The Steel Guitar Forum

Documenting 40 year old BMI facelift. This steel played an sounded great just cleaning it up an giving it a new look.

I always like watching this stuff and learning more...

BMI stands the test of time after 40 years of use. Thought I would give it good cleaning an new look. This has too be the most underrated steel built today. The BMI was ahead of its time in the past an ahead still today. Many steel manufacturers use the aluminum frame design that Zane Beck designed 50 years ago. I will bet y'all can name a few. BMI is to this day manufacturing this great steel. An they gladly service what they sell an can furnish any part u need. Cowboy Eddy Long plays BMI check him out on YouTube.

That is an interesting view of the BMI body design.
Here is the new Sierra body design:

Anapeg frame foundation

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will have wood neck Curley mable neck

Love watching this

Awesome work - post more pics!

thanks

Got a little more done , built maple fret board with wenge accent binding an Paducah wood fret markers plus walnut dots. Got to run trim in middle of neck there's a slot that holes it

Getting close too roding got to call Dan or Don at BMI an get some goodies.

You could use regular fret board 12 string BMI fret board over the one I made I just can’t cover up beautiful wood.

Ump

Great job Johnny. I love the tone of BMI's guitars and they are built like a tank. I never liked or understood the logic behind those big flat cross bars. Did you replace those with round cross bars?

The big cross bars(shafts) is what kept me from playing BMI's over the years. I prefer the smaller cross shafts that are square. Hey Henry, hope your doing good buddy.

I noticed the same thing, i.e. cross shafts. I think I read somewhere, recently, that BMI was considering the move to a more standard cross shaft and bell crank.
I've always hesitated to consider a BMI because of the flat shafts. I'm sure I've missed out on a great sounding steel. They are fine looking guitars!

Tom Campbell wrote:I noticed the same thing, i.e. cross shafts. I think I read somewhere, recently, that BMI was considering the move to a more standard cross shaft and bell crank.
I've always hesitated to consider a BMI because of the flat shafts. I'm sure I've missed out on a great sounding steel. They are fine looking guitars!

That would be a great move for BMI I think. They are great sounding guitars and I like everything else about them, espicially the way changer is made and would sure consider one. The flat cross bars themselves do the job and make changing set ups fairley easy. The part I don't like is the fact that the fulcrum part of bell crank is mounted forward on the cross shaft which when a pedal is pushed, they have to go up before they start to pull which makes pedals mushy. I had a little single 10 I played for years and could never get the mushy feeling out until one day, I turned the bells cranks around and had to make two pull rods and and shortened two. Just did it on A and B pedals. That put the hole in bell crank right above the fulcrum point and played like a dream then. Years ago, I showed my idea to Zane and he said he would check out my idea. Zane was a fine man and I only got to hear him play once but what an honor.

Do the flat cross shafts have any effect on the tone? It always appeared that they were one of the main similarities between BMI's and the old ZB guitars. I've always wondered if there was a reason for that. I have always wanted to try a BMI and see what, if any similarity in tone they have with the old ZB guitars. I know they are probably apples and oranges, but I love the sound of the old ZBs and those cross shafts live on.

Those flat cross bars work great. I've never noticed any of the issues Henry mentioned; but, my BMI is just a few years old. I've got both of my guitars (Williams and BMI) set up so the pedals and knee-levers feel pretty much the same.

Hi Daniel, The BMI is totally different from the Z B. The only downside too the flat bars would be a little extra weight. The changer on BMI is much simpler than some of the steels being built today An work very well. I been associated with B M I For nearly 40 years. Every time I do a setup on a BMI I marvel at the genius of Zane Beck. Set up corectly they can play as good as any pedal steel being built today.

On setting up B M I all flat crossbars have a set screw that you use too take up slack on pedals an knee leavers so u can have very tight tollarance on pedals an knee leavers.