interesting steels

[STEDDIE EDDIE]

I presume B.M.I. steels [becks musical instruments] was the fore runner of ZB ? well i know of one for sale not too far from me here on the west coast of Ireland, and along with this B.M.I. is another steel for sale, which i would imagine will be of more interest to steelies, it is advertised as a 64/65 sho bud, the seller states that 'the bud needs the rods tightening' asking price for the BMI is 900 euro =£791 and the Shobud is up for 1200 euro = £1,050, i havent spoken to the seller as yet, but will give him a call out of interest, i would love to hear your comments on these old steels, and their approximate value if they were top condition, im tempted to pay a visit and look for myself, i will post more details about set up, condition, etc when i find out,

[STEDDIE EDDIE]

ok, a bit more info, re sho bud, was originally double neck converted to single with pad added, apparently used as 'STAFF GUITAR' at the grand ol' opry, baldwin conversion, 3 pedals 4 knee levers, george l pickup, tobbaco maple colour, needs a little work tightening rods etc, but works ok, beautiful tone and sustain, no case,

B.M.I. psg, 10 string, 3 pedals, 4 knee levers, george l pickup, with case,

[Paul Brennan]

I believe the BMI is my old steel. Actually it was my first steel and the seller, Roy Campbell, sourced it and brought it into the country for me in 1990. It was a very good steel. I traded it against my present steel, Emmons LeGrande SD10, with a chap named Martin Murphy in Roscommon town, Ireland. This was 1991. I think Roy acquired the BMI shortly afterwards. The BMI is a first class steel. It's mechanically very good and sounds great. I believe Roy has had it in his possession all this time. If so, you can be sure it's been very well looked after and is still in great condition. I don't know anything about the ShoBud. Here's the ad's:

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/instruments/2041853
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/instruments/2041791

By the way, do any of you know Roy Campbell? He's a fine steel player indeed and was my first mentor on said instrument. He's been living in Ireland for a long time now but he hails originally from Scotland.

http://soundaffaircountryband.com/

[STEDDIE EDDIE]

Thanks for that info paul, i have been doing a bit of digging myself, and found out roy campbell plays with sound affair country band, and for small lounge bar venues, he plays in an acoustic trio, they go out as 'THE ELDERLY BROTHERS' in which roy plays guitar and dobro, i found this on you tube http://youtu.be/9OCKf81lHSQ and http://youtu.be/oo_ToyFdL2I
i must make an effort to get in touch with Roy, he is not very far from me in Newport, County Mayo

[Paul Brennan]

Eddie, I'm surprised you don't know Roy. He's a great character and musician. You'll enjoy meeting him. Tell him I said hello. I really must make an effort to get over there to the west and visit some people. By the way, I have a few gigs with the mighty Larry Cunningham coming up. The next one is this Saturday night in Portumna. Not a million miles from you.

[STEDDIE EDDIE]

yes ill mention you to Roy when i get talking to him, yeah i thought i was the only gigging steelie in Mayo, in fact most of my gigs in the last two years have been in Westport, a musical hotspot, even in these austere times, only 15 minutes from where i think Roy is based, ah yes Larry Cunningham, no one can hit the low notes like larry, and he will still have a loyal following after all these years, im gigging this saturday, but hope to catch up with you one of these nights,

[Ken Byng]

Eddie
The BMI guitar was not the fore runner to the ZB, but rather its successor. BMI's are still currently available to order today. The BMI guitars of the vintage that you describe are very heavy, robust and as you would expect from Zane Beck have great tone. Their web site is http://www.beckmusicalinstruments.com/.

Zane changed the undercarriage and changer on the BMI, and it was a very different beast to the ZB. The ZB guitar has been resurrected by Kevin Hatton from New York, but the guitar is manufactured by Jerry Fessenden of Fessenden Steel Guitars (only in SD10 format). I spoke to Jerry in Nashville last week and he is building around 25 guitars a year in total.