ZB Pedal Steel Guitars - Please help!

Instruments, mechanical issues, copedents, techniques, etc.

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John Rutledge
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Location: Bakersfield, California, USA

Post by John Rutledge »

I have a few parts, But fertboards arn't
part of them.We would take stacks of black and white plastic and then silk screen the frets on them. who ever owned the company last might have some left over???
Kevin Hatton
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Post by Kevin Hatton »

I will have them in the next thirty days. Greg Jones has them also.
Lyle Clary
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Post by Lyle Clary »

Hey John Rutledge. What kind of glue did the factory use on my 1969 D10 fretboards? They have both popped off and I used a small amount of carpenter's glue to re-apply and the E9th came off again. Any ideas?

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1969 ZB Custom D10, BMI S10,Peavy Musician Mark III, 15 Inch Black Widow<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Lyle Clary on 18 June 2005 at 06:53 PM.]</p></FONT>
John Rutledge
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Post by John Rutledge »

Hi Lyle
The glue we used was Contact Cement.When useing it be sure everthing is lined up because,if it is used right, once you apply the fretboard you won't be able to move it.
John
Lyle Clary
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Post by Lyle Clary »

Thanks John

I will have to try some contact cememt. I think after 35 years a lot of things dry out and come loose such as some of my brain matter for instance.

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1969 ZB Custom D10, BMI S10,Peavy Musician Mark III, 15 Inch Black Widow
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Webb Kline
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Post by Webb Kline »

I used contact cement on mine, but the C6 fretboard had a bad raise in it when I got the guitar and I cut out a plank to fit the neck, held it down with some big vices and concrete blocks (believe me, those old ZB's can take whatever ya throw at 'em') and let it set for 3 days. When I took all the stuff off of the neck , the durned fretboard popped up in the same place.

Frustratin' I tell ya. They're the old Zane Beck signed necks and I don't want to replace them.

------------------
Webb--
Livin' out a dangerous faith :)
GFI Ultra Keyless D10 8+8,
ZB 11/10 8+3 #0008
old as dirt Dobro
Harmony Lap...




John Rutledge
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Post by John Rutledge »

Web
Maybe the concrete blocks wasn't big enough
John

-------------------
Z B D10 1971
Chet Atkins Gretsch 1957 Modle # 6120
Ibanez Ragtime Special Modle # R 400
Mosrite Bass Amp 400 With 15 In. J B L Speakers
Fender Delux Reverb Amp
Fender ??? Early 1950's
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Tim Harr
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Post by Tim Harr »

Model is spelled: M-O-D-E-L
Ben Elder
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Post by Ben Elder »

Niceties, folks...

Although I am a fastidious speller, grammarian and syntactician (say what?), this is not colloquium of English professors (or German, Spanish, French, Norwegian, German, Japanese...), even I find brittle schoolmarmish knuckle-raps like Professor H's dissertation on "m-o-d-e-l" prickly, self-aggrandizing and out of line. We're just trying to express our thoughts on common topics here. We don't get double-scale for spelling, punctuation or slapping others' wrists and reporting violations of same. Unless a misspelling drastically muddles the meaning (e.g., "E-9th codependent") let's check our egos (postgraduate language degrees, palm blocking, ZB-teardown-and-rebuilding, speed picking, years on the Opry staff) at the door. If one of us wants to really enlighten a Forumite on a non-topical bit of etiquette, email him or her OFF-forum...assuming your motives are altruistic.

This thread didn't grow to 19 pages on the momentum of that kind of discourse.
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Larry Chung
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Post by Larry Chung »

Hope this helps you fingerboard folks out there - one of my ZBs had fingerboards that were coming loose. I consulted a friend of mine who does museum restoration work, and here's what we came up with - remove the old glue and residue carefully with a mild solvent, then tape the fingerboards back in place with double sided tape. That way, if they ever come loose again, presto! - more tape.

The solvent that I found very, very effective for the contact cement discussed above was Goof Off, a commecially available solvent in a small yellow can. Be very careful, and do only a little bit at a time on both the body and back of the fingerboard. Apply, let it sit for a few moments, then carefully wipe with a clean (cotton) cloth or (better yet) a soft toothbrush. It works the dry cement clean, with minimal marking on the surface of the guitar and fingerboard. Patience, though, is key.

Be careful also not to get the solvent on the front of the fingerboard as the paint and position markers will also come off.

Hope this is helpful...
All ZBest,
Larry
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Russ Tkac
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Post by Russ Tkac »

Larry,

When is your history of the ZB steel book coming out? Oh, you weren’t writing one? I think you should. Image

Russ
2ZB or not 2ZB
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Chuck McGill
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Post by Chuck McGill »

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiately cllaed Typoglycemia Image-

Amzanig huh? Yaeh and yuo awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.

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Russ Tkac
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Post by Russ Tkac »

"I cdnuolt blveiee!!!!!"

My friend's mother-n-law is from Germany and she was telling us that she didn't know that smoking marijuana was against the law!

"I cdnuolt blveiee dat it vas agenst da lah!"

Chuck, that killed me! Image

Russ
Ben Elder
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Post by Ben Elder »

Top offic: Syslexia dufferers hever nave a dice nay.
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Larry Chung
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Post by Larry Chung »

Just played a gig with my S-11 this evening at Sweetwater in Mill Valley. Here was my setup this evening:

ZB S-11 - ShoBud Volume Pedal - Fender Tube Amp.

That's IT!!! Several people came up and said, "Man, you've got great tone." Ahhhhhh, ZB Goodness. Lovely, lovely.

Russ, yes, I am still working on my ZB book; just been very, very busy teaching music (which is what I do). I guess I should probably include this thread somewhere, but it'll add about 20 pages... (:

All ZBest, please keep the ZB info coming.
LC

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Dave Zirbel
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Post by Dave Zirbel »

That's great Larry. Who did you you play with? I've played my ZB D-10 there a couple times.

I took the ZB out for the first time in months for a gig and it was beautiful sounding through the NV112. Stayed in tune too. In fact I only had to tune one endplate stop once!

DZ<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Dave Zirbel on 22 June 2005 at 10:35 PM.]</p></FONT>
Chip McConnell
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Post by Chip McConnell »

Hey Dave: caught your gig in Berkeley last weekend- the ZB did sound great, as did the rest of the band. Looking forward to seeing you guys again. B-bender, steel, good vocals, sequined suits, Bakersfield sound: you've got it all...
Chip
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Dave Zirbel
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Post by Dave Zirbel »

Thanks Chip. Next time be sure to come up and say hello! Image

DZ
Kevin Hatton
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Post by Kevin Hatton »

ZB Custom tone rules!
Andrew Buhler
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Post by Andrew Buhler »

I was playing my ZB last night through a late 70s Twin with 2x12 orange frame JBLs. Sweet!
Bob Hamilton
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Post by Bob Hamilton »

Larry, just out of curiosity, which Fender tube amp were you using?
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Larry Chung
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Post by Larry Chung »

Hey Bob and ZBers:

I use a 1980-81 Fender Concert 1X12 combo. It's the Rivera (sp?) designed amp with all kinds of boosts and distortion and all kinds of stuff. But I think it sounds fantastic for steel, it has something like 60 watts, lighter and more portable than a Twin Reverb, and it has an adjustable PA/recording line out - so I can hear the amp's speaker behind me and then send a line to the PA or monitor mix.

Here's my secret - I use the gain (distortion/overdrive) channel instead of the clean channel. A little bit of gain really warms up the ol' ZB! Plenty of headroom for low and medium volumes. I wouldn't use this to perform on the C6 neck at stage volume, and I definitely won't crank it to 10 or 11 anyway, but for E9, it's perfect and sounds like a super-Fender!

And, to return to topic, like the creamy, dreamy ZB Custom pedal steel guitar!

Dave, my bluegrass band is taking a little break this summer, so I'm playing alot of steel. The other night I played with a Bay Area singer/songwriter named Sonya Greta - she's great and writes great songs, too.
http://www.cabinfeverbluegrass.com http://www.sonyagreta.com

All ZBest,
Larry
Lyle Clary
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Post by Lyle Clary »

Played a pre show jam friday night with some pickers from the Central Illinois Steel Guitar Association and got more than one compliment on the wonderfull tone that I get from my 1969 ZB Custom D10. I knew it was not my amp which was a Peavey K60 with just a 12 inch speaker I took with me because I was traveling light although it does do better than I would have expected for a 12 inch speaker.

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1969 ZB Custom D10, BMI S10, 1981 Peavy Musician Mark III, 15 Inch Black Widow, custom enclosure
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Dave Zirbel
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Post by Dave Zirbel »

It seems that ZBs will sound good through any amp. I got great tone froma ZB through a Bandit 65.
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Chuck McGill
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Post by Chuck McGill »

My 67 D10 sounds good through my NV112 or my
Prosonic 210. Actually any thing I plug it into. It might be the guitar. <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Chuck McGill on 04 July 2005 at 09:25 AM.]</p></FONT>
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