Zirconium Tone Bars

Kris Oka · From: San Francisco, CA, USA

ZIRCONIUM TONE BARS. I would like to introduce members to Zbars. I have been using these bars for several months now and they are made to the highest quality. They are super smooth and provide great sustain. Currently, these bars are made in 1 inch X 3 1/2 inches and 7/8 inch X 3 1/2 inches in black and in white. They are very expensive and perhaps not for everyone. $150 for white and $160 for black plus S$H. Bobby Ingano, Lion Kobayashi and I have been using these Zbars and we all agree that they are heavy and bulky and tricky to do forward and reverse slants properly. So, here is the tease. I am trying to get my source to make 3/4 inch X 3 1/2 inches Zbars in white and black for the same price. However, in order to make a production run he needs at least 50 orders. So if you are interested in sighing up please contact:
VINH NGUYEN at ZIRBAR@gmail.com

ed packard · From: Show Low AZ

Using Kris's post as the opener, here are the presently available sizes and colors...and yes it takes a list of 50 customers to justify a run of any size, and/or any color. Notice the dimension differences from Kris's post.

Yes, we have bars...enough for Christmas maybe.
NO WAITING...via USPS with tracking #.

Checks or MO, send to:

ZBARS
188 Fairmeadow Way
Milpitas, CA, 95035

Paypal, send to:
ZIRBAR@gmail.com

Available:

White, 7/8 X 3+3/8"
Black, 7/8 X 3+3/8"
White, 15/16 X 3+3/8"
Black, 15/16 X 3+1/2"

Whites are US$ 150.00
Blacks are US$ 160.00

ADD S&H US$ 10.00 in the lower 48 states, 20.00 elsewhere.
ADD US$ 5.00 if using PayPal.

Vinh Nguyen handles shipping and $.

OR, you can email me, as you prefer.

Thank you for your interest.
Edp

Dr. Hugh Jeffreys · From: Southaven, MS, USA

I have a plastic bar that I've used for many years; it's beginning to show age; I'd like another plastic bar, but made to my own specs. I have, but never use, metal bars; they sustain far too long. A plastic bar will decay a sound much faster.

ed packard · From: Show Low AZ

DR Hugh...I used plastic coated bars, plastic picks, and Black Diamond strings on an old Stella 6 stringer with raised nut...just after the flat bar and a straight A or E tuning.

Kris Oka · From: San Francisco, CA, USA

Yeah, the Zbars may not be for everyone. These bars are super slick and smooth and have great sustain if that is what you are looking for. Well, Hawaiian style.

ed packard · From: Show Low AZ

Kris...you may or may not know it, but Bill Stafford uses the Zirc (the second one built...I have the first) as his only bar. He was given the Jerry Byrd award. JB said that if he was to play pedals he would want to play like Bill S.

Kris Oka · From: San Francisco, CA, USA

Ed. I wonder how many SG players use Zirc or Zbars. I am struggling to learn how to play non-pedal steel and I need all the help I can get. JB has now passed and I can only hope that i can learn from his students. Kris

ed packard · From: Show Low AZ

Kris...about 400 players using the Zircs now.

It started when I saw a piece of Zirconium oxide (zirconia) used as a hip joint replacement. Looked like it would make a good bar, so two were made...one with my PST label, and one with Bill Stafford's name laser etched on the other.

Bill tried it and wanted it...been using it exclusively ever since.

At the ranch in NM, Pee Wee Whitewing and the Heart of Texas band showed up for a week. Pee Wee tried one and wanted one. BillS came up to the plant in CO where the equipment was...I found a good material source, and Bill used the equipment nights and weekends to make the bars. They were serialized and also etched with the customers name. They were sold thru the Forum and at the shows/conventions. Total was 165 bars That was ten or so years ago.

Then LEO, whose plant we were using sold and retired. Now there was no more material and no place to do the work. LEO got tired of being totally retired, so he wanted to make the bars. I rounded up some customers, he got some material and made some bars...material problems brought that to a halt. Maybe 30 to 40 bars more with SN & names etched.

Time passed when VINH who had worked with me in the Silicon Valley Hard Disk Drive development world ran across a source for the Zirconia. he decided that he might like to do something with the bars. I did the promo end, and Vinh does the ordering/shipping/bookkeeping etc. Total bars for this run to date should be about 400 plus...so the grand total approaches 600.

If you do a Forum search for Zirc bars you can find lots of info re their mechanical properties. They are about 0.78 The weight of tool steel, about equal in hardness, and finished smoother than the chromed steel bars.

No rust/corrosion, no scratching, no wear etc., thermal coefficient of conductivity is such that they warm quickly to the touch, and smoothness is such that they are less likely to slip from the hand (so I am told) by the users.

As for who is using them, I prefer not to give out the names...watch for the White ones on You Tube...hard to see the black ones.

A few folk that have ordered them have posted unsolicited comments on the Forum. Lots have emailed me directly with their opinions = all positive.

A number of months ago, I tried for interest in the non pedal world. Not much there. Not just the 3/4" dia, but the different lengths is a problem as 100 piece batches of the same color, same dia, and same length is required for a batch.

Kris Oka · From: San Francisco, CA, USA

Ed. That is great to know and according to Vinh the Zbars that he is selling are the very best and all feedback has been positive. I thought at first the 7/8 X 3 3/8 Zbars were heavy and bulky but as Vinh pointed out to me they are actually lighter similar size Dunlap steel bars. I weighed the Zbars = 197 gm vs. Steel bar = 213 gm. So Vinh is correct. I guess what I am wrestling with is that a 3/4 X 3 3/8 bar maybe easier and faster to play. This is also what Bobby Ingano thnks. I did not realize until I talked to Vinh how difficult it is to make the Zbars. Unfortunately, we may not find out because Vinh needs at least 50 orders to make an investment for retooling. He might make a proto-type. I leave for Hawaii tomorrow and will try to get more feedback and pass it along to Vinh. Kris

Dr. Hugh Jeffreys · From: Southaven, MS, USA

For Ed Packard: Your description sounds like my first guitar; it was a resonator type steel guitar; later my brother had an amp built by a local radio repair man; the guitar was fitted with a rectangular-shaped pickup. The amp chassis was made of discarded oil cans (metal was hard to get during WWII.) Over all----not the most beautiful sound in the world! I used one of the Nick Manoloff flat bars (they really suck!) Anyway your thread above conjured up some memories.

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