Is it cost-wise to rebuild a Sho-Bud Maveric?

[Pat Chong]

Hello, folks,

I have access to a Sho-Bud Maveric. I have seen what can be done with them (adding knee levers). I would like to get this one (a 3p x 0 kl setup) and add the 4 levers used on a standard E9 setup. The cost of the Sho-Bud is 500.00.

My question: Is it cost-wise to do this? (ie Fix it up and sell it.......)

Thanks...........................Pat

[Ian Worley]

Not the best choice. It will probably cost you several hundred bucks for all the necessary parts to add four knees. Doubtful you would ever get your money back out of it. If it's the later and more common "shelf paper" model I would just avoid it entirely. If it's one of the early models with the raised neck and Gumby keyhead, that one is a maybe, but it's still not a simple job unless you're already pretty comfortable with modifying steel guitars and have a good understanding of how pull-release changers work. It will require a fair bit of finagling to get all the modern changes on there, including a couple of strings with both raises and lowers. You could probably pick up a nice used Stage One instead for $800-$900 and sell it down the road for exactly what you paid for it.

[Donny Hinson]

There's different kinds of Mavericks, but I'd say that's a little high... and I think the "going price" on one with no levers should be closer to $350-$400.

I also think that newbies should not buy a guitar that needs fixin' or addin' right away. When you're starting to learn how to play, you want to be working on your playing, not working on a guitar.

[Pat Chong]

Thanks, folks.

I have already kind of talked myself out of doing this, but the guitar is a nice looking one. Ian, it IS the old style with the gumby head, BUT, (for a beginner model?) it has inlay in the neck!
https://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/msg/5416461132.html

And thanks, Don, for the advice. But, as it is, I tinker a lot, and that is why I was thinking of another unit, to fix/sell.

I have started with a Dekley with a 3p by 5k original setup.(off of Ebay). I have converted it a to a 5 by 5 setup.....ooops, I meant to mention the pedals first....it is a 5 by 5 setup!(ha ha).

Anyway, working on my guitar helped me appreciate what I have more. I have used a way to hook up one rod to more than one pedal on an all-pull system, to add more pedals/levers than a double raise/double lower would allow. (Have other people done this?)

Anyway, thanks! Now! Back to practice. (I still have my Dekley.)
...........................Pat

[Ian Worley]

That's actually a pretty cool looking old Maverick Pat, a very early one. It might actually be worthy of adding the upgrades you described, but still not something you're liable to make much of a profit on when complete. It looks like it's been refinished already, seems kind of sunburst-ish.

[Bud Angelotti]

Offer 'em $400.
Buy it.
Play it.
Learn how to tune & pick.
When you are done and ready to move up, sell it to the next person that wants to start out.
Upgrades? Na.
Are you looking to play steel or make "a profit"?
Best of Luck !

[Scott Duckworth]

You know, I can see someday in the future where the old Mavericks could be worth some big dollars if they are original. I mean, they do have a place in steel guitar history...

[Donny Hinson]

Pat...of course, if you're a good "tinkerer", you don't have to buy knee levers, and you could upgrade for next to nothing. (You can make them out of a few dollars worth of material.) The knee lever kits you see selling regularly for $150-$200 probably have less than $20 in materials; all the money is in the labor.

[Erv Niehaus]

[Dan Chambers]

in a word, NO. The Maverick was a marginal steel initially and it still is. the difference being it is now marginal and OLD.

[chris ivey]

Hello, folks,
My question: Is it cost-wise to do this? (ie Fix it up and sell it.......)

no.

[Donny Hinson]

in a word, NO. The Maverick was a marginal steel initially and it still is. the difference being it is now marginal and OLD.

Well, I guess you could say that most all of the older pull/release models are "marginal", but they still serve a purpose. People hankering to learn about pedal steel without sinking a grand into a guitar are still out there, and always will be.

The moral of the story is: Not everything that looks like junk is junk, and not everything that looks like a fine guitar is a fine guitar. Whatever works for you, works for you...it's that simple. Back in 1961, I'd have killed for something like this Maverick! Even now, I wouldn't be afraid to take a decent one on any country, blues, Cajun/Zydeco, or '50s music gig. Sure, there was a time I wanted (and thought I needed) all the bells and whistles - but I'm no longer hung up on gazillions of pedals and levers, and on things like half-stops and compensators.

[Charlie McDonald]

You know, I can see someday in the future where the old Mavericks could be worth some big dollars if they are original. I mean, they do have a place in steel guitar history...

I have thought there might be fun and a few buck to be made hot-rodding Mavericks, but probably, per Scott, the maple ones
might eventually bring more in good original condition. Might just be a cheap investment, even if with a marginal return.

So, per chris, no.

[Mike Perlowin]

Some of those old Mavericks actually have a pretty good tone. The problem is their limited mechanics.

Some players are taking the pedals off and using them as non-pedal guitars. That might be the best thing to do with them.

[Alan Brookes]

If you have to ask about putting extra pedals and knee levers on, then you're not ready to do it.

Pass this guitar up and wait for one to come along that fulfils your needs. I guarantee that, sooner than you realise, you'll want to buy a better instrument, and nobody is going to want a Maverick that's been tampered with unless you're a real craftsman, and real craftsmen rarely work on Mavericks.

[Lane Gray]

What's the difference between an early Maverick and a Perm?

[chris ivey]

i love riddles !

[Pat Chong]

Hello Lane,
Are you talking about the side-swept appearance of a "perm" on the early "gumby" heads, vs. the sunken "ashtray" key heads on the later models? (Although you did say "difference"......)


........................Pat

[Lane Gray]

I was meaning in the pull train, the guts underneath.

[Stu Schulman]

My first pedal steel was a Maverick,It didn't have any roller nuts therefore breaking strings every few minutes,Many times drawing blood,I cursed that guitar.A happy day for me was when I sold the Maverick and bought a Sho-Bud 6139.

[Tom Quinn]

Cost wise I don't think it would be worth it but as a player that would be a cool guitar. My first steel was a similar Maverick and it sounded great. Had one knee lever and it was primitive but so were many of the guitars that were played on some of the all time classics.

I'd offer him four hundred bucks and play it to death.