ZB Pedal Steel Guitars - Please help!

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 15 May 2012 7:40 pm

Dan, you cannot do it yourself if you do not have the parts. They are specific to the original ZB's.

Joe A. Camacho · Post by **Joe A. Camacho** » 24 May 2012 2:49 pm

I just put a set of Live Steel Strings on my ZB, they're like piano wire. It's never sounded better, great strings!!!

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 24 May 2012 2:53 pm

Good to know Joe.

Robert Scott · Post by **Robert Scott** » 4 Jul 2012 2:52 pm

Hope I am going about this the correct way.
I have just aqquired a ZB S-12 string suppose to be 75% refurbished maybe 40%.
I don't see a serial number and to be honest I am not sure if it's a complete or all the same ZB.
I hope I have added a few pictures that someone will know what this 12 string is exactly and by the way I can't play a steel yet but play many other instruments and took a chance on this ZB as I like a challenge and to be honest I think that this is going to be a big one.
With the help of all the good people on this forum I might be able to fulfil a life long ambition to play a pedal steel guitar wooow maybe I am to ambitious at the moment time will tell.

I hope that someone will be able to shine some life into this ZB and I will be taking better pictures tomorrow.
Thanks.......Robert

B. Greg Jones · Post by **B. Greg Jones** » 4 Jul 2012 4:44 pm

Your guitar appears to have an aluminum frame all the way around it. The only ZB's I have ever seen with this are the student models. I have also never seen a 1-1/2 body on a ZB. There were either single or double. The undercarraige is not ZB but it appears that the changer is. The tailpeice and keyhead appear to be ZB and the endplates look to be cut down ZB endplates. The pick-up for sure is not ZB either. Might be able to tell you more with some more pictures.

Greg

Robert Scott · Post by **Robert Scott** » 8 Jul 2012 11:32 am

Hi Again everyone Sorry I didn't get anymore pictures taken and posted, anyway have found out that this pedal steel is a ZB/MSA.
The Changer and the keyhead is ZB.
The undercarriage is MSA.
The guy that I bought the pedal steel off said this as follows:

"{The steel is a hybrid its a cross between a ZB and a MSA copy, the MSA pulling action is far better than the ZB flat plate assembly, so I wouldn’t recommend to change that because you have a parallel pull action an its alot easier to set up}".

The body is also MSA. I am waiting on an email from him to confirm all of the parts as and why he went this way, So hope to know more shortly and get a few good picture shots of the complete Pedal Steel.
Thanks Again
Robert

Josh Rossow · Post by **Josh Rossow** » 31 Jul 2012 5:47 pm

Hey guys I'm new to the Forum, just wanted to say hey. I've been playing steel for about a year and a half been checkin out the forum here for a while and finally became a member. I learned a lot from all these zb posts. I Love the ZB's, spent some hard earned money and got this 69' D-10 earlier in the year. Kevin Hatton made me some great split cases for it. Here are some pics, hopefully they upload.

Russ Tkac · Post by **Russ Tkac** » 31 Jul 2012 6:11 pm

Very nice! I think my 69 is #83 but it doesn't have the nice split cases 'cause I don't move it much.

Billy Knowles · Post by **Billy Knowles** » 31 Jul 2012 6:59 pm

Kevin makes great cases!!

B. Greg Jones · Post by **B. Greg Jones** » 31 Jul 2012 8:42 pm

Ser# 0066. I did the restoration on that guitar for Lee Brothers a few years ago. Marv Fluger did the refinish on it. Its a tone machine.

Greg

Todd Brown · Post by **Todd Brown** » 31 Jul 2012 11:27 pm

Man, Josh! That's a nice one! I'll put up a few pics of my new '66 Zane built beauty. Just acquired it from another SC player. Officially, I'm the third owner. Greg has already given me some cool info on this guitar.

Serial #1056. Being solid Black, it's a rare one amongst the already rare 170 guitars that Zane built. Decal says Phoenix, but it was definitely one of the first few that were assembled in Scranton. All original except a few parts underneath. Zane signature fretboards. Original Zane built case with lift out tray for the legs, rods, and pedal bar. Haven't seen many on this thread that still have the original case! I think Greg Jones and Billy Knowles will be helping me with some parts, a 4th knee, etc,. It came from the factory with a Day setup, but I'm about to change her to an Emmons setup. Wish me luck

! BTW, I can't believe this thread has been running for 10 years!! Gotta be a record.

Josh Rossow · Post by **Josh Rossow** » 1 Aug 2012 5:58 pm

Hi Greg Jones , thanks for that info. I didn't know it was restored or who owned it before me. Was just curious if you had any other info on your restoration on it (condition before or parts added). Also I'm assuming that the ZB logo had to be reapplied after refinishing, is the style logo thats on it now the same as the logo before restoration. I was just wondering because I don't see many ZB's with the style logo thats on the one I got.[/b][/quote]

Josh Rossow · Post by **Josh Rossow** » 1 Aug 2012 6:17 pm

Todd thats awesome find, its the first black I've seen. Good luck getting that old black beast set up how you want it.

B. Greg Jones · Post by **B. Greg Jones** » 1 Aug 2012 7:27 pm

Josh, The guitar was built in Bakersfield when Tom Brumley owned the company. The decal is not original on your guitar. The original one was like the decal on the pedalrack. However, that is an original to early 69' ZB decal. They used this logo for a very short time before switching to the rectangular ones. Thats the one that the customer chose. As far as condition, well it was pretty poor. It was left in a garage next to a wood burning stove for several years. The original color was brown and blonde but the finish was cracked and shot. The customer chose the red/blonde for the refin. Marv Fluger does my finishes and does a super job. The finish is a urethane base that will never fade or crack and pretty hard to damage. I did a full overhaul on the undercarraige including rebuilding the changers, polished all the castings,etc. The pick-ups are the original ones and were left alone except for cleaning them. The guitar originally had 2 knee levers. Those levers that are on it now were made by Billy Knowles although somebody else put the flags on there. I think it turned out to be a really nice guitar and from what I remember, it sounded pretty dog gone good too.

Welcome to the ZB family!!!!!

Greg

B. Greg Jones · Post by **B. Greg Jones** » 1 Aug 2012 7:31 pm

Josh,
By the way I think those are the coolest logo's ZB ever used but if you want an original one, I will be glad to send one to you.

Greg

Josh Rossow · Post by **Josh Rossow** » 2 Aug 2012 5:25 pm

Greg, you guys did a great job, it plays so smooth and the finish is great, looks like you guys put a lot of time into it. It's cool to here about the history on it and I love that style logo that got put on. I would like to get some extra springs that are attached to the cross plates and the ones by the changer, if ever I need to install a new one It'll be nice to have them on hand. Do you have access to any of these springs or know were I could get some?

B. Greg Jones · Post by **B. Greg Jones** » 2 Aug 2012 11:14 pm

Josh, you should probably never need the lowering springs on the changer unless you try to bend it and it breaks. You can get the other springs at any decent hardware store. Just take one off your guitar and match it up. Thats where I get mine. They are usually sold in pairs or sometimes 4's, depending on the maker.

I have a 3 foot length of spring for the changers but have never had to use it.

Greg

Todd Brown · Post by **Todd Brown** » 10 Sep 2012 1:53 pm

Well, don't mean to hog the thread here with pics of mine, but I'm awful proud of her. And quite happy with it! This ZB thread needs a bump anyway.

I got her setup just like I want it. Playing this little baby through my '73 Twin is the tone I've been looking for all along. With all the steels I've had before, I've never had one with the tone this one's putting out. It ain't all in the hands, boys! Don't let 'em fool ya!

Let's see, I cleaned and polished just about everything that could be. Took apart the E9 changer for a good thorough cleaning. I reworked the placement and bracketing for the RKL. All new brackets made by me. Added a RKR that is in between the changers operating a remote crossshaft that does the pulling. Painted all of the new hardware black to match the original undercarriage parts. If you look at the pics I posted above from when I bought it, you'll see I tried to be creative in a way to cover some screw holes in the body that were exposed. The 2 originals knee levers on this guitar had the white plastic inserts. The 2 knees that were added(not stock) I painted to match the originals. I took the keyheads off and repainted the insides and outsides black. Cleaned, polished, and lubed the tuning keys. I repainted the inside of the pedal bar and pedals. Put some old chrome Peavey knobs on the volume & tone pots.

If there is one thing about this guitar I didn't like it was the way the pedal bar mounted to the legs. I had an MSA that mounted the same way, and was always losing and/or dropping the wing nuts when putting it together or breaking it down(really easy to do in a dark club). So, I drilled & tapped the pedal bar and fabricated some sliders. This keeps me from having to totally remove the wing nuts to disassemble the guitar.

Got all new decals from Greg Jones, plus a Live Steel decal from Sid( I love his strings, so why not?). I decided to go with the Bakersfield decals. I dunno, just like them better than the CZB design. I Got the 4th lever(had 3 when I got it) from Jerry Roller for a good honest price. Jerry is a great guy to deal with! I've got a 5th lever here that Greg hooked me up with and I'm gonna add that as a LKV when I get the time. I'm also gonna put a knee lever pull for the C6 back on it. And I plan on making all new rods and turnbuckles for both necks here shortly. She's playing and looking like a dream machine!

I will admit that this is the most challenging steel I've had yet. As far as the setup and just working on it. Greg helped a good bit over a few phone conversations and emails. I owe him for that, for sure! Luckily this ain't my first rodeo. I've rebuilt a few steels including old 'Bud's. They're a walk in the park compared to these ZB's. Take note, newbies. If I had bought this as a first psg, I would have given up playing steel after a week long headache with this thing. No doubt about that.

Ok, here ya go. Think Rusty Young

! Oh yeah, I wanna thank fellow SC picker Mike Bagwell for selling it to me.

Chuck McGill · Post by **Chuck McGill** » 10 Sep 2012 2:53 pm

Todd I sold this guitar to the previous owner. Great tone and you sir have done a great job on it.

Josh Rossow · Post by **Josh Rossow** » 10 Sep 2012 3:55 pm

Todd, thats awesome, it looks brand new. Big differance from the before pics .
I play mine through a 65' fender pro reverb, can't get enough of it. Like the logo's u put on it!!

Daniel Policarpo · Post by **Daniel Policarpo** » 11 Sep 2012 12:06 am

These pics are killing me! Best thread ever.

Richard Shaw · Post by **Richard Shaw** » 11 Sep 2012 2:45 am

That is a beautiful guitar Todd. I'm one of the 'newbies' you refered to, having just bought a SD10 ZB Custom. Luckily, as I did'nt have a clue where to start, before even attempting to play it, I shipped it off to Bob Adams in Scotland for a service and setup and he did a superb job. He has a really informative PSD site

http://www.pedalsteel.co.uk/

Todd Brown · Post by **Todd Brown** » 11 Sep 2012 7:56 am

Thanks much, guys!!

Joel Martin · Post by **Joel Martin** » 13 Sep 2012 8:22 pm

WELL! It's a thrill to officially join the best thread ever! Spent the last few days reading every single post. It's so great!
I just bought Chuck's green machine that is represented over the last year, Scranton #1159. Greg and Marv couldn't have done better work on it, and of course, Greg has been a spring of amazing information.
It's my first C6, so I'm having a blast going over that. Thanks to Chuck for making it available to me - I love'r!!!
Cheers
Joel

Josh Rossow · Post by **Josh Rossow** » 14 Sep 2012 8:40 pm

Hey Joel, Nice Green Machine! Did it come with a back brace? They are definetly worth their weight in sound, or is it gold?

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ZB Pedal Steel Guitars - Please help!

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