ZB 0241 re-furb

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

Well...
I've had this cool looking ZB sitting in the attic for over a year now, and it's time to finally make it function! It looks pretty okay, but some things hardly move and it seems like someone randomly connected pull rods. Rolling Eyes

The E neck is 11 strings. It's got 9 pedals and 6 knees. The underside metal is all colored kind of yellow-ish with white corrosion. Ugh.

Every one of these pivot bolts was galled and frozen.

And of course...the changers were a bit dirty...

So here I go!! Wish me luck. And any and all advice is appreciated.
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"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan)

richard burton · From: Britain

The pivot bolts are supposed to be tight, they may have been peened over to hold them in place.
You run the risk of ruining the threads in the aluminium if you force these bolts out.

As long as the pivot piece moves freely, I'd leave well alone.

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

Richard, one pivot would hardly move at all & several were pretty sluggish. Before I read your suggestion, I slowly worked each bolt back & forth a bit at a time, with vast quantities of liquid wrench. Tedious but I got them out and threads seems okay.
I agree with you & realize in hindsight that trying to clean & lube without removing would've been a better approach. Embarassed

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

Joe A. Camacho · Posted 28 Oct 2013 9:11 am

Eric. please document as much of this as possible. I'm hoping to do this one day. thanks, Joe

Scott Duckworth · From: Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies

Yup, we wants pictures!
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Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
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I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus!

Duncan Hodge · From: DeLand, FL USA

Joe,
Before I see my old ZB refurbished I'll personally come to California and rescue it myself. Uh, could you please give a slow southern boy (me) directions as to how one gets to California from Florida, exactly?
Anyway, Eric, you have a beautiful ZB there. I can't wait to see it all purty agin.
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)

nice looking zb. are you familiar with the ins and outs of how to adjust zb's?

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

I am taking pics of everything I do.
Chris - I am certainly no expert! Laughing

But I spent many hours last year tinkering on another abused clunker. It was only a single neck, so not nearly as much metal in there.
But I got lots of parts & long-distance help & advice from Billy Knowles & Greg Jones. (THANK-YOU guys!)
And I do have a nice D-10 that I got a couple years ago from Jim Palenscar, which I am using as my reference for how it should feel & what goes where.
I do know how to adjust the turnbuckles. It's amazing how it can go from un-playable to nice & smooth. Hard to get fingers in there though.

Learning as I go...
_________________
"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan)

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

well good luck. that's a really handsome looking steel, and with a full set of knee levers already and a d11-10....it's a zb on steroids without being overkill!

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

Eric that is a nice looking ZB and looks like you have your work cut out for you. I've said it once and will say it again. The underside of ZB's look like they were built with a hammer, chisel and a dull hack saw but the tone and playability of a good set up guitar are just awesome.

If it were me on that guitar, I would do a complete teardown clear to nothing but cabinet and clean and upgrade or replace parts as needed and rebuild ground up. That takes a lot of time and effort I know, but you would really have a nice axe when finished.--
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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.

Joe A. Camacho · Posted 29 Oct 2013 9:24 am

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

I've finally gotten all the parts apart. When I took off the changer covers there were actual pools of oil/gunk. At some point the pickups were changed and who ever did it busted off a number of screws mounting them. I had to dig 'em out. 3 in one hole alone! Oh Well

Kevin Hatton had made me a new 11/10 set of his ZB style pickups many months ago. The white one is from Kevin.

Sanded and polished the end plates to remove all the scratches. Not a super mirror polish but so much better than it was! Before & after...

Tip: I sanded to 600 grit with a palm sander. Then used a automotive headlight lens polishing kit. Very fast & easy. (No warranty on this idea & your results may vary!)
_________________
"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan)

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

Well I've made some progress. Fun, fun, fun Very Happy

Got the keyheads and tuners all cleaned and functioning...

Pickups mounted and all new shielded wiring to the switches...

Covers installed...

Cleaning the changer fingers was a chore, as you can imagine. Reassembled and wondered how to get the lower return springs hooked back up. Solution (duh Shocked

) was to bend the spring to hold the nut.

Changers installed...

I used a drop of TriFlow lube on each finger rivet, as I installed them. Then I tested each finder for easy movement. A few were binding on either raises or lowers. I swapped out end plate tuner screws until all were nice. Some of the screws are not drilled perfectly straight or are off-center.

Ready to put strings on tomorrow & tune it up!! Then I get to start the really fun part Laughing

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

Brandin · From: Newport Beach CA. USA

Lookin' good...Lookin' really good!!

GB

Joe A. Camacho · Posted 18 Nov 2013 12:42 pm

Aw man, that's looking great! You're making it look too easy.

Billy Knowles · From: Kenansville, N. C. 28349 usa

Eric,
Looks as if you are doing a great job.
Billy
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Billy Knowles

STEEL GUITAR EAST

Emmons authorized dealer and approved service technician

my web site: http://www.steelguitareast.com

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

Wow. What an amazing job.
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, NV400, NV112 . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

Thanks for the encouragement everyone.
Progress is slow, but today I'll finally have time to start filling in that big empty space underneath.
Step by step...
_________________
"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan)

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

In the words of the late Freddy Prinz, Looking good!
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Alan Waslin · From: Hull, England

Pickups mounted and all new shielded wiring to the switches...

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Can you tell me how you mounted new pickups I know it come with 4 bolt but what did you bolt it to Shocked

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

Thatss a good question... took me days to decide how to do it. If you look at the pics above, someone had broken off numerous wood screws & I had to dig them out. Oh Well

I filled the holes with JB-Weld, and let it cure for several days. Then I drilled & tapped for 4-40 stainless machine screws. Mounted with springs underneath. They adjust up & down very smoothly.

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

Alan Waslin · From: Hull, England

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

Here's the latest in my adventure...
See above for a pic of the front rail - here's a reminder of what all the pedal rod pivots looked like.

If doing it again, I would have removed the entire rail as a unit and tried to clean it. It was pretty grungy, but it would have been easier. As Richard pointed out earlier, the bolts were set in place with a punch.

I got them out very slowly. Then I chased the holes with a tap & the bolts with a die.
Cleaned everything as much as possible. I reinstalled them using blue locktite. Tightened just enough so that they still pivot very freely. A single drop of lube on each washer...

Entire assy reinstalled...

Now on to the plates/bellcranks. Very filthy...

I 've got the E9 neck plates installed. Again, tightened enough to minimize slop, but swinging freely. A drop of lube on the washers under the plates. And locktite on the bolt threads.

All for now! Very Happy

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

Josh Rossow · From: Mchenry, Illinois

Lookin Good!

Russ Tkac · Posted 29 Nov 2013 7:15 pm

Very nice job!

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