The Steel Guitar Forum

Greetings,

I recently purchased what I believe is a 1970's era Fender that was built by Sho Bud.

As I am a brand new steel player, I would like to get the opinions of others who may have had an opportunituy to play one of these instruments. Did you like it? Why or why not? Suggestions, things to look out for, etc? Many thanks in advance!!

-Corey

Hello Corey and welcome to the forum!

What Fender Artist model do you have? There were 3: a single 10 student model (3 pedals, 1 knee lever, fretboard glued directly to the body=no neck), a single 10 pro (3+4), and a double 10 pro (8+4). The pro models are either black mica or lacquered wood, stained to a "walnut burl".

I have a lacquered D-10. The undercarriage is basically the same as a Sho-Bud Super Pro. The knee lever brackets, the lever shafts and the pullers/bell cranks are made of zinc (pot metal). Zinc is not as strong as the aluminum used in most other steels and these pot metal parts have been known to break occasionally. So don't hit those knee levers with too much brute force. If such a part should actually break you can get replacement parts made of aircraft aluminum from dealers like Bobbe Seymour or Duane Marrs. Mine haven't broken yet, but I have been playing the guitar for only two weeks.

I totally thrilled with the guitar, especially with its typical Fender twang sound. If I want a more mainstream tone I use one of my other guitars. If you find the crisp overtones a little too much for your taste you can easily tone them down with the tone controls of your amp - or install a different pickup.

The feel of the guitar is pure Sho~Bud, the tone pure Fender - the best of both worlds IMHO.

For a little more info on the Fender Artist steels click this thread: http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum3/HTML/018848.html

Rainer

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<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#0000FF">Remington D-10 8+7, Sierra Crown D-10 gearless 8+8, Sierra Session S-14 gearless 8+5, '77 Emmons D-10 8+4, Sho~Bud Pro-I 3+5, Fender Artist D-10 8+4, Peavey Session 400 LTD, Peavey Vegas 400</FONT>

I still play one of the D-10's, it is my second steel, permanently set up in our rehearsal room.

It is a very nice guitar and still plays great!

Walter

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Congrats on the Fender, Rainer. I was eyeballin' that one myself.

you were'nt the only one Howard

<SMALL>The feel of the guitar is pure Sho~Bud, the tone pure Fender - the best of both worlds </SMALL>

Imagine to put a Mooney setup on it AND play it through a Fender Twin...!

Corey, you have a classic Fender west coast twanger. Great for the Mooney and west coast sound. You can hear a whole album of this guitar from Bobbe Seymour's "Steel Guitar Favorites" available through his shop. He rcorded the entire album on both E9th and C6th using that guitar. Just beautiful. I love that sharp tone! Great string separation.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Kevin Hatton on 19 December 2003 at 02:25 PM.]</p></FONT>

Hi there!

I found a photo of my Fender, take a look at:
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf/tempimages/walter/fendersteel.jpg

Walter

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