Sho~Bud Pro, serial number 7717

[Anthony Locke]

I was wondering if anyone had any info about my Sho~Bud, like previous owners and other history.

Its a Sho~Bud, The Professional, serial number 7717
Thanks!

[CrowBear Schmitt]

http://www.donblood.net/page5.php

# 6535 built 11/4/74 Mon.

# 8191 built 1/28/75 ? Tues.

[Skip Edwards]

That's too high a serial number for a Professional...which is why the dates on Don's database are past the production run for that model.
Are you sure that's the serial #? (2717?)
Or maybe it's not a model 6143 "The Professional"?

[Michael Yahl]

Anthony,

Per information gleaned from various threads, any Sho-Buds in the 7XXX range of serial numbers should be considered "The Lost Boys". It is believed that Shot and Harry kept this segment of numbers for thier personal use and they could represent anything spanning the production years. It is also believed that Harry possesses the records of these 7XXX numbers but does not wish to make them public. There is speculation that they were used for "specials" and prototypes that they may have personnally built.

I have 8 S/N's in my database spanning from 7444 to 7876 and no one has been able to place a date on any of them though original owner, purchase receipt, etc.

I personally have #7644. I purchased it as a basket case in pieces. I know that it should be a Professional as one of the previous owners (Michael Johnstone) told me that it was a rack and barrel when he owned it 40 years ago. There was a Sho-Bud decal on it but no 'The Professional' decal. He got it used so no way to track before that. Someone attempted to replace all of the rack assemblies and fingers so the originals are gone.

An interesting characteristic of this guitar is the end plates. They are bent aluminum with the leg sockets welded in with the openings for the tuning rod access sawed out. I believe that this may pre-date the cast D10 end plates. Also the pedal bar and axel supports are cast as opposed to extruded and machined.

The C6 deck has a cutout and holes, similar to an early LDG, for a neck selector switch and knobs. The underside of the cabinet is painted flat black and to date, I've not seen any pictures of a Professional being finished that way. The serial number is engraved on the inside of the end plate and I can see the seial number had been written in pen or pencil on the wood prior to being painted and not stamped.

There are no ledges for the E9 and C6 decks to sit on and be fastened to. The end plates are secured to the ends of decks with 2 screws per deck, 4 total thru the face of the end plate.

The changer housing casting is different than my '73 Professional #2374. It has a cast rib that appears to have been later eliminated.

As I was taking the pictures, I also remembered that the key head is somewhat different and resembles some of the earlier key heads that I've seen pictures of. Note the Gumby head is not as pronounced, the casting appears to be a bit thicker, the tuning machine pads are not machined, and the string roller slots are wider than the later models.

So, overall from the items that I have for this guitar, compared to my '73 and all of the pictures that I have examined, this #7644 guitar is unlike any other Professional that I have seen.


I would be interested to hear/see specifics about your guitar.

Thanks

Michael

[Skip Edwards]

Ahh...the mysteries of Sho-Bud. Kind of like an onion...
Thanks, Michael.

[Bob Muller]

Michael, that is a truley strange looking guitar. With the neck switch and controls in the center of the deck I wonder how that could have been room for the racks and knee levers required for a D-10?

[Anthony Locke]

Thanks for the info, Michael. Here are some pics

[Michael Yahl]

Anthony,

Can you give some shots of the undercarriage?

It looks almost identical to my '73 Professional and most likely was built around that time, '71-'73.

You can get a new replacement coil tap switch from James Morehead here on the forum. The smaller tone switches are available at Radio Shack but I don't know what the numbers are. You might also check with Jim Palenscar about them.

Yeah Bob, it's a real interesting baby!

[Anthony Locke]

Here are a couple more...

[Tom Wolverton]

I think Michael meant to say "neck selector switch" from James Morehead. The coil tap switches are the mini switches you can get from Radio Shack. James' switch is beautiful. ( if you could call a switch beautiful )

[Michael Yahl]

There doesn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary about your guitar aside from the Ø.125 linkage on the LKL. This may have preceded the smaller and longer bent rod that I have on mine. I figure it may place it in the '70 to '72 range. Otherwise it looks identical to my '73.

So, this may have just been a special build for a customer but that's meerly conjecture.

She needs an overhaul and cleaning bad! Give Ridcky Davis or James Morehead a jingle. They can make her look like new!

Tom, Thanks for the correction. Can you post those switch numbers for the ones you got from Radio Shack?

[John Billings]

Keyheads kinda look like these. Earlier.

[Michael Yahl]

Those are the same wide roller slots that mine has John.

Can you give me an estimate of the date of yours?

Also all the rest of the pertinent info!

[John Billings]

Michael,
Coop told me 1967. Very, very early R&B guitar.
Before restoration;



During resto;



The strange racks, they hadn't gotten to adding the return springs yet;

[Michael Yahl]

John, is this #7444?

Anthony, sorry to snag your thread.

Guys, start a new one with any other ?

[John Billings]

That's correct Michael. One of the serial numbers Shobud reserved for itself during the Baldwin years?

The only older R&B that I've seen is Rick Abbot's.

[John Billings]

Michael,
Just looked at all the pics again. The wide roller slots were for wide, brass rollers. I'm gonna do some guessing here....

Yours is later than mine, but I'll bet not by much.

Mine has a wood wrap-around changer. Maybe your changer is a prototype, or transitional model to the all aluminum changer surround they finally used???

The endplates are interesting! ShoBud had always had some problems with castings having pits and pinholes. I always figured that was why they painted the Crossovers. When they got a good casting, they used them on the Crossover Custom. Maybe. It is ShoBud! But your bent endplates may have been an experiment, using rolled aluminum plate, which would have no flaws.

Are those Schaller tuning machines? If so, standard equipment in '67. They're what was on my '67. I put on Grovers, thinking someone had put on the "cheap" Schallers. Not so. Earlier guitars used the open gear Grovers.

Lotsa guesses on my part. But fun to think about!

[Kyle Porter]

Hi guys, I stumbled on this post while researching a Sho-bud for a friend. This one is numbered 7430 and is a single neck, 10 string, 3 pedal and 1 knee. I'm guessing it's a model 6139 possibly. I am told it was built as a gift for my friend. He had only taken it out once back in 72 to try to learn to play it but soon put it back in the case where it has stayed for almost 40 years. I was wondering about the age. I am told it is around 1970 and the legs are wrapped in a San Francisco Chronicle newspaper dated June 15, 1970.
 

[Tommy Thompson]

Sho-Bud D-10 R&B without name (the professional) #7980 just another mystery.Picture filePicture file

[James Morehead]

Michael, If those keyheads can be trusted to be original to your cabinet/endplates, I think your guitar is late '69-'70. The keyheads with the wide rollers are carry over stock used up from the cross-over era. In'73 Professionals were morphing into the Pro II (barrels behind two-hole pullers), and were using the thin rollers. The zigzag inlay seems to be more common early on in the Professional's run, thith rope inlay becoming the dominant inlay used. Serial #'s don't mean anything--hows it sound and hows it play would be a better question. YMMV