Gumby era ended in...?

Zachary Walters · Post by **Zachary Walters** » 4 Mar 2011 4:47 am

True or False?

Sho-Bud stopped using the Gumby after 1974.

View this link to see what started this discussion:
http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet? ... kinJAzffE4

Jerry Van Hoose · Post by **Jerry Van Hoose** » 4 Mar 2011 6:47 am

Short answer, false. I remember picking up a new, just finished, black Pro II at Sho Bud with the "gumby style" keyheads in 1976. Then, a charcoal Pro III with "gumby" keyheads in 1978. Now, having said that, I've seen the "gumby style" keyhead installed on new Sho Bud's after the smaller "straight" ones were implemented. Also, I've even seen a D10 Sho Bud that was ordered and built per customers instructions w/one of each!

Pit Lenz · Post by **Pit Lenz** » 4 Mar 2011 6:49 am

Being a Sho~Bud novice myself, my opinion is far from expert.

I have a 12-String Pro-I (Ser.# 13114), built in mid `78, according to
the famous Gene Haugh Serial# dating thread .
It has a Gumby headstock and a superpro undercarriage.

My conclousion from reading many Sho~Bud threads at the forum is that they used pretty much what they had laying around instead of making a clear cut and change in production lines.

Therefore I´d say: Not quite true(=False).

...by the way, here`s another post-1974 Gumby -
anybody remembers this Eddie Murphy scene from SNL?

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 4 Mar 2011 6:56 am

Then there's this guy …….

Jerry Van Hoose · Post by **Jerry Van Hoose** » 4 Mar 2011 7:12 am

Actually, I do remember that scene with Eddie Murphy, really enjoyed those SNL shows back then. I had to take some time to think on this for a moment.....I believe the Sho Bud with the two different style keyheads that I mentioned in the previous reply/post was setting in Larry Self's steel guitar store in DeBary Florida about 20 years ago. Seems as though Larry might have told me that it once belonged to Johnny Cox? There was something else too that was unique about that particular guitar but I just can't remember. I apologize for slightly getting off-topic.

Skip Edwards · Post by **Skip Edwards** » 4 Mar 2011 8:40 am

It's tough to pin down the exact time when they switched, but '78 is about right. That's when the Super Pro was first made, and after that the non-gumby heads started showing up on the other models, as well.

btw... did you know that there were 2 sizes of gumbys? They also made a slightly smaller gumby which supposedly helped prevent string breakage.

Dave McCarthy · Post by **Dave McCarthy** » 4 Mar 2011 7:18 pm

I made the comment. I thought for sure the "Gumby" era ended in '74. I have a '74 roundfront Pro I with a Gumby headstock. Must be getting foolish in my old age

Cliff Kane · Post by **Cliff Kane** » 4 Mar 2011 8:23 pm

We can't talk about Gumby and pedal steel guitar without including Sneaky Pete:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMdqt1xtV9Q

As for the Sho-Bud "Gumby" or "Claw", it would be nice to see how the shape of the claw changed over time. A late '70s claw is not the same as the early ones.

Jeff Watson · Post by **Jeff Watson** » 6 Mar 2011 5:05 pm

I've got one on a late 1980 S12.

Skip Edwards · Post by **Skip Edwards** » 6 Mar 2011 5:46 pm

I don't think Sho-Bud ever made a 12-string keyhead that wasn't a Gumby.

Jeff Watson · Post by **Jeff Watson** » 6 Mar 2011 6:08 pm

Yeah, I wondered about that.

Ron Anderson · Post by **Ron Anderson** » 6 Mar 2011 7:54 pm

I'm still quite the gumby, so the era isn't quite over yet.

Case in point: I was sent to Wendy's to get a couple cheese burgers fries and "Oh hun, get us chocolate shakes".

Seemed easy enough. At the drive up I ordered two #1s with cheese and two chocolate shakes from the vast array of gumby confusing menu items.

The order guy says back from the box. "So you want two chocolate frosties?" Yea I said figuring they must just have a cute name for their shakes.....

Butt-munch punk tricked me.