D11 ZB Custom For Sale

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 12 Apr 2002 6:34 am

Look at this thread back on April 4, Steve Takacs bought it.

Bill C. Buntin · Post by **Bill C. Buntin** » 12 Apr 2002 7:18 am

Mike, Thanks so very much for the info. I was hoping someone would recognize the guitar. I thought prototype too when I first started working on the guitar. It was in an unbelievable sorry state when I found it. But it cleaned up nicely and is a very fine instrument. I'm sure Steve will be very proud to own and play it.

Your Castle Case that you built for it was coming apart on the inside. I'm having an upholstery shop to re-do the inside of it. It is a very good quality case.

Steve, looks like you are getting a "one of a kind" guitar.

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 12 Apr 2002 7:51 am

Jerry Fessenden worked for ZB somewhere around this time, could he have built it?

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

steve takacs · Post by **steve takacs** » 12 Apr 2002 4:27 pm

Thanks so much to Bill Buntin for the painstaking redo it took to turn this steel into a Cinderella story and for selling it to me. Thanks also to Rex, Greg, Walter, John, Michael J, Herb, and Mike Castleberry for providing many of the pieces to the puzzle; I will to write Tom Brumley and Jerry Fessenden to see if they'd add a few more. I can't omit my wife, Rosalyn, who bent the "one guitar in--one guitar out" rule to give me this for an upcoming birthday. Finally, thanks to b0b for providing the means by which this club can share information. It reminds me of younger days of "secret decoder" rings and other shared eeccenticities. For me, knowing this steel's history makes it extra special. Man, this is starting to sound like the Academy Awards...I'm outta here. steve

B. Greg Jones · Post by **B. Greg Jones** » 12 Apr 2002 8:34 pm

WOW!!! When yer wrong yer wrong!!! And I guess I was wrong!!! This guitar sure looked like Basil's work to me. I guess I know now where he got some of his ideas. I had thought the idea of the 11th tuner between the rails was his.

This is a fantastic guitar, a real piece of history. Thank you Mike for giving us the "skinny" on this guitar.

Steve, you are a lucky man!!

Greg

Bud Hall · Post by **Bud Hall** » 15 Apr 2002 12:01 pm

Hi guys, this has been very interesting to me for I had been involed with ZB while Bill Sims owned the company. I know I have met some of you at the shows. Some things said here are right on and some are not, I will just touch on a couble things you might find interesting. Basil never used the key in the middle, but it was used on several guitars. Yes, someone stated that he did die of a heart attack, then crashed his vehicle. Basil did not buy the ZB company from Tom, there was another owner in the S Indiana area around Louisville Ky, don't want to get into names for privacy reasons. That pulling mechanism was used a few times, but was discouraged by some of us, we preferred the cross strap set-up. I have one of those in my shop now, with the key in the middle and that pulling mechanism. By chance, Tom and I was talking about that mechanism the other day on the phone. By the way the one I have for sale does not have the horns on either end also, like the one shown here. The ZB company is still owned by Basil's wife here in Evansville. I still have my S-11 that I used 4 to 6 nights a week for 18 yrs., still sweet sounding with all that maple it has too. I have owned other guitars since, but this Ole guitar is FAMILY!! Don't talk much on here, sorry to ramble!

John Borchard · Post by **John Borchard** » 15 Apr 2002 1:39 pm

Man, what an interesting thread for us ZB maniacs. Steve, you're a lucky guy.

Herb, thanks for refreshing my rapidly dwindling memory. I could see Chris's face but couldn't pull his name up to save my life.

John

steve takacs · Post by **steve takacs** » 15 Apr 2002 3:26 pm

Jerry Fessenden was kind enough to write and added this info: "I would say that either before I worked there , Alan Douglass may have built that one, or after ,,,, Chris ????? from Austin ... Don't think that it was one of mine... JF". Bud, could you explain why you and some of the other guys preferred the cross straps to the pulling mechanism that is on this particular guitar? Do you know how Tom Brumley feels about these two different systems? Seems to me the one with cross straps would be much harder to work on if you wanted to change the copedant. John, I do indeed feel lucky to own this particular guitar. Thanks,Steve

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 15 Apr 2002 7:50 pm

This topic is just too good to close. I'm moving it to "Pedal Steel" since the guitar is no longer for sale.