The Steel Guitar Forum

Hello all, I’m a new member but I have used the site for awhile now and I love the information, I am new to the world of pedal steel but I have played music for 20 plus years, I am a utility man, In my last band I played fiddle, banjo, mandolin and near the end I played a few originals on my pedal steel, a gfi expo. To the point, when I was looking for a pedal steel and I knew that sho bud was good, so I purchased a good deal on a d10 sho bud and the lady backed out, I was itching for a pedal steel and saw on advertised on reverb as a miller d10 that was described as basically a sho bud, he said all sho bud parts, and he had new strings on it but he claimed he didn’t know much about pedal steel guitars, it arrived and it needs a lot of adjustments and cosmetic love, I’m not experienced enough to really know what it needs.

Are the 70s millers worth restoring? I know if I sell it I’m going to lose money, but if someone else who is into those would enjoy it, I wouldn’t mind selling it. Don’t know if they are known for tone? Or any special qualities? I don’t mind eventually tearing it down and restoring it someday, but I just wanted some info from the more experienced members. I don’t even know if there are parts available for it.

Most of the time parts are available as most of them are simply rods and collars. That being said they are quite difficult to work on compared to other pedal steels as many of the features do not allow for setups other than what they were originally designed to do. The changer (which is the heart of the guitar responsible for making string changes) is of the pull-release type and the bellcranks that attach the rods to the changer are welded to the cross shafts to the best of my recollection. It is my belief that your progress would be better served with a different guitar with what is known of as an all-pull changer and I'm happy to advise you navigating thru this decision.

That doesn’t look like a Miller and I have three.

Most millers aren’t welded bell cranks but I have one early one that is . I don’t see a problem with A B and C pedals being welded in place.

Without knowing your guitar at all, I bet It can work fine or at least try to make it work as is, play it until the Limitations are obvious to you then worry about changes later. If you can’t make your own parts a rebuild will be a money loss. A rebuild may not be needed.

Please post pictures of the changer and underside so that we can better evaluate what you have there.

sorry, I thought that I would get an email every time I got a reply to my post, didn't intentionally ignore you guys. these are the last pics i have, I was recommended to contact Bob Simmons he said it looks to be a miller and I shipped it to him about a week ago, ill keep you updated.

I do not think you have a Miller there at all, here are some Miller photos.

It looks like you guys are correct, Bob Simmons, who was a personal friend of Mr Miller, said it is his opinion that the only part that appears to be a miller is the fretboard? He also said it doesn’t look like a professional job? Any ideas on what it is? And as I mentioned before, those are the only pics I have right now as it is not in my possession.

I don't see a single Sho-Bud part on that guitar anywhere. Looks home made to me.

I reached out to the guy who sold it to me, and he is saying that he had 2 pedal steel guitar experts identify it as a Miller but he is being combative and kind of a jerk, any help on identifying it? or help proving its not a miller?

Just compare the pictures.
Erv

Even if it is a Miller instead of a home-build, it's value is fairly low. So, any restoration would be a labor of love.

Bob is giving me a great price on getting it playable and fixing small things, he is such a nice guy, anyways, i do clearly see the differences in the pics, and i even sent the pics to the seller and he said that miller made custom guitars and that maybe a customer requested the differences? lol. This is what Bob emailed me

"Ok, here’s the biggest thing; wrong end plates/body all pull changer with early Clarke tuners and cross shafts homemade pickups, wrong pedal bar/pedals most likely something from Texas or west coast 70s"

interesting though, I had a forum member say he had a miller with the same changer? so, according to bob, 100 percent not a miller and he seems to be the most knowledgeable on the old millers

Not to beat a dead horse but...these are all millers and nothing of yours is like any of those. Millers always seemed to get lumped in with home made guitars....they are better than that and not far off of early sho bud. They just don't get early sho bud prices and those tend to be low anyway because of lack of levers. Millers were custom in that you could order changes to the basic design...inlays, black crinkle finish instead of polished aluminium, knees and pedal changes and woods. It wasn't that big of a change from one guitar to the next.

thanks for the pics Steve Waltz, I cant do anything about it now, and I didn't spend that much money on the dumb thing, well more than i would have liked, but its just making me mad that the guy who sold it to me is being such a jerk, his arguments don't even make sense, and i just asked to see the verification that his expert used, but he refuses, sad to see people do business like that. but i do appreciate your help. hopefully Bob's magic will work whatever type of guitar that it is into something that will actually play!!! great pics for an example. lesson learned, just because someone sells instruments , doesn't mean they know pedal steel!