BMI or not?

Ron ! · Posted 19 Jan 2007 11:57 am

I would like to know how many players there are out there that use a BMI and if they are content with this instrument.I am in the market for a new steel and I would like to know some aditional info .Maybe someone can send me some info by mail.
I mailed Dan at BMI and hope he will respond soon but a lil help from you all would help me a lot I think.
Maybe someone has some photomaterial from the underside etc etc.

Please mail me at bigsbysteel@hotmail.com

Thanks

Ron

Jerry L Miller · From: Sublette, Kansas, USA

i have a S-10 3-2 B.M.I. and love it i keep thinking i should add two more knee levers but i can find every thing i want to play with 2. if the new guitars are built like the old ones they are very solid and very good tone.
jerry Very Happy

Luke Morell · From: Ramsey Illinois, USA Hometown of Tex Williams

Ron, I have a BMI D10, it plays good and stays in tune real good. It's about a 1985 model.

Donald Dunlavey · From: Jonesboro, Georgia, USA

I have a BMI 12 string and I like it a lot. Mine is an early model. in very good shape. It has good tone and once I got the the copedant done, it settled in quite well. Pedal and knee lever action are good. I also have a Sho-Bud and Fessenden, so I have something to draw from. For a moderate priced steel don't think you could go wrong.

Paul Redmond · From: Illinois, USA

This may sound strange, but if you're looking for a BMI to purchase, stick with the 'early' models where the neck rails come down and wrap around the changer and actually are fixed to it via two screws front and rear. Most of these guitars had only 2-up, 2-down capabilities, but the inherent rigidity exhibited in this design is far superior to the models that have the neck rails running up to and merely abutting the changer housing. I have a S-10 that I made and installed new neck rails on to 'tie' the rails to the changer housing to avoid the detuning problem that does exist on the 'later' designs. It was built for me in 1979. I also have a 1978 'early' model D-11 that has the neck rails which tie into the changer housing. It too only has 2-up, 2-down capabilities. I have other posts on this Forum which describe the modifications I've made to both of these guitars over the years to make them more mechanically accurate than they already are. The BMI 'pry-bar' changer design is great IMO and, I believe, contributes greatly to it's inherently warm tone qualities. Don't back down from buying one. They are a great sounding guitar especially if you have a model that contains pickups wound by the master himself, the late Zane Beck. The neck rail issue may seem inconsequential to the casual observer, but dial indicators don't lie. The 'old' design is IMO superior to the 'new' design despite its limited setup capabilities (only 2-up, 2-down). 'Jumpers' are so easy to install on a BMI if your setup requires that. BMI's are not light in weight. If you thrash it all out, every guitar on the market today has at least one inherent drawback. When I need 'the sound' for a recording, I rely on the BMI's. I push them thru a BOSS RV-3 and an EVANS FET-500. BMI's will bring tears to a glass eye. You wanna hear a BMI toss your hat in the creek?? Pick it at the 17th or 18th fret and do everything else you would normally do in playing what you play. Over the years, I have found things on BMI's that 'I would have done differently'. That is certainly not to imply that what they did was 'wrong' per se, only that I discovered various ways of making a fine guitar much better and more mechanically accurate. I will be using my D-11 soon on an up-coming album by Winifred Hoffman, who sings predominantly religious music, simply because of its inherent tone qualities. I don't like to mess that up with all kinds of 'gadgets'; I want that D-11 to ring thru and exhibit what it is capable of. Contact me via email if you want some additional pointers on BMI's. I love the two BMI's I've got and will go to my grave with both of them.
PRR
Paul Warnick stated it best. "There's BMI, then there are the others". My sentiments exactly.

James Quackenbush · From: Pomona, New York, USA

Paul R.,
That's a nice write up ...It's nice to see someone like yourself so devoted to your instrument !! ..... There are those certain few instruments that I have owned in the past that will NEVER go out of my head...You brought me right there ....Thanks for sharing ...Sincerely, Jim

Paul Wade · From: mundelein,ill

had a b.m.i back in early 80's very find guitar well built

p.w

Dale Bessant · From: Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada

I have a early 70's 3 & 4 S-10 and love it as well.

Dale Bessant · From: Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada

I have a early 70's 3 & 4 S-10 and love it as well.

Jerry Hayes · From: Virginia Beach, Va.

Hey Ron, I have and use a BMI 12 string guitar with 8 floor pedals and 5 knee levers. The thing I like about mine is that I never have to adjust the tuning on the endplate. It just seems to stay put! I just change a string or two from time to time and it keeps on trucking. I've probably had mine for 15 or 16 years now and I have no plans of ever getting another steel guitar. I gig out with this guitar at least two or three times a week and it sounds and plays wonderful! I sent it to Arkansas about a year and a half ago and Don Fritsche completely went over the guitar, added some more changes plus another complete floor pedal assembly and shipped it back to me for a very reasonable price. Good guitar, great service, and remember, they were designed by the late Zane Beck...........JH in Va.
_________________
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!

Damien Odell · From: Springwood, New South Wales, Australia

I have an old BMI (my only steel). I use it regularly and it has never let me down, and the tone is good. I also have a new one on order - can't wait to get hold of it.

Dave White · From: Fullerton, California USA

I have an early 80's BMI S10 3/3, black mica, sweet tone and great sustain. It's easy on strings, too--rarely if ever breaks any. Sounds great played thru my NV 112/Hilton pedal. The only change I made to it was I had a George L E66 pickup put in to replace the original, which had gone microphonic.

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