The Steel Guitar Forum

Ross: Yup, it's your photo I used. Sorry I didn't give you credit. I've been too busy playing the guitar to take a new picture.

I've added a pedal on the left and redone the changes to adapt to my setup. Also I've replaced two knee levers and the guitar plays as easy as my Zum. It's got it's own sound--I can't decide which of the two I like best.

bOb: the guitar is very similar to yours only it's an SD-12. I'm undecided as to whether I might not rather have an S-12 given the weight. Jim Flynn made a pad for the rear neck that comes off easily to change pickups. The guitar feels very similar to the Zum only it's a little taller but now the pedal and knee lever layout is identical. I like the double body but this baby is heavy. That issue is not so bad since I bought a Gator keyboard case (lighter) and carry the pedal rack and rods in a gun case--separate. (The pedal rack alone weighs 10 lbs.) It's manageable. The Sierra weighs about 55 lbs. vs the Zum 38 lbs.

I believe it's an Olympic--correct me if I'm wrong. We estimate the date to be late '70s.

BTW it looks like I'll be using it a lot since I have to rebuild the Zum's changer. Bruce Z inspected it at the show in Dallas and sez its time for an overhaul. ;-(

Len Amaral wrote:Question for bOb:

At one time years ago I bought 9 steel guitars in one year and that may have been one of the guitars when I was in my crazy years? However, the three Sierra guitars I
held onto are all keyless. I can't remember the vibe bewteen the keyed and keyless Sierra. Care to elaborate?

Lenny

All I can say is that the gold plated Grovers look stupendous. This is the guitar I used for the Diatonic Adventures project, You can hear it at b0blee.bandcamp.com.

I'm pretty familiar with the pros and cons of keyed vs keyless. Mine plays and stays in tune and I don't detect any "cabinet drop." It's 1/4" shorter in scale than the Zum and the string spacing at the bridge is a little wider. I guess the longer scale would give a little more firmness in the low notes but mine sounds great--depending on the amp.

I think the guitar looks great. I'm not a fan of bling but sitting behind this black and gold beauty doesn't embarrass me one bit. Those old Grovers are still pretty smooth. I'm amazed at the craft that went into designing and building this guitar.