What gives the Shobud it's sound?

Glen Derksen · Post by **Glen Derksen** » 27 Oct 2008 6:18 pm

Just wondering...and is it possible to make another brand sound like one?

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 27 Oct 2008 8:49 pm

there were times when i couldn't absolutely distinguish if licks i heard were buddy emmons or lloyd green...the steel doesn't have nearly as much to do with it as the talent!

Glen Derksen · Post by **Glen Derksen** » 27 Oct 2008 9:01 pm

I can definitely hear the difference in tone between Shobuds and other brands.

Dave Diehl · Post by **Dave Diehl** » 28 Oct 2008 3:19 am

Agree Glen. Don't know how but there is a difference.

Michael Douchette · Post by **Michael Douchette** » 28 Oct 2008 3:59 am

It really does start with the hands. But, the wood and pickups, quality of material in the changer all contribute, I believe.

Closest thing these days is Jeff and Duane's Show Pro. If Sho-Bud had stayed in business... that's what it would be.

Ernest Cawby · Post by **Ernest Cawby** » 28 Oct 2008 4:32 am

Michael how about the Jackson?????????????

ernie

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 28 Oct 2008 9:26 am

If lloyd green would have recorded all his stuff on a plank of wood, that's what we would all buy.
Tone is all integral with one's other ingredients, you cant sound like your hero, by buying their guitar. Have you ever noticed how that works!

We all sound different on the same guitar, so what really is the SHO-BUD sound?
Buy a nice guitar, and spend the rest of your life playing it.
Just my 50 cents.

Michael Douchette · Post by **Michael Douchette** » 28 Oct 2008 10:26 am

Ernie, I've never seen one.

Don Brown, Sr. · Post by **Don Brown, Sr.** » 28 Oct 2008 11:18 am

Glen! Yes it is. Here's how you make one sound like a Sho-Bud. Put a Sho-Bud player behind your steel, don't tell anyone it's a different brand. Let the player adjust his/her amp the way they like hearing things, and Bingo! You just turned your steel into a Sho-Bud, Emmons, or any other brand.

With me behind it, it would surely sound like a G.E.S.

That's as close as anyone will ever get to the real truth behind all of the many, many, and more many different opinions on this subject. As well as, this steel, has the ultimate sound, and a whole lot of other nonsense.

They ALL sound only as good as the player sitting behind them. Players, will notice a big degree of difference, in association to the feel of each or how much easier one plays from another.

Maybe I should have said, with good pickups, and a well designed amp/speaker/s, it's possible to get any brand to sound (not to play as well as) but to sound like most any other brand. Close enough that I'll guarantee there isn't a person out there who could tell the difference, if they didn't know what guitar it was before hand.

Many say they can, but none have been able to do it yet, in a blind test.

Another thing that gets to me is when someone is selling one: "This one has tone to die for." Well, if that were the case, there would be all kinds of people fighting one another over who ended up with it. Or This one: "This one is the best sounding steel there might possibly ever be."

Using your own best judgement! Why on earth would someone sell something that they feel is the best in the world? And again, wouldn't everyone be offering all kinds of money to have that Ultimate ONE?

Simply my, "three dollar bill's worth."

PS: Other's may feel entirely different on the subject/s and that's their right, and it doesn't mean I'm right. It simply means it's my most honest opinion/s.

However, I've also learned, it's not always good to state your honest opinions, as it's not a very good way to gain friendship. Only knowing someone from what they write, can be very misleading as to what they are in person. And, even moreso, if they don't have anything on "Youtube" or some other area to allow others to first listen, and then draw their own conclusions as to his/her playing ability.

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 28 Oct 2008 11:25 am

I read a story about Maurice years ago, when he put 10 different guitars in the same room, and had the customer guesss which guitar was the MSA blindfolded, Something of that nature anyhow, and i beleive all through the same settings and amp etc, customer guessed wrong 9 times!
I have heard awsome sho-buds and awfull shobuds, and beleive me it wasent the Sho-buds!
So which sho-bud sound are we going on?

Richard Damron · Post by **Richard Damron** » 28 Oct 2008 12:07 pm

Glen -

You've already gotten some sage advice and information above but take what I have to say to heart. Bobbe Seymour has told me that there are no two Sho-Bud's alike. He has said that the differences between instruments was not always that subtle. So - does anyone dare to define a "good" Sho-Bud versus a "less-than-good" one? Like the man said above - sit yourself down at one, adjust the electronics until you're satisfied and you will have found a "good" one. If you then repeat the process with another "Bud" and you're equally satisfied, then you will have found ANOTHER "good" Sho-Bud. If not, then drop back ten yards and punt.

Confuffling, isn't it? (Thanks, Baz)

Don Brown, Sr. · Post by **Don Brown, Sr.** » 28 Oct 2008 12:13 pm

Larry what usually makes any steel sound horrible, and another one a Wow!, is whether or not they're played in tune, (or if they're tuned to play in tune) as well as the person's playing ability.

I too have heard great sounds and horrible sounds, coming from players who simply didn't have their raises and/or lowers in tune. It makes for some very bad music period.

The number one thing that will kill a steels sound is it not being in tune. Or, any other instrument for that matter.

Bill Ford · Post by **Bill Ford** » 28 Oct 2008 12:22 pm

Hey Mikey...Surely you jest????Bill

http://www.jacksonsteelguitar.com/

Tracy Sheehan · Post by **Tracy Sheehan** » 28 Oct 2008 1:31 pm

If the band leader plays a rhythm guitar and a string gets out of tune,9 out of 10 times he will run the first string up no matter which string got out of tune,then tunes the rest sharp and leaves you souunding as if you are playing flat.And lord help you if you are playing a fiddle and the guitar player does that.The fiddle will sound out of tune and of course the fiddle player is playing off key.This is one of the reasons years ago playing steel in a band i never told any one i also played fiddle.
And while i am on the soap box i coulden't count the times i have been told (my instrument never gets out of tune.)Maybe so if they are using strings with no metal in them.Temp changes de tunes strings.
ANd while i am on the soap box, i was talking to a great well known local steel player and some how the discussiom came up about bending your picks.I told him i had been with a band and never could get my picks shaped right.I finally figured out why.The rhythm section was not together.He said boy am i glad to hear you say that as i had the same problem and also finally figured out it was the same thing.
So fellow steelers don't be too hard on your selves when things are not going right.It may not be you.
This is a for instance.I have told band leaders i could not play country licks when the drummer was playing wipe out and the bass man trying to play take Five in a country song.
You pay 40 or 80 thousand dollars for a car and i can pull a fifty cent wire off and it won't run.
Too many pickers now only listen to them selves and not the rest of the band.Thats what many pros call it a free for all.That must be the reason for so many $#@$^ monitors on a band stand now,Wall to wall noise.Tracy
End of rant.LOL

Michael Douchette · Post by **Michael Douchette** » 28 Oct 2008 1:34 pm

Bill, I meant in person.

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 28 Oct 2008 1:50 pm

Lloyd Green and Sarah Jory BOTH "sound different" than anyone else I've ever heard. I surely doubt that either of them would sound the same on a different guitar. It's NOT TONE I've referrd to before but an overall RICH SOUND QUALITY.

In my opinion IT IS NOT IN THE HANDS..........

THERE IS something going on here with Lloyd and Sarah that only they seem to know about. If it's note the hands and NOT the guitar, then what kind of black box or amp settings are being used to give them BOTH that most distinctive SOUND?

Come on LLOYD GREEN or Sarah Jory...... Please come forth and explain the mystery that we have all troubled over. Thank you!

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 28 Oct 2008 2:14 pm

Ray Montee wrote:Lloyd Green and Sarah Jory BOTH "sound different" than anyone else I've ever heard. I surely doubt that either of them would sound the same on a different guitar. It's NOT TONE I've referrd to before but an overall RICH SOUND QUALITY.

In my opinion IT IS NOT IN THE HANDS..........

THERE IS something going on here with Lloyd and Sarah that only they seem to know about. If it's note the hands and NOT the guitar, then what kind of black box or amp settings are being used to give them BOTH that most distinctive SOUND?

Well Ray, none of the times I have seen Sarah has she ever been playing a Sho~Bud. I would describe her sound as very "Emmons-ish". Lloyd, on the other hand, has a very round, full sound, and he sounded equally as good when he was playing a JCH (to me, anyway). Dickie Overby is another player that has tone to die for, and he's played an Emmons every time I've seen him.

I think great players most always get a great sound, and most can get it on just about any guitar.

However...

I can remember many years back when a friend played a tape for me, and I guessed (wrongly) that it was Reece playing his old MSA Classic. I was flabbergasted to discover that it was Emmons! The sound was just so characteristically MSA.

The album was "Minors Aloud".

Don Brown, Sr. · Post by **Don Brown, Sr.** » 28 Oct 2008 2:20 pm

Ray, first time I seen Sarah play, I didn't even notice her sound or hear her music..

Sonny Priddy · Post by **Sonny Priddy** » 28 Oct 2008 2:22 pm

I have owned and Played Differnt Brands Owned Some Sho-buds And Nothing Sounds like A Sho-Bud. But A Sho- Bud. SONNY.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 28 Oct 2008 2:39 pm

actually, i think zb's have a more distinctively brand oriented tone.

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 28 Oct 2008 2:49 pm

I've been playing long enough to realize that the individual player influences the outcome of his/her "sound"...just as does the amp, all the plug-ins, the g'tar cords, the picks, strings, etc., etc.

BUT.......Lloyd GREEN has had this "SOUND" for many years. We're NOT talking TONE or embellishments.

It has to be something in the make-up of the g'tar itself. What kind does he now play? How long has he played this specific model? What year is it? What is the model description? What kind of wood?
What kind of necks? What amp does he usually use for recording? Or, does he prefer to go thro' the board?

Surely someone on here must possess the 'inside' knowledge. Lloyd Green could make it so much simpler if he'd just respond for us and make 7,000+ Forumites very happy. All this speculation means little other than representing a good bit of healthy social intercourse among friends. Could it be as simple as Lloyd's GREEN laquer finish?

Don Brown, Sr. · Post by **Don Brown, Sr.** » 28 Oct 2008 3:07 pm

Sonny, you said that nothing sounds like a Sho-Bud to you, other than a Sho-Bud.

That can mean either good or bad. If you would, describe, exactly what it is that you hear to bring you to that conclusion.

I'm asking that, so possibly what you have to say will clarify the topic once and for all..

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 28 Oct 2008 3:18 pm

It's true Lloyd sounded much the same when playing JCH. And I'm talking tone, not style. But what amp and amp settings was he using?

As to Dicky Overbey, in one video clip I've seen, I remember thinking immediately and unequivocally, before I focused on the steel he was playing (I was interested first in what this Dicky Overbey fellow looked like--I think someone had commented about his appearance in the clip), "That's got to be an Emmons"--which it was.

Sonny Priddy · Post by **Sonny Priddy** » 28 Oct 2008 3:28 pm

Don To Me Sho-Bud Has A Great Sound Wish I Had Keep One That i Had. O Well. SONNY.

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 28 Oct 2008 3:42 pm

SONNY, I was really looking forward to receiving your insightfulness to help me with this deep rooted dilema. This is not one for Dr. Laura but only a Sho-Bud owner/player, in my opinion.

The point is NOT "TONE"...............

It is "a most unique SOUND" equivilant to that RARE SOUND one discovers only once or twice in a life-time upon walking into a new 'playing place' for that one night stand.

It's as obvious as was the unique sound profered by the once proud Ryman Auditorium SOUND....back in the late 1940's early 1950's. You can still hear it if you manage to get ahold of some of the old Opry stage performances.

Emmons, Hughey nor any of the others have ever put forth THIS SOUND. LLOYD...........where are you.

Might it be the distinctive SOUND of wooden necks on a Sho-Bud body? Or, just the opposite? Or, is it all in that little thingie that Lloyd keeps leaning to his right and adjusting throughout his performances........like a ProFex thingie or something like it?

Somebody has got to know the answer. It can be elusive but not a life-time mystery.

The Steel Guitar Forum

What gives the Shobud it's sound?

What gives the Shobud it's sound?

hi

Something to think about.

I WISH we could get Lloyd Green to respond to this...

Re: I WISH we could get Lloyd Green to respond to this...

sho-bud

The matter of SHO-BUD vs. the player

sho-bud

SONNY, and I was depending on you...................