Identification and opinions:Sho~Bud?

[K Maul]

This baby came into the possession of a pal of mine. I have looked it over and even though some people told him it was a Sho~Bud, I doubt it.. The workmanship is pretty nice, and it certainly is inspired by that brand. Can anybody here ID the manufacturer or give any information, about the previous owner who apparently is deceased. His name appears in one of the pictures - he was from the Boston area. I am trying to wrap my head around exactly how the mechanism works. First I thought it was a pull-release, but I don’t really know how to describe the changer. Lowers are tuned on the top deck, and raises are tuned below – with two different size Allen wrenches no less!. I’m trying to do a few little things for him like moving the E changes to the left knee, but I won’tget too deeply into it because I’m not really sure about how it all works.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Bobby D. Jones]

The guitar looks like it tried to be a Sho-Bud Permanent!!!!!!!!
Sho-Bud key heads, Fret boards, and a Pull and Release changer.
Looks like someone used gold foil to hide decals of name and model. The Pedals have been (*&^%$#@!) customized.
The under carriage looks like some one had a bad dream of how the the pulls should be on the guitar, Then made their dream become a reality.

An E-mail is on its way to you.

[Bruce Zumsteg]

We would need better pictures of the changer underneath to really see how it is made. It is not a pull-release. My first guess is that it's a finger-tip type (two piece) changer that tunes the lowers like a permanent, stopping the main string finger with the allen screw on top of the cabinet. And the raises appear to be tuned by the other allen screw stopping against the end plate (ala Z-B or Klein), which means that allen screw must be threaded into the raise portion of the changer. If that screw pulls inward when the raise is actuated, it would confirm that theory. Pictures of the under carriage (bell cranks, etc) showing the method of balancing the pulls would also be helpful. Much of the hardware and cabinet work does appear to be authentic ShoBud parts however. Perhaps it was a onetime experimental model that they tried.

[K Maul]

Thank you for your input. Coming from such an esteemed builder your opinion means a lot to me. It’s so cramped and crowded in there. It’s very hard to get a good shot of the changer. I have many questions. What are those cross bar angle iron things supposed to do? The pickups don’t look like Bud to me unless they are some kind of experimental things. The Allen screws do pull inward when you activate the raises. I hope these additional pictures can give everybody a better idea of what this is.

[Bobby D. Jones]

Looks like the pieces of angle metal, Are what the person used to take the place of the Flat Pull Bars that was used on some early steel guitars. Looks like the bar/pedal lever, May have already been in the guitar. Maybe they thought it would be stronger than flat bars. Or they had the angle metal, Thought why buy anything, Just use the angle metal.

The thing that really catches my eye, When I look at the pictures. The angle metal, And the wire hook bends that look like they are the width of their pliers jaws, They used to form the wire hooks with.

[Bruce Zumsteg]

The undercarriage is definitely not something that ShoBud built. It looks like the builder tried to model it after the ZB pull system, with the cross bars that swivel at the center. I don't see that there is a good way to balance two (or more) raises that require different amounts of travel. Zane and Klein used a swiveling 'singletree' that would allow the longer pull to continue to its tuning stop (the allen screw against the endplate) after the shorter pull has reached its stop. Unfortunately, I believe you would have to do a complete redesign and rebuild of the undercarriage in order to make the guitar playable.

[Dennis Detweiler]

Sounds like a worthwhile project and something solid to work with.

[Bobby D. Jones]

Thanks Mr. Zumsteg, When you called the guitar a "Finger Tip" made me think. I seen a Sho-Bud in a shop that the owner called a Finger Tip. Just seen the top of the guitar. He said, "It sorta tuned backwards from a pull and release".

If you could find someone with an original Sho-Bud Finger Tip that you could look at, Compare, And get pictures of. May be a place to start. To see if it could be reworked into a playable guitar.

That may let you figure, How much work, And money for parts and materials to rebuild the guitar.

Good Luck on this project.

[K Maul]

The undercarriage is definitely not something that ShoBud built. It looks like the builder tried to model it after the ZB pull system. Unfortunately, I believe you would have to do a complete redesign and rebuild of the undercarriage in order to make the guitar playable.

I’ve only had this thing for a few days. Looking closer at those cross bars I do agree it is inspired by the ZB or BMI system. I agree that it would take a complete redo to make it totally playable, but I will not be doing that. It sure is pretty though! The guy who bought it got it for not very much money. He has another really nice guitar however. I’ll give him the bad news about this one.

[Lee Baucum]

Here is the obituary for Richard Topham. It mentions him being a pedal steel guitarist.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bo ... id=1664498

If you look up the address listed on the label, you will see photos of the gorgeous, vintage home he lived in.