The Steel Guitar Forum

I bought this on Ebay just for a clunker to learn on. The seller doesn't know what it is. There are no markings or brands on it. I just wondered if anybody had seen one or knows what it is, or if it's even worth what I paid for it?

Thanks in advance for the help.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... otohosting

looks like a waste of your money.. flintstone mechanicals, and the pedals ...what's up with that!

I could be wrong, and without more pics it's hard to tell, but that sure looks like a re-finished Little Buddy. The changer fingers & the foot pedals are what I am basing this on. Post some pics of the underside when you get them!

edited to add:
OOPS! I should have pressed the play button. Still looks alot like a Little Buddy to me.

i don't get the 2/1 floor pedal arrangement.

That other pedal I bet is a volume pedal. If you look at the pictures you can see what looks like a volume control near the edge of one of the pictures. And it's in about the right place to match the other foot pedal.

Mac

It looks like it's a "Little Buddy". A very basic student model guitar. The first pedal steel I ever had was one... I bought it for 150.oo Swiss Franks (CHF)... (about USD 100.oo) in the end 80's.
Single finger changer! Raise OR Lower. I modified the system (slack compensating) so to have an E-to-Eb-lower-lever which would also work the 4th string (which raised by the C pedal too).
I somehow remember it to have a very "pedal steely" tone compared to the non pedal consoles I was playing at that time.
The key head and pedals are plastic. Believe it or not the pedals never broke!
The undercarriage however, was pot metal crank bells on a round cross shaft with a flat for the set screw. All threads in the crank bells were ripped, so, I made new ones.
I would not touch it for $400.oo, but it could still make a poor man's introduction project to a person handy with a screw driver for $100.oo.

The 3rd pedal must have been moved by some tinkerer.

... J-D.

Thanks for the quick responses. I actually had the "screwdriver" approach in mind when I bought it. I figured it would be something I could goof around with and maybe add some pedals or levers as I go. I'll post the pics when I receive it on Thursday.

I saw a Little Buddy very similar to that guitar many, many years ago, in a pawn shop. The pedal on the right was spring-loaded and hooked up to a volume pot, up under the guitar. The spring would pull the pedal back up in the the off position when you took your foot off of it.

Well, I got it and no need to post pic's. You guys are right. It's a Little Buddy or some variation. I saw other pics on the net of this thing and it has to be it. It looks like it has undergone some modifications. The pedals have been moved around and the knee lever is a piece of junk. I think that I can get the pedals operational again, but I'm not sure about the knee lever. Anybody know if I can use a knee lever from a different model S-10 that might work on this? I don't know of they are universal or if I have to get something specific for this model. Thanks.

Someone should be beaten for doing this to an otherwise good cabinet. Seriously, the mechanics on this thing are pretty straight-forward...it's a simple pull-release system. This CAN be made into a playable guitar if you're mechanically inclined. You have my blessings if you're not so inclined!! The cabinet is rigid enough. The keyhead would better be replaced with a more substantial head off of another 'proven' guitar or, preferably, a custom one made from scratch to fit what already is there. That would allow you to utilize present screw hole locations, etc. Junk out those keys and invest in some low-profile Sperzel's. This is a project where you're either going to have to jump in with both feet and do what it takes to make it a good, playable guitar, or forget it entirely. There really isn't much middle ground.
PRR

Before getting discouraged, check out 'Hot Rod Maverick' on this here Forum. I did manage to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear back in 1979 and again of late. I'm now playing gigs with it and its inherent sound is awesome.
PRR

Thanks again, guys. I'm pretty mechanically inclined, and last night I got all three pedals working like they should. It even stays in tune! Like I said, the knee lever is totally shot, and I need to purchase at least a couple of replacements. Anybody know a good place to buy good used knee levers or cheap new ones that work well?