Information on Fender-Sho-Bud Guitars

Ted Nesbitt · Post by **Ted Nesbitt** » 6 Feb 2004 12:55 pm

Recently I bought a Fender-Sho-Bud Artist D10 in outstanding condition. I know that these guitars were built by Sho-Bud for the Fender Musical Instrument Co,and I know that the model I have has Super-Pro undercarriage,pedal rack,rods and legs. I would assume that Fender supplied the pick-ups,changer,headstocks and fretboards for these models? I know there are a lot of guys out there who have a wealth of information on these guitars,and maybe they would share some of it with me. I would like to know when they started to make these instruments,and when did production finish. How many were built,how many models were available,and does anyone have any promotional litrature on them. The guitar I bought is like brand new,and has that wonderful "Fender Tone" that no other steel guitar can produce, has 8 pedals and 4 k/levers. If I knew how to post photos on the Forum,I would show it off.

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 6 Feb 2004 1:41 pm

Ted; send me a couple shots of that Sweet machine...I'll post them here for you...>least I can do for a great steel that needs to been seen.
As for the history and details of that particular model....The thread below has some details about it....
Ricky[This message was edited by Ricky Davis on 06 February 2004 at 01:44 PM.]

Rainer Hackstaette · Post by **Rainer Hackstaette** » 6 Feb 2004 1:41 pm

Ned, check out this thread: http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/006553.html
Bobbe Seymour told me that all Fender/Sho-Buds were made in 1976.

Rainer

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Remington D-10 8+7, Sierra Crown D-10 gearless 8+8, Sierra Session S-14 gearless 8+5, '77 Emmons D-10 8+4, Sho~Bud Pro-I 3+5, Fender Artist D-10 8+4, Peavey Session 400 LTD, Peavey Vegas 400

Walter Stettner · Post by **Walter Stettner** » 6 Feb 2004 2:08 pm

Hey Ricky,

Here's my trusty old Fender...
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf/tempimages/walter/fendersteel.jpg

Regards, Walter

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Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 6 Feb 2004 3:20 pm

Hey Walter is this it???

Cool man.
Ricky

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 6 Feb 2004 7:14 pm

.....and here's the picture of Ted's Fender/Shobud...

Ricky

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 7 Feb 2004 9:02 am

That is the first mica finish SB/Fender I have seen. Certainly looks nice.

KB

Ted Nesbitt · Post by **Ted Nesbitt** » 7 Feb 2004 9:52 am

Ken this guitar is not a mica finish,Its black laquer,with two polished aluminim strips added to give it the "Modern" look.
It plays really well,great pedal action,and has that Fender Sound that no other steel can produce. I just love it,so Ive decided not to sell it. A nice second guitar
Ted
Rainbow Music Ireland

Walter Stettner · Post by **Walter Stettner** » 7 Feb 2004 12:46 pm

Ricky,

Yeah, that's it!

Walter

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Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 7 May 2006 6:33 pm

I know this is an old thread, but I just got home from a friends' house and he's got a S-10 Fender/Sho-Bud with 3 pedals and 1 knee. What hardware would be the right stuff to add a second knee lever? It looks to me like the pot metal Sho-Bud stuff.

Brad

Mike Winter · Post by **Mike Winter** » 7 May 2006 8:17 pm

My son Michael purchased one of these a couple of months ago, just like the D-10 in the picture above...Doug Jones set it up for him. We took it over to Harley James' house and he made it sing...played easy, had great Sho-Bud tone, etc. I'm thinking these are an unknown treasure. Thanks to Doug and Harley for their help.

Jim Sliff · Post by **Jim Sliff** » 7 May 2006 9:23 pm

Brad - I had one of those several years ago. It was the thing that got me to start and almost immediately quit pedal steel.

It was a Maverick with a Fender tuner pan, and covered in Fender amp black tolex with a Fender amp logo on the front. I took it to some steel shop I've forgotten the name of out near Riveside, and the guy told me it wasn't worth modifying at all - that parts would have to be custom-made and the guitar was too cheaply built to bother with it.

I tried learning stuff on it, but it was too short (didn't know about lift kits), too limiting, didn't stay in tune and sounded...bad. Just ear-piercing treble and nothing else.

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 8 May 2006 7:02 am

I only got a quick look at it, but it seemed like it had pretty smooth sho-bud hardware underneath. The lever and pedals felt nice and smooth. It's black mica and has a big Fender logo in the front/middle. The hardware reminded me of an LDG model Sho-Bud I once had.

Are these really just Mavericks?

Brad

Rainer Hackstaette · Post by **Rainer Hackstaette** » 8 May 2006 11:24 am

Brad, there were 3 Fender Sho~Bud models:
1: a student guitar with 3+1, practically identical to the Maverick

2: a pro-level S-10 with 3+4

3: a pro-level D-10 with 8+4 (like Walter Stettner's model above)

The pro-level guitars came in black or "Walnut Burl", a swirly brown stain over a maple body, and had the SuperPro undercarriage: hex cross shafts, straight levers, narrow pedals. The rod pullers (bell cranks), lever brackets and levers are zinc/pot metal. (More correctly: the SuperPros had the Fender undercarriage, as the Fenders came first.)

If the guitar you saw had non-adjustable tube legs, no neck (fretboard directly on the deck) and a pull/release changer that can only raise OR lower once, then it was a student guitar like the Maverick.

If it had adjustable legs, a wooden neck, and a 2R/2L changer, then it was a pro S-10.

From the fact that it only had 1 knee lever I would guess student model.

Hope to have helped,
Rainer

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Remington, Sierra, Emmons PP, Fender Artist, Sho~Bud

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 8 May 2006 11:59 am

Thanks Rainer. That's exactly it, the student model with no raised neck. Any chance of him adding an extra knee easily?

Brad

Rainer Hackstaette · Post by **Rainer Hackstaette** » 8 May 2006 1:49 pm

Brad, I have no hand-on experience with the student model - I own a D-10. I think adding a lever to a Fender student S-10 would be as easy, or rather as hard, as adding a lever to a Sho~Bud Maverick. I guess the existing lever lowers 2-D# to D and 8-E to D#. An additional lever should raise the Es to F. For string 4 this might be possible with an Emmons PP half-tone tuner or an old Sho~Bud brass barrel tuner. But I don't see how you could raise string 8 to F. The changer finger is held against the body by a spring (in the "raised" position) and the lever releases that spring tension to allow the string to drop to D#. You wouldn't be able to raise that string without some major surgery to the guitar or by putting in a different changer finger. Not cost-effective, I would think. A lever to raise string 4 only would cost between 150 and 250 dollars, and you'd need a lot of confidence and/or knowledge to install it yourself. If it were my guitar I'd save the money and the trouble, sell the student model and buy a used modern pro-level S-10 or a Carter Starter. Then you'd have 3+4, something that Fender will never be without a new changer.

If you want to keep the Fender sound, look for the pro model S-10 "Fender Artist" here on the Forum or on Ebay. It plays like a mid-eighty's Bud, but has the Fender twang.

Rainer

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Remington, Sierra, Emmons PP, Fender Artist, Sho~Bud

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 8 May 2006 5:37 pm

I have sold many of the "student" Fenders and have added knees to them with out a lot of trouble. If it does need to be done, it can be.

615 822 5555

Duane Reese · Post by **Duane Reese** » 9 May 2006 1:21 pm

I had a student model S-10 that had three more levers added to it, and although it was pull-release and it was a little too short in the legs, it was one of the best guitars that I've had - sometimes I regret selling it.