The Steel Guitar Forum

Anyone know who is selling all those NOS Sho Bud parts on Ebay these days? A forum member? Just curious how someone ended up with such a cache of NOS Sho Bud parts, that's all.

Yes Dan, I am curious too. Maybe they got the left over stock that Fred Gretch had somewhere around Savanna, Ga. Years ago I brought some things from there. It looks like the real stuff. J.R.

Yeah, check out the sellers other items, a bunch of Gretsch and Bigsby stuff.

http://stores.ebay.com/Gear-Guy-Guitar- ... 7675.l2563


He is located in Georgia too.

Looks like mostly Super-Pro era stuff and some Maverick parts.

If "NOS" means "new old stock" right?? meaning original parts from that era that were never used?? Well every one of those Sho~bud parts were used and taken off Sho~bud guitars. And those are NOT Bill Lawrence "705" pickups. This is very questionable....like many things on Ebay "STORES"...as they are a person hoarding huge amounts of parts/gear/bla bla...that know NOTHING about the stuff other than what someone they inquire to/buys from/ collects from; tells them...which is just more people that knows nothing.
Ricky

I don't know where the parts come from but a couple months ago I bought an aluminum neck from the guy to replace one on a ShoBud project that I purchased where the neck was cut up to accommodate a volume knob. It is absolutely the same neck but it has not got any holes drilled or tapped for screws and still has an extended piece on the end that needs to be cut off to make it the right length. It's about as new old stock as it gets, I guess.

I was impressed enough, I decided not to mess around with the Swiss cheese S-10 body I'd inherited with the project and bought the double neck body he was selling along with a couple of end plates and a new tailpiece to use with my parts so I can build my own SD-10 with the lap steel on the back neck. The parts are in the mail as I write this, so I'll soon know how big a fool I am, but the pictures of that body showed no screw holes at all. Can't see how it was ever a guitar.

Got to watch out for the Chinese copy cats, it's rampant on eBay, they've got people in China who specialise in searching out certain fields, and manufacturing parts very closely and selling them as new old stock. They know very well that nobody is going to buy a set of sho bud fingers made by Wang Chang manufacturing, they know that. They have also got very correct about their spelling to help sell the product. Ex: Years ago it would've been a dead giveaway when the post would say: signed by budee edmonz, but they figured out fast we ain't that stupid.

It used to be easily recognisable when the location sale was in California, but they know everybody's got wise to that now, so these parts distributors have come inland...Don't know just sayin!!!

Seems like a great resource for Sho-Bud parts if you know what to look for. Can't imagine someone in China caring about making ancient steel guitar parts. Anyhow the country of manufacture sometimes has nothing to do with the quality of the parts. I've gotten really cheap USA made parts on a pot metal Sho-Bud that I bought brand new.

Coop told me that there was a huge barn full of parts for sale after Shot passed,

Well, the body came and looks great. Beautiful birds-eye maple green. Looks like it's been stored for 30 years, no holes drilled, doesn't look like it ever received a final polishing. The only problem is, I should have payed more attention to the dimensions Billy put in the listing. It's a D-12! I'm returning it, but if anyone needs a D-12 body, I've had this one in my hands and would recommend it. It should be back up on eBay in a week or two. Anyone got a D-10 body only for sale?

John,
I understand that at one time Sho~Bud had to vacate a warehouse and Bobbe Seymour bought a huge amount of parts from Sho~Bud for little or nothing.

I have bought enough stuff from this ebay guy named Billy (I'd have to go to my email to get his last name) to build 3 EMCI NOS welded frame steels. Almost got two finished and they sound fantastic. I have only conversed through email. The parts are indeed NOS parts that or either perfect and shiny new or rejects that someone chose not to use to build Sho-Bud and EMCI guitars. He told me he goes to South or North Carolina once a month and gets the parts from Fred Gretsch. As you may know Fred bought the remaining stock from Sho-Bud and later EMCI and built a few guitars and quit. Now here is the caveat but not a big one because Billy makes good on items you may find a problem with. I have purchased 3 EMCI welded frames that were perfect and also the butcher block boards that were mint condition, 5 aluminum EMCI necks. 4 were perfect but needed polishing and the 5th one needed more grinding to get right. All needed polishing but I have a machine shop so that is not a problem. Last week I ordered one Sho-Bud changer finger and it was indeed brand new never oiled and shiny. I asked Billy how many did he have and he said if you need 500 or more I can get you a great deal on them so that told me what they have over there. Some parts are unfinished and some may even be defective because Billy is a 6 string man and knows nothing about pedal steel parts. He told me to send some pictures of the EMCI fingers and cross shafts and he said he would go look. I still need to get with him. With his willingness to work with his customers and considering he's the only kid on the block in a few areas because Fred is not interested to talking to non-dealers he might prove beneficial to many guitar owners. Believe me ebay sticks up for their buyers and any dealers that wish to stay on ebay will make their customers happy whatever it takes. Do not expect to have a shiny part in a factory box. Expect to do some finishing mainly polishing work on aluminum parts also make sure all the parts are there like roller nuts on keyheads, etc. If you don't know what you are doing always consult an experienced pedal steel technician before purchasing.

Wow, David, Thanks for the low-down. I wonder how many other piles of parts for defunct steel brands are stashed around the country.

I've learned a lot of things from having a myriad of parts at my house. I usually buy up all modern pedal steel parts I can find but don't believe I'll be buying Fred out anytime soon. I had the money a few years ago to do it but running low on change at this time. For those with MCI or EMCI welded frames the Sierra Artist changer fingers work perfectly on the EMCI neck\bodies and strike the built on stop plate perfectly. Not sure how many Artist parts still around. Just jerk the fingers out of a Sierra Artist changer and put them on the EMCI. Converting old steels like Sho-Buds and ZB's to modern mechanics is not worth the trouble because of the huge 3/4" step down in the underbelly. No working room. The EMCI frame is totally flat across both necks on the bottom is why I chose it for the platform to build on. I just plane down the C6th board on the top to create the stepdown. It just give a pretty thin back board but I hear more resonance in the thinner board. My last build I used my 69 ZB top parts on top of an EMCI SD-12 welded frame body. What a guitar! I modified the adjustable ZB roller nut to except either 24" or 24-1/4" scale lengths. I just swap out magnetic fretboards I made. The two different scale lengths have a different sound kinda like a spinet and an upright piano. Floyd Cramer used a little bitty spinet piano on those early country hits. It fit the music and track better than a big tone hog like a grand piano that they also had.

Something else I discovered two days ago that is bizarre is my 1969 ZB changer in which I kept the stainless steel finger caps and bought the 2/2 retro fit fingers from Kevin Hatton fit the EMCI body with the lowers resting against the welded on stop plate just right. I liked it so much I just built the guitar I mentioned above using it, the neck and keyhead from the ZB. I had to saw the horns off the keyhead and re polish it to get it to fit and now it kinda looks like an old Emmons with button Klusons. I don't ever build them to sale but I will put the name Frankensteel on all of my creations.

Here's me playing the ZB before it became a donor for the EMCI. The ZB was barely playable when I recorded this. The pedals required about 20 lbs of weight to push and the E lower lever was about 8 inches from my knee. You can see in the video I nearly had to flip my body over to engage it. I called all the ZB experts and no one had time to fix it. I gutted it thinking I would convert it but when this guys EMCI frames showed up on eBay I knew I had found the solution to bad mechanics. No cross shaft braces to build, no stop plates to build, no pedal stop bar to build, no screw holes to drill and tap. Everything is all on the EMCI frame just waiting to build a steel in minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDEd01mNQyI

When I worked for Seymour at Steel Guitar Nashville in Millersville about 1989 he had purchased what I thought was all of the stock remaining from the Sho Bud place in Nashville when they cleaned it out including parts for the 'experimental' Sho-Bud models. He had boxes and boxes of necks, endplates and changer parts for all of the models. Perhaps one of the other employees can add to this. Buck Reid was there then as was Mike Daly and GiGi Emmons plus lots of cats.

There's no telling what he has in that warehouse. I'd love to go look through it.

My LDG has a new changer

I
Took a chance and bought 10 new fingers from this guy. The best thing I could have done. These are NEW....not used....not Chinese....
Haven't set it up for playing yet but rebuilt it last night.

Congratulations William! Looks great! I did find it strange that this seller was being largely ignored. I might have purchased the last three brand new EMCI bodies and butcher block sound boards in existence but then again he might have fork truck bins full of the stuff. We don't know.

Well I have had issues with the changer. After pulling it apart I understand why. A couple had the tab that wears the groove in the finger surface worn to a nub. Grooves that I may have had to fill in with JB weld. Others that were still I good shape. All I know is there are probably very few old buds that get to reset the clock. RIP James Moorehead. His changer fingers looked incredible.

Now to reset all the pedal and k/l pulls. I also just bought a vertical knee lever kit from the website. 99.00. Couldn't resist

I have done a lot of business with this guy. He gets all his parts from Fred Gretsch's warehouse in the Atlanta Georgia area. He is honest, fair and and extremely good to deal with, also very fast in shipping things out.
I don't want to direct traffic from the forum, but some things you just can't find here, and he has many, especially from the late Super Pro era. In fact this is were my "Rose"
body and many new parts came from. I give him and Michael Yal and this Forum an A+ for all my late Super Pro needs.

Neil that is so completely awesome coming from you....WOW!!! I had NO idea that guy gets all that from Fred Gretsch's warehouse??...unbelievable and I'm a fan now.
Ricky

Jeff Surratt at Show Pro has tons of Sho~Bud stuff, some original, and some new made by Sho~Bud specs or some that just fit the Sho~Buds ... he completely rebuilt the changer on my Pro I with brand new fingers ...

What happened to all the Emmons parts when they folded?