Difference between LDG and other model single neck ShoBuds?

Grant Ferstat · Post by **Grant Ferstat** » 11 May 2008 8:45 pm

Please excuse my new steel player ignorance learned collegues!

I initially thought that the Lloyd Green ShoBuds were a longer scale than most ShoBuds but from what I'm reading that's not the case excepting Lloyd's personal guitar.

So, my question is what makes a Lloyd Green model different (superior?) to other single neck professional ShoBud models?

Antolina · Post by **Antolina** » 11 May 2008 10:16 pm

The original LDG is the D10 that Lloyd modified for his own personal use. He removed the C6th neck and replaced it with a pad thus creating the SD10. The LDG is typically green. However, other colors do exist and are every bit as pretty.

Lloyd's original LDG did indeed come through with the 24 1/2" scale but he found he was breaking strings so he had another tuning head installed to rectify the problem.

I just gave you the fifty cent tour. I'm sure others can shed even more light on the topic.

Grant Ferstat · Post by **Grant Ferstat** » 11 May 2008 10:29 pm

Thanks for that.

I notice that there seem to be other single double models too. I'm also curious as to whether the SD body creates a different tone by virtue of the extra mass.

I guess you can all see what I'm driving at-whether a Lloyd Green has advantages for the premium they seem to command over other professional single neck ShoBuds

Antolina · Post by **Antolina** » 11 May 2008 10:38 pm

Yer asking for a personal opinion and I'm sure you'll get a few. Some say that the extra mass produces a different tone and that may or not be true. In my opinion the difference (if any) is too slight to be an issue except for perhaps the most discerning ear.

I considered an LDG for a time but chose the S10 as a matter of weight preference. The tone is superb but that's my opinion.

As for value... anything is worth whatever the buyer is willing to pay.

Grant Ferstat · Post by **Grant Ferstat** » 11 May 2008 11:28 pm

RC Antolina wrote:Yer asking for a personal opinion and I'm sure you'll get a few. Some say that the extra mass produces a different tone and that may or not be true. In my opinion the difference (if any) is too slight to be an issue except for perhaps the most discerning ear.

I considered an LDG for a time but chose the S10 as a matter of weight preference. The tone is superb but that's my opinion.

As for value... anything is worth whatever the buyer is willing to pay.

Thanks RC. I really appreciate the input.

I've spent years playing & selling regular guitars and when it comes to say Fender Telecasters I know exactly what different pickup magnets & winds, different neck/body timbers, weights etc will tend to give me. Of course one man's meat is still another man's poison!

With steel guitars I guess I know I'm attracted to the ShoBud tone but I'm a lot less sure on which one!

Being in Perth, Western Australia going and playing a bunch just isn't an option!

Ronnie Boettcher · Post by **Ronnie Boettcher** » 12 May 2008 7:53 am

Grant, I had a fender 400, just to fool around with. I was in Nashville, doing a recording session, and LLoyd Green was working the steel, with Junior Husky on bass. I was talking to Lloyd about steels, and he sold me on his model. So I went and bought one. I still play it, and have no regrets of quality, or sound. I did move the left knee levers 2 inches to the left, so I could hit the LKL, and A pedal easier. Thanks to a few members here cluing me in on that move. I love that guitar. You see it in my pic. As for weight, I wouldn't want a lighter model. And all I want to play is E9, so the pad is great too.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 12 May 2008 8:49 am

Johnny Bondz in Wildwood, Fl has a Sho-Bud with the single neck and pad. It's a brown color, not the Green. Johnny used to be the Sho-Bud and Gretsch sales rep in Florida and said he had it custom built back when he was the Sho-Bud rep. I don't know if this pre dates the LDG models or not but from the way he talks it does.

Lem Smith · Post by **Lem Smith** » 12 May 2008 9:10 am

Grant, according to Sho~Bud's old catalog, the only difference was the width and the pad.

Jack, I've read, more than once, where Lloyd has specifically said that it was his idea, and he had the first ever, SD10 steel.

Personally, I like the Sho~Bud sound and I like a double cabinet, but I don't play any C6th, so an LDG is the perfect choice for me. It's what I currently play, regardless of my avatar pic.

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 12 May 2008 11:16 am

If it says: "LDG Model" under lacquer; than it is GREEN and a true Lloyd Green model shobud. If it is any other color and says LDG than it will have "SP" under the LDG and SP means special paint and Paul Franklin Sr. usually did those special ones per order.
Other than that; it's not a real ShoBud LDG.
Only diff; between the LDG and the D-10 being built at the time of that particular LDG is the end plate not cut out for the bottom neck; and of course a pad where the botton neck went.
They were originally stained with emerald green and nitro lacquer over that...and if left uncovered and out in the weather/sun; they would certainly turn/fad to a brownish.
Here's what Lloyd said about his "the first LDG":

"Some of the first Sho-Bud LDGs were built with a....241/2 inch scale. I have no reason why. Anyway, mine immediately started breaking 3rd strings.
After less than a week of this nonsense, and my complaints, I was informed of the scale length and rather than accept another steel I asked Shot if there was any solution. He had David Jackson or Paul Franklin, Sr. replace the key head with a shorter one. Problem solved.
The imprint from the original key head is still clearly visible on my steel. They quickly returned to the 24" scale and regular keyhead for production."
"However, the scale on my LDG still measures...241/2 inches."

Lloyd Green

Ricky

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 12 May 2008 12:09 pm

Johnny Bondz's guitar does not have the LDG sticker, just Sho-Bud. There is no cut out on the end plate where the C6th changer pullers would have been.

Again he was a Sho-Bud salesman so who knows what inside info he had, when he had it built.

Ken Mizell · Post by **Ken Mizell** » 14 May 2008 4:30 pm

For the "FWIW" Column - Back around '81-'82 I bought a new SD-10 Super Pro. It was gloss black with inlay, but the neck was plain black. From what I can figure out, it was exactly like the newer short keyhead LDG with narrow pedals, with the exception of the Super Pro paint scheme. It also had the flat black metal fret board with white markers instead of the plastic "dust catcher" fret board of the LDG. Most likely, my Super Pro SD-10 was cheaper than the LDG of that era.

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 14 May 2008 7:21 pm

So Sho-Bud made an SD-10 with the "Super Pro" model name??? I've never heard of that before. If so, I would doubt it was less expensive than the contemporaneous LDG, as the Super Pro (D-10) was the top of the line--though I guess the only difference other than color between an LDG and an SD-10 "Super Pro" would be the offset between the neck and the pad. (BTW, the later LDGs had the flat fretboard with all white markers--I've got one.)

Ken Mizell · Post by **Ken Mizell** » 14 May 2008 8:08 pm

Yep, they made at least one, for sure. I have just one picture of mine and I can try to post it. The pic I have, is after my local steel mechanic got the Sho-Bud parts and converted it to an aluminum neck. I don't know that it changed the sound, but it was nice to look at. My Super Pro had the off-set between the necks too. I sold this to Tom Bradshaw back around 1989-90.

Billy Carr · Post by **Billy Carr** » 15 May 2008 3:34 am

Boy just think if Lloyd had got a patent on the S-10D body back then. I think that set the pattern for future S-10D's. I've owned 4 differnt LDG's over the years and the best sounding ones had the original Sho-Bud pick up in them. I had one with a 705(chrome band) that really sounded nice also. Personally, for my taste between the S-10 & LDG Bud's, the LDG sounded mellow and rich, whereas, with the S-10's I've played didn't quite match the tone for me. Close though.