Let's talk (Sho-Bud) pickups...

[Tom Quinn]

I played a Professional D-10 for years before my Emmons days. The best Sho-Bud -- and maybe the best steel -- I ever heard was Daniel "Fred" Jones's Professional.

It was the same year as mine, but sounded worlds better. Bigger, more alive with a ring and overtones for days, sort of Emmonish.

The dual coils of that era seemed to be either too thin or too fat. I think mine was something like 14/20K. Has anyone here fooled with those pickups? Either made them single wind or did a total rewind? I like Buds, but some of them sound a bit dead, with too much fundamental and not enough overtones. Maybe its the construction or wood.

Don't get me wrong -- I love those guitars, don't like to fool with vintage guitars or change them. But if I could get an old Sho-Bud D-10 that sounded like Daniel's, I'd be a happy guy!

[Curtis Mason]

I'm a Sho-Bud fan from way back, and my first Steel was an LDG, that always had a really good tone, I had changed the original single coil pickup for a Jerry Wallace (Tru-Tone) pickup, I believe you'll find that his pickups are among the most accurate for that vintage sound that people seem to always go back to.

But I had another thought while reading your posting. I remember things from long ago that I really loved then, such as guitars, keyboards, even groups, and then today it seems as though they just don't sound like they did back then, but I would interject that it may just be that our ears are getting better and more precise about what we like to hear, and this in itself makes us harder to please when looking for, well, you know "That Sound"...You'll know it when you hear it.

Hope you hear it soon,

Just food for thought,

[Tom Quinn]

Hey Curtis, I grew up in Willoughby, up on the lake. You have a point, but back in the day, I sold my Professional after playing an Emmons D-10. Sho-Buds are the beauty queens, but a beater black push-pull is the ride of choice...

[James Morehead]

Has anyone here fooled with those pickups? Either made them single wind or did a total rewind?

Ricky Davis and Jerry Wallace did extensive experiments on windings that captured that vintage shobud tone. They recommend, (because of new modern day materials), to wind them at 17,500 / 11,500. Also, if you can, rewind your original pickups, because they have smaller magnets, and a few of us feel that you get better string seperation, over the larger magnets.
Set your pickups about 3 quarters width below the strings, and play through an old Fender tube amp/JBL's, and you should be in the ballpark of that old tone your remember. Just the way it works best for me.

[John Bechtel]

Just room for a compliment here and I hope he sees it! The very best Sho-Bud Sound that I've ever heard was here in Nashville at our Oct. ’08 Steel Guitar Super Duper Super Jam and it was played by Forum Member, Tony Farr from here in the Nashville area. Maybe he can tell you what year and model it is! As I told you, Tony; it sounded exactly like a Sho-Bud should! I never heard one sound any better or even as good!

[Don Sulesky]

I have the original pickups in my ShoBud SuperPro set aprox. about 1/8"+ below the strings.
I would never think of changing them out.
I find where I pick the strings effects the tone more than anything.
I like to pick the strings between the 20 to 22 frets.
The closer I get to the bridge the brighter the tone which I don't care too much for unless it's the chicken picken' stuff.
Don

[Tony Farr]

Thanks John for the compliment. My Sho-Bud was made in 1983, as for seriel number, I have no idea. But I use wooden necks instead of aluminum ,I think they give the steel a more mellow tone not as tinny,as aluminum and a Sho-Bud pedal, I was using a Peavey Vegas amp, I had my wife set it to sound the way she likes to hear it, then I fine tuned it a bit. As for the pick-ups they were done at the factory in DeQueen, Ark where I picked it up. The guy from Japan that used to work at Sho-Bud for Shot was still working for them and he was the one who set every thing up for me. I had a Sho-Bud Amp but sold it back in the late 80's should have keep it, but needed $$$ back then.

[Jerry Hayes]

I bought a ShoBud S-12 in 1977. At the time I was using a Randall Commander II amp which was solid state and had two 12" speakers. The control plate looked exactly like that of a Twin Reverb except it was orange. I really couldn't ever seem to get the sound I wanted with that amp. It seems like if I'd get the higher strings sounding like I wanted them, then the lower ones would be too muddy and if I'd EQ the low one where they sounded good, the higher strings would be very shrill sounding. I had a friend who had an Emmons S-12 which sounded great through my amp so I ordered an Emmons pickup and installed it in the ShoBud. Immediately I had the sound I was looking for. The Emmons pickup seemed to be "balanced" all the way across. Micky Byrne in Great Britain also did this to his old 'bud S-12. I just don't care for those pickups. When installing an Emmons pickup in a ShoBud, you have to trim the bottom plate of it as it won't fit into the hole unless you do.........JH in Va.