Shobud Fingertips and Permanents----got a picture??

Instruments, mechanical issues, copedents, techniques, etc.

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James Morehead
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Post by James Morehead »

Yes, pre '65. check your email.
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
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James Morehead
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Post by James Morehead »

Well Said Bobbe. 8)

From: Bobbe Seymour <sales>
Date: August 25, 2011 10:55:05 AM EDT



Hello fellow players,


The world of steel guitar up until about 12 to 15 years ago was very fluid when it came to designing and building new steel guitar models. People still today look at an old Sho-Bud and try to figure out what year it is by certain features on the guitar. This is a frustrating thing to try to do because design changes happened as they were figured out and not because the year changed. As I said, design changes were fluid.


Of course, some big basic changes will help identify the decade, like most Permanent guitars were built before ’64, but not all of them. Most Baldwin guitars that Sho-Bud built were built from ’66 to ’69, and were built alongside some Permanent guitars and almost all of the Fingertip guitars. So here we have three different guitars being built by Sho-Bud at the same time.


I see people on the forum trying to figure out what year their Fingertip was made because of certain features one individual may have on his guitar and letting everybody know what year he bought it, but because features were added or subtracted at any given time, this doesn’t necessarily indentify the year.


Emmons guitars can be even more confusing to identify. The end castings for the push pull guitars were stamped with serial numbers when they were cast and then stacked up on a shelf in the assembly shop. They would cast several years worth of end castings at the same time and they were not necessarily used in order, they just grabbed whatever was within reach. There were even many end castings that were made with no numbers at all.


As far as experimental Emmons guitars go, there were plenty of them and they were a combination of any parts that were available, not necessarily part of any grand design. I remember Ron Lashley building a double ten keyless guitar with both necks the same level. But he never made a second one.


Many times when a customer would ask for a specific feature to be built into their own personal guitar, Ron would do it and quite often this guitar would end up on the market, sold to an owner that thought he had just a standard guitar from the factory.


I know of a bolt on mechanism guitar that was built and owned by a prominent Texas player, sent back to the factory, converted to a split neck guitar and then later on restored to a wrap-around guitar so it would come closer to matching the serial number of that era.


Folks that are trying to pinpoint exact building facts like they would on a mass produced automobile really are facing a difficult task as the history of these guitars is very muddied. Being a dealer in Nashville, Tennessee, I ran across these guitars on a regular basis. There was a standard model, but there were many experimental units.


Sho-Bud was very good about coming up with different changes to the bodies, mechanisms, keyheads etc. throughout the life of this brand. I remember going into the Sho-Bud factory one day and seeing a new keyhead design and asking David why he’s changing the keyhead design.


He told me, “To fit the new tuning keys that are available from Grover.”


This is another example of design being changed by necessity instead of by annual date.


I see people today that are trying to date their guitar by what tuning keyhead it has on it. Unless you want a wrong answer, ignore some of these details. We’re talking about some guitars back in the old days when all of these changes were taking place that really sounded incredible.


As far as numbers of guitars per year, in 1969 there were lawsuits flying all over the place at Emmons guitar company. Consequently, there were only about 50 double neck guitars made that year and that’s all. That makes the ’69 model of Emmons a lot harder to find, but these are wonderful guitars. Actually ’67 through ’69 are my favorites to play.


There weren’t very many guitars made before ’67. Most guitars that were made before ’67 were those that the neck wrapped around the changer. A few of these earliest guitars had cast aluminum changer parts, not particularly desirable because they are not particularly strong like small extruded parts are.


It’s amazing how many people will say while looking at an Emmons of early manufacture, “That’s not right and this isn’t right and I don’t know why that’s like that.” It may be perfectly legit and have been built by Ron and Fred themselves.


What early Emmons is the most desirable? Any of them. What early Sho-Bud is the most desirable? Any of them except the Baldwin Cross-over model. This is just my opinion here.


I feel that Buddy Emmons came out with some very good and constructive ideas in the early periods of the push pull design. Many of these guitars are showing up in private collectors and players hands. I’ve finally gotten to where I can pretty well identify all the strange quirks that were assembled into push pull guitars at the Emmons company.


I must admit that in talking to Ron Lashley and Fred Trogdon before they died, I learned much about the very early construction traits of these first guitars. I have been an Emmons guitar dealer and player since January of 1966.


There seems to be a growing population of people interested in the history and the details of the early guitars made by these companies and a couple of know-it-alls that really know very little about Sho-Bud and Emmons. Even the company itself today doesn’t seem to have much desire to keep the history straight.


I love these early guitars, the history of the guitars, along with their players and builders. This was a wonderful era and I am glad that I was a part of it. There are fewer and fewer of us that were actually there and remember the way it really was and I feel that I should help keep the record straight.


Back in the very earliest days, most of the Emmons guitars were finished with felt the color of red, but not all. As a matter of fact, some of the earliest rosewood guitars have brown felt under the guitar, but they all had felt of some kind, which actually wasn’t felt but was very short fuzzy strands of material from the carpet mills in that area. It looked great, was easy to apply and repair, however it seems like the factory was the only place it could be obtained.


Emmons was doing this while Sho-Bud was shooting the bottom with lacquer, either natural or in a few cases, black. But remember, all of the details were constantly changing through the early periods of both Sho-Bud and Emmons.


The early guitars of both of these brands are very collectible today because they are excellent guitars that sound as good as anything anywhere and they are rare and hard to obtain.

Your buddy,
Bobbe
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
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John Billings
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Post by John Billings »

"I see people on the forum trying to figure out what year their Fingertip was made because of certain features one individual may have on his guitar and letting everybody know what year he bought it, but because features were added or subtracted at any given time, this doesn’t necessarily indentify the year."

Uh oh! He's prolly talkin' 'bout me! I try to remember to put a question mark after my year guesses though!
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Bob Muller
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Post by Bob Muller »

Very interesting Bobbie, I very much agree with your latest news letter. If you read back through the postings I think you will find that several times in the past I stated that it seemed impossible to date these guitars based on the parts inside them, but it seemed to be a very unpopular idea at that time. It has been fun trying to figure this out, but parts, sr numbers, ect. don't seem to be the answer. I think we may never know for sure, In any case they are still very wonderful guitars.
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James Morehead
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Post by James Morehead »

Bob Muller wrote: If you read back through the postings I think you will find that several times in the past I stated that it seemed impossible to date these guitars based on the parts inside them, but it seemed to be a very unpopular idea at that time.
I don't think there was any "backlash" about popular vs. unpopularity concerning trying to find a manufactuer's date by way of the parts found in these guitars. It's actually been a fun venture examining this concept, what changes and differences there are, which has been the purpose of this thread anyways. Just don't get hung up chasing a "date". It really doesn't matter.

And what we pretty much find at this point is what Bobbe has pointed out in the first place, back several pages ago, as well as his fine indepth letter explaining alot of "how it was back in the day".

Bottom line, enjoy noticing these subtle differences, but don't get hung up about "exact dates". Your much better off tuning up and getting in some play time.
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
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Chris Harvey
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My 'Bud is Back!

Post by Chris Harvey »

I gotta thank James for helping me get my ol' fingertip up to snuff. The changer had gunk beyond belief (referred to as "tone fuzz" by James), the lower springs were all out of whack, and much, much more. It's now like new! This 'bud has interesting mojo as the C6 pickup sounds great yet reads zero ohms.

James - If you have the video of you dialing the tuning of the changes to a razor's edge it would be great! Thanks again for helping me out, and for all of the friendly advice.


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Daniel Ibanez
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Sho-Bud and ABM similarities

Post by Daniel Ibanez »

Hello James,
thanks for creating this thread, John Billings for including the mechanical diagram, and to all of the people who collaborated and included such good pics and references about the FingerTip.
I just realized the similarities of the FingerTip and a ABM German pedal steel guitar that I had, which was the continuation of the Framus.
They are so similar that I believe there must be some design permission or so.
Please find below some pics, where you can see the changer, nut rollers, bell-cranks, collars, rod, links, pedal stops, etc.
An improvement on this design is a close aluminum frame, with a flat underside for the installation of the undercarriage. All the pedals and shafts are attached to the metal frame with no attachment to the wood.
I changed the original design by inserting nylon bearings for the shafts. I also changed the position of the two knee levers to the middle position of the undercarriages.
As said, once you adjusted properly, it certainly stayed i tune.
And, by the way, it never hummed; someone said on another thread that the pickups were designed by Bill Lawrence back when.
Again, many thanks
Daniel

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John Billings
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Post by John Billings »

DI,
Very interesting! Michael Lee Allen sent me a copy of ABM's advertising several months ago. The page is in German, and English. I remarked to him at the time, that it sure looked a lot like a Fingertip! ABM used Palisander Rosewood from Madagascar. If you're hip to what's happening to the Gibson Company right now, it's not advised to travel with such a guitar! One might have it seized at the Border, under the Lacey(sp?) Act.
Beautiful guitar! Thanks for posting the pics!
JB
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Daniel Ibanez
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Post by Daniel Ibanez »

Hello John,
I can email you a German brochure that I had scanned, just in case it differs from yours.
I took notes of the mechanical diagram: a good invention the all-pull mechanism with a double fulcrum, and also the fingertip tuning method. I also took out all the wiring diagram by hand.
The wood and the inlays were certainly of a good quality with a fine craftsmanship.
The scale was 23" (58cm), something that did not convince me from the beginning but not a big complaint. The steel legs were 26", which is the standard, and I actually tilted it a little bit, by raising the back legs, to make more room for the right knee, on a standard Goodrich volume pedal.
The weigh was definitely too much: 64 pounds (almost 30 Kg) with case.
I disassembled and cleaned the whole guitar many times.
I played a lot on the E9th, but almost nothing on the C6th; I actually had it very long periods with no strings, pedals and rods for the C6th fretboard.
I have an uneasy feeling for having sold it but I want to buy me a Universal 12 and I cannot keep it at home, even though it would be a piece of museum... Good memories.
Daniel
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John Billings
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Post by John Billings »

Daniel,
I'd love to see the brochure! I could tell that that guitar had to be heavy!
My "go-to" guitar is still my Kline 12 Uni. Love those low strings
JB
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James Morehead
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Post by James Morehead »

Yes Daniel, there's some very strong similarities going on there! I wish I could hear the tone--A-B yours with mine.
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
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Johnny Cox
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Post by Johnny Cox »

Well guys I'm going to jump in here. Some of you know that I spent my summers and all my weekends from 1968 until 1972 when I went on the road at the Sho-Bud store on Broadway in Nashville. I watched Harry Jackson build many guitars there and many of them were fingertips. My 2nd pedal steel was a rosewood and natural maple fingertip that I got in 1970 and it was only six months old. I traded my 1960 permanent and swept floors for the summer to pay the difference. After Sho-Bud started building the fingertip they later also used the same undercarriage in the permanents getting away from the welded pullers on steel cross shafts making them easier to change the setups. As far as differences in the fingertips, almost every guitar was different in some way. That's just the Jackson way, always looking for a better mouse trap. I think my old fingertip is in a photo on the second page of this thread from 2008 owned by Mark Durant. The one I had was exactly like his. I even put the chrome amp badge on the front. That's one I should have kept.
At one time in late 69, early 70 Sho-Bud was building Permanents, Fingertips, Baldwin Crossovers and The Professional. I remember Harry building the Perms and Fingertips upstairs at the store and David and his crew build the Crossover and the Professional at Music City Manufacturing.
Johnny "Dumplin" Cox
"YANKIN' STRINGS & STOMPIN' PEDALS" since 1967.
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Johnny Cox
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Post by Johnny Cox »

Oh yea, somewhere about my 10th or 12th Sho-Bud was Curly Chalker's Zebra wood Fingertip. It had it before I became such a Chalker freak so the C6th completely messed me up and I traded it back for something else, duuuh. I also had another one in 1999 or 2000 that I sold to Herb Steiner. I still hold that if you look up steel guitar tone in Websters dictionary there is a picture of a Fingertip and a Sho-Bud Compactra 100 amp. BTW, Jim Evans told me that the Compactra 100 is a 38 watt amp.
Johnny "Dumplin" Cox
"YANKIN' STRINGS & STOMPIN' PEDALS" since 1967.
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Geoff Cline
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Post by Geoff Cline »

Johnny Cox wrote:Oh yea, somewhere about my 10th or 12th Sho-Bud was Curly Chalker's Zebra wood Fingertip. It had it before I became such a Chalker freak so the C6th completely messed me up and I traded it back for something else, duuuh. I also had another one in 1999 or 2000 that I sold to Herb Steiner. I still hold that if you look up steel guitar tone in Websters dictionary there is a picture of a Fingertip and a Sho-Bud Compactra 100 amp. BTW, Jim Evans told me that the Compactra 100 is a 38 watt amp.
Don't mean to derail the thread, but here's a picture of my newly refurbished Jim Evans "Compactra-variant" amplifier, housed in a TX mesquite head cabinet (sounds great with the Standel 15" bottom). LOVE this amp...best eBay find ever!

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Daniel Ibanez
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Post by Daniel Ibanez »

Johnny Cox...
as soon as I saw this name I rushed to my Anthology of Pedal Steel Guitar, the book with which I learnt to play the steel... and yes, mister, you are on a photo on page 72, attached. I hope you don't mind.
WIth all the respect and gratitude.
Cheers
Daniel
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James Morehead
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Post by James Morehead »

Geoff Cline wrote:

Don't mean to derail the thread, but here's a picture
Geoff, How about a CLEAR picture we can see, while we are at it?
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
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Geoff Cline
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Post by Geoff Cline »

James Morehead wrote:
Geoff Cline wrote:

Don't mean to derail the thread, but here's a picture
Geoff, How about a CLEAR picture we can see, while we are at it?
Here's one of the restored chassis before I put it in the cabinet...

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James Morehead
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Post by James Morehead »

Sweeet!! Got some pics of it put back together? :)
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
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Jerome Hawkes
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Post by Jerome Hawkes »

i think Sho-Bud in this era was still a build-to-order company right before they started mass producing in 1970 - thats why its so hard to nail down a date. if you wanted the old way, they'd do it, if you wanted the latest, they'd do it.

my "permanent" is a great example - early 60's perm cab design with HUGE flame and hand rubbed finish (still to this day not a single lacquer crack or check in it) / fingertip undercarriage / modern thick gumby with BIG BRASS nut rollers (never seen em on any other), perm changer on E9 and the C6 neck is non-pedal with the old late 50's style non-pedal bridge / 2 LONG knee levers, THICK cast pedal bar that attaches thru the legs, oh and the early 60's brown "rivet case". this is exactly how it came from the factory in 196?.
'65 Sho-Bud D-10 Permanent • '54 Fender Dual-8 • Clinesmith T-8 • '38 Ric Bakelite • '92 Emmons D-10 Legrande II
Danny Bates
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Post by Danny Bates »

Jerome, Yes, those old Sho-Buds were really special guitars. Let's remember that the Emmons push/pulls were really taking off at that time. They were smaller, lighter, sounded great, never needed adjusting and had the Big E's name on the label. A big competition factor.

James, there are some pics of an original Compactra 100 here...

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... c666ecd3da
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John Billings
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Post by John Billings »

Jerome,
I always thought they really cranked up their production when they became associated with Baldwin. My '67 S-10 has a Baldwin decal. Baldwin had a lot of stores back then. I very, very vaguely recall reading that Baldwin made all the stores take a couple??????
JB
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James Morehead
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Post by James Morehead »

I'm looking for old fingertip/perm pickups to rebuild, if any of you might have a couple laying around?
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... 09#1829609
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
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John Billings
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Post by John Billings »

I got one of mine on Ebay, James. So keep your eyes open there too.
JB
Rick Abbott
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Post by Rick Abbott »

If a guy were to start putting back a few bucks, saving for a reasonable, but not perfect, Fingertip Bud, about how much would he need to save? Are there guitars out there for sale?

Man are these interesting and sweet sounding!! And a tinkerers dream machine too.

Just scouting for my next Sho~Bud, gonna be a Fingertip or a round-front Professional.
RICK ABBOTT
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Remington T-8, Wakarusa 5e3 clone
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John Billings
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Post by John Billings »

Rick, my friend, owner of the earliest Crossover I've ever seen, I paid $1,200 for my '63 D-10 Fingertip. But I'd trade it for an S-10, or S-12 Fingertip, in a moment!
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