This Sho-Bud Maverick is richly appointed and protected by a sumptuous, low glare, theft resistant simulated wood veneer.
The envy deterring style of the Maverick is perfectly suited for confident musicians of strong character and humility who wish to focus attention on their art rather than shallow, garish displays of pedal steel materialism.
Q: Why should I consider purchasing this Sho-Bud Maverick?
Talented and experienced pedal steel guitarists often find expensive “pro” steel guitars to be overly responsive and plagued by predictable intonation. The system of rods on "pro" guitars often feels sterile, linear and inorganic. The Maverick's design remedies those and many other common problems.
Most “pro” and modern steels also suffer from over-configurability. Indecisive engineering by "pro" pedal steel builders is partly to blame. But the root of the problem is clever marketers and salespeople who clearly hope to sell you more rods, more cams, more pulls, more changers, more pedals, etc. (It’s a classic example of giving away the razor and selling the blades.)
The brilliant, less-is-more design of the Maverick is a respectful acknowledgement that you'd rather spend your time creating beautiful music than wasting sunny days in your basement modifying your copedent.
Yet the Maverick's 3+1 setup is anything but limited. Mathematically speaking there are 4 factorial (expressed mathematically as 4!) pedal combinations. That works out to be a minimum of 24 unique pedal variations. Quite frankly if you're unable to play a song with those myriad pedal combos then your real issue is song selection. If that's not enough combinations, well, you're probably alienating your audience. As serious steel guitarists (and even our slackjawed lapsteel brethern) will tell you, songs that require more than one knee lever tend to sound "gimmicky" or "showy."
Q: Is the Maverick truly an excellent investment?
Consider for a moment the steady parade of $2000+ steels in the Instruments For Sale section of the Forum and contrast that with the relatively few Mavericks that come available. Clearly pedal steel players must be dissatisfied with expensive, feature-laden instruments or they would keep them, right? Or, similarly, the constant pursuit of "pro" or "high-end" steels fosters insatiable greed rather than satisfaction and musical fellowship.
It is indeed curious that if you search the Forum archive you’ll find numerous instances of veteran steel players cautioning inquisitive and energetic would-be pedal steel guitarists against purchasing a Maverick. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to see the root forces (or even the relative minor forces) at work here. A cabal of good ol’ steelers and builders is systematically trying to tamp down demand for Mavericks in order to keep Maverick prices artificially low for their own future gain. Yes, it's shameful.
Meanwhile, the hype on the Instruments For Sale thread is in full force as these same characters try to unload the glut of "pro" guitars on one another. The For Sale thread is a din of "TTT" braying as desperate steelers buy retail, sell wholesale and pay shipping both ways. Honestly, how else can you explain why an unwieldy, heavy, veneerless old Emmons with a mishmash of "push" and "pull" technology can fetch $4000 when lightweight Mavericks are available for only $500? Think about it.
Q: I thought I heard someone say that the Maverick wasn't really a "professional" guitar. Were they lying or merely insane?
Inexplicably there are some who do not consider the Sho-Bud Maverick to be a “pro” guitar.
But pause to consider this simple test of logic. Imagine there are two identical concert halls on the same street. And now imagine that two concerts are to be held at the same time on the same day in those respective halls. Which of the following marquees do you think would sell the most tickets:
* Buddy Emmons playing this Sho-Bud Maverick.
* Or you playing a $5,000 doubleneck steel guitar. (And you can even use both necks if you like).
Obviously none of us would likely to draw a fraction of Buddy Emmons’ crowd. The logic, as you can see, is ironclad. The Maverick is most certainly a "pro" guitar.
Q: So what's so special about this particular Maverick?
This Maverick comes complete with case, original manual, legs, pedals, knee lever, pedal bar, wingnuts, bolts that the wingnuts go onto, and even a patch cord.
A new cable-rod was installed in fall 2007 to restore functionality to the C pedal (gilding the lily perhaps). The new rod was put in the Maverick only after undergoing years of rigorous stress testing. First it was first bent into a triangular shape and then it was subjected to the non-stop strain of holding up a heavy winter coat in a closet. Only after passing this “hanger” test was it considered fit for use with the Maverick's C pedal.
It’s difficult to put a value on the hanger modification. Quite candidly if you ask any of the otherwise talented steel guitar technicians and rebuilders on this forum if you can get a "hanger mod" on your "pro" steel guitar they'll likely be dumbfounded.
Q: And what about accessories? Is a volume pedal even needed with a Maverick? If so wouldn't one add hundreds of dollars to the purchase price?
You’ll often hear of pedal steel guitarists spending $180, $185 even as much on $190 on a new volume pedal for their “pro” instruments.
Fortunately the Maverick’s sound is such that far less expensive pedals and accessories may be used without negatively affecting tone. Included at no additional cost with this Maverick is a Bespeco volume pedal. It affords the smooth selection of nearly infinite volume levels. Best of all, volume can be adjusted in real time using only one foot.
Q: So, um, how much? $3000? $5000? More?
This Sho-Bud Maverick (serial number 9630) is only $500 + shipping.
After reading the ad, I was ready to sell the ZB and drive to Kansas as I just had to have this fantastic pro Maverick!! 
