The Steel Guitar Forum

Ok, i want to throw this out , i would really be interested to know everyones opinion..i have a late 70's shobud ldg , looks good from the left, lacquer checked all to heck if you look at it from the right. I mean like you stuck it in a freezer and pulled it out in front of the wood stove. Should i leave it, being just lacqer checks, or refinish ? If it were yours.....wwyd ?

Actually its still ptetty green, mostly. I wouldnt redo for the color fade, but it shonuf has the cracks.

I always thought the lacquer checking added more character to the Buds.

I like guitars that show a bit of age... as long as it is decaying elegantly, I would leave it alone.

IMHO refinishing should be a last resort. Ask any vintage instrument or antique dealer about the deminished value of refinished instruments or antiques. Would you refinish Willie Nelson's "Trigger" or Marty Stuart's tele if you acquired it? I wouldn't and personally I love the road worn finish of my old lacquered Emmons push pull and my MSA's. If you prefer a pristine guitar sell the old one and buy a nice new Mullen or Sho-Pro etc. Just sayin'

Yeah Dave, but the Forum is loaded with examples of old Sho-Buds that have been refinished.

And yes, it is considered sacrelege to re-finish a classic guitar like an old Martin or a Tele.

It brings to mind a question I have posed in threads like this several times: why is it acceptable to restore a classic car to a like-new gleaming appearance, like a '57 Chevy or a '64 GTO, but it is uncool to restore old guitars?

Wow, thats four in a row for leave it alone, on the post with the different color ldg,s i love the darker green in the third or fourth pic, looks like it has a little blue mixed in. But no takers for a new looking steel yet. Interesting...

Wow, thats four in a row for leave it alone, on the post with the different color ldg,s i love the darker green in the third or fourth pic, looks like it has a little blue mixed in. But no takers for a new looking steel yet. Interesting...

I would never refinish an intact lacquer finish on any vintage guitar unless it had already been refinished or the finish is just falling off the guitar.

It may be that there is, right now, a hardcore of pedal steel players that just have to have a bright, gleaming, 'like-new' refinish on a 30-50 year old pedal steel. But I think this will eventually go the way of the vintage guitar world and that will be as verboten as refinishing an intact finish on a 50s-60s Strat, Tele, or Les Paul.

Once you refinish it, it can never be 'original' again. It's easy enough to find refinished examples, if that's what really matters to you.

Just my take.

Well said Dave. FWIW I'd be very uncomfortable gigging with a mint lacquer guitar, and I take very good care of my gear!

My vote: It's bloody well up to you!! The guitar belongs to YOU, not posterity. I buy guitars so that they suit ME.
If your checked finish bugs you, redo it have it redone. Just make sure it gets done right, should you decide to refinish.
There ain't a damn thing wrong with wanting an old Bud to look sharp, man.
If someone wants it left intact, make them buy it or trade you one with sharp finish.
Then again, I'm the guy with an Alpine CD player in his '73 Datsun 240Z.

I'm in agreement with Mark and Lane. Good parallel with the vintage cars. Something I've often thought about.

Your axe, your choice. If it bothers you and the checked finish is distracting, why not? If it were mine, I'd do whatever I wanted.

Keeping in mind that a professional refin could possibly be very expensive....then there's the bright work, mechanics etc...so if you were going to update them at the same time.

Still, if it were a guitar that I was completely in love with and never intended to let go then I'd do it. Or if you just have some money to spend, maybe do it yourself?

you want to change the sound of it...refinish it if that is not an issue, and if that is not an issue...hmmmm...i dont know...

that's more like it forumites. i appreciate all the replies, still, at this point i don't know what im going to do. i'll keep you posted , if i decide to do something, i'll make sure i take before and after pics and post em. then, we'll run this gauntlet again. thanks..

You can send it to Steel Guitar Nashville and get it refinished by AJ Nelson of Sho-Bud. Put it back in original condition. Personally, I would refinish it. It increases resale value also. As far as sound goes, yeah it changes it back to new condition, the way it's supposed to sound. That's a good thing. Pedal steels can lose sustain and brightness over time when their parts get dull and dirty. That includes the body.

How can you devalue a late 70's Sho~Bud by getting it professionally refinished? It can hardly be described as a vintage collector's item. I would say have it refinished if the checking disturbs you. If not, leave it as it is.

Jason, I'd say you sell the best case short.
At best, you have one more pretty Bud making music. You also reduce its appeal to a class of folks (collectors) whose apparent aim is to inflate the value of these scene so that fewer players can afford them. I'd rather see a Bud in a Honky-tonk than on display.
I don't see a downside.
Personally if I had an LDG given to me, I'd horrify collectors by having a back neck put on it.

Jason Hull, wrong. You sound like a rock guitar player. We don't operate like that in the steel community. We refinish and refurb our instruments all the time and increase their value. If you want to see of an example of what we do look go to the Steel Guitar Nashville website and look at the green Sho-Bud Professional that was restored back to better than original condition and refinished by AJ Nelson of Sho-Bud. We play machines. A refinished/refurbed steel can add $500-$2000 to an otherwise beat up and abused instrument.

Jason, you are flat out wrong about refinish/refurb here in the steel community. I don't think that you are qualified to give that kind of advice here because that just isn't the case.

Kevin - I have been buying & selling pedal steels for my own pleasure and amazement since 1973 and wouldn't touch one that was refinished. I think I'm qualified to comment.

Dave, I've restored/refinished steels for years. I'm also a builder. I think I'm qualified to comment. Ricky Davis and James Moorhead would find that interesting. So would Bobbe Seymour and AJ Nelson of Sho-Bud. No shortage of buyers. I've taken $750.00 abused steels and sold then for $2500 more than once. Others here have also.
http://www.steelguitar.net/shobud2.html