were doing but no harm done. Everything is there, just all needs cleaned and put back in the proper place. And she does have two inch extenders on pedal rods which I don't need. But the best part is I got the deal of a lifetime, CHEAP. Thanks for your comments. I will make pictures as I go along, J.R. Rose

Andrew Howard · Post by **Andrew Howard** » 15 Oct 2018 8:20 am

Hey all, this is my first post, so I'll try to keep it brief! I recently got a great deal on a ZB D10, serial number 0113. I traded up from a Maverick that I got earlier this year. I played pedal steel for little while in college on an MSA sidekick, and I've been missing it for the past ten or so years.

I knew I would be biting off a bit more than I could chew by diving into a D10, but I couldn't pass this up. Little did I know how much work these ZBs are, apparently. I've got a few pics here of how dirty it was when I got it (and it's still pretty dirty in the changers--I'll try and take them out and clean them when I'm ready to try more of an overhaul). There was some kind of black "paint" under the tuners that I sanded off, but aside from the weird knee levers, it appears all original. The electronics still work, though the E9 pickup is weak when both necks are engaged, and the middle switch to engage the volume and tone knobs is a bit intermittent.

The whole thing was this dirty!

My most pressing concern (besides learning how to play the thing) is the knee levers. It appears to me that RKL is the closest to all original, though it uses some kind of bell crank that ZBs don't seem to use. The others appear original aside from the actual levers, which are two useless well...I don't know what they are.

LKL has a stabilizing screw that keeps in place...

(it's missing one of the rods because it broke off somewhere down the line)

...while RKR has a bent screw with an oversize washer.

RKL

I'd love to find a couple useful knee levers and maybe eventually add a LKR. Again, I also need focus on, you know, actually playing it!

J R Rose · Post by **J R Rose** » 17 Oct 2018 7:37 am

Hi Larry, A few months ago I came across this one and brought it. A D-11 with 8&4 with factory knees. Has been refinished but has Scranton decals. Very dirty but everything is their and all works. Serial #1117. Greg Jones has told me it was invoiced to a Jerry Pack on Feb. 29th, 1968. Zane sold to Tom in 1969 so this would of been built by Zane in his last year of his ownership I guess. I brought this just to have in memory of my friend and mentor Jim Florence who had serial #0017 D-11 Red & Blonde. Brought from Tom in Ca. He had ordered from Zane before Zane sold and Tom filled the order. My #1117 may have been discussed here before but I have not gone thru all post. Thanks and I pat you on the back for starting this post, it has a wealth of knowledge. J.R. Rose

J R Rose · Post by **J R Rose** » 17 Oct 2018 7:41 am

Sorry for my repost, I had forgot about it. Senior Citizen, what can I say. J.R.

J R Rose · Post by **J R Rose** » 21 Oct 2018 4:50 pm

Hi Folks, Have some under carriage pictures now, Eric Dahlhoff had asked for some. Also want to say Hi to Andrew Howard and say you got a good one their. That serial #I think will put it in the first year after Tom moved ZB to Bakersfield, Ca. 1969. Greg Jones will know. And your Right Knee Left is the only knee lever that is original I think. Again, if Greg see this he will tell you about it. Again Folks I am Sorry about the double post about my guitar, I just totally forgot that I had made the post. I will be 78 soon and after by-pass surgery seven years ago I cannot remember anything. It gets worst every month. But I am still waking up in the mornings and loving life. Thanks To All, J.R.

Eric Dahlhoff · Post by **Eric Dahlhoff** » 21 Oct 2018 6:05 pm

Thanks for the pics JR. I love to see the mechanics on those old ZB's. They weren't labeled "Custom" for nothing - each one seems different in various ways.
I recently acquired #027 which is also a D-11. Built a little later than yours but with the many of the same parts. But the changer only has 2 pulls instead of 3 like yours. Do the fingers on those changers have caps or are they solid?

I thought I might make it into an SD-11, but it's in such good shape that I'm just going to clean, fix & adjust it.

Andrew Howard · Post by **Andrew Howard** » 22 Oct 2018 10:59 am

Thanks, JR! Thankfully I've got a couple knee levers coming. I hope to get mine looking as clean as yours! I'll definitely be using these pictures as a reference.

David Langdon · Post by **David Langdon** » 17 Nov 2018 6:32 pm

Has anyone got any pics of their pedal rack? Can't seem to find many on this monumental thread. I'm mainly interested in Brumley period ones with 5 plus pedals. Thanks Dave.

J R Rose · Post by **J R Rose** » 18 Nov 2018 7:46 pm

Hey Eric, It does have the Stainless Steel Caps on the changers. Sorry I have been so long on responding, just too busy doing nothing,ha!. It sounds like a ZB should. Sub stains till the cows come home. J.R.

Russ Tkac · Post by **Russ Tkac** » 21 Nov 2018 8:10 pm

Rusty

Russ Tkac · Post by **Russ Tkac** » 5 Jan 2019 12:08 pm

Zane built D-10 8 + 2 if you live in the PA area. Not mine.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ZB-CUSTOM-PEDA ... 1438.l2649

Pat Heller · Post by **Pat Heller** » 12 Jan 2019 12:48 pm

I had the good fortune to purchase a D11 -10 last week from a young man who had to sell it. I've sold a ton of steel guitars - new and used over the years, but I have to say this guitar ser#24 has to be in the top 10. Fantastic birdseye lacquer. The fit and finish on this old horn is beautiful. I believe this guitar was owned bye a recently deceased Art Beard.
Would like to ad a couple of vertical levers to this guitar. I have boxes of P.P. and LeGrande parts, but not many for Z.B. Any help would be appreciated. THANKS P.H.

Russ Tkac · Post by **Russ Tkac** » 12 Jan 2019 6:46 pm

Yes, that was Art's. Great guitar for sure!

Here are a few pictures of Pat's steel.

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Russ Tkac · Post by **Russ Tkac** » 15 Jan 2019 8:05 pm

BTW Greg Jones is the guy to contact if you want help and advice. He helped me again.

Michael Greer · Post by **Michael Greer** » 18 Jan 2019 8:52 am

ZB original price

Does anyone recall or know the original sale price of a ZB s10 or D10 back in the Zane period from 1964 to 1968 .

Thanks

Mike

Lyle Clary · Post by **Lyle Clary** » 22 Jan 2019 2:02 pm

I paid $ 850 for my D10 8x2 in late 1969 That is about 4000 of todays dollars

Michael Greer · Post by **Michael Greer** » 25 Jan 2019 4:19 am

Lyle

Thanks for sharing cost of ZB D10 in 1969 as $850.

I put that value into an inflation calculater tool to see cost in today's dollars.

$5,815.83

Comparable to today's new top end pedal steels.

Lyle Clary · Post by **Lyle Clary** » 25 Jan 2019 12:03 pm

Thanks Michael. Me thinks I paid too much. At the time I think I was making about $4 an hour at the phone company. Close to 3 months pay.

Mike DiAlesandro · Post by **Mike DiAlesandro** » 13 Mar 2019 5:12 am

Hello, Here is one I found that came from Texas. It was rebuilt in the early 2000's. I hooked all the linkage back up and replaced a humbucker someone had installed with a nice white ZB pickup that Billy Knowles was kind enough to sell me. Sounds great, it has 5 pedals and 1 knee lever at the moment. Here are a few photos, serial # 0483.

Eric Dahlhoff · Post by **Eric Dahlhoff** » 13 Mar 2019 11:23 am

I love how the single neck ZB's look. So classy.

How about some underside pics?

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