| Author |
Topic: John Coop's Work Photo Gallery |
Bob Muller
From:
Oregon, USA
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 10:02 am |
|
I would like to review some of John coops fine work with photos. I know when the last few years of his life not all of his projects were finished. But the fact remains that he did do some very fine work, probably made the best replacement parts ever made. He spent many hours of his life redesigning and perfecting these fine old Sho-Bud's. I'm sure that his life's work will outlast all of us. I'm sure many of you will still be playing guitars upgraded with John's parts for many years to come. I will post a few examples of my own guitars restored using John's parts. If everyone would at a few photos we should come up with quite a collection.
 This this is a 6139 using John's knee levers and some replacement racks.
 This is a fingertip model which used John's knee levers, two hole pullers, redesigned pickup mounts, fretboard's, and other ideas.
These are but a few examples of the parts produced by John coop, I'm sure others can many other examples of his work. |
|
|
 |
CrowBear Schmitt
From:
Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 10:51 am
|
|
Here's a Mav' that John put up a while back
 |
|
|
|
Gary Preston
From:
Columbus, Ohio, USA
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 1:39 pm
|
|
 Wait a minute  Am i missing something here ? Did Mr. Coop pass away ? |
|
|
|
Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 3:03 pm
|
|
With the 12 new finger assemblies that he made me, Mr Coop also drilled & tapped 12 holes and installed 12 screws to limit the max lower of each string (aka "split" tuners.) I guess he didn't notice that the screw hits the string pin. So these "split screws" cannot be installed. No worries tho as I can make it work by installing another raise rod.
 |
|
|
|
Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 3:09 pm
|
|
New finger assemblies fit rather snug! So snug that the raise bar cannot move at all.
No worries; I just ream some wood out the body of the old Sho-Bud to make room:
 |
|
|
|
Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 3:16 pm
|
|
Lever with hole for raise helper spring is rather shorter than I would have designed it. Possible friction between spring and wood may limit the effectiveness of the spring.
No worries as I am a big strong macho he-man with strong toes on my left foot. Raise-helper springs are for girly-men! |
|
|
|
Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 3:27 pm
|
|
New changer assembly collides with Mr Coop's new bracket (in hand). No worries as I one a hacksaw and a file to make the bracket (on the guitar) smaller:
 |
|
|
|
Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 3:35 pm
|
|
Width of the slots in Mr Coop's new "comb" are machined to precise tolerance to ensure that the raise & lower bars remain in straight alignment:
No worries; Mr Coop volunteered that he could do even better and sent me another with slot widths even more precise.
 |
|
|
|
Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 3:45 pm
|
|
Still the raise & lower bars wiggle and when I lower string 5, it pulls the raise bar on string 6.
No worries; just file a little off each raise bar, and and cut the corner off the lower bar by the hole, and then the lower bar will usually glide past the adjacent string's raie bar without getting hooked:
 |
|
|
|
Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 3:52 pm
|
|
Mr Coop's email said " My fingers are made of high grade 1020 mild steel. "
So I strung it up, and after a couple of days I looked at the finger surface to see how it was holding up.
No worries; I can just smooth it out with fine sandpaper. |
|
|
|
Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 4:04 pm
|
|
No worries so far, but I did have problems with inconsistent pitch on raises, lowers, and returns. I took all the finger assemblies out and found that there was significant friction between the parts. In other words, the 3 pieces (changer finger, raise bar, and lower bar) did not rotate freely.
I couldn't fix all of them, but Jim Palenscar did. Thanks you Jim for saving this old Sho-Bud from the trash heap. It plays in tune pretty well now. |
|
|
|
Bob Muller
From:
Oregon, USA
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 6:11 pm
|
|
WOW Earnest, That looks really bad!! What did you have to do to get the guitar working again. I know you said Jim fixed it, were the fingers replacd again? Which model of Sho-Bud was it? Do you have photos of the finished guitar? I installed a set of these fingers into a pro II custom that I have, along with four knee lever kits, and new pickups. The C neck is still original, the E neck has the new fingers. The guide plates are original, and the wood was cut away originally.I have not had any of the problems that you had, not quite sure why the parts were so far off for you. I wonder if the parts were redone later? I did not have the screws put in the end plate, looks like that would not have worked anyway. I installed the parts myself, did not do any modifications as I recall. I would like to see the underside of the finished guitar if you would post it.
Four knee lever kits,E9 fingers,Half stop are parts from John. All other parts are original. |
|
|
|
Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
|
Posted 29 Aug 2011 7:35 pm
|
|
| Bob Muller wrote: |
| WOW Earnest, That looks really bad!! What did you have to do to get the guitar working again. I know you said Jim fixed it, were the fingers replacd again? Which model of Sho-Bud was it? Do you have photos of the finished guitar? |
I reckon that Jim P just did what I tried to do with each finger assembly: namely bend & straighten & lube & look for where the 3 pieces were rubbing. It was a approx 1976 model originally with double raise & single lower. |
|
|
|
Marco Schouten
From:
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
|
Posted 30 Aug 2011 4:20 am
|
|
I think it's impossible to make replacement parts that will fit many Sho-Bud models.There is way too much variation between the several models. As an example, on my converted Baldwin Crossover, the rollers were worn and some of the Schaller tuning keys were not perfect as well. Because these tuners were nowhere to find I bought a complete Baldwin Crossover keyhead, with the same tuners and the same wide brass rollers. So I thought to replace the rollers on the existing keyhead with the rollers on the 'new' keyhead. Guess what: they didn't fit in the holes of the original keyhead, so even within the same model, some sizes were changed sometime. So, I thought: I just replace the whole keyhead, guess what: 2 srewholes were at the same position, the 3rd one was at a different position, so had to drill a hole through the deck. You see what I mean?
_________________
----------------------------------
JCH SD-10 with BL XR-16 pickup, Sho-Bud Volume Pedal, Evidence Audio Lyric HG cables, Quilter Steelaire combo |
|
|
|
chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
|
Posted 30 Aug 2011 4:36 pm
|
|
| so....c'mon everyone. show us your cooped works of art! |
|
|
|
John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
|
Posted 31 Aug 2011 3:09 pm
|
|
My '74 S-10. Coop parts, installed by Ricky Davis. It was a 3 and 1 guitar, now it's 3 and 6! And, it's amazing!
 |
|
|
|
Dave O'Brien
From:
Florida and New Jersey
|
Posted 31 Aug 2011 4:46 pm Coop
|
|
I bought a Sho-Bud S-10 from a forumite. Totally Cooped. It had pedal and knee lever action like cement. was lucky to sell it. Looked great though.
_________________
Dave O'Brien
Emmons D-10, CMI D-10, Fender Deluxe Reverb, PV 112, Fender Pro Reverb
www.myspace.com/daveobrienband |
|
|
|
Tony Glassman
From:
The Great Northwest
|
Posted 31 Aug 2011 6:00 pm
|
|
Coops parts + my sweat.
I ordered a full set of parts for a D-10 from John (changers, bellcranks, cross-shafts, levers etc).
He was real concerned about the variability in Sho-Bud changer routs, so he campaigned to have me send the guitar to him so he could install the changers square to the body. I finally relented after he offered to pay half the shipping. He sent the guitar plus a boxful containing an entire set of undercarriage parts.
It was kinda stiff initially, but he sent an alternate set of thin changer shims (4th,5th and 8th string), which took all of an hour to replace. It plays like a modern guitar, but sounds like an ol' Bud. |
|
|
|
Bob Muller
From:
Oregon, USA
|
Posted 31 Aug 2011 8:43 pm
|
|
John, And Tony Thanks for the photos of those beautiful Guitars. When I did the pro II above I actually added spring
tension to the pedals and knee levers, I thought It was way to soft. I added a bend to the pedal springs make mine stronger. |
|
|
|
chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
|
Posted 1 Sep 2011 8:56 am
|
|
so now this brings up a whole new caution sign when buying old restored buds. just because it looks pretty, make sure it functions well before purchase.
for the last few years many people were proponents of the 'oh, you gotta have your sho-bud cooped' right after buying a good old steel that probably worked fine the way it was. i thought this train of thought was anal and cost-defective from the beginning. now you have to deal with potential inadequacies in function for the big money you spent. |
|
|
|
Tony Glassman
From:
The Great Northwest
|
Posted 1 Sep 2011 9:34 am
|
|
| chris ivey wrote: |
so now this brings up a whole new caution sign when buying old restored buds. just because it looks pretty, make sure it functions well before purchase.
for the last few years many people were proponents of the 'oh, you gotta have your sho-bud cooped' right after buying a good old steel that probably worked fine the way it was. i thought this train of thought was anal and cost-defective from the beginning. now you have to deal with potential inadequacies in function for the big money you spent. |
I guess you must have misinterpreted my post. My "Cooped" Bud is 100% improved from it's pot-metal state. It shines, sounds killer and PLAYS GREAT. With the parts, I have $3100 bucks invested an essentially "new" vintage guitar......not "cost defective" IMHO |
|
|
|
chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
|
Posted 1 Sep 2011 10:31 am
|
|
| i hear you, tony...and i think lots of john's work/parts are beautiful. the concept is good and in your case it worked out well. i'm just saying to be aware of someone who has gone the distance and now is getting rid of it. best to confirm the fuction before assuming it's all perfect. |
|
|
|
Michael Douchette
From:
Gallatin, TN (deceased)
|
|
|
|
Dallas Cheked
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
|
Posted 7 Oct 2017 6:38 pm I bet she sounds as good as she looks!
|
|
| CrowBear Schmitt wrote: |
Here's a Mav' that John put up a while back
|
_________________
EMCI D-10 Steel 8+6, Peavey Nashville 400, Fender Twin Reverb, Stelling Staghorn Banjo,Vintage Premier Banjo, Dobro D-60 and F60S Squarenecks, Fender Stratocaster, Boss RV-5, DD2,GE7, Goodrich SteelDriver II. |
|
|
|
