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B A Young · From: Georgia, USA

WHATS SO BAD ABOUT THE SHOBUD MAVERICK 3 + 1 ... THE FOLKS ON HERE DONT SEEM TO LIKE IT MUCH ... IS IT HARD TO MAINTAIN OR WHAT ?
... I AM A ROOKIE (BIG TIME ) HAVE PLAYED MUSIC ALL MY LIFE MY WHOLE FAMILY DDOES AND DID 4 THREE GENERATIONS ... BUT I WANTA TRY THE STEEL AND I REALLY JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO PLAY SOME OLD STANDARDS 1-4-5 ... FARWELL PARTY , TOGETHER AGAIN , CRAZY ARMS ECT ECT ... COULD YOU PLAY THESE SONGS WITH JUST 3 PEDALS AND 1 KNEE ? LET ME KNOW I NEED SOMETHING LOW MAINTINANCE DONT KNOW ANYTHING BOUT A STEEL AND WOULD JUST LIKE TOI GET STARTED WITHOUT SPENDING 1000.00 WOULD LIKE TO GET 1 FOR ROUND 400-500 ... THANKS GUYS B A

Brian Kurlychek · From: Maine, USA

I am assuming the kl changes strings 4 and 8 - it either lowers 8 and raises 4 or vice versa. A standard copedent both raises and lowers both e's.

Other than that, the pedals should be the same.

You will be missing some changes that would require you to find another way to play a chord but I'm sure it's doable, as I have seen a few good players and you would not know the difference.

Also, if it has the cable undercarriage I'm not familiar with that as to how well it works, tunes, etc.

Some people might argue for or against vs a pro model and to make any changes to it like adding knees might cost more than it is worth over just buying a pro from what I've learned from several opinions on the matter. For around 500 you could also get a used Carter starter that has 4 knees.

Hope this helps you in your decision.
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Philip Tamarkin · From: California, USA

What Brian said. I owned a Maverick back in the day. It was a pretty marginal piece of gear - designed to be an inexpensive way to get into the world of pedal steel, and cheaply built. I spent more time trying to keep it tuned and functioning than I did practicing. My playing took a quantum leap once I invested in a decent instrument.

This is not to say that one of the modern setup/rebuild wizards couldn't turn one into a fine, functional instrument. but it'd still be a Maverick after they'd invested a lot of time and money.

Most of the current tab seems to be for a three-pedal four-knee-lever setup, and there are plenty of decent instruments available at fair prices. A Carter Starter will play rings around an old Maverick.

Pedal steel is a difficult instrument, particularly for beginners. Why add to the difficulty with a poor-quality instrument when there are decent playable alternatives with more features in the same price range?

BTW, your "Caps Lock" is stuck. No point in YELLING, unless you're really worked up about this.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

The original Mavericks lowered 2 with the lever, not 4 and 8.

here is the primary issue , paraphrased from the great Bud Carter.

The right Steel guitar will allow you to play the music you want to play, the wrong Steel Guitar will prevent you from playing the music you want to play.

Something like that..

The songs mentioned above are classic tunes with identifiable and great Steel phrases. Can a player manage to get those tunes out of a Maverick 3+1 ? Sure, some can, most cannot. Most of us started on something like that but the fact of the matter is within a short period we each outgrew it and understood why, and now we have these very high priced extended configurations which some people say we don't need, I say we do if you plan to grow technically and musically.

An experienced player who knows the fretboard and understands the tuning and pulls in front of them and what is missing, can indeed go backwards and create excellent music on the 3+1 Maverick. They already understand the road map. The easy / normal road home is closed, they will find an alternate route.

The 3+1 is a fine choice for getting started but if a new player is thinking of creating the music they hear on records it probably ain't gonna happen. To create what you hear on records you have to first know where it came from and it mostly did not come from a 3+ 1 Steel with very limited knee levers.

Knee levers are like your fingers , you use them to modify positions, play out of different positions and substitute positions on the fly, just like a guitar player does with different chord positions across or up and down the fretboard. Guitar players move there fingers to create.
Steel players use Knee levers to be able to modify positions and play out of alternate positions.

The reason standard E9 guitar is now a 3+5 configuration is not an accident, it is where we grew to from 3+1.

Like I stated, 3+1 is good way to start , on the way to the next steel and a good student will understand WHY in a reasonably short period.

my take...

t
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Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years

CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website

John De Maille · From: On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.

I learned to play steel on a Maverick with 3+1. I played it for 2 yrs and enjoyed every minute of it. It was the birdseye maple one with the raised neck. It sounded really good and I never had a problem with it. I played it in a country rock band, back then. But, after 2 yrs, I began to realize that it was limited in that set up and made me search all over the neck for specific notes and chords. Not that, that, was a bad thing, but, it hampered my natural progression in learning the steel. It was difficult to play some of the cool things I heard coming out of Nashville. But, it was a good steel to learn on. I felt proud as punch owning this pretty little steel with the ShoBud name on it. If you're planning on buying one of these, find a teacher, who, can teach you to play more with less. I wasn't fortunate enough, back then. I found it myself.
As a matter of fact, I'm teaching a student with an MSA, Pro-AM with 3+1. He's learning quite well, but, in the near future I can see him progressing to a more up to date steel with 3+4 or 5.
However, I would never knock the early Mav's. They were good steels. Just ask me, I learned on one and played it on stage for enjoyment and made money doing it.

Trevor Fagan · From: Newfoundland, Canada

Yup... what John just said.
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Brian Kurlychek · From: Maine, USA

Thanks for correcting me Tony. Is that all they did was lower 2? Or did they raise 8 also?

I think the maverick would be great if it
had a second knee so you could lower and raise the E's. I would get rid of the 2 string pull, but that's just what I would do if I bought it.

A friend of mine has a Pro 1 with 2 knees but one lowers or raises an E. Hence the mistake in my original post, but hey, I'm still learning also.

Cheers.
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We live to play another day.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

I think the question is

"Can I play these songs on this 3+1 Steel " ?

the answer is yes of course .

You can also play those songs using 3 chords on the guitar and that would be fine too. Consider that you have been playing for many years and studied 6 string guitar and grew into new positions, substitutions and phrasing, learning to play similar phrases in many positions on the neck That comes with study.

On a Pedal Steel that comes with study and a more configured Steel, if it didn't there would not be todays configurations, raise and lower 4 and 8, raise and lower 2, lower 5, lower 9 etc...

My entire point is that most of the folks who say yes of course you can do it on a 3+1 are already schooled and can go backwards with a simplistic configuration but if you have never learned what the 4 and 8 raise and lower do or the 2nd string raise and lower do etc...you can't go backwards, you never went forward...

Others will say things like " Loyd doesn't do something or other with a lever " and that is true but he does it with bar slants and his personal style, he knows...

3+1 is fine for starting but considering there are much better configured Steels in the same price point why not look there as well ?

We are not doing anyone asking any favors by not telling them what they are missing before they spend the cash.

The biggest disappointment is someone purchasing one of these "70's " Steels and then purchasing some learning material only to find that there guitar is not able to allow them to proceed with the material.

Then what ?

I don't say don't make the purchase I say know what it is you are purchasing first so there are no surprises.

t
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years

CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

The knee lever on a Maverick lowers strings 2 and 8 a half step. These are essential changes for E9th, but there are three more, equally important knee changes (lowering the 4th string to D#, and raising 4 and 8 to F).

Learning to play E9th without all 6 of the requisite knee lever pulls is akin to learning guitar without using all of the fingers on your left hand. I've noticed that some people who start on Mavericks never get around to learning the F lever, and their playing is hackneyed and one-dimensional as a result. They're like those folksingers who only play 3-fingered first position guitar chords.

See http://b0b.com/infoedu/e9theory.htm for the basic theory of E9th.
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Danny Hall · From: Nevada, USA

I just two minutes ago read that article Bob. Good work that.

Dan
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Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

My Maverick ( purchased new back then) only lowered 2 a half step, I see Bob mentions some also lowered 8 , mine didn't.

The problem back then is I didn't know any better, there was no SGF and no internet with people posting that I needed to lower and raise 4 and 8...How would I have known ?

I learned the basic elements of the 3 +1 then finally ran into another player who lived miles away who showed me some things that I could not do..( bummer) , he had a D10 Emmons with all sorts of levers. Then I also visited Nashville where they showed me the other changes at the Sho-Bud store. That was a new education all by itself.

Shortly after I moved to a PRO III which was 3+4 on the E9th and I did attend a Newman seminar where he made it perfectly clear that without the 4+8 raise and lower you were in big trouble.As Bob so correctly states , necessary elements for the E9th guitar.

I wonder how many of us started playing guitar on a beginner guitar , you know, the one that didn't have all the notes and frets ..

"I only need one that can play the basic simple songs"
t
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years

CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website

Ben Elder · From: La Crescenta, California, USA

I missed this all day, even while I was in the throes of wrestling with one of these beasts. I've been on an extended Christmas vacation at Ma 'n' Pa's and nabbed one of the "good" ones (natural maple, raised neck) to noodle on while visiting.

Also for nostalgia: my first was a 3+0 (this configuration was an option). I bought and sold it twice and also flipped another one without a factory fretboard but with a nicely drawn magic marker one.

Never having had a KL on the first one, I didn't know about the lower-2 (lower 2-and-7-1/2-step says a typed sheet from a previous owner) business and am disappointed at its being in the wrong place besides being the wrong change. (I'm a RKL-lower-4-&-8 dinosaur.)

I'm only here (Oklahoma City--Blizzard Alley) a coupla more days. I may see if James Morehead is lurking nearby and if I can throw myself and the Maverick on his mercy to tame it between now and the next visit.

A slight digression: How hard would it be to extend the legs long enough to accommodate +2" rod extenders? Or--how hard would it be to find the same kind of tubing to make new longer legs? The tricky part, it would seem to me, would be drilling the front legs for the pedal bar.
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B A Young · From: Georgia, USA

thanks everyone !!! I am thinking bout just goin ahead and get a 3 + 4 ... it is settled ... Very Happy

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

The aluminum tubing used for Maverick legs is off-the-shelf hardware store stuff. I cut a set to size with a simple hacksaw for stand-up playing without pedals. Piece of cake.

The best thing about a Maverick is that it's not a collectors item. You can hack at it to your heart's content.
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Michael Haselman · From: St. Paul

I too started on a Maverick some 30 years ago. Problem was I got the Winnie Winston book, which got a large percentage of us started. The Maverick lasted about 3 weeks and then I got a Pro I with 3 x 4 and played it for 25 years.
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