The Steel Guitar Forum

sorry to bring up a sore subject guys! incidentally, just got back from hearing former owner #3 (Henry) play down here in the city tonight. He was playing your old S-10 Bud Dave which I very nearly bought from him this week. A great guitar- I think I'm going to put a couple of those changes on the ZB.

Happy New Year to All of You - hope this one's ZBest one yet.

Special thanks to bOb for keeping this thread going (and going) and also to all of you (Greg, Kevin, Dave vA, Duncan, Dave, Chip, Russ, Ben, Joe - the list goes on and on and on - and about another 4-5 dozen of you) for all of the great information about these beautiful, amazing pedal steel guitars.

All ZBest,
LC

Right back at cha Larry... Loving my new ZB, thanks Duncan it sounds huge.

Happy new year to all,
This year i am going to get my ZB D10 setup to start playing it full time, at the moment i have a Sho-Bud Super Pro D10 which i love, is there a quick way to get the pedal action light as most ZB action seem to be on the hard side.
It's only the E9th i need to correct, what would be the first thing to check out on the guitar. If someone with a ZB D10 has got their guitar setup with a smooth pedal action would it be possible to copy what they have done. As i live in Spain and the ZB is in the UK i will have to return to the UK to setup the guitar and i only have a few days to do it because of work here in Spain, I need a push on finger cap for the back neck also a tuneing screw for the E to F Knee lever .. Thanks for any help .

You are most welcome, Joe. I do miss that blue one, though. I told you that it had that sound. I'm truly glad that you are loving it. The beast was just too heavy for me. How I can say that after just getting back from a two day, 15 mile backpacking trip with a buncha kids from the local hospice, I'm not sure, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Send me some music of you playing it when you have some, I'd love to hear it and cry a little bit.
BTW, b0b, remind me that I have not yet sent the donation on the sale of the ZB. I promise to not wait a year this time, like I did the last time. I am not necessarily cheap, but I hate to part with money and will go to great lengths not to do so... Anyway, I am going on record that I don't believe that I am cheap, whatever my actions may lead you to conclude, but I do still owe you.
Duncan

Oh yeah Duncan, it is heavy... I'm going to have Kevin build me some cases for it. Hey, if it was easy, everyone would do it!

Just wanted to bump this up and show off my ZB again. Greg Jones is adding some pulls to my RKR. She plays and sounds real nice.

Russ

Russ, I'll say it...your ZB is absolutely stunning. Wht did I ever get rid of my D-10. Plus, I even like your playing. I gotta get me one of those ZB thingys.
Duncan

This looks like a very late model. The fish tales are gone.

Around 1980 #0822 Texas guitar I believe. It has a great sound.

So far, thats the latest one I've seen.

Kevin Hatton wrote:This looks like a very late model. The fish tales are gone.

So are they fish tails or horns?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Hey Russ!

So your guitar must be an inch or so shorter than older ZBs? All the pulling mechanics are the same, right?

Did ZBs ever come stock with adjustable knee levers?

Hi Henry,

Yes, it is a bit shorter. I believe 33" wide. When I had my 1970 D-10 I compaired both and liked this one better and the E9 neck is 11 string. My D-10 was nice I just played the D-11/10 more. I would like to find an older S-11 or D-11. One of these days when I have a few more $$$

It is the same under the hood and I think Greg Jones has the adjustable KL's. I don't believe they came stock that way.

Russ

I was wondering if any of you play through a particular setup with your ZB, and use a completely different setup with your other guitars. I have a friend that plays an old Emmons through an NV 400, but says the ZB would sound better through a Fender Bassman with 4-10's, or a Fender Twin Reverb. I've also heard that the Alembic F2B works well with a ZB. I might be wrong, but I think the F2B is a rack mount preamp based on the Fender Showman circuitry. Anyway, I thought it would be cool to keep this thread going by having some posts on ZB players' gear

Mike I play my 68 ZB through a Webb. I would also recommend Fender Custom Twin 15 or Steel King. The Webb sounds fantastic. I also use an RV-3.

I play my ZBs through a Webb with a JBL K130, a '68 Twin Reverb with JBL D120s, and a Peavey Session 400 with EV SROs. They all sound great (both the guitars and the amps). The funny thing is that, regardless of the amp, the ZBs still sound like... ZBs. Incredible guitars, imo.

One at a time:
The Webb is really versatile and powerful, and the K130 is amazing - great bass response, very musical mids and highs, easily shaped sounds. And about a kazillion settings and nice reverb to boot. ZB C6 sounds pretty amazing through this amp. My S-11 really digs the larger speaker for the low strings, too.

The Twin is crystal clear, absolutely transparent highs; again, the JBLs have excellent response, particularly in the bass (tight), lower-mids and trebles. The on-board reverb is heavenly. A little noisy with the tube and single coil combination, btw. This is my choice for the ZB E9 neck, and reminds me most of the Brumley/Buck ZB sound.

The Session 400 is the "least musical" of the three (no complaints, though), but still a very usable sound. Kinda fuzzy and somewhat flat sounding (even when I run through the JBLs in the Twin). Still a good sound and nice reverb. And very loud.

I hope this is helpful - all ZBest to ya!
LC

some of you guys should vote on a steel guitar preference poll on steel players. so far zum is getting left behind by other votes for msa etc. get out there and vote.

Bump

here is my setup: i have three zb's, a d11/10, an sd-10, and an s-10 that i play thru an ultralinear twin separated into head cab and speaker cab with e-120 jbls (too heavy otherwise). i used to have a webb that bit the dust and i decided to go with the twin and haven't looked back at all, i love this sound. there is something to be said about the tubes and the speakers, i love the growl it gets. i have also used a peavey delta blues with a pre-fender jbl d-130 that sounds nice at low volumes but is too dirty when pushed, and at really small coffee shop gigs i have been using a roland micro cube straight into the board and have been getting good results with it, plus the added benefit of less weight and portability. in my opinion, a twin w/jbls and zb's go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Chris,

How old are your ZB steels?

Russ

My set-ups: Either the '68 Scranton D-10 or '69 D-10 through my '66 Twin Reverb w/JBL K-130, Sho-Bud Christmas Tree amp, lately I like my Fender Bassman LTD with a Holy Grail between channels for some reverb and I usually play through a Boss DM2 analog delay... for smaller gigs I play through a tweed Super with 2-10s.

Hey, does anyone need a case? I've got the case that came with the D-10 that I bought from Duncan. The outside is in good shape, Duncan added wheels and another handle, the interior also clean although a couple of the supports have come loose. Email me and I'll send you some pics.

Actually, Joe, the wheels were on the case when I got it from Greg Jones. It did the job for a couple of years. I'm really glad that you are enjoying the old blue one. I miss it a lot. Play it early and often.
Duncan

Bump and there's a S-11 on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Zane-Beck-Custom-S- ... dZViewItem