BMI History

Wayne Morgan · Post by **Wayne Morgan** » 6 Apr 2002 9:19 am

Hi steelers, is there anyone out there could give me some info on BMI steels. I have a D10 8x8,,,ser # 0068, would like to know the year it was made,,not much on the web about BMI's
Thanks,,,,Wayne

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Steeling is much better than working for a living

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 8 Apr 2002 10:59 am

Hey Wayne,
I've got a single 12 BMI which I bought at the consignment room at Scotty's convention about 12 years ago or so. I think they're great guitars and easy to work on, change setups, etc. As for the history I can tell you this. The BMI stands for Beck Musical Instruments. They were made in Arkansas by the late Zane Beck. He was the man behind the great ZB guitars associated with Tom Brumley, Wally Murphy and some others. You can still get parts for them and repairs by a guy named Don Fritchie if I remember right who's also in Arkansas. I can't find his address on anything right now or I'd give it to you. Maybe someone on the Forum can give you more info. The only thing I can say is they're great axes and have a great sound.

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney tuning.

Walter Jones · Post by **Walter Jones** » 8 Apr 2002 1:30 pm

Don F. Fritsche, BMI
Rt 1 Box 105A
Scranton, Ar 72863

Don builds and repairs BMI, and a great guy to deal with. He works in a Bank and you will probably have better luck getting hold of him in the evenings. When I talked to him about getting some parts he told me that he had been working on them since 1974, he started working part time for Zane while in college.

Greg Jones, my son, is rebuilding a BMI D-10 with 4K & 7F. He says its a really well designed guitar and actually comes completely apart as opposed to the wooden bodies guitars. The body has machined aluminum parts and the end plates kind of lock together with the sides , if you take a close look you will probably see what I am trying to explain. He says easy to change setup and work on.

It is a light blue formica, I am anxious to see it when he gets it done.

Wayne Morgan · Post by **Wayne Morgan** » 8 Apr 2002 4:35 pm

thanks,,Jerry and Walter,,, I also got an E mail from a Mr. Griffith, that spent some time with Mr. Beck, told me, by the low serial # that the steel was probably a mid 70's, It plays like a new one,,very pleased with it.

Reggie Duncan · Post by **Reggie Duncan** » 9 Apr 2002 2:26 am

As a dealer for BMI in the late 70's, I found that their economy single neck, with 4 knee levers, was 10 times the guitar that another company sold for about the same money. It only had 1 knee lever, and was ugly.
I learned to love Zane and Ms. Faye!

Kim West · Post by **Kim West** » 9 Apr 2002 4:29 am

greetings, wayne--keep reading the forum; you'll gradually glean little grains of info about zbs. apparently, after making them under his own name, he went to "zb custom" (i have a d10), then "bmi" (i have a bmi volume pedal). glad to hear about another old one. i have a zb s12, serial number 0043--bet they're remarkably similar. one thing i've noticed is that they are logically well-constructed, the kind of logic that engineers appreciate. very user-friendly. check an older post on the buy/sell from greg jones: he also repairs them, and has lots of nos parts for sale. enjoy.