The Steel Guitar Forum

Greetings...

I'm a relatively new steel guitar player. I'm about to upgrade from my gfi student model. Just curious if anybody's got an opinion on picking up an older 70's Zum steel (s10 3x4)? Is something 30 years old most likely gonna need some work? I've heard only the best about Zums...so...???

thanks, and thanks for a great forum!

I would think that the older Zum would be a much better guitar. Zums are great guitars and if in good shape would difinitley be a big up grade for you. Good luck.--Henry

I should add that alternatively, the new GFI expo is also a consideration, but i think a bit more in terms of cost...

You are probably looking at the one currently on ebay... It is a pull release mechanism, not the like the modern Zum which is all pull.... It will be sort of a different animal, tuning and setup wise than what you have now. Check with Bruce at Zumsteel to see if there are any copedent limitations with that set up.... probably sounds great.
I have worked on some Marlin pull release guitars, so if you go for the Zum, I can probably give you a hand with the setup..... Good luck.

i love zums..have played one for 26 years, but these early ones, neat as they are, might not be the best for advancing your learnig curve due to the limited mechanism. i second the emotion of calling bruce for advice on it!

thanks for the advice...I really appreciate it!

Jonathan, get the serial # of the Zum you mention & refer to Bruce Zumsteg about it
he'll set you right

Zums are wonderfull steels that Bruce puts a lot of pride & knowhow in
usually, one can't go wrong w; a ZumSteel

Bruce does not support the old model steels he made. He does not make parts for them. Others here have purchased them and reported on this.

Just because it is a Zum does not mean it is worth a lot. It is an old model and the mechanics are nothing like a new one.

From what I have been told, Bruce is sort of semi retired now. I guarantee you that he will not be interested in working on his old outdated designs.

Jonathan, for what it's worth, I own a '76 Zum, serial #4, and I also own a 2007 Zum, serial #1047. There is no doubt that Bruce has improved the mechanical aspects of his instruments over the years, but I love the old '76 (especially the tone) and have had basically ZERO problems with it and have no intentions of ever selling it. Just one person's opinion and experience; your mileage may vary.

Dan, My first Zum was a sd10 beautiful birdseye maple red. I think it was #3 or #4. It had a pushpull changer. What is yours?

Darryl, mine is a blue lacquer D-10, 8x5. Bruce showed me his log and it is definitely listed as #4.

thanks again everybody...very informative. i'm thinking i'm probably gonna play it safe and get a new gfi expo. big thanks!