Introducing the newest member of the BMI Family

Dan Burnham · Post by **Dan Burnham** » 20 Dec 2007 12:50 pm

Hey Folks,
Wanted to share our new arrival with you. This is our new all pull E9 10 String Keyless BMI with 3 & 5. It is a fantastic light weight steel ready to go. Check it out on our website:

Thanks for looking,

Dan (BMI)

Larry Strawn · Post by **Larry Strawn** » 20 Dec 2007 1:18 pm

Dan,

Out of curiosity I sure would like to see a close up pic of the keyless end of that quitar.

Larry

Dan Burnham · Post by **Dan Burnham** » 20 Dec 2007 1:20 pm

Larry,
Here you go,
Dan

Larry Strawn · Post by **Larry Strawn** » 20 Dec 2007 1:31 pm

Dan, Thanks,
I've never had the opportunity to be around a keyless guitar and was really curios.

Man that looks great!

Larry

Dan Burnham · Post by **Dan Burnham** » 20 Dec 2007 1:55 pm

Larry,
Zane Beck designed this keyless head design 30 years ago. It's worked fine for all these years,

Dan

Bill Duve · Post by **Bill Duve** » 20 Dec 2007 3:34 pm

Nice color choice too Dan

Archie Nicol R.I.P. · Post by **Archie Nicol R.I.P.** » 20 Dec 2007 3:41 pm

What is that taped to the RKL?

Arch.

Bill Duve · Post by **Bill Duve** » 20 Dec 2007 4:10 pm

Truly the only difference I see between that one and mine is the lack of those beautiful,easy to use "Sperzel" tuners and then I wonder, If it doesnt have tuning keys is it still a guitar ?

Dan Burnham · Post by **Dan Burnham** » 20 Dec 2007 6:22 pm

Arch,
That is the Hex Key for the tuners.

Dan

Dan Burnham · Post by **Dan Burnham** » 20 Dec 2007 6:31 pm

Bill,
With the cost of metal and the fact that China is getting all of it we had to make drastic cutbacks

Basically, a little lighter, a little shorter. Yours is Purty and you know what they say, "Black" sounds better.

Also,
Let me just throw this in, we are going to have a "Retro" model coming out around april. It will be a special order, but it will look like the older ones with the rail along the side of the neck going all the way back and touching the neck. The bridge will look pretty close to what the old ones looked like.

We have had several like Tommy White, Paul R., and Gene Turner all request we make the retro look models available again.

Dan

Calvin Walley · Post by **Calvin Walley** » 20 Dec 2007 6:49 pm

what is the square metal thing in the middle???

Bobby Caldwell · Post by **Bobby Caldwell** » 20 Dec 2007 7:18 pm

Dan, I'll bet she sounds as good as she looks. Bobby

Bill Duve · Post by **Bill Duve** » 20 Dec 2007 7:27 pm

Whats that pickup you got on there ?

Ken Mizell · Post by **Ken Mizell** » 20 Dec 2007 8:25 pm

Nice pics and guitar.

I was wondering about that square metal thingy hanging down there in the middle of the rear apron too. Look's like something my knee would engage with. It may be far enough to the right for knee clearance though. I was wondering if it was part of the vertical knee lever bracket.

I'd love to see a nice clean view of the under carriage, looking down.

This is a nice looking little steel guitar for sure. Those BMI's look like they are built very substantially, like you could sit down on it...not that someone would want to do that.

I noticed on their web site that they have a "Power Boost" pickup that is said to have tonal characteristics close to a ZB. That sounds nice.

There have been people who have mentioned that a keyless guitar has weird issues, like over tones or harmonics, something crazy like that. Does anyone here have a take on that? Dan, what's your experience? Looks to me like a keyless guitar could be a good idea, even though it's a little different looking from what we are used to with guitars with standard tuning keys.

Ken

Bill Duve · Post by **Bill Duve** » 20 Dec 2007 10:12 pm

That square metal thing on the driver side is an extension to hold an inverted crossrod.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 20 Dec 2007 10:27 pm

What's the status of the acoustic steel? Is that still being developed?

Dan Burnham · Post by **Dan Burnham** » 21 Dec 2007 6:28 am

Bobby - Thanks, and yes it does.

Bill - We put the PowerBoost Single Coil Pickup on it. It's similar to "Cowboy" Eddie Long's Pickup.

Ken - I'll get some underside pictures and post this weekend.

Mike - ProtoType Designs are done and we have teamed up with Mark Giles to do the "Body" Work. What a man, Mark is "Da Man." I can't think of anybody better than Mark to make the Acoustic Body.

Thanks Guys,

Dan

Paul Redmond · Post by **Paul Redmond** » 22 Dec 2007 7:26 pm

Yep, tie those neck rails to the changer housing like the pre-1979 models. Yep, yep. Works wonders as we've discussed.
That IS a sweet guitar. With the keyless system the throws are very short and very direct...and light, right?? Nice work, gents!!! The neat thing about this guitar is that you can add to it...load it up till the cows come home and it still won't ever be 'crowded'. The short, diminutive size may fool people, but I'll bet it has the same heavy bottom end that Zane's prototypes had. Translation, they'd crack drywall.
PRR

Dan Burnham · Post by **Dan Burnham** » 23 Dec 2007 8:17 am

Paul,
You are correct. We loaded up "Cowboy" Eddie Long's guitar with 7 & 5 on this little fellow. I appreciate all your input Paul. It is because of you, Tommy White, and Gene Turner we are going to make the Pre-79 Retro Models available again in late May hopefully.

Thanks again,

Dan

Paul Redmond · Post by **Paul Redmond** » 6 Jan 2008 2:28 am

For all of you keyless fans out there, when installing strings on a keyless tuner, wrap them counter-clockwise around the the clamp screw. The torque on the clamp screw will help to ensure that the strings stay tight. In the clockwise mode, the torque tends to 'fight' the clamp screws and can, embarrassingly, come loose when you least expect such to happen. I started doing this over 20 years ago and have never had one come loose. I have talked with those who have wrapped them clockwise who gripe that the 'keyless thing' resulted in their strings coming undone on raises. When I asked them which way they wound the strings around the clamp screws, they told me clockwise. Another problem solved!!! It works 100% of the time!!!
PRR

John Roche · Post by **John Roche** » 6 Jan 2008 3:11 am

Paul, what do you use to pull the strings when putting new one on. is there a tool to help. I have a Sierra keyless they use a round bit of wood with a hole and you wrap the string around it, i find it very difficult
to use . I'm thinking of working on a tool that would work like a lever with a screw to clamp the string. this would be much safer and quicker to do a string change.. thanks

Paul Redmond · Post by **Paul Redmond** » 6 Jan 2008 8:46 pm

On most scissors-type changers, when a string is either broken or being replaced, the balance spring flops the changer forward. On some guitars, this can be overcome easily...on others, it's real tug of war. If the balance spring tension is not overcome when putting the new string on, the keyless tuning arm will have to try to overcome it. This will mean that the string is really being pulled further than is really necessary to bring it up to pitch. On some keyless tuners, you could actually run out of travel.It may sound awkward, but you can reach under the guitar and push the changer back to 'neutral' with one finger while pulling the string taut at the tuner. The easiest way though, is to grab the string with a needle-nosed pliers and pull the string taut to overcome the balance spring tension. If a balance spring seems to have too much tension, check to make sure a rod isn't binding things up. On the BMI I converted to keyless, I found that the spring was fairly 'gentle' in tension and required only a firm pull on the string with my hand, then a quick pull up and around the clamp screw. If memory serves me correctly, Sierra's had a pretty hefty set of balance springs on them. You may have to use the method you described with the wood, but I think a small pair of pliers would actually be easier and would keep the length of string behind the rollers to a minimum while ensuring the changer kicks back to 'neutral'.
On my Whitney's, I have only a simple single finger on the right-end changer, so the balance spring issue never has been a problem. A friend in the area here has a new GFI keyless and it strings up very easily with a minimal tug on the new string. I guess it all depends on the guitar more than anything else.
PRR

Rick Nicklas · Post by **Rick Nicklas** » 6 Jan 2008 10:44 pm

Can you get a picture up of the changer end? Further down.

John Roche · Post by **John Roche** » 7 Jan 2008 1:08 am

Paul..Off Topic, the ZB reissue pickup, would a 12 string version fit a Sierra Session, keepng in mind that it has to fit into the Seirra pickup box?

Dan Burnham · Post by **Dan Burnham** » 7 Jan 2008 6:26 am

John,
Gene Turner has built 3 in a Sierra Pickup Box,
Dan

The Steel Guitar Forum

Introducing the newest member of the BMI Family

Introducing the newest member of the BMI Family

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