Sho bud questions

Brian Saulsman · From: Washington, USA

I apologize for probably duplicating questions others have asked but I am a bit ignorant...

I am a pedestrian banjo player in a small time band who has recently aspired to learn PSG for strictly personal pleasure. I've had a Carter starter that I've begun practicing on, but our fiddle player had a Sho bud 6139 (stock - 1 KL) under his bed that he wants me to take off his hands.
1) Is $450 a fair price? (it appears to be in decent shape bar dings on top, but looks pretty clean underneath, and looks to me like it hasnt been messed with I can't post pics until I get on a computer)

2) it's been under a bed for nearly 20 years -- will it hurt to play it without going through and cleaning it up? (still in the case -- any suggestions for getting rid of he musty smell?)

3) it comes with a pedal kit from 1975 -- how much should it cost to install this pedal? If I wanted to add two more, how much more?

4) anyone in the Seattle area doing this sort of work?

Thanks for looking-- I have learned a bunch already on this site.

All the best...

Brian Saulsman

John Scanlon · From: Jackson, Mississippi, USA

As to your first question, http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=260706&sid=2f49fb0bcd149a833cd340efa4e89194
_________________
Click here for the Index to Mickey Adams's YouTube video lessons
Insert impressive gear list here.

David Scheidler · From: Arizona, USA

Better than fair price. Grab it! You'll want to add more knee levers later on, but it'll definitely be worth the upgrade - and affordable for what you're paying for the instrument.

Les Cargill · From: Oklahoma City, Ok, USA

Sounds like you're losing three knee levers in the trade. I could live with two knee levers, but it'd be tough living on one - LKR and LKL on the Carter.

I'd rather lose the C pedal - an alternate II-minor is two frets down with the E lower lever - LKL on the Starter. E raise to F and E lower to Eb are pretty key moves.

There are threads on here that show a high price for Sho-Bud parts.

Skip Edwards · From: LA,CA

Great price on a classic S10 Sho-Bud. Get the parts from James Morehead and then make the drive down to Portland and take it to Lynn Stafford for the work.
You won't be sorry.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Skip took the words right out of my mouth. I'd be all over that guitar.
_________________
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.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

+1 to Skip.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Abe Levy · From: California, USA

I got a 6139 for my birthday (thanks honey) that had only one lever. I bought the parts from James Moorehead and added 3 more. I did the work myself, but if you're close to Lynn go for it, he's awesome. Sweet little guitars. $450 is crazy cheap.
_________________
Mostly Pre-1970 guitars.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Bingo. If it's in good cosmetic shape and the mechanicals are intact, it's a deal, even for 3+1. You can probably have 3+3 or 3+4 in the $1000-1200 range.

These are really great sounding steels. The only reason I don't still have mine is that my legs basically don't fit under a smaller S10. Even with it raised up, I just couldn't get comfortable. So now my Sho Bud is an LDG. But the sound of my 6139 was just as good.

I use a naptha-based lighter fluid like Ronsonol to clean the crud off guitars and steels - metal and wood parts, I've never had a problem even with a fairly weathered old finish. Either (preferably) outside or (if necessary) inside in a very well ventilated area. If the changer is seriously gunked up, I sometimes have to pull the changer and use something like Blaster PB 50 to cut the crud, but I'd avoid that if possible. But if the guitar was heavily used in smoky bars for decades or has a lot of encrusted old lubricant, it may be necessary to really get it right.

My guess is that after you clean all that crud off stem-to-stern, it will help your mildewy smell. A lot of times, the case is worse than the guitar, and I drop baking soda inside and let it sit outside for a while (days), then vacuum it out. Repeat as necessary. Again, rubbing the case down with naptha and further cleaning the inside of the case out may be necessary. It may take some time, but I've generally been able to clear out most if not all of the stench.

You need to figure out which mechanics are used on this one. Mine was an old rack-and-barrel. I prefer the barrels-behind-two-hole-pullers - if I found an appropriate rack-and-barrel guitar for a price like this, I'd definitely redo the undercarriage with James Morehead's barrels-behind-two-hole-pullers parts.

As far as the 3+1 goes, you can probably go for quite a while with 3+1 with a standard E9 ABC pedals and just the F-lever (strings 4+8 E=>F) or D-lever (string 2 D#=>D and string 9 D=>C#). If you add a 2nd lever to get the other one of those you don't have and then add a 3rd E-lever (strings 4+8 E=>Eb), then you can probably have new stuff to work on for years.

Brian Saulsman · From: Washington, USA

Thanks for the replies. While I am a pretty handy person, I don't intend to try and do this myself. I do intend to pursue getting it tuned up and ready to play.

Thanks again

Brian Saulsman

Brian Saulsman · From: Washington, USA

Dave
I missed your informative reply. I don't thing it was played out much, but Mark did play it quite a bit. I wasn't sure about whether the changer needed to be lubricated after such a long "rest" and I didn't want to damage it.

I will try your plan on the case -- I think that is where most of the issues are but I will probably wait for some warmer weather.

It is a rack and barrel mechanism but as a beginner I haven't seen anything else but what's on the carter starter. I really wouldn't know about redoing.

Your comments about the pedal(s) make sense as well.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

Brian Saulsman

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

There are a few forum members in Seattle who are knowledgeable ShoBud pickers, Brian, if you title your post "ShoBud in Seattle" you'll get some attention for sure...

Forum Index > Pedal Steel		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic

All times are GMT - 8 Hours	Jump to: