The Steel Guitar Forum

Had a long talk with a fellow forumite.. Nice guy.
We discussed a trade that will being going down soon. We are both here in the NE, and will make the swap in person.. Mine- 5&4 Sho Bud Pro I w/ Super Pro mechanism..
His S10 GFI Keyless w/5&5

The Bud is is spectacular condition, plays nice and sounds like fine old gold.
It stays in tune all night AFTER you tune it up, and
hit the endplate nylons a bit, and will stay that way days on end unless its moved around a lot or left in the car overnight.. Pretty much like any bud..

I like the guitar, but am gigging a LOT these days in tiny venues, in super cramped quarters, the guitar stays in the car in crazy temp changes, 25-30 at night-65-75 during the day this time of year..
Buds don't like that sort of thing...
I would bet the GFI would laugh at those temp variations, and long bouncy road trips, and rarely need the nylons touched....

I can really use a smaller lighter stage steel these days . Same goes for the amp.. I am seeking a small, light, clean SS stage amp, to replace the big tube Fenders I am using now..

The GFI won't sound like the Bud, but will sound very good I'm sure.. I generally don't like the stock GFI pickups so much, and may get a single coil in there,, we'll see..
Value on the guitars is probably similar.. probably $1400-1500, give or take a buck or two..
Any thoughts either way on this impending trade?.. Any comments welcomed, positive or negative... bob

My thought is though they are very nice guitars, like the wood Bud, the aluminum structure of the GFI also reacts to temp change as much. The Keyless will probably help the tuning, but when you turn on the stage lights and your guitar warms up 20 degrees in a heartbeat, your guaranteed out of tune guitar. And that is with a Bud or a GFI. Both are nice guitars, good luck with the choice.

Roger

Roger Miller wrote:My thought is though they are very nice guitars, like the wood Bud, the aluminum structure of the GFI also reacts to temp change as much. The Keyless will probably help the tuning, but when you turn on the stage lights and your guitar warms up 20 degrees in a heartbeat, your guaranteed out of tune guitar. And that is with a Bud or a GFI. Both are nice guitars, good luck with the choice.

Roger

Here's why I disagree Roger.. I am now 59, and started gigging on steel steadily at 22... Over those many years there re 2 brands of steel that had almost NO reaction to temperature variables.
MSA and Carter.. Had a Dekley that was good as well They just didn't go out of tune much at all.. so stable.. Both those brands had aluminum frames..

This is Bud #11 for me in that same period, age 22 to 59.. Some were pretty fair as far as tuning stability, some were dreadful, but not one came close to being able to withstand the rigors of tough gigging, rapid temp changes, and travel as the aluminum frame steels..
I love the idea of "real wood", but over time, I feel they simply aren't as stable when treated harshly as aluminum frame steels are.. bob

BOB, I think you'll regret getting rid of that sho-bud. Just my opinion. T.L.

I think you're going to be pleased. I have a SD-10 GFI 5 and 5 that stays in tune excellently. Last night I played at an outdoor gig and tuned up in the back stage area which was indoors. I know there had to be a minimum of 20 degrees difference between backstage and on the stage that was outdoors. I had no concerns. I never would have trusted my Sho Bud to fare as well.

I missed my ShoBud SuperPro so that I bought another one 4 years after I had traded my old one for an Emmoins Legrande II.
I still have both, but will take the ShoBud any day over the Emmons.
The 1st thing you will notice is the string spacing is closer on the GFI which I have found to be a problem after playing my ShoBud. The only person I have ever heard make a GFI sound like it should is Mike Sigler.

Bob, your more knowledgeable about the instrument than I am, so I'm gonna stand corrected. I will say I have a student that has a GFI and loves it, and it sounds great and stays in tune wonderful. And a student that has a Pro I and loves it also.

I'm so unclear as to why people state there is a slim chance a GFI can ever sound great. I don't believe the tonal difference between my GFI and my Sho-Bud is noticeable in a gig setting. Yes, it has a slight (very slight) edge when recorded in a studio. But, I don't think it matters enough to outweigh the light weight and incredible tuning stability of the GFI.

I have no issues with string spacing.

Brandon
Like everything else in this world.
It's personal preference.That's all.

Having had several models of both steels, I certainly believe the GFI is by far the best choice. I've never have to adjust the tuning nuts on my GFI between gigs, only the tuning keys as the strings heat or cool. The Shobuds I've had always needed adjusting at the tuning nuts. The string spacing is wider on the Bud's which I do not care for. The closer the better for me! Weight and size being your primary goal, there is no comparison there either. GFI all the way!
Dave

Get the GFI. Light, stays in tune, very easy to work on, and sound great. Heard Mike Sigler or Ronnie Miller ? WOW !!!
I wouldnt mind getting another one.

When I saw Hag and the Strangers last time, Hamlet sounded like Hamlet and had a beautiful sound, a classic sound. GFI has some tone.

I have a nice keyless 5 and 5 GFI.It plays great.Swap the pickup to a truetone and you will have a very nice sounding steel.Mine is an SD-10 as well.This is a quality built instrument and much lighter than than an LDG I played for many years.I also have an Emmons LeGrande that I love a lot.I would do the trade if I were you.

Go for it Bob,i play a GFI now and as said before they are very well built sound and plays great and stays in tune really well also very easy to work on.

Not sure about the looks though

I've been using a keyless GFI for those type of gigs since 2006. It's an excellent reliable instrument.

Due to it's construction, it's very important to take it out of the case and allow ~ 20 min to reach room temperature before tuning / playing.

After that it will remain stable all night.

Just remember to uncase your guitar first, before setting up amps, etc.

I would ALWAYS pick the GFI over the Sho-Bud. The mechanics and sustain are superior to Sho-Bud. I realize there is beauty to many of those Sho-Bud cabinets and there is a romantic, sentimental feeling about the company, but I want a guitar that is reliable and does not need devices to aid its sustain. I have owned a rack and barrel Sho-Bud and one of those pot metal LDGs and I broke a knee lever on it. No more for me.

The GFI never breaks strings and never needs oil, etc. It is a truly maintenance-free guitar. I have an awesome SD-10 that I leave at the church and it is solid and reliable. I play it about an hour or so a week and it has yet to break a string after owning it for at least year. At some point, I guess I will have to change the strings!

Jimmy Gibson wrote:Go for it Bob,i play a GFI now and as said before they are very well built sound and plays great and stays in tune really well also very easy to work on.

Is that a GFI undercarriage? Those bell cranks are unlike the ones on my GFI or the ones shown on their website.

I guess I'm in the minority here, but, especially given your enthusiastic description of your Sho-Bud's sound, feel, and stability, as one who owns both several Sho-Buds and a keyless GFI Ultra I would not make the trade you're looking at.

IMO the only thing you'd gain by the trade is the lighter weight. So if that trumps everything else, the trade makes sense. Personally, on all other factors, though the GFI is pretty nice I prefer my Buds.

Does the steel really have to stay in the car?

ShoBud >>> GFI tonewise......and tone trumps anything else (cosmetics, mechanics, etc.) in my book.

Tone is not a problem,, Have pickups wound to 11k and 16 K with a tap, instead of the 20 K humbucking line transformers that pass as pickups these days, and use a tube amp.. Instant vintage tone... I am going to make the trade I think... Tone is in the hands, heart and head anyway.... bob

Hi Brint the bell cranks in my picture are what are fitted to my GFI, and i think they are what were fitted to the earlier GFI and IMHO they look more robust than the newer single hole type bell cranks they are very similar to the old MSA bell cranks and there are still hundreds old MSA `s still around using this type of bell crank with the brass ferrule but are much better with the square cross shafts.





Jimmy.

one of my friends here owns an emmons push pull S 10, the other a franklin D 10
both of course incredible guitars, but i don`t feel the need to change brands for my GFI sounds great with the truetones and never ever let me down.
i guess they are underrated by some folks paradoxly because of their lower price, the easy availability and the modest but perfect customer service.

some folks like the hassle that goes along with an exclusive product sometimes...

GFI i love mine!

Bob,

Way back when, I had a 1963 Telecaster that I liked alot. But I got the Gibson bug at that time (this was in the mid-60s) and I met a guy in my town who wanted to trade, even up, his 1960 (dot neck) ES-335-TDC. It was a tough trade for each of us to make so we decided to swap instruments for a month. If, at the end of that month, we both felt the same - that we wanted to swap - then we would make the trade permanent. That 335 was my main guitar for many, many years and I still have it. The guy who I traded the Tele to soon refinished the original Sherwood Metallic Green finish (the very rarest custom color Telecaster finish) to look like an American flag, ala Buck Owens. If he hadn't refinished this guitar, it might be nearly as valuable as my dot neck 335 nowadays. Anyway, swapping instruments with a trial period isn't a bad idea and it worked well for me. Then, you know what you're getting into before you decide.

Bob M.

It would be nice to hang onto your vintage guitar... but to also purchase the GFI for gigging. I have a GFI S10 keyless that I'm playing through an Evans SE200. A great combination, lightweight, and a very small footprint on stage. These are valuable attributes for a guy at 53 who works a full time day job and gigs with 3 different bands. Yes, some days the guitar sits in the van all day while I'm at work. I set it up first thing. Give it about 20 minutes and then I tune. I Rarely have to tune anything at the changer. It's just a great machine. If I had to haul around a 75 pound guitar and an 80 pound amp, I certainly wouldn't be playing out as much as I am, and that's what works for me...

I've never played a GFI, so take that into consideration when I tell you to never let go of your Shobud!