New BMI has arrived

Damien Odell · Post by **Damien Odell** » 15 May 2007 3:15 am

My new BMI has arrived. It's very pretty, Don Fritche has done a brilliant job - well worth the wait.
Birdseye maple on a SD12. Set up with ZB (E13) tuning. 4 floor and 5 knee.
Has a great sound....once I get my head around this tuning hopefully I will get some nice noises out of it.
Damien

Bill Ford · Post by **Bill Ford** » 15 May 2007 4:40 am

Damien,
Beautiful guitar, gotta love natural wood...Could you please post your tuning. Bill

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 15 May 2007 4:41 am

Damien, that's one of the prettiest maple/inlay combinations I've seen.

I'd like to know what the E13 tuning is.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 15 May 2007 9:10 am

Beautiful guitar. One of the nicest ever show here on the forum.

The wood combinations are so beautiful that they make the BMI logo look out classed...the bright red and white just looks out of place on anything but formica!!

Damien Odell · Post by **Damien Odell** » 15 May 2007 2:28 pm

Thanks for the nice comments.
Bill, go to the link below for a better explanation on this tuning than I could ever give.
Damien

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... highlight=

Duncan Hodge · Post by **Duncan Hodge** » 15 May 2007 3:58 pm

Hello Damien,
Keep us posted on how she sounds. That is just about as pretty a steel as I have ever seen, and I have owned a few ZBs. I have been looking at the BMI website from time to time and wondered if I should take the plunge and order my first ever brand new steel. Your pictures have made that idea seem more attractive than ever. I hope that this doesn't sound strange, or perverted, but I think I'm in love with your pedal steel...Sorry if my last comment made you uncomfortable. Any pics of the underside?
Duncan

Damien Odell · Post by **Damien Odell** » 15 May 2007 4:18 pm

Duncan....thanks for the comments. I think my guitar should be safe, there are a fair few miles between you and it...
I will get some pics of the underside and post them tonight.
Thanks,
Damien

Graham Griffith · Post by **Graham Griffith** » 15 May 2007 4:46 pm

Wow! When are you coming around for a jam.

Graham

Damien Odell · Post by **Damien Odell** » 15 May 2007 4:48 pm

Graham,

I will call you shortly. I need to pick your brains re this tuning big time.
Damien

Duncan Hodge · Post by **Duncan Hodge** » 15 May 2007 5:06 pm

Don't worry Damien, your beautiful BMI is safe. I can behave like a gentleman, when the situation calls for it. I am a happily married man, to a very beautiful woman, and take my marriage vows extremely seriously. But, after my wife, your BMI is the prettiest thing I have seen today. Play it in great health, my friend.
As an aside, I emailed the good folks at BMI to ask their pricing for a new steel that is as fantastic as yours. If by some stroke of luck I can afford one my wife will then kill me and neither you, nor I, will ever have to worry about the safety of your BMI again.
Duncan

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 15 May 2007 6:38 pm

Damien-That is sure a beautiful guitar. I remember Zane Beck gave me his tuning in 1968 at Tom Bradshaw's West cost show in Napa, Calif. It is a great tuning, if that is the one you have on it. It is kind of a E6 E13 combo, with so many options and variations. Good luck...al.

:)

Pat Kelly · Post by **Pat Kelly** » 15 May 2007 7:08 pm

nice to see that your really getting into this Damien. We haven't got together yet but ....one day?

by the way what amp are you using?

Bon Chance my friend.

PK

Damien Odell · Post by **Damien Odell** » 15 May 2007 11:25 pm

Al, yes that is the same tuning that I have on this guitar. To date I have only ever played E9, now I'm looking forward to being able to get some of those deep jazzy chords for western swing style music.

Pat, I have 2 amps. I use a Peavey Deuce with 2 x 12" black widows (basically a prehistoric relic from the 70's that weighs a ton) for large venues where I might get pushed round by a loud guitar player..... For smaller quiter affairs I use a Fender S112 - basically a single 12" all valve, nice sound.

It would be great to catch up - what guiyar do you play??

Jerry Hayes R.I.P. · Post by **Jerry Hayes R.I.P.** » 19 May 2007 5:58 pm

Damien, at one point years ago, I tried Zane Beck's setup on an old ShoBud 12 string I had. It was OK I guess but I was playing in a band six nights a week and it didn't seem to be compatable with commercial music (country, swing, etc.) I later changed to a form of a mini universal which had the following tuning and changes....

High to low: F# D# G# E B G# F# E B G# E B

I used the following changes:

LKL...lowered string 5 B to A#, raised string 9 B to C, lowered string 11 E to D#, lowered string 12 B to G#. It had 4 pulls on that lever but it worked very well on the old 'bud....

LKV....raised string 4 E to F# and lowered string 9 B to A#.

LKR...lowered string 2 D# to D and string 8 E to D.

P1....raised strings 5 and 9 B to C#.

P2....raised strings 3, 6, & 10 G# to A.

P3....raised string 5 B to C# & string 6 G# to A#.

P4....lowered string 7 F# to F, raised string 11 E to F & string 12 B to C#.

RKL....raised strings 4 & 8 E to F and lowered string 11 E to C#

RKR...lowered string 2 D# to C# and strings 4 & 8 E to D#.

There was quite a bit of activity going on with only 4 pedals and 5 knees but it was a pretty complete U12 and much more usable than the ZB setup. You could also use most tablature with it if needed (including E9, B6, and some C6 by transposing) I learned "Nightlife" with this set up using the same voicings as the Ray Price record, it's all there.....JH in Va.

Art Beard · Post by **Art Beard** » 20 May 2007 11:56 am

That's one beautiful steel!!! Great inlay!!! Art