Worst Pack-a Seat

Emmett Roch · From: Texas Hill Country

Worse than the old Sho-Bud seat (to which I added better hinges & latches, a back rest, and aluminum angle to the edges) was a kit I bought from a now-deceased Forumite.
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On Earth, as it is in Texas

Chris LeDrew · From: Canada

My Sho~Bud seat has two latches, and the inside has been padded. So maybe mine was customized for better functioning before I bought it. It is very sturdy and light, and hasn't shown any give anywhere. I love it! Like I said, I just need to find a way to raise it two inches. I may re-upholster the top with thicker, stronger foam - which was suggested to me by a forumite. (I'm not enough of a handyman to get underneath it. Smile

) I could easily sell this one and buy a Steeler's Choice, but I really love the small size and ease of transport. It carries as much or more than the modern seat I used to own.
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Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com

George Redmon · From: Muskegon & Detroit Michigan.

i don't remember what brand name it was, if someone remembers the brand post it for me ok? But anyways this seat had those wrought iron legs, like plant stands are made out of? And if you have to play on a tile floor, or even some wood floors. This thing had a mind of it's own. You could feel the seat move with every bass note, and kick drum beat. I had to keep scootin' up to the steel, play a little scoot a little. And if you played on grass, wow..you got all kinds of electrical shocks. They were just dreadful. Heavy, and those wrought iron legs keep opening up as you had to tote the seat. Just awful, i gave the thing away to a guitar playing buddy of mine. Laughing

David Doggett · Posted 11 Jun 2007 2:36 pm

Anyone ever tried a drum throne. I like the idea that three legs would be steady on uneven floors. But would the fact that it rotates be a problem with pedal steel?

I have had the same experience as Bob Hoffner. I got the deluxe model Steeler's Choice with the back rest and sidecar compartment. But it is heavy as lead, and it doesn't hold much stuff so I still have to bring a gig bag full of cords and stuff. I might lug it along for the back rest on a really long night, but mostly I bring a $20 collapsible keyboard bench.

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

ok herb...i respect you cause you're so old and used to have an afro...but i still bang my sho-bud seat from gig to gig...i've got a steeler's choice side kick at home but the the sho-bud is on the front line!! ps i did put more padding on the sho-bud!

Jeremy Threlfall · From: now in Western Australia

I use a drum throne. I bought the best one I could buy - it is like a tractor seat, or a bike seat. It doesn't rotate if you lock it down. I have never thought the convenience of packing everything into a seat was really worth much. And Buddy Cage always sits on a drum throne. I wanna be like him.

George Redmon · From: Muskegon & Detroit Michigan.

Here's one i bought a few years ago for my studio. It works pretty well, back and all. I have three of these. Everyone loves them. Drummers, guitarist, bass players, even kids crawl around on them. You just can't hurt'em.

Jeremy Threlfall · From: now in Western Australia

Mines a three-legger, doesn't have a back, but has a deluxe contoured bum-pad (as I say, like a tractor seat).

Emmett Roch · From: Texas Hill Country

I used one for a while, but it was hard to pack in the limited cargo space I had at the time. Also, the screw that was supposed to keep the seat from rotating was stripped out and I didn't like it turning under me.

I've had better luck with my GFI seat (with the backrest) than any I've had.
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On Earth, as it is in Texas

Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

My my my, how touchy some of us are! Wink

LOL!!

Hey, I don't give a chihuahua's patootie what y'all sit on... you can stack up milk cartons , old bricks, or balance yourselves on a 1.5" dowel for all I care. Wink

Remember, this thread's topic... a question which I didn't originally ask, BTW, but only stated my opinion... is "what is the worst pack-a-seat?"

So, to those Sho~Bud seat owners and other defenders of the SB seat, I'll repeat the question: if it's NOT the old Sho~Bud pack-a-seat, then what IS the worst pack-a-seat? Your opinions, please. Here I sit on my Steeler's Choice, ready to be corrected and have my opinion changed!

I'll even toss this into the mix: the Emmons seat was the one with the wrought-iron fold down legs, as I recall. That could easily be a contender for the "worst seat" title, IMO, though it was a knock-off of the SB.

And to stay "on topic," wasn't the question about pack-a-seats? How did drum thrones get into the mix? Wink

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My rig: Infinity and Telonics.

Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg?

Chris LeDrew · From: Canada

It's easy to rag on the old Sho~Bud seat because there's no builder here to get offended and nobody's livelihood is being affected. So I don't think you're going to get many negative responses about seats currently in production. I just wanted to refute the notion that the Sho~Bud seat is crap, that's all. Some of them may have been, but mine is very well-built. I just think it's important for people reading this thread (and looking for different opinions) that they don't think the Sho~Bud seat is total crap, and avoid buying one for the fear of it falling apart mid-gig.

Having said all that........Herb, you are right. The thread is asking which is the worst; it's not asking for a debate about which one is the worst. Embarassed

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Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com

Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

Well, Chris, not to get technical or into a semantic debate, but nowhere did I say the Sho~Bud seat was "crap." In fact, I've owned 3 of them, all ultimately were discarded due to hard road use, sold to students, etc., so I can speak from experience... as I usually do. Smile

But let's go back to our school days: someone has to be last in the class, right? (Except perhaps for our current educational system in which "self-esteem" is more important than educational achievement. Sad

) At Harvard, the guy that's last in class might be totally brilliant, it's just that the others scored better.

Being last in pack-a-seat class doesn't mean that the seat is "crap," it just means that all the others I've sat on are, IMHO, better than the old Sho~Bud seat.

If you're happy with your light weight seat that works for you, why not just be happy with it? And why am I even writing all this silly, self-explanatory stuff? Herb out, y'all. Wink

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My rig: Infinity and Telonics.

Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg?

Doug Beaumier · From: Northampton, MA

Al Terhune · From: Newcastle, WA

Oh, just for the fun of it. Actually, it appears Doug turned it from junk to quite road-worthy by putting new hinges/latch on it. Mine is like Chris's -- double latches in the front, and they've never popped open. The steeler starting this thread wanted to know which seat was lighter, could hold more, etc. It appears that the Sho-Bud seat is undeniably the lightest and quite possibly has one of the larger capacities, meeting with high standards two of his variables. Who cares if it doesn't have lined innards, a power strip or what-not? Well, obviously some people do. But Doug has testified that after simply putting new hinges and latch on it, it served it's purpose for 2500 gigs. So the lighter wood and metal didn't shatter or break. Crikey. So that doesn't mean it was crap, it means it had crappy hinges and poor latch plan. At least that's my reading into this. I'm not trying to be an aegis for the Sho-Bud name, but lordy, the only really bad thing I've heard about the Sho-Bud seat are the weak hinges and single-latch on the front. Besides those replacable/fixeable items, it's light-weight and holds a lot, far from crappy as a hole, again, from what I've gleaned here.

It might be better (and fairly) said that Sho-Bud had the worst hinges/single-latch plan, and had they had better hinges and latches, it would have been a pretty darn good seat for the era, especially considering had they not come forth with it, none would have existed back then.
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Al

My equipment:

One heck of a Wife
The ghost of a red Doberman
Several pairs of reading glasses strewn about

Ken Williams · From: Arkansas

Not all Sho-Bud seats were created equal. I bought a Sho-bud seat new in around 75 or 76. Some are talking about having one latch and no padding, and I've seen some of those seats. I think these were some that were made in the late 70's and beyond. The one I have has plenty of padding and two latches. Considering this seat is over 30 years old and been drug all over the US, it has held up pretty well. If I was in the market for a seat, I would buy another one like this in a heartbeat.

Ken

Arty Passes · From: Austin, TX

I bought my SB in 1977 and used it till 2000. Hinges and handle have been replaced somewhere along the line, seat is full of duct tape. Been using an Elite Seat, and have replaced handle, latches, hinges, and I have to use a strap to keep the seat from flopping around, and the screws holding it on keep falling out, plus all the dividers have come loose out of the inside. Hard road touring in a bus the past 3 years and it's pretty beat up. It is comfortable, and if it just stayed at home I think it would be fine. Definitely not flight worthy. I have, however, flown my SB, both as carry on and checked, both loose and in a large suitcase. I even took it loose to Iraq with me this past March, probably not the smartest thing to do, but it survived. I figured, after all it's just a wooden box.
I think I'm going to go the Steeler's Choice route.

Clyde Hannah · From: Ohio, USA

Will there ever be a functionl storage seat designed NOT to look like a camping potty chair? Very Happy

Ernest Cawby · From: Lake City, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

I bought my Shobud seat in 1972, it served me well and never needed repair, I bought a new seat 2 years ago, stealers choice, with back rest and like it very much. I sold the Bud seat and never recieved a check for it,done forgot who bought it. I have a shobud seat now in the practice room, given to me by Kenny Drake, and added foam on top to make it higher. Put on new piano hinges on it and new screws on the handle, works well.

ernie Laughing

ernie

Dustin Rigsby · From: Parts Unknown, Ohio

My seat is the best. You know Why ? I bought (STOLD) a well used GFI seat for 40 bucks,added a back rest for 20 bucks.Built a Side car for 10 bucks. Grand Total....70 Bucks ! Sure beats 275.00 for a Steelers Choice. Now,if Steelers Choice would give me a brand new ,comparable seat,I would glady give them an "artist" endorsement Wink

..I have sat on them and they ARE very comfortable. If I was going to buy a new seat...I would buy a steelers choice.

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