New-To-Me Sho Bud Pro-I

Dan Beller-McKenna · From: Durham, New Hampshire, USA

Without really intending to, I have added another Sho Bud to my collection. This is a 1979 build that sounds fantastic, and plays beautifully. I have let a few good S-10s go over the past few years, simply because I found myself always grabbing a D-10 for gigs, even when I knew for certain I wouldn't be using the C6 neck (think Neil Young tribute shows and such). But this one plays and sounds so good that I'm going to hold on to it. I used it for a set at a gig last night, and it was stellar.

I'm very curious about the history of this steel. It has a couple of distinctive, if hardly unique, features on the top side: rope inlay and Grover tuners. As you can gather from this pics of the underside during re-rodding, it is in excellent condition with no added holes.

On top, the finish is in near mint condition and the pedals are so clean that I wonder how much this steel was ever played.

But it was not neglected; someone replaced many of the pot metal pieces underneath with good looking aftermarket parts. The knee levers look like the Michael Yahl replacements I have on my '81 Super Pro, but the Brackets do not. They are slightly taller (2.25" vs. the 1.75" originals) and shorter at the base (2" vs. 2.25"). Also, the "foot" does not have an oval to accept a linking pin, but rather a smaller hole. They are also solid, without the cavities on one side of the originals;

Other undercarriage parts (pedal rod cranks, bell cranks) are aftermarket. If nothing else they lack the distinctive circular marks from the Sho-Bud pot metal castings. I haven't pulled any of them to examine more closely, but they "look" slightly more substantial than the original parts. If nothing else, someone took care to polish them up to a bright shine.

The changer appears to be all original, but it is as clean as a whistle, so I am guessing it has recently been pulled and cleaned. Some of the pull rods look like home-mades. I actually had to replace one that was too short for the threads to clear the changer. Oddly, the return springs were a bit of a mixed bag with what looked like a few ill-chosen replacements. I replaced them all with NOS ones that I had left over after my Super Pro rebuild last summer.

Anybody recognize these parts (or, better still, this steel)? FWIW I acquired it from a Guitar Center in Maryland.

Mike DiAlesandro · From: Kent, Ohio

Beautiful well cared for Sho~Bud. I had a '79 Pro I with rope inlay as well, not very common style inlay for that era of Sho~Buds.

Keep it!!

Jeffery Mercer · Posted 6 Jan 2025 5:55 am **Gorgeous!**

That is one Beautiful ShoBud Pedal Steel! It’s all you really need…
Take good care of that one! Wow!
JM
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Jeffery S Mercer

Frank Freniere · From: The First Coast

From a Guitar Center? In Maryland???

Dan Beller-McKenna · From: Durham, New Hampshire, USA

Yuppers! It was listed on the Guitar Center Used gear site. I never hesitate to buy something with potential from them, because if it turns out to be a dog, I can just return it to my local GC for a full refund. I end up paying shipping, but they have a deal with UPS whereby any “guitar” ships for a set price, even if it is 65lbs and in an extremely large box. In this case $17, and there was at least that much worth of bubble wrap in the box. 😃 Honestly, it’s worth the risk just for the thrill of seeing a pedal Steel shipped for $17!

Kenny Davis · From: Great State of Oklahoma

Nice find! Have you decided to add a vertical?
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Best lyric in a country song: "...One more, Moon..."

Dan Beller-McKenna · From: Durham, New Hampshire, USA

Yes! Need to gather a few more parts.

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