Paul Redmond Zb Rebuild

steve takacs · From: beijing, china via pittsburgh (deceased)

Here are photos of the work Paul Redmond did on my basket case ZB. The ZB system was replaced with a design that was a combination of Paul's ideas coupled with the Kline system.
The refinish was also done by Paul using automotive paint rather than nitrocellulose. He feels the former is tougher, protects more from UV rays, and does not leave white water spots. Car polish is used to keep it looking spiffy.
Sorry for poor quality photos which are a bit washed out.The front of the guitar is much darker in real life.
Thanks again, Paul

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

WOW!!! Nice. Whoa!

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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Gary Patterson · From: Gallatin, TN

Boy, I love that red/natural 2-tone. Almost makes me wish my all-red Clark Custom needed a re-fin.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Wow! I wished my ZB looked that good. Whoa!

Erv

chas smith · From: Encino, CA, USA

Nice, and I especially like the "look" of the pedals and the spacers in between them. Really well done.

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

That's some fine work and a big "Wow" from me also.
I do wonder why the turnbuckles are still in the pull train. To me, one of the downfalls of a ZB. Maybe to keep the bicycle spoke ends? When I rebuilt my ZB, I tried several ways to make the spoke type ends but nothing looked good. I found that just a hook in the end worked just as well.
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Henry Matthews

D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes.

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

That undercarriage will be around for a really, really long time. Really stomp-proof work.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

The turnbuckles puzzled me too. If I had gone through the trouble of making the undercarriage similar to a Kline, I would have also used the "bushings" (don't know what to really call them) that the end of the rod went though and attached to the "strap" (the almost triangular piece the rods are attached to). The rod went through the bushing and was tightened by a set screw. This allow adjustment of the rod for slack in the system, similar to what the turnbuckles do, but much, much easier. The little "c" clips that hold the rod to the pulling strap also would not have been my choice. I foresee those flying all over, and being hard to handle if I wanted to change my pedal functions. Never the less, this is an awesome job done by an incredible rebuilder and I would be proud to own a guitar that Paul rebuilt.
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

I agree Richard and also agree that that is an awesome job of a rebuild and the fine machine work makes mine look crude. In case you didn't see my ZB rebuild, here's the link--Henry
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=249094
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Henry Matthews

D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes.

Ross Shafer · From: Petaluma, California

awesome stuff...when I grow up I want to be just like Paul...great guy with passion and a big bucket full of talent!! I turn 58 later this month...I guess I better start growing up!

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

It's great to see that ZB. Whoa!

Inspirational!
I acquired a "basket case" ZB about a year ago and have been learning & tweaking with it's mechanics. Luckily I have a well functioning one that I use as a reference, and have gotten parts & great advice from Billy Knowles & Greg Jones.
Henry - if you eliminate the turnbuckles, how do you balance the pulls? I can't quite tell from your pictures.
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"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan)

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

In place of the turnbuckle, the end of the rod would pass through the bushing I described. You would loosen the set screw and push the rod forward or backwards as needed, and re-tighten the set screw. And, actually, the balancing of the pulls is taken care of with the piece the rods are connected to. If you look carefully, this piece is "attached" to the part that attaches to the crossrod, but the attachment is just that it sits in a groove in the piece that attaches to the cross shaft and as it is rotated back, it pulls the piece that the rods are hooked to. Since it is not a solid attachment, the piece the rods are attached to can "rotate" or move so when the slack is taken up, both rods start pulling and end at the same time.
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

Thanks guys, it's a little blurry on my small screen, but I see it now.
It's so nice to see old instruments made new again. Smile

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"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan)

Duncan Hodge · From: DeLand, FL USA

Attaboy Steve! This one is even prettier than the one I tried to buy from you many moons ago. I hope that you love it like I love mine.
Duncan
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"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

i love the satin finish metal stuff. i lke campy components on racing bikes, too.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Henry said:

Nick Reed · From: Russellville, KY USA

We didn't see any pics of the keyhead end of that guitar . . . or did you turn it in to a keyless.

Paul Redmond · From: Illinois, USA

No, it's not keyless....the temptation was huge!!! The turnbuckles referred to above are not actually turnbuckles. They are merely connecting links to 'attach the old world with the new', as it were. I needed a way of connecting the "spokes" with the pullrods. I used 1/4" hex brass to do that.
Steve has to help me out here (with pics) as I squared up the sides of the keyhead castings and added a whole bunch of screws underneath to tie them down to the deck....they originally each had only two!!! They now have nine each.
The pedal design comes from Pedalmaster blank extruded pedals modified for the job involved. Hats off to Roy Thomas and his ingenious contour design. I love 'em!!! AND they play kinda nice!!! The satin finish IMO makes a guitar into a work of art. No more shiny stuff glaring at you....with fingerprints all over it. On top of that, it can be "repaired" in seconds!!!
PRR

Paul Redmond · From: Illinois, USA

Rich - Your comments re: the C-clips were well-taken. I have now adopted this method of connection 100% as it has had zero% failure for me over nearly a decade. I have not had so much as one "clip" pop out. I've gotta go with success!!! They take up nearly zero room, don't interfere with passing rods, weigh zip, and they kinda look neat....better than ZB cotter pins!!! There is a bit of lathe work involved before the bend is put into the rod. I would guess that that's why most other builders shy away from that design. For me, it has proven to be a Godsend.
PRR

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

I wasn't implying that they would randomly go flying off (the C clips). I was mentioning it if I was wanting to change around the copedent. They look like they would be a hassle to get on and off in the tight space. But regardless, that is one first class job you did on that guitar.
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Micky Byrne · From: United Kingdom (deceased)

Guys....Paul Redmond is a "MASTER" builder, I repeat once again that he built the keyless "Whitney" steels years ago, named after his daughter. He once e'maild me a pic of a Zum he'd been working on. Strange to see a keyless Zum..but the guy must have wanted it Smile

Micky "Scars" Byrne U.K.

Paul Redmond · From: Illinois, USA

One of the main reasons I used "hooks" on all of the pullrods is that they just simply don't slip. Kline guitars could, on occasion, slip. ZB's were different in that they had hooks on most of their rods. I decided to make it so that not so much as one of the rods on this guitar could ever slip. I succeeded, and too much force on "something" on this guitar will result in damage!!! When in doubt, build it stout!!!
There were so any variables on this guitar that I had my own doubts early on as to whether it would even work properly. On the early ZB's, the raises were short and stiff, the lowers long and easy. It's not easy to install a Kline-type "yoke" system on a guitar that pulls so out-of-balance especially when raising one string and lowering another......YIKES!!! I actually installed an "idler arm" on one pull to remedy this imbalance problem.
But all in all, this guitar IMO turned to be a real "player". I spent some time on it before shipping it to Steve and found it to be very user-friendly....especially considering its out-dated technology. But those pickups sure aren't outdated!!! Zane all the way!!!
PRR

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

Paul, I know what you mean by the imbalance of the pulls to the lowers. My guitar project was you may say, just to see if I could do it. I wanted to make a ZB that played easier and was easier to change setups with modern bell crank mechanics and I also succeeded but like I said above, mine is crude compared to yours.
I remedied the imbalance of the C6th pulls by using a combination of yokes and compression springs like a push pull. I tried making the bicycle spoke type ends several ways but nothing satisfied me so I just used a hook on the changer. I also first tried the bell cranks all in the upright postion and was able to get it to work but pedals were way to spongy because the pull rods had to have a bend so I then turned the bell cranks upside down which solved that problem. I also put my yokes about midway in the pull train on the E9th but if I had to do it all over, would attach to bell cranks like yours. I do worry about slippage and have to tighten mine up every now and then just to make sure. I don't have a machine shop so had to make my parts by hand.
Again, yours is a very fine piece of work. I know Kline steel were close to ZB's and far as changer so don't know why some of the modern builders don't use that changer type system with the solid body contact. Seems to be a very stable and useful system.
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Henry Matthews

D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes.

Nick Reed · From: Russellville, KY USA

Paul,

Glad you didn't make it a Keyless Guitar. I've never been a big fan of the Keyless design.

Nick

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