My new(ish) D12 ShoBud natural

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 3 Dec 2007 1:12 pm

Ken, if you succeed in getting rid of the musty smell, please post, or at least e-mail me, telling how you did it. I have a Pro III that needs it.

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 3 Dec 2007 1:35 pm

Brint - we have a furniture polish over here called Pledge which is great for use on all types of guitars. I am using it on the underneath of the body and it has a lemon smell which is neutralising that fausty mustiness. What made it worse is that there were a number of cloths that were kept inside the case on top of the body, and they reeked after 30 years. The inside of the case didn't smell too healthy either, but I have lightly sprayed that with a furniture deodoriser spray which has done the trick.

I think that anyone who is locking away vintage pedal steels or even non pedal steel as an investment should either periodically open the case to get some air at the guitar or keep the room at a reasonable temperature to keep damp away. Not enough to take all moisture out of the air but enough to stop the onset of mustiness.

Edited for typo

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 3 Dec 2007 2:37 pm

Ken-on your C6 put the D on the 11th string and C on the 12th. Reece used that and I think Curly too. You get a nice root there when you use the Maj7 pedal and you dont need that pull C to D then on your p5, flatted 5th pedal. the way it works and reece used it a lot is maj7 pedal pick the 11st string D then push p5 flatted 5th. you have hear that sound many of times by jazz men. I am using it on my S12 E6 Mullen guitar too. Top down F#-D#-G#-E-C#-B-G#-E-C#-A-F#-E. Notice how the top 4 strings are the same as E9. If you use C6 then top down-D-B-E-C-A-G-E-C-A-F-D-C...lots of fun there....al.

:)

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 4 Dec 2007 11:32 am

Al - The D on the 11th string didn't occur to me but it is sooooooo obvious now. Thanks for that.

The inspection label is still intact on this baby, and dear Duane Marrs has signed it off. That puts the icing on the cake for me.

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 4 Dec 2007 11:35 am

Al Marcus wrote: If you use C6 then top down-D-B-E-C-A-G-E-C-A-F-D-C...lots of fun there....al.:)

Al - a B on the second string? I was thinking more of a high G in there, or is that what you meant?
Ken

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 4 Dec 2007 11:51 am

Ken - I'm green with envy! I'm right at the point where I want to go to a 12-string extended E9, and a 'find' like that would have given me the best of both worlds!

It's just beautiful; congratulations!

Roger R.

(Hi, Micky!!!)

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 4 Dec 2007 12:02 pm

Thanks Roger - much appreciated. You know, I am starting to wish that I had learned to play extended E9 before now. Just tinkering around for a few days on the 12 strings has opened my eyes to the vast potential. I previously dismissed the extended E9 (as a traditionalist) but I would say to anyone thinking of going down this route...give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised. I used to have lengthy debates with Pete Wilsher over the merits of a single 12 as opposed to a D10 years ago. As you know, Pete was a 12 string man and I can now see where he was coming from.

My other 'Bud's are still precious to me but this one is something else. Ron Mawn has offered to re-configure the pedals and levers for me, and as he probably did it originally I will take hime up on his offer.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 4 Dec 2007 1:19 pm

Ken

This is probably not the place to discuss the whys and wherefores of Ext. E9, but now I'm raising my 6th (G#) a whole-tone, I can see endless possibilities for a 'full' E9 neck. It has to be E9, and not 'universal' for me, because the D string, with the option of lowering it to C#, is vital for my purposes. This pull alone makes E9 an incredibly adaptable tuning and, in my humble opinion, it's more versatile (or maybe I just mean 'modern') than C6.

I have my current D10s set up with four pedals (I love the 'Isaacs' P4!) and five 'knees' on the front necks - the thought of an extra-low E and G# is making my mouth water!!!

Please give my kindest regards to Ron and Maureen Mawn. I lost count of the times his quick fixes bailed me out of trouble in the old days back home - especially when I had that Pro 111 with the pot metal knee-stops!

RR

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 4 Dec 2007 3:59 pm

Ken-I meant B for the Second string, that would make it the same relative notes on the first 4 strings as on E9, so it would be familiar with E9 . However , you can put a G on the 2nd string instead if you wish, but dont forget you can get the 5gth of the C chord by going up 3 frets with your knee goin to C#.

However it all makes sense if you go back to my post of E6 with top down F#-D#-G#-E-C#-B-G#-E-C#-A-F#-E on the bottome neck instead of C6. Looking at the notes now you can easily see a lot of the same notes as on E9th. So in this case, you can use the E9th E to F knee lever to get the same effect as the G on top of the C6 by using the F knee lever and geting it 3 frets higher. Also by dropping your 12 string E to C# with the F Knee lever will get the Boowah effect, making it do triple duty. I know with your expertise you know all this and have figured out many ways to go. I am sure you will figure out which way you want to go and is best for you.....good luck..al.

:)

Paul Warnik · Post by **Paul Warnik** » 4 Dec 2007 11:35 pm

Boy this brings back memories for me-In the summer of 1976 (just after my high school graduation) I took delivery of my brand new Sho-Bud model #6165
Pro-II Custom D-12 Natural finish with 8 pedals and 4 knees-It was near identical to Ken's except I had the smaller pedals-This was the stuff of my dreams and as I recall it cost me $1000 cash plus $400 trade in allowance for my single neck Sho-Bud model #6139 S-10 I washed alot of dishes,bussed tables and delivered pizzas to get the cash for it and it stayed with me until 1980-unfortunately I sold it to someone with no clue who wound up destroying it

If you care to read about the crazy circumstances of it's untimely demise do a search on Forum archives for the thread titled "The destruction of older steels"

Micky Byrne · Post by **Micky Byrne** » 5 Dec 2007 4:30 am

Hi Ken.....Hi Roger, say hi to Suzie. Ken, coincidence, my S-12 Sho-Bud that was "ressurected" also says Duanne Marrs underneath and when I spoke to him on the phone once regarding a Marrs Catcan I had, he mentioned that if it had his name underneath as "inspected by" would have ment he actually "assembled" it. Now you know the gigs I've done on mine and it's been to hell and back, and it still plays great and sounds so sweet....so you know, as we all do you got a good one there

Micky "scars" Byrne .......about 100 miles from Southampton

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 5 Dec 2007 1:21 pm

I thought I would show this old beauty that I had in the 70's. 10 pedals and 7 knee levers Single 12 string, Beautiful Wood Lacquer, all tooled metal parts built for me by a fine builder Russ Russel, in Arizona. Before he went on his own, he used to work for the beautiful ZB co. If it wasnt so heavey, I might have kept it, but who knows , I was always going from D12 to S12 to D10...al.

:)

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 5 Dec 2007 3:08 pm

Al - thats a very nice guitar. The Rus-ler guitar was very under rated. When I was selling ZB's in the UK in the early 70's I saw 2 great Rus-ler guitars that came through the shop. The ZB influence was there, but with some original ideas too.

Thanks too for your ideas on the tuning for my C6. I will have some considering to do. The D12 is currently stripped down and all the metal parts are being cleaned and polished when I can grab an hour here and there. Do you still have your ShoBud or did you sell it on?

Ken

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 8 Dec 2007 9:27 pm

Ken Byng wrote:Alan
I cannot work out why you could never get hold of a pedal steel when you lived in the UK. From around 1971-2, there was an importer of pedal steels by the name of Eric Snowball who brought in ZB's, ShoBuds and Emmons's. In the mid 70's, John Edmed imported ShoBuds on a grand scale. Maybe you were looking in the wrong place.

I need to congratulate you on the work you have done on the Fender Stringmaster. Fabulous workmanship. Do you get home to Brum at all? It must have changed out of all recognition since you emigrated.

Thanks Ken. I get back to England about once a year nowadays. I usually fly from Oakland to Portland to Amsterdam to Birmingham, which avoids London. Yes, Birmingham has changed enormously since I lived there. The house in which I was brought up has been demolished as have all the houses around it. On the subject of pedal steel availability, I hadn't heard of Eric Snowball. I know I never saw a pedal steel in any of the music shops. The closest I saw was an old lap steel in a drum shop by New Street station.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 9 Dec 2007 12:42 pm

Ken,

What a super looking instrument. The dark fretboards really set it off. What kind of tuning is on the C6th neck? I have had great luck buying and selling steels and amps on ebay and it's good to see that you made out well.

Greg

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 9 Dec 2007 3:37 pm

Hi Greg
From top to bottom I'm going with;

D-G(high)-E-C-A-G-E-C-A-F-D-C. Standard C6 really - the high G I had on my SB Pro 111 until I changed it to D years ago. The low D between the F & C is really useful.

I always vowed that I would never buy a pedal steel on ebay. I also said that I would not buy a used steel without seeing it and hearing it first. So I broke 2 of my cardinal rules but don't regret it. I have stripped out the mechanics underneath and cleaned and polished all rods, brackets, bellcranks etc. My friend is going to set up the pedals for me as it was he who set it up originally when the guitar was imported to the UK. I am one happy camper.

The Steel Guitar Forum

My new(ish) D12 ShoBud natural

My old Rus-Ler S12