The Steel Guitar Forum

Chris Ivey; are you sure you don't want me to answer that last question about Lloyd??? ha....
Why do you want Bob to answer?/ does he talk to Lloyd every day like myself??ha..
Ricky

bob was the one that said lloyd doesn't play a
sho-bud anymore, but sure ricky...i'd be glad to hear your take on the situation. ha ha.

To the shop, not the market place...

Gary Morse played a Sho-Bud when he played steel with Dierks Bentley

How bout this for a gigging Sho-Bud

If one understands the mechanics of the guitar, it will keep in tune - sure it might not be compensated, but one can compensate for that in playing style.

I love Sho Buds, but right now I am on an Emmons jag. I have a nice Sho Bud 3x4 S-10 R&B that I would love to get up and running. There's something about those wood neck guitars

Jason Putnam wrote:

How bout this for a gigging Sho-Bud

Greg Johnson wrote:So can I gig it if I buy it?

Yes.

Can we imagine that Bob would accept to gig without his amazing Sho-Bud??

Brett Day wrote:Gary Morse played a Sho-Bud when he played steel with Dierks Bentley

He replaced it with Desert Rose...

chris ivey wrote:bob was the one that said lloyd doesn't play a
sho-bud anymore, but sure ricky...i'd be glad to hear your take on the situation. ha ha.

Mr Ivey,..If its really that important to you I will defer to those that know better, but any videos I saw of Mr Green until about 2002 or so I saw him playing his JCH,,, Could he have gone back to a Bud in the past 10 or more years?.. Of course. Could I be wrong? Sure,, It won't be the first name.. So yeah, You could be right perhaps... Feel better now?

Ok, so Sho Buds are stable and solid steels that have NO issues staying in tune. I stand corrected.. Mr Coop,[God rest his soul] and Mr Marrs[God rest his soul] made those great replacement parts for NO reason I guess... bob

I started on a 6139 and progressed to a Super Pro with all the goodies ---- but despite all the love in this thread, I can't imagine going back to a Bud of any description as a gigging guitar. Too heavy, average mechanics at best and I always had tuning issues with them - they always sounded great though.
I'll stick to my Zum Hybrids thanks.

All that hardware screwed right into the cabinet probably helps give the Shobud is unique vibe. .. and probably causes some stability issues too.

Based on sitting behind a modified Bud that used Railings to hold cross shafts and more modern undercarriage parts. .. it definately didn't sound like a Bud as I know it. .. but I still loved it. ..lol... one of the overall coolest guitars I have played.

The way i see it is there are things to love and things to not love in every steel guitar. No need for overly high anxiety about it.

Bob C.,

According to this thread Lloyd sold his JCH in 2004:
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... ch#2311611

Ricky would seem to be the source for what guitar(s?) Lloyd is using now. I've seen various videos of recent vintage in all of which Lloyd is playing his LDG.

It seems that different people have had different experiences with Sho-Buds (not surprisingly). It's too bad your experiences have not been good, but it seems as though you are trying to argue people who haven't had similar troubles with their Sho-Buds into "admitting" that they're wrong.

I personally have had four Sho-Buds of different vintages, the earliest being a '74 LDG with barrels behind two-hole pullers, the latest a '79 with the "Super Pro" mechanics, and I have never had problems with any of them holding tune--at all. That doesn't necessarily mean yours didn't have problems; but, like yours, my experience (over 30 years) is what it is.

Yes Lloyd plays and records currently with his original LDG.
Bob C.; in your defense against all folks saying their particular Sho~bud stays in tune all the time, I will say: I have had every model shobud here and worked on and restored and fixed originally and added Marrs and Coop and Morehead parts through ruffly 20 years and NOT ONE OF THEM....stayed in perfect tune all the time....But certainly like I was saying in previous post; it is all about minimizing the tuning/tweaking; and some can get down to holding their tuning very very good....but NOTHING is in tune all the time...that is either bragging for some weird reason or can't hear...ha....
Ricky

Tom asked:

This is the chance I have been waiting to ask Ricky what picks and gauges he uses.

I use pre-war Nationals for finger picks(whatever for thumb..ha.)
And my E9 set of strings for Sho~Bud are:
http://www.jagwirestrings.biz/catalog/i6.html

Ricky Davis wrote:Yes Lloyd plays and records currently with his original LDG.
Bob C.; in your defense against all folks saying their particular Sho~bud stays in tune all the time, I will say: I have had every model shobud here and worked on and restored and fixed originally and added Marrs and Coop and Morehead parts through ruffly 20 years and NOT ONE OF THEM....stayed in perfect tune all the time....But certainly like I was saying in previous post; it is all about minimizing the tuning/tweaking; and some can get down to holding their tuning very very good....but NOTHING is in tune all the time...that is either bragging for some weird reason or can't hear...ha....
Ricky

Ricky thats the point I was trying to make.. The are what they are, good playing, good sounding steels than CAN be pretty good at staying in tune, if you get the right one, or MAKE the right one with upgraded parts... I am not dumb enough to say that all Buds lose tune.. They don't.. Some are pretty good judging by what some of the replies have shown.. On the other hand, some are downright horrible... I was talking to a local old time pedal steel player here in Ithaca just this morning.. He currently plays a GFI.. When I told him about this thread he shook his head and laughed thinking about his own experiences with Buds, and we talked at length about why he no longer bothers with them.. "

A few years ago I got a PM from a VERY well known member here concerning Bud tuning stability.. Probably the best known member we have here matter of fact..

He would not join the discussion and relate his own issues, but here's what he told me about his own considerable experience with Sho Buds... "I never met one I could keep in tune".. That has been my experience more or less.
I will try again most likely. All I need is an S10 that I can tune up once before I play a night.
Thats a pretty simple need really.
In close to 40 years of playing, and at least 10, maybe even 11 or 12 Buds, I have yet to have even one that I could take out of the case, and just tune the open strings and play it... Other brands I have owned went untouched for months and yet never lost tune even a little bit... Not expecting miracles, but from what I am reading here, I got every unstable Bud ever made, because most Bud owners have guitars that are solid as concrete blocks.. Again I must ask, for WHAT reason did J Coop make those great parts, and D Marrs do those great conversions??? A total waste of effort it would seem.. I any case, I DO plan on trying again.. Too many great players have Buds that stay in tune.. I was just unlucky I guess... To be fair last year I sold a Bud S10 to forumite Jason Putnam.. That one was pretty good after I set it up, but I didn't like the pedal feel or the replacement pickup on that particular guitar.. He took it a step further, added some stuff and likes it a lot.. He feels he got a good one, I'm glad..
To anyone that thinks this is an anti Bud rant, you haven't looked close enough.. They are my favorite pedal steel in every way except for staying in tune.. I hope that ultra stable Sho Bud S10 is out there with my name on it.. I have the money in hand, and would buy it today, but have become really gun shy, too many disappointments with these guitars over the decades, and I always default to steels that stay in tune better, but are less satisfying in tonal quality..... bob

Ricky's point is obviously true: nothing's perfect. But my personal experience with four Sho-Buds and a GFI keyless, a Williams 400 Series, and a pre-RP Mullen, which includes gigging all the above (OK, except the '77 Pro III)--is that the Sho-Buds are at the least no less stable than those other, more modern steels. I not only don't have to fool with the nylons in the course of an evening, but I don't have to fool with the nylons (or, with the '74 LDG, the Allen wrench), for weeks or months. FWIW, YMMV, etc., etc.

Don't get me wrong bob, there are some definite drawbacks to the old bud. I would love to have a newer model steel that has quicker action and the ability to time the pulls but unfortunately I don't have the money. So I did a little work at a time to get the bud to where I wanted it to be. I would love to have a Mullen or a zumsteel or a show pro but I don't have 3-4 grand laying around so I will make due with what I have. Someday I will get a newer steel but the Shobud won't be going anywhere when I do!!

Bob; I'm totally with you in agreement on ALL that you said bro.
Ricky

I gig my 'buds fairly regularily. No complaints at all. Rock solid. But like all my instruments, they need tuning adjustments on the bandstand. Isn't that normal? It's a small price to pay for that SB tone.

Ricky Davis wrote:Bob; I'm totally with you in agreement on ALL that you said bro.
Ricky

Agreeing with all that Bob said is like painting with a wide brush - ya think? 12 or 13 guitars and not one a keeper? That defies statistics!!

If this post was about an Emmons, would there be this much debate?

i am giging with 1980 shobud super pro 8+7 right
now. no problem love shobuds


p.w

My 1970 Professional stays in tune, with a Jeff Surratt undercarriage and a set-up by Professor Davis, that is.

But I don't gig with it. I have an Infinity for that purpose.