The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi I am a new member and I just bought a Sho-Bud Pro 1 that I found on craigslist. I play guitar and have been interested in learning to play pedal steel for the last year or two. I realize that I may have gotten in over my head on this purchase but I'm hoping some more experienced folks here would be willing to give me some guidance.

So I bought the Sho-Bud from the daughter of the last owner. The guitar has 3 pedals and 4 knee levers. Serial number is 13677 so I believe that it's from late 78. Unfortunately it appears that it has not been well taken care of for several years if not longer. At the very least I can tell that it needs a thorough cleaning. They seller did give me a chance to set up the guitar to see if the pedals and levers worked and the A pedal was not altering the pitch of any strings even though it was moving some of the rods under the guitar. The rest of the pedals and levers did alter pitches of the strings so at least they are working on some level. So at this point, to be honest, I'm not exactly sure what to do next.

As someone that does not play pedal steel and is hoping to learn, my end goal for this guitar is to get it cleaned up and in good working condition. Country music is what has gotten me interested in steel and is what I am most interested in learning so I am thinking E9 with an Emmons set up seems to be most common but I am open to suggestions.

Here are some specific questions that I am hoping people here could give some advice on:
1. What are the next steps I should take?
2. In regards to fixing up the guitar what are things I can do myself and what are things I should leave to a professional?
3. Any recommendations of people that fix up guitars like this? I would prefer someone "local" to me. I live in Lodi, CA(35 miles south of Sacramento and 85 miles east of San Francisco).

Thanks for reading and I greatly appreciation on advice/guidance that people here are willing to offer.
Daniel

At the very least you'll have to provide detailed photos of the undercarriage. That'll provide a clue as to exactly what you have, possible mods, missing parts, etc.

The possibilities range all the way from a merely "dirty" guitar to complete basket case.

We'll never know without more info.

h

Thanks Howard, forgot I did take some photos

Good,

And perhaps a few closeups of the end plate (tuning nuts) changer and A pedal cross shaft.

I'm betting that our "Bud" knowledgeable folks will have some thoughts. It's a weekend. Be patient.

h

Also recommend checking out Steelguitar.com for resources. Explains the action on "all pull" guitars as well as owners' manuals for several Sho-Bud models.

Get a bit familiar with terminology, parts, movement, etc.

h

A little cleaning, replace the fret board, fix the A pedal issue(it’s probably something simple) and play the crap out of it. I’ve seen some real bad buds brought back to life. Yours is in relatively good condition compared to some!

You've got yourself a great guitar! Just needs some tweeking...

Send it to south california , steel guitars north country , and have jim palenscar get it set up for you

What a great color and condition!

That guitar looks in great shape. Since you say the undercarriage is working. Rods pulling when the pedal is pressed, check to see if the nylon tuning nuts at the changer end are making contact with the fingers. Also see if they are stripped. Try one from another string that is working. Seeing as that is a "Super Pro" undercarriage, it's doubtful that the bellcranks are slipping on the cross shaft. The hex shafts will prevent that from happening, something that can happen on round cross shafts. Go through and tighten all bell cranks for the heck of it.

Too bad I moved to Montana. I lived in Oakdale and would have had a look at it. I had Super Pro and am familiar with it's mechanics.

Like everyone has said--just needs some cleaning and tweaking. That's much more than just a starter guitar. I can almost hear it. As far as next steps I'd say look for a good teacher in your area. A lot of guitar pickers just drop it out of frustration or they don't know where to start. Also check out Paul Franklin's online courses. They'll start you from the beginning. I'd recommend not trying to teach yourself. I only had three months of lessons back in about '79 that kept me from developing some bad habits I would've had to try and undo later. You're not in over your head. Just takes enthusiasm and patience.

What a great looking guitar.

The Left Knee Left lever may need some attention.

You can see where the wood is gouged.

The Left Knee Left lever may need some attention.

Yeah that could be addressed by just shortening the thread a bit and maybe use a shallower nut.

There are two rods for pedal A hence if one string only doesn’t change the fault is probably at the tuner end (nylon adjusted backed off too far or missing or stripped). If both don’t work the issue is probably at the bellcrank end.

Daniel, California is a huge state - where are you located?

Philip M. suggested earlier to get the guitar to Jim Palenscar at Steel Guitars of North County, located in Oceanside. As far as I know, Jim owns the only steel guitar specialty store in the entire western U.S.

My wife and I were staying in San Diego County a year ago and I paid Jim a visit. He was working on a guitar on the bench that was in for maintenance and repairs. It was a Sho-Bud, and he told me it belonged to Dwight Yoakam. He said that Dwight was sort of an old school bandleader and provided instruments for some of his band members.

If you have Jim work on that old Bud I bet he’ll have it playing like a new guitar when he’s done.

https://steelguitars.me/

Daniel is in Lodi south of Sacramento. That's pretty far from San Diego. Like almost 500 miles. With all the pedal steel folks around the Bay Area I'd sure think there would be someone around there that could help him with a setup.

Scott Denniston wrote:Daniel is in Lodi south of Sacramento. That's pretty far from San Diego. Like almost 500 miles. With all the pedal steel folks around the Bay Area I'd sure think there would be someone around there that could help him with a setup.

I went back and read Daniel’s post again and I guess I didn’t make it to the end the first time around since he wrote that he lives in Lodi. My bad.

I live closer to the coast in Windsor near Santa Rosa and worked for a company with a large facility near Lodi for several years, so I know exactly where Lodi is and how far it is to San Diego.

I have a modern GFI - a good pedal steel for a guy who isn’t much of a mechanic. If I were more knowledgeable about this sort of thing I’d be happy to help, but unfortunately I’m not. We have some knowledgeable members in the Central Valley around Sacramento and nearby communities but I’m not going to volunteer their services.

If all else fails, if Daniel were to get his Sho-Bud down to Jim in Oceanside then depending on what needs to be done it would definitely be done right.

Hopefully the guitar requires minimal work to get it up to speed.

Yeah I'm familiar too. Grew up in Palo Alto till I was 15. It just seems that when factoring in shipping or a thousand mile round trip (gas & time) and the fact that there doesn't appear to be much really wrong with that steel a good going over by someone that knows anything much at all would be worth a reasonable fee. I don't know what Daniel paid for that but I'd not want him to double his cost for some simple fixes.

Well one can always make it into a road trip if time allows.

We’ll be going down again after Thanksgiving and staying across the street from the beach in Carlsbad for a week. Our son has been living in San Diego for the past couple years. No doubt I’ll make it up to Jim’s place again to hang out and spend a few bucks at the shop. We’re probably driving again.

I’m retired a few years ago, so every day is a weekend day.

Interesting. Old style pullers on the left knees. I'd love to see the changer. (A shot straight into the nylon tuner area) Daniel, everything looks pretty Emmons as far as the copedant goes. RP

Daniel, if you feel like making a short road trip I can help you get that guitar working as it should, I'm in East Sac. Your guitar is from the last iteration of the "Pro" series, it has the shorter body like a Super Pro, 3 raise 2 lower changer. The setup is sloppy but it looks like everything is there, so likely just needs a little tweaking on the bench. I have serviced and rebuilt many of these '70s Buds and have good stash of misc parts as well as a machine shop to make stuff. There are some inherent issues that can develop over time with these guitars, the only way to know is to have an up-close look. Most likely it doesn't need much more than just some TLC.

Shoot me a PM or email if you like.

Ian is the man! I figured it was likely somebody who knows their stuff would likely come through, but as I wrote earlier - it’s not my place to volunteer their services.

Thank you to everyone one who has responded, I really appreciate all of the great feedback and suggestions!
I have messaged Ian and am looking forward to having his help. It sound like the guitar probably just needs some cleaning and adjustment but I would still feel a lot better having a more experienced and knowledgeable person make sure its done well.
Thanks again everyone!