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Topic: BMI Pedal Steel Guitars - Show Us Yours! |
Ken Mizell
From:
Lakeland, Florida, 33809, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2021 10:20 am |
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Hi folks. Late last year I bought a refurbished BMI SD-10 3/4 body from a forumite. I had some down time due to shoulder replacement surgery, but I continued the restoration of the guitar and just finished it up.
I don't see BMI (Beck Musical Instrument) getting much mention here on the forum, unless one is for sale.I don't know or understand why.
38-39 years old - The serial number on my guitar is 916. Another guy on the forum has one with a S/N about 100 more than mine, and his was bought from Zane Beck in 1983. I'm thinking mine was made in late '82 or early '83. I don't know how many Zane and company was turning out back then. My guitar is a 2 raise and 2 lower changer, and originally had 3 knee levers.
I'm working on tuning the new levers at this time, and I think I need to adjust it for more travel in the action.
I find these BMI guitars to be exceptionally well built, and maybe even over engineered to an extent. All the metal is thick. The key head is heavy duty, and the bridge/pickup support is very substantial as well. It's built like a tank, and I think I could stand on top of it and it would support my 255 lbs.
The following restoration work was done:
> Polished to a mirror finish all over, using Mothers Aluminum and Mag Polish (Great stuff). Everything I could get to was highly polished by hand. The pedal bar was getting dull and scratched up, so I sanded it using a sanding block, and 3 grades of wet/dry sandpaper. I finished it off with 1000 grit, then 2000, and then went to the Mothers polish. The legs, pedals, pedal blocks, and pedal bar are all polished to almost a mirror finish.
> Cleaned and polished the pedal rods and connectors.
> Polished the changer fingers, and the roller nuts.
> The black anodized area on the front of the bridge support was removed and polished. It looks better polished than black. I left the back side of the bridge black. That anodization is extremely hard to get off if doing it by hand.
> New BMI OEM fret board. The old fret board, on it before the initial refurbishment, was replaced with a Sho-Bud fret board, which was correct for the scale, but I wanted it original. The plastic Sho-Bud fret board peeled off without any problems.The new fret board is a bit wider at the nut or key head end, because the BMI neck is now a little wider. It still fits well, the scale is correct, and it looks nice, and original.
> New BMI OEM RKR, lowering 2 and 9.
> Additional pull on the RKL, and the previous pull was changed too. The RKL now raises 1 and 7.
> All new changer return springs, and return spring screws.
> New nylon tuning nuts. The raises are white, and the lowers are either gray or black.
> Fresh set of Live Steel Strings
> Installed a new pickup - George L - E66.
> Installed a new Switchcraft 1/4" jack.
> Changed out some old tarnishing screws with stainless steel screws.
> Lubed roller nuts and the changer fingers with RemOil with Teflon (Remington Gun Oil)
I've gotten kind of attached to this old BMI. I can't even account for how many hours I spent working on this guitar. Mechanics aren't hard to work on, but I've spent a lot of work on cleaning and polishing.
Some photos of the final product are attached.
_________________
Steeless.
Last edited by Ken Mizell on 28 Apr 2021 11:03 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Sonny Jenkins
From:
Texas Masonic Retirement Center,,,Arlington Tx
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Posted 26 Apr 2021 1:10 pm
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| Ken you've done an outstanding job on a great guitar,,you are justified in being proud of it!! Yes BMI are great guitars,,and under rated in my opinion |
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Ken Mizell
From:
Lakeland, Florida, 33809, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2021 1:38 pm
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| Sonny Jenkins wrote: |
| Ken you've done an outstanding job on a great guitar,,you are justified in being proud of it!! Yes BMI are great guitars,,and under rated in my opinion |
Thanks much Sonny. BMI are seldom mentioned when people are looking for guitars and asking questions here on the forum. I don't know why they are unpopular. The company is still in business and has several models available at decent prices. Their parts are still available, and priced very reasonably. Their customer service is top notch, and they are very friendly people to deal with. The owner, Don Fritche recently talked me out of buying about $70 worth of parts because he didn't think I needed them. He gave me advice instead, and turns out I didn't need the items. Don promply sent me a refund check. He even offered to do a Facetime call with me to guide me with installing the new RKR. It turned out to be so easy I didn't need help. All of the holes are already there, and stops are built into the rear apron. It's so easy to add levers to these BMI's that a caveman could do it.
The BMI is made in such a way that it gives you a good bit of leg room in the back. By using a small bracket in the middle of the rear apron to mount the LKR, they avoid having a wide rear apron, adding about 1" of leg room, as opposed to some of the "fat back" guitars like a GFI. There is nothing hanging down between the knee levers on the left or right either. For a guitar like a GFI, I'd probably need 1 or 2 inches longer legs, along with a lowboy volume pedal.
_________________
Steeless.
Last edited by Ken Mizell on 27 Apr 2021 3:56 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2021 3:26 pm
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Ken here’s my double ten
It only has two knee leavers
I need too add more knees.
I would like too turn the bell cranks the opposite way too have the pull point over the axels
For better pedal action.
Just have not had the time.
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2021 3:30 pm
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Dan Burnham has been with BMI for years an he uses
ALUMITONE PICKUP’S for good tone on his BMI STEELS
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2021 3:42 pm
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Ken here’s a BMI I restored a while back.
 [/img] |
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2021 4:05 pm
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Ken you have done a beautiful Jobâ€!!!!
BMI steels our top notch! |
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Ken Mizell
From:
Lakeland, Florida, 33809, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2021 4:57 pm
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| Johnie King wrote: |
| Ken here’s a BMI I restored a while back |
I saw that a while back. It turned out very beautiful. The blue and the trim work are amazing.
Noted regarding the Alumitone Pickups. Is that a Steeltronics ZB clone pickup on the blue BMI? If I had the spare cash I'd try one of them. However, the GeoL E-66 really sounds great.
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Steeless. |
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2021 5:19 pm
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| Ken the pickup is one that Zane Beck’s wife wound years Go . |
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Joe Krumel
From:
Hermitage, Tn.
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Posted 26 Apr 2021 5:30 pm
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Hi Ken. Owned a s10 BMI in the late 80's.Wonderful guitar. Should have kept it!  |
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2021 5:42 pm
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| Right now I have 2 S10s. One is apart and I'm making some repairs. I doubt that I will go to your efforts but I will make it solid and playable. I'm almost ashamed to post pictures because they are nowhere near the beauty of those above. |
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Lee Dassow
From:
Jefferson, Georgia USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2021 8:45 pm
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ken it looks great probably built sometime in the early 90's
don and the boys are the best steel makers that i ever dealt with. i like the narrow pad on it to. you'll have fun playing that one. Tennessee lee
_________________
2015 Mullen D-10 Royal Precision 9x8,-1990 BMI S-10 5x5-1972 Silver face Fender pro Reverb amp,-1965 Fender Super Reverb Amp,- 1966 Fender Showman Amp Two 15" JBL speakers,- 2006 65 Fender Twin Reverb reissue Amp,- 1982 Peavey Session 500 amp,-1978 Peavey Session 400,Goodrich Volume Pedals,John Pearse Steel Bars,
Last edited by Lee Dassow on 19 May 2021 8:24 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Ken Mizell
From:
Lakeland, Florida, 33809, USA
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Posted 27 Apr 2021 3:33 am
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| Lee Dassow wrote: |
ken it looks great probably built sometime in the early 90's
don and the boys are the best steel makers that i ever dealt with. i like the narrow pad on it to. you'll have fun playing that one. Tenneessee lee |
Hi Lee,
Don estimates mid 80s. Then, one of our forum friends mentioned having a BMI he bought from Zane Beck in 1983. His serial number is 100 hugher than mine. My serial number is 916. So, I estimate mine being built in 1982-83.
I'm interested in hearing from BMI owners who bought theirs new and recall when they bought it. By comparing the serial numbers, we may be able to get an estimate on when these old vintage guitars were made.
Don said that after Zane died (1985), Mrs. Beck had the build records. When the company was sold, she couldn't find the records, and when she passed, nobody could find them.
Yes, Don Fritche and Dan Burnham are great people to deal with. Good, honest folks.
Does anyone have serial numbers and build dates to share?
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Steeless. |
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 27 Apr 2021 5:02 am
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A little BMI history back too the early 1980’s
Zane Beck played the green Keyless for years then he gave the green keyless too Zane King an Zane King steel uses the green keyless for recording.
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 27 Apr 2021 5:14 am
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Cowboy Eddy Long an Dan Burnham
Enough saidâ€!!!
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Daniel McKee
From:
Corinth Mississippi
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Posted 27 Apr 2021 5:37 pm
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| Have never owned one. I will in about 5-6 weeks though! When mine comes in Ill be sure to take plenty of photos to show everything. I have to agree they are passed up a lot and really their prices are not bad at all. You can get an S-10 Keyless (flight ready) for a very good price. |
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Ken Mizell
From:
Lakeland, Florida, 33809, USA
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Posted 28 Apr 2021 3:03 am
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Daniel - What was the turnaround time on your order?
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Steeless. |
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Ken Mizell
From:
Lakeland, Florida, 33809, USA
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Posted 29 Apr 2021 3:55 am
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I checked with BMI, and their current turnaround time on orders is 8 to 9 months. Apparently these steel guitars are more popular and well known than I thought.
They currently use Lawrence 705 or Alumitone pickups in new steel guitars.
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Steeless. |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 3 May 2021 5:33 am
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awesome and very underrated professional guitars… I’m using little S10 right now that sounds and plays awesome … and it is compact and light weight… always had a soft spot for BMI… love it …
https://youtu.be/C9Asd0A6mEQ
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www.steelguitarsonline.com |
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Joe Krumel
From:
Hermitage, Tn.
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Posted 3 May 2021 8:58 am Bmi
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| Damir Nice guitar. Had one just like that,only light blue mica. What a work horse guitar they are! I miss mine. They truly are underrated. |
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Ken Mizell
From:
Lakeland, Florida, 33809, USA
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Posted 3 May 2021 9:41 am
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Nice guitar Damir! That looks like what they call an Axius II. They are only $2,295 new. Great value.
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Steeless. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 3 May 2021 10:28 am
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I've had two BMIs. They were very good guitars, I agree on under-rated. Circa '83 S10 3+4 and circa '76 SD12 4+5, respectively:
 
I probably shoulda' kept the SD12 - don't have a lot of photos of that one, this is what I could find. I doubled/tripled steel/guitar/banjo a lot at that point. |
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Benton Allen
From:
Muscle Shoals, Alabama, USA
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Posted 4 May 2021 6:35 am My D12 BMI
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I've owned this D12 BMI since 1984. It is serial number 758 and was built January 15, 1981 for Jerry Boyanton.
It's held up really well, and has never been restored.
Cheers!
Benton |
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Marty Broussard
From:
Broussard, Louisiana, USA
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Posted 4 May 2021 4:59 pm
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In 1981 I saw a S10 at Jeff’s that a fellow student said was a kit guitar. Sounded great and I always regretted not buying a kit and building one for myself.
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RETIRED
"Technique is really the elimination of the unnecessary..it is a constant effort to avoid any personal impediment or obstacle to achieve the smooth flow of energy and intent" Yehudi Menuhin |
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Jeff Jackson
From:
Iowa, USA
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Posted 15 May 2021 6:15 pm Bmi S-10
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I have owned a Emmons for years but I couldn't resist picking up this old S-10. Would anyone happen to have any idea when this was made?
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