The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm gonna send away for this!

Great little book. I enjoyed getting the story from a builder. Thanks Bruce.

I'm really looking forward to the book arriving, I know nothing about Bruce Zumsteg except that he builds great pedal steel guitars!

I've got to say how much enjoyment I got from reading Bruce's book. I received the book in the mail yesterday and read it in a day. I started reading and I couldn't put it down. I guess many of us can relate to what Bruce has written, because we've shared similar experiences. I know when I purchased my Zum 1n 1997 from Bruce that I was getting a quality instrument, best there is in my book. Oops, I don't have a book, but you know what I'm saying. If you see this Bruce, I say congrats on a very readable bio of yourself and thanks for building the best guitar in the world.

Cheque is in the mail.

Maybe the Femail man will bring my book today??

I am a slow reader and I finished the book in three days. Don't forget about his new CD. My check is in the mail.

The Female man brought me Bruce's book yesterday...it looks pretty cool,Time to get out the reading glasses!

what i noticed was that it was a financial struggle to produce one of the finest steels ever. it seems bruce never had time to enjoy life outside of his shop and it barely kept the bills paid.
he seems happy, but i'd think he would deserve more for his efforts. ...is friendship with the great steel players the payoff?
and could he have done it with no dorene around?

chris ivey wrote:...Bruce never had time to enjoy life outside of his shop and it barely kept the bills paid...

That's the story of most luthiers. The finest craftsmen in the world rarely make much money. When we have our bimonthly luthiers meetings it's plain that most live in poverty. The same thing goes with artists of all kinds.
Ironically, works of art usually make more for the collectors who buy and sell them after the original maker has long passed on.

A great read in general. A MUSt read for the steel enthusiast!

Bent Romnes wrote:...A MUST read for the steel enthusiast!

Certainly for anyone who wants to go into the business of building steel guitars for a living. It's a testiment to years of hard work for little reward.

This book is a great read and well worth the money. You owe it to yourself to order it.

The book is beautifully written. Bruce demonstrates how persistence can win over adversity. As with the majority of modern pedal steel manufacturers, he set out on a path of continuous improvement. Marry that ethos with his incredible attention to detail, and you end up with a superior product.

He gives full credit to those who helped him along the way, and his wife fully deserves mention of her part in any success that he achieved. One thing for sure - the Zumsteel will be a highly sought after guitar for decades to come.

I really enjoyed Bruce's book. I couldn't hardly put it down.....read it in 4 or 5 settings. Loved the stories,history,and photos. Thank you Bruce! Dale

What a great read I made it through half of the book last night. Bruce's insight and personal stories are just fantastic!!

I, as many others have stated, could not put the book down once I started reading it. I live in Columbia, MO which is the general area where much of Bruce's early life unfolded. I have played music with some of those people in the photos and still see some of them on a weekly or monthly basis, so the book was very facinating for me. I am so proud of Bruce, a fellow Missourian who basically reached the pinnacle of pedal steel production through the utilization of a "one-man" shop and his personal brilliance and determination. He is a great player, a superb builder, and a fine gentleman. It is an honor to know the man.

I loved the book. I wish there were more books that documented the early pedal steel guitar history. I used to bug Herb Steiner (and Bobbe Seymour) every time that I saw him (them) about writing a book since he (they) were an absolute wealth of information concerning that subject........ but in Phoenix I promised Herb that I would no longer bug him about writing that book and so I won't....I won't....I won't............oh damn, I won't.......(sigh).

got my copy today,sat on the porch and settled in!
Thanks Bruce!

Reading the book brought back fond memories of when I lived in the Kansas City area. I went to hear the steel players Bruce wrote of at the venues mentioned in the book. Bruce, thanks for the fine book and your contribution to the steel guitar community.

Ken Byng wrote:The book is beautifully written. Bruce demonstrates how persistence can win over adversity. As with the majority of modern pedal steel manufacturers, he set out on a path of continuous improvement. Marry that ethos with his incredible attention to detail, and you end up with a superior product.

He gives full credit to those who helped him along the way, and his wife fully deserves mention of her part in any success that he achieved. One thing for sure - the Zumsteel will be a highly sought after guitar for decades to come.

Nicely put, Ken. My sentiments exactly!

I picked up my personally autographed copy from Bruce at the Dallas Jamboree just last March. I began reading it during my plane ride home and was immediately astounded by the amount of detail that Bruce provided in all of the stories within this very well written book.

My relationship with Bruce started in 1983, when I ordered my first ZumSteel D-10 from him. Along with other guitars, I regularly play a D-10 Hybrid that was custom built for the great Rick Price. It is an awesome guitar!

It had been my distinct pleasure to have become good friends with him for well over 30 years. Now that I've read his book, I feel like I know even more about him than I had before.

I certainly recommend purchasing this book by everyone in our Steel Guitar Community. You won't regret it for a moment!

why didn't rick price want that guitar after ordering, waiting and paying for it?
why did buddy sell his to hook?
i never understand why people do that after raving about getting the best steel ever made.
i've watched that happen with infinities also.
order it, pay big bucks for it, wait for it, talk it up , put everything else down, get it, sell it!?

Rick Price told me the next best thing to the Push Pull is the Zum Hybrid. He regrets selling his, but he is push pull thru and thru. He said he had that one Lynn got from him built with the pp pedal spacing and such. He is a fan of them. By the way, if you need pedal steel repair work done, especially push pulls, Rick is excellent.

Chris, I think that as superior as Zums are or any other custom guitars for that matter, there's all sorts of reasons for people to get rid of guitars. There are those that just can't get away from the push pull tone and feel. Everyone has different tastes. Some people don't like the shorter travel easier feel and prefer a longer travel stiffer feel. I think people talk themselves into getting something and realizing it's not any better than what they have or had. Sometimes people get rid of a guitar because they're tired of the color or maybe there's something new the builder does that someone feels would be an upgrade. Sometimes people are hard up for money and needs to get rid of a guitar no matter how great the guitar is. We all have obligations and priorities to take care of. I find that one of the biggest reasons myself included, is having the patience for a new guitar to break in. Sometimes it takes a little while for a stick of wood to decide it's going to be a guitar instead of the tree it once was. There's other reasons than what I just mentioned. There's a lot of great guitars besides Zums but one of the things that I could say that would make Zums one of the best guitars are their consistency. They all have their own little something different in tone. Sometimes a person is not satisfied until they find that little something they're looking for in the sound of a guitar. What is considered the best guitar in the world, will still never be the perfect guitar. There are always give and takes. I think there's no question that most would agree on the superior quality and craftsmanship of Zums, but our ears are the worst to play tricks on us and it's just as easy or easier to talk ourself out of things as it was to talk ourself into it. There's too many psychological hurdles to jump for there to ever be the best steel guitar in the world. At some point you have to realize the guitar is only half the battle and the player has to do their part to make it work.

thanks dean. that's a good reply. i really like the
stick of wood/tree analogy! anyway, i understand.
i took a big chance ordering a new zum in '82 and luckily only had about a 3 month wait back then.
and it did take a bit of time to get really comfy with it. i, too, lengthened the throw on a few pedals. but i really needed the upgrade at the time...going from a sho-bud d10 professional 8+5
to the zum 9+8.
then a few years later swapped the pickups from an old emmons i picked up. then i played it (still am) for over 30 years with no need for anything else.
i remember bruce bouton couldn't get used to his at the time and went back to the emmons.
jaydee has trouble getting away from his emmons.

i just see so many people switching steels so quickly i don't think they're giving them a chance.