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Topic: Just bought my first Pedal Steel -- How'd I do, guys? |
Jerin Kelly
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 16 Dec 2015 7:15 pm |
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My first pedal steel. An '81 Sho~Bud Pro 1. It's on Layaway right now. Just over one thousand dollars. What do you guys think?
Last edited by Jerin Kelly on 16 Dec 2015 8:14 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jerin Kelly
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 16 Dec 2015 7:17 pm
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| Any info on this model / year / style of pedal steel would be helpful. I'd like your input. I'm a total newbie. |
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Tom Gorr
From:
Three Hills, Alberta
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Posted 16 Dec 2015 7:37 pm
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| Beautiful...a great price. .. super pro model I would expect based on the SN |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 16 Dec 2015 7:42 pm
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| The Sho-Bud Pro series of steels was introduced into the early seventies.The Pro I had been around since 1972 and was standard with three pedals and one knee lever. The Pro I was one of Sho-Bud's most popular steels. |
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Dan Beller-McKenna
From:
Durham, New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 16 Dec 2015 7:46 pm
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Ya done good, Jerrin! These later model Sho Buds are very easy to work on and set up, and most of them sound good. I have a double neck version from around the same time: yours would appear to be late March / early April 1982, and appears to be all original and in great condition.
As you may have already gathered from searching the forum, these later Buds do have an Achilles heel. Several of the parts are made of cheap, weak pot metal. One group of parts is easy to replace, another not so easy. The brackets that attach the knee levers to the cross bars underneath are available from a few aftermarket manufacturers who sue superior aluminum. I would recommend replacing those right away, as there many stories of these breaking. Michael Yahl at psgparts.com can set you up with those.
More problematic are the changer fingers. The top part, to which the string attaches, eventually gets a groove worn in it from contact with the steel plate that activates the lowers. This can prevent the string from coming back up to pitch after it has been lowered. No one is making replacement for these at the moment. Looks can be deceiving, but, given how clean your axe looks, you can hope that it has not seen excessive use, and the grooves may be a long way off in your future, by which time (hopefully!) Michael or someone else will have started producing replacement parts. In the meantime there are a variety of fixes, but I wouldn't worry about it until and unless it becomes a problem. Many forumites have been playing this model of Sho Bud for decades without any problems.
Main thing now is to enjoy your axe and get playin'! |
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Jerin Kelly
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 16 Dec 2015 7:54 pm
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| When I say just over one thousand, I mean $1300. But it sounds better in my head that way. This one has three pedals and four knee levers. I played it a little bit before I made the commitment, even though I don't really know what I'm doing. There's just a little bit of corrosion on trace rods and springs. But everything seems to work just fine! |
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Posted 16 Dec 2015 8:16 pm
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Yes April 1982
| Tab: |
1982
January 17441 17510
February 17511 17580
March 17581 17660
April 17661 17711
May 17712 17755
June 17756 17799
July 17780 17810
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_________________
Ricky Davis
Email Ricky: sshawaiian2362@gmail.com |
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Dan Robinson
From:
Colorado, USA
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Ian Worley
From:
Sacramento, CA
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Posted 16 Dec 2015 11:55 pm
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| Dan Beller-McKenna wrote: |
| ...More problematic are the changer fingers... ...No one is making replacement for these at the moment... |
I doubt Jerin will need them but since you mentioned it, and just FYI, I can make 'em (in small quantities anyway). This is a set I just dropped in the mail today, going in the E9 neck of a later Pro II. They are 6061 T6 aluminum with pins instead of the frustrating little notch for the string ball ends (the pins were obviously not installed yet in the pic). The nice flat rear surface works much better for adding split tuning screws in the changer housing too.
Only the actual fingers and upper shoulder rivets are new; they're using the original steel raise/lower scissor. I'm not really set up to make those bits efficiently at present, but if the original steel scissors are still in good shape the actual fingers are easy to replace.
Btw, nice looking 'Bud Jerin, I have a red 12 string that looks just like it.  |
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Patrick Laffrat
From:
Gemenos, France
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 1:52 am
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Hello Jerin,
what a Lucky man you are. You was right to buy this very nice guitar with its light case. Have fun! |
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Dave Campbell
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 2:50 am
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| ian, i'm sending you a pm. |
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Bill Ferguson
From:
Milton, FL USA
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 4:35 am
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You did good.
_________________
AUTHORIZED George L's, Goodrich, Telonics and Peavey Dealer: I have 2 steels and several amps. My current rig of choice is 1993 Emmons LeGrande w/ 108 pups (Jack Strayhorn built for me), Goodrich OMNI Volume Pedal, George L's cables, Goodrich Baby Bloomer and Peavey Nashville 112. Can't get much sweeter. |
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Trent Harris
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 6:44 am
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Is that the one that was in Arthur's?? I was hoping that'd be around for a while it's pretty!
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Sho Bud Super Pro
Nashville 400 |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 6:51 am
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Good deal, good guitar. Welcome to the club.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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mike nolan
From:
Forest Hills, NY USA
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 7:03 am
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| It's a beauty... played a lot of gigs on black one from the same year. |
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Jim Hinds
From:
Gallatin, TN USA
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 7:46 am
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| Very Nice |
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Eric Philippsen
From:
Central Florida USA
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 8:53 am
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Ya' gotta' love the older Bud dustcatcher fretboards.
Welcome to steel guitar in Indiana. |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 12:26 pm
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I would also recommend upgrading the knee lever brackets, at least on left knee left. Your leg swings back and to the left to activate the lever. The pressure that the knee lever gets from the angle of the leg movement, puts a lot of stress on the bracket and it can break. I broke 3 on the Super Pro that I had. Some don't have any problems. I wish they would have mounted LKL the same way the did on earlier models. They angled the cross shaft for the LKL to somewhere close to the angle your knee would travel.
By the way. Nice score.
_________________
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. |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 12:27 pm
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| Eric Philippsen wrote: |
Ya' gotta' love the older Bud dustcatcher fretboards.
Welcome to steel guitar in Indiana. |
Wow. I missed that. My Super Pro didn't have them. They looks so cool.
_________________
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. |
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Ron Funk
From:
Ballwin, Missouri
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 12:37 pm
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Good Score ! !
If the knee levers are set up like an Emmons guitar (Eb lower and raises on Left leg) this may have been steel I owned at one time.
Really looks nice.
Merry Christmas ! |
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Bill Fall
From:
Richmond, NH, USA
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 4:18 pm
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For years, I've been hearing the knock put on later Sho~Buds equipped with pot-metal parts. I've owned seven pedal steels, including two Zums, but the one I've put the most miles on, far and away, is my 1981 Sho~Bud Super Pro, my first and, tone-wise, still my favorite. In the 33 years I've been playing it, I've had to replace only two pot-metal elements, both of them after having well more than 20 years of wear.
No argument: quality aluminum parts are a superior replacement for pot-metal ones -- if you can find them. But I personally wouldn't think twice about buying a Sho~Bud beauty like Jerin's just because of pot metal on the undercarriage. |
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Calvin Walley
From:
colorado city colorado, USA
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Posted 17 Dec 2015 5:56 pm
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look at it this way ...even if you never learn to play it,
you can always just leave it in your living room and when folks come to visit you ,look at it and say
aint that pretty !!!
_________________
proud parent of a sailor
Mullen SD-10 /nashville 400
gotta love a Mullen!!!
Guitars that i have owned in order are :
Mullen SD-10,Simmons SD-10,Mullen SD-10,Zum stage one,Carter starter,
Sho-Bud Mavrick |
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Rich Upright
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 18 Dec 2015 9:10 am
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Good price. Not a great price, but a good price.
_________________
A couple D-10s,some vintage guitars & amps, & lotsa junk in the gig bag. |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 18 Dec 2015 9:30 am
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| Bill Fall wrote: |
For years, I've been hearing the knock put on later Sho~Buds equipped with pot-metal parts. I've owned seven pedal steels, including two Zums, but the one I've put the most miles on, far and away, is my 1981 Sho~Bud Super Pro, my first and, tone-wise, still my favorite. In the 33 years I've been playing it, I've had to replace only two pot-metal elements, both of them after having well more than 20 years of wear.
No argument: quality aluminum parts are a superior replacement for pot-metal ones -- if you can find them. But I personally wouldn't think twice about buying a Sho~Bud beauty like Jerin's just because of pot metal on the undercarriage. |
I loved my Super~Pro except for that LKL bracket breaking. I wasn't on the internet yet, and didn't know about solid aluminum replacements. I never broke any other part, or had problems with them. It was a great sounding, and when I put Lawrence 710's on it, it really shined. The only reason I sold mine was, after I bought my Carter, the wife (at the time) made me sell the Bud and my Kline. Had I sold her off instead, I'd still have both.
_________________
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. |
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Jerin Kelly
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 18 Dec 2015 6:07 pm
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| Thanks for all the replies! You guys seem like a super supportive awesome group of people. Can't wait to get this thing going! |
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