The Steel Guitar Forum

When Fred Gretsch bought Sho~Bud along with the Gretsch company from Baldwin in 1985 he made the decision to remove the Nashville Tenn. From the Sho!Bud Decal. So all steels made after 1985 will not have it. There was never any steels made in Chanute Kansas. Charlie Roy was in charge of Kustum Grets...

Didn't want to hear this on my 80th birthday, but at least I will be able to remember him!
One of my greatest thrills was when he ask me to sit in for him while they went on Vacation.
Condolences to the family. a great talent gone.
Gene Haugh

Doug
I am sure that is the only "Painted" Blue LDG that was made after 1980 because I painted that one and took it to Scotties show.
I'm sure that's the only one we made! Don't know about before 1980.
Gene Haugh

This has nothing to do with the question asked, but back in the 1980's the time for building a Sho~Bud - Super Pro was 19 hours. The Factory was Pd. $910.00 for each one we produced. The factory lost money on every one we produced according to Bookkeeping.

I was in charge of Sho~Bud production from October 1979 until the end of production and there was never anything but a 24" scale made during that time! There was only one scale (Plastic or Metal)in inventory and that was 24". There may have been other scales used at sometime before 1979 bu...

Hey Guys;
If this is a Gretsch made Sho~Bro then the top is a laminated 3 ply Spruce top! Gretsch never made a solid wood top for a Sho~Bro. Shot may have but not the Gretsch factory.
Gene Haugh

The Production card on this steel
Model = 6140 - Ser. #2984
Built = 1/4/1973 1 = Knee lever
Built by, - Paul F.
Checked by - looks like D.J.
Shipped = 1/15/1973 to Taylor Music & TV Center Hawaiian Gardens, California

Lloyd's guitar was built 5/7/73 and one other 6150 was built in May.
1 - in June, 1 - in July, 1 - in August
19 - in September and 18 in October.
Gene

Chad,
Just another little bit of information, this guitar was the 32nd LDG built!
Gene

Chad, I got the production card for your Steel and the Card reads, LDG 6150 Ser. Number 4364 Date built - 10/26/1973 Built by - C.K. (Don't know) Checked by Yasu Kameya Date shipped - 11/9/1973 to SHO~BUD for Jessie Pratt. At the bottom of the card is a note (consignment - Billie 4/16/74 #1728) don'...

Fred Gretsch had "Nashville Tennessee" removed when he bought the company in 1985 and moved it to Ridgeland SC. in October of that year.

Hey Guys, I won't say that Sho~Bud never made a 25-1/2" Steel because I think Shot made whatever he thought of at the time. But I think you may be looking at a Sho~Bro fretboard. We made quite a few of them in the mid to late 1970s in Arkansas and they all had white 25-1/2" fretboards like...

Neil, If you look at the picture I think you can see that the "Rose" is standing on top of a display and balanced only on the two front legs. We had more fun with people looking and trying to figure out how it was standing there. The truth is I cut holes in the bottom of the rubber feet on...

Neil; I'm sorry if I misled you when I sent the picture to you but that was the only good one I have of the "Rose". That is not me in the picture it is a fellow named Kenny Madden from Chanute Kansas. He worked for Kustom and was a bass player for Johnny Russell for a while. We were in the...

Neil, Just a few small facts that will go along with the rebuilding of the "Rose". The "Rose was a water mount Decal that I found on the rack at Wal~Mart in DeQueen Arkansas. The color of the Steel was not intended to be White it was intended to be Ivory. The way this was accomplished...

Norma,
I have looked forward to this ever since I was scheduled to play but the weather has other planes.
I hope there will be another time! It's 125 miles from my house right through the middle of the storms. Please give me some consideration next time.
Have a great time and stay safe!
Gene Haugh

Sorry!
Even old men can be wrong sometimes.
I said the wire on a Sho~Bud pickup was #43. It is not it is #42.
Gene Haugh

Hey Guy's This is what SHO~BUD wound the 6166 pickups. From before the early 80's until we stopped building! The counter on the winding machine only counts every 4th turn and the C6 counter was set at 4,600 turns which would be 18,400 turns of #43 wire.(22,000K OHMS) The E9th pickup counter was set ...

Neil; If I did this right here is a picture of that guitar. We took it to ST Louis the year the Super Pro II was introduced. This steel was never sold or even finished and that is the reason for no ser.# We never got a chance to finish the steel for some reason and gradually it wound up in the somed...

When someone has a passion as James did it shows in the friends he collects in life. James had a passion for Sho~Bud like no-one I ever knew. I have worked for Sho~Bud since 1980 and he helped me. My most sincere condolences to Tree and the family. RIP James my friend.
Gene Haugh

Ron, There must be a tiny bit of free play before the roller on the bell crank comes in contact with the brass tuning collar. On the E9th neck the smallest string has the most travel and should be the closest to the roller. If there is no space or free play the guitar will certainly over tune. When ...

Sho~Bud Endplates, were sandcast aluminum made by Perfection Molders in Goodlettsville Tenn. The owner was a gentleman named Wilson McKee. On a trip to see Wilson and to check on Sho~Bud parts I had the privilege of talking to Mr. Paul Franklin who was there checking on his parts. This would have be...

basilh & Michael I have a 7-string the same as the one in the picture. These were not built by SHO~BUD except for a few. The rest were made in the Gretsch factory in Booneville AR. in the mid to late 1970's. The serial numbers will be in the form of Gretsch numbers and I don't have access to the...

Yes the man sitting at the steel is the same one who made Canopus steels in TOKYO. His name is Yasuhira Kamiya or better known as "YASU". The story as told to me by Shot Jackson was, Yasu came over on a two week Visa not long after leaving school, landed in L.A. CA. and he and two buddies ...

Hey Fellows; I am so familiar with that problem and in the past with all the repair's we did at the factory I have seen all the above mentioned. The finger is chrome plated over the pot metal and when the lower bar rubs through the problem starts! The problem in my opinion is caused by the lower bar...