ZB custom on EBay?

[brunopietoso]

Hi there,

I'm a lap steel player but was looking into the world of pedal steel and have seen a ZB custom recently posted on ebay but not much information on it other than some.photos and that it was owned by the sellers late brother.

Heres the link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ZB-Custom-Pe ... 890.l49292

The price seems to be decent and the seller mentions you can try it but with the current lockdown situation I don't think it will be possible and since I know nothing about what to look for in an pedal steel in order to know if everything is functional what are your opinions on the matter?

And also is this an actual legit ZB custom model?

The seller takes pay pal so guess if I take it home and something is wrong I could return it.

Any input would be most welcome!

Thanks

[Jim Pritchard]

Hello Bruno,

Yes this is an early ZB S11 student model, that has a full aluminum frame.
It was posted last month on a face book group page, with many downside comments.
Whoever painted it did a very poor job, by painting ALL the working mechanism.
In short, it would need stripping out & all the paint paint removed, and then a full refurbishment, probably around £200-£300+
So, add that to the value of the steel, which is only worth around £300>£400, in it's present condition.
Sad to say it doesn't look good at the asking price.

PS. the two photos below is how it should look

Attachments

Last edited by Jim Pritchard on Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:17 pm, edited 3 times in total.

[brunopietoso]

Hi Jim,

Many thanks for your quick response! Really helpful.

I managed to bring the price down to 700 but guessing it would still be a bit of a stretch considering it is more on the 300/400 range.

In terms of playability would it be ok to play as is despite all the paint in the mechanism or not?

May give it a pass then or see if he's willing to come down on that price which I dont think he is unfortunately.

Back to researching then it is! Thanks again

[Uncle Roy]

MHO would be Leave it alone, be patience save your money there will be more decent deal available.
I am sure others will agree with me.

[Jim Pritchard]

I totally agree with Uncle Roy.
This one is best left alone, unless the price is right and you are prepared to have the work done.
Bruno, it may play a little, but I ask you, *would you drive your car if someone painted your brakes* !
I'm sure there will be better opportunities for a working steel in the near future.
It's always best to ask advice on the forum, before spending out hard earned cash on something that will let you down.

[brunopietoso]

Hi Uncle Roy,

Yeah I think I will wait, save some money and buy something more decent.

I appreciate the input!

[Ken Byng]

I think you would regret buying that item very quickly after laying out your hard earned money. It's the worst example of a ZB Student guitar that I've ever seen, and I've seen a few in my time as a former agent for ZB Guitars (UK).

[Tony Russell Davis]

Just as an aside (I agree with all the comments so far) it's an S11 and I don't remember seeing a student model with that number of strings - except the one on the "Zane Beck plays the new ZB student" album cover.

Ken, can you remember any coming to UK?

[brunopietoso]

I am so glad I came to this forum!

I never bid on the item so it was just a conversation with the seller and he mentioned he had other interested buyers so I told him to go for it as I wasn't going ahead with it.

Anyway, many thanks again to everyone, my money and I appreciate it!

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

300 tops would be my price I know of a couple of ZB' with 11 but not seen a student one like that