The Steel Guitar Forum

Hey guys, This must be the summer of the pedal steel. I had this instrument come by today and the owner wants to sell this one. It appears to be in very good shape with no real wear showing. I was hoping to get some information on this pedal steel. Thanks again for your help. Tom Thornburg Fireweed music, Pueblo Co. ttpickin@comcast.net (719)671-5144

Hey Tom,

That would be a Maverick, Sho~Bud's student model. That's the standard 3+1 setup that came on most of these, although some are known to have 2+2 or earlier ones just 3 pedals. The one you have there is probably from the late 70's. Check Ebay for current value. You should get a pretty accurate estimate there.

It has the narrow pedals and fully-polished rack. It's probably a 1979 or 1980 model. It looks like that one was never played. Nice condition.
PRR

Judging from the underside, that looks like some very nicely figured maple. Has anyone ever stripped off the fake-wood plastic cover from one of these and refinished with lacquer?

Yes, I stripped the vinyl covering off of mine many years ago to discover a beautiful birdseye maple body. The contact glue washes off with naphtha. The body has a thin coat of clear lacquer on it inside and out. I just sanded mine to the bare wood and used R-M automotive clear lacquer to finish it off. Because most maple is very tight-grained, it doesn't accept stain all that well. I took advantage of that fact and 'dry-ragged' a bit of English walnut stain on it after sanding to bring out the birdseyes a little better, then shot on the lacquer. After a couple days, I wet-sanded the lacquer and hand-polished it with buffing compound. I also sanded then polished the endplates, and added a little aluminum decorative strip to the bottom edge of the front skirt. It was my only guitar at the time and I wanted it to look sharp. Shortly after all the re-finishing work, I fabricated a new undercarriage for it. It now has 3FP and 5KL. A few years ago I added a George L's 12-string pickup wired to the full humbucking mode. It sounds as good as it looks.
PRR

Well, Paul, afer all that build-up, we need to see it now!

Chris, I bet Paul's guitar does look a treat. Did you know Paul made the "Whitney" steels some years ago named after his daughter? they were keyless and a masterpiece of engineering

Micky Byrne United Kingdom

I don't have a digital camera yet, so I have to do it the old-fashioned 35mm-to-disc way and try to post pics off the disc. Please be patient!!
PRR

I believe this to be a mid to late 70's model Maverick. This was manufactured during the period that Sho-Bud was also building guitars for Fender, thus the Fender style keyhead.

AND the Fender-style pedals and rack as opposed to the wide, S-B delta-shaped pedals, and rack covered with the 'wood' contact-paper strip on the front. This one doesn't have that. . .it has the fully-polished rack a la pro-model S-B's.
I say late 70's.
PRR

Just don't get talked into paying $1,000 for it. This is about as "basic" as they come.

As a "player" guitar, it's probably worth $350-$500, though it might be worth a few hundred more to a collector - due to it's excellent condition.

David Jackson (my good friend) won a gold medal one time in the Olympics, took it home and had it bronzed.

(this is why he put the wood colored paper over the beautiful birds eye maple on the later model Mavericks)

Go to your room Seymour ! !

Because most maple is very tight-grained, it doesn't accept stain all that well.

The secret is to apply rubbing alcohol on the bare wood prior to staining...that pops the grain and lets the stain penetrate the wood. Water will do the same thing, but you have to wait until it's completely dry before staining. If after you apply the stain you find it's not to your liking, or it's too light or washed out looking, just water it again...wait until it dries, and stain it again.

Staining is an art, and it takes a while to learn to do it right.

Harry