Newbie Sho-Bud Maverick owner questions

Jimbo Watkins · From: Allen, Texas, USA

Greetings from Allen, Texas!
I am the new owner of one of the later (late 1970s or early 80s) Sho-Bud Maverick guitar with three pedals, one knee lever and the fake vinyl cover over the wood.

I know many folks have a low opinion of the Maverick in general. It is an entry level instrument for sure, and if I had known a couple of weeks ago what I know now, I might have kept saving my pennies and waited for something better to come along.

That being said, and considering some comments from real working musicians that that have used the Maverick on the road with some pretty big acts, I am hopeful that my lowly Maverick can be a great learning tool for me.

My only real issues revolve around the mushy-ness and imprecision of the pedals when pressed in combination, A-B and especially B-C.

Each pedal has a bottom that you can feel when it is pressed individually. It is still a bit too easy to go past it or stay a little short and be out of tune but once you are used to it you can tell where you are supposed to stop. When using two pedals in combination, a huge amount of that feel goes away and some really out of tune sounds result.

Question #1: Should all three pedals be at about the same height and bottom out at the same level? This is not the case with mine, and the rods have limited adjustability.

Question #2: Can the stop at the bottom of the pedal be made more definite / precise?

Question #3: Since there seems to be a lot of Mavericks floating around, what do you consider the best Maverick-specific sources of how-to information?

Thanks All . . . Jim W.
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Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

#1: Not necessarily. Probably better if both bottomed out at the same time. This is not important to me. I have my pedals adjusted to different heights so I can rock on/off the pedals without activating the one next to it. That is the most important thing for me.

#2; I don't know enough about the Maverick to answer this. Someone will though.

#3: Right here on the forum. Ask away and someone will answer.
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

i can't remember the pedals being mushy. of course the whole system is lighter weight than a heavier pro model and there are no separate pedal stops. but when adjusted properly for how the changer fingers hit the cabinet, they seemed firm enough to me.

mavericks are definitely good enough to learn stuff on.

Bud Angelotti · From: Larryville, NJ, USA

Jimbo - What Chris just said !
Also look at the maverick like it was your first beater car. Experiment with it. Most folks do have their pedals set at different heights as richard said.
If you change something, write it down before you do as to get back to square one.
Many many folks have learned on a maverick, not just how to play steel, but the basic mechanics. It's like an old lawnmower, it will cut the grass. Happy holidays!
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Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

As a pull-release mechanism, the upper limits of the pedals is normally where the fingers pull against the edge of the hole in the body, and tune them at the keyhead, then you tune the relaxed notes at the endplate. The pedal stop is, therefore, the hard maple meeting the metal fingers. By its nature that should be a pretty firm stop. Since I don't see any other stops on the cross-shafts, if you're finding them mushy, I don't know what's going on there.
(Some pull-release guitars don't work like that, but that's how I recall the Maverick)
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Jim Williams · From: Meridian, Mississippi, USA - Home of Peavey!

I'm very new here, so I'm no expert on anything, but I have had some recent experience with a Maverick and another guitar with pull / release.

How are you tuning? As Lane said, on that guitar you need to push the pedal down fully, tune the high note with the tuner, let if off and tune the low note with the allen screw adjuster on the end of the guitar for that string. Could be that you are hitting the high note before the pedal is fully down and the finger is contacting the guitar body. You shouldn't be able to go "past" the high note by pressing the pedal down too far.

Look under the guitar with a light and press the pedal down all the way with your hand. The front of the finger(s) that pull the string(s) for that pedal should be hitting the guitar body or stop plate...if it isn't then you have an adjustment problem on the rod(s).

I went down a similar path but with something not nearly as good as the maverick mechanically. If I had it to do over again, especially with the Maverick being a much better quality than what I had, I would buy the "Up from the Top" volume 1 video from Jeffran Music. It only deals with A and B pedals, or the Winnie Winston book which also deals mostly with the things you have on that guitar. Mel Bay's Deluxe Pedal Steel Method by Dewitt Scott also deals primarily with a basic setup.

Don't worry about having made a mistake on the purchase, you can learn plenty with what you have once you get it set up properly. I had to upgrade because the guitar I had was borderline unplayable. The Maverick should be playable once it is right. Once you learn everything in these materials, which will keep you busy for quite a while, you'll be ready to decide what your path should be regarding upgrading to another guitar. Good luck and have fun.

Oh, and as far as your third question, there is not a better resource for help than this forum. You will find some real experts here who are very willing to help a newbie. Lane and several others helped me a lot when I was working on the problems I had with the first guitar. Do a search on the Maverick, there are several threads on the guitar, mods, etc.
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GFI SM10 3/4, 1937 Gibson EH-150, 2 - Rondo SX Lap Steels and a Guyatone 6 String C6. Peavey 400 and a Roland 40 Amps. Behringer Reverb Pedal.

Jimbo Watkins · From: Allen, Texas, USA

Thanks for the input folks. Keep in coming. I am learning everyday.

Peace . . .
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It's only a flesh wound!

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