Re-Building a couple of Sho Buds

Dave Bertoncini · Post by **Dave Bertoncini** » 27 May 2014 8:22 am

Andy, talk to Dave at Telonics. I am sure he can steer you in the right direction.

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 27 May 2014 9:07 am

Thanks Dave for the tip.
I looked at his web site and seems interesting.
No prices are listed and they don't really describe each pick up.
May try to call a little later to ask about tone and prices?
That model 34 looks like some kind of combination...

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 27 May 2014 9:53 am

I'd think about getting Jerry Wallace to rewind the Bud pickup, and maybe overwind it a bit to beef up the tone.

Dave Bertoncini · Post by **Dave Bertoncini** » 27 May 2014 10:00 am

Yes Andy...call them and talk to either Sophie or Dave. I have 409's on both necks of my Infinity

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 27 May 2014 10:34 am

Thanks Lane,
I am kind of dumb about pick ups.
So extra windings will give it a fatter warmer tone?
I am guessing Jerry Wallace is on the forum.
Thanks for the tip,
Andy

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 27 May 2014 10:44 am

Correct. The more windings (generally, but there are other variables, but if the wire and magnets are the same, it pretty much holds true), the louder, but darker, the tone. That pretty much accounts for the difference between the 60s honky-tonk sound (which I dig) and the modern thicker sound.
For ten or fifteen bucks more, Jerry will add a center tap, so that you can have BOTH classic thin and modern thick sounds at the flip of of a switch. I'd think about 20K (since you say you want thicker than normal) and a tap at 13.5-14.
Make it clear that you WANT darker than usual.

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 1 Jun 2014 5:53 pm

Well after getting laid up with hay fever yesterday to the point that I could hardly see through swollen eyes we got back on the job today.
I decided to keep this one all green so it will be a little more like the LDG models.... I plan to use the card suit decals in white and red on the center front apron. Will also use a white Sho Bud decal on the changer side.
I will also use the original Sho Bud pick ups on these last two guitars to keep the famous Sho Bud sound.
Denny and I both want to get newer pickups with a fat warm tone for ours.

We didn't have enough lacquer to seal it so it will be much stronger green once that is done.
The last guitar left will be done in Red & Amber but I didn't get that done today because there is still some sanding work needed.
I have two more weekends to work on these before I head over to Saigon for the summer.
The wood on these is so nice it seems a shame to even put an arm rest on and cover the wood.
Maybe we will make them narrow and shorter than normal to show off more wood, Gotta get that bling!

We also decided that since we have a total of 16 pedals, all the guitars will get 4 pedals and 4 knee levers each with the extra being the Franklin change
Will keep posting until they are ready to play.

Looks like Wild Horse Michael is back up and running in time for some of the parts we will need, Great because his products are of such wonderful quality!

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 14 Jun 2014 12:04 pm

Well had wanted to get closer to being finished but have run out of time.
We will get them done after I return from Saigon in September.

A couple more pictures of where we are at now.
Got the decals on the third guitar and a few more coats of lacquer.
Denny said he will color the last Guitar Red and Amber while I am gone.
That one will also have the White Fret Board and a White Sho Bud logo but no card suit because the red cards would not show on a red finish.

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 11 Oct 2014 12:16 pm

Well after being away in Saigon for four months we are now back to work.
This is turning into one of the longest restoration projects ever.
While I was away Denny got his guitar sanded and buffed out.
I did the same to mine this week and it looks great.
We are still needing to do that to the Green one.
I also stained Red the front apron and neck of the forth one during the week.
Our next session we intend to spray the finish for these other two.
Once they are all sanded, buffed & polished we can start to assemble them into working steels.
Getting excited to that point of wanting to rush to the finish, but best to take our time and get it right.
We were going to make templates from the original steel for placing all the parts.... However, since Sho Bud were so sloppy that will not work.
Even though the two guitars we started with were the same models built about the same time, parts just do not match.
Amazing that Buds sound as good as they do considering how sloppy they were built.

Chris Boyd · Post by **Chris Boyd** » 12 Oct 2014 7:41 am

Beautiful work Andy !

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 12 Oct 2014 8:53 am

do you have gigs in saigon?

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 12 Oct 2014 9:29 am

They look great! What are you using to buff the bodies?
JB

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 12 Oct 2014 10:57 am

To Chris Boyd; Thanks for the kind words.

To John Billings; I used a standard polishing compound with the buffing wheel that has soft cotton on it.

To Chris Ivey; This past summer I was playing a duo thing quite a lot with an australian guitar player in cafes around town. It was well received.
He had been the house guitar player at the jazz club there until a few months ago.
He never played C&W before but was a natural and without any real practice he is able to play perfect on any old tune we do.

Now I'm back in Oregon where I don't play at all.

While in Saigon during August i was interviewed by the Saigon TV station about my pearl inlay business. They were very curious about the pedal steel because it is the only one in the whole country. They had me play about ten minutes and then edited it down to about 30 seconds or less.
Here is a link to that interview show with the advertising removed;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4ePxyMy8fU
Starts off in Vietnamese but moves soon to english also.

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 12 Oct 2014 10:58 am

Bob Muller · Post by **Bob Muller** » 12 Oct 2014 11:55 am

Andy, very interesting interview about your work with the inlays. It also looks like you have some very nice bodies made up for your new pedal steels, keep up the good work.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 12 Oct 2014 12:43 pm

Stand-mounted dual arbor buffer, or standard car buffer?

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 12 Oct 2014 1:14 pm

Hi John,
The buffing wheel is on the side of Denny's lath... Trick to use without bumping the steels body up against the lath frame or bolts. Got to be real careful not to touch and scratch.
Used to have a real nice buffing arbor but gave them away a few years ago when I thought I'd never build again.

Hi Bob,
Good to hear from you.
Yes they didn't show too much of my playing which is too bad because I played a whole ten minutes without a fumble....
And that with a whole TV crew in my house, But it was fun because I never did anything like that before...
The steels are coming along nice but now we got to get them back together.
For now the main thing is to get the finish work before the weather turns cold.
We can do the assembly no matter how the weather is.
Still may end up asking your help when we get to that stage.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 12 Oct 2014 1:40 pm

Andy, you ARE THE MASTER...From the pictures of your refinishing work, you work is beyond gorgeous...Pure Eye Candy!!!...So if I sent you a body from an old, say Sho~Bud Pro lll, youâ€™d refinish it for me?

Dale,

steelinatune

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 12 Oct 2014 1:57 pm

Andy,
I have a friend who uses that set up sometimes, in his very cramped workroom. He tied old shag carpeting to the legs and whatever, of his various machines. He says it helps.

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 12 Oct 2014 5:45 pm

Hi Dale,
Thanks for the compliment.
We just have too many irons in the fire to take on another refinishing job.
However just about any luthier worth his salt could do that well for you.
On my business web site is pages of luthiers in every state and many countries who offer their service.
Just one word of caution is that there is no license to do this work so be sure to see some of their work before you hand your guitar body over.
Make that two words of advise; also agree on price and time required before you start with anyone.
Here is a link to those pages;
http://luthiersupply.com/local_luthiers.html
Good Luck.

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 12 Oct 2014 5:51 pm

Hi John,
Good idea, Think I'll run it by Denny when we get together next week to sand and buff out the other guitars.
Had a good session this afternoon adding coats of finish to the other two guitars.
Will post some pictures soon.
Andy

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 12 Oct 2014 6:25 pm

Had a good day of color touch ups and spraying today.
I did most of the color work and Denny did most of the spraying.
These are the two we intend to sell when the project is finished.
The one with the Red Front Apron and Neck will soon get a White Sho Bud decal on the front. The color is very close to the original finish.
In fact that guitar body is the original Sho Bud, but with the front apron replaced 1/8th inch deep.

Martin Weenick · Post by **Martin Weenick** » 13 Oct 2014 9:33 am

Andy, it appears that the apron inlay strips are 1/4 or 5/16 inches wide. Where can I find M.O.P. in that width? Your web site only goes up to an 1/8 inch. Thanks, Martin.

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 13 Oct 2014 10:17 am

Hi Martin,
The Red & Blond Guitar has three strips; White MOP/Red Abalone/White MOP each of 1/8th" for a total width of 3/8".
The other three guitars have also three strips of White MOP/Paua Abalone/White MOP but those have 1/16" White strips with a center of 1/8" Paua Abalone for a total width of 1/4 inch.
Hope that answers your question?
Andy

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 13 Oct 2014 12:17 pm

Andy De Paule wrote:Hi Dale,
Thanks for the compliment.
We just have too many irons in the fire to take on another refinishing job.
However just about any luthier worth his salt could do that well for you.
On my business web site is pages of luthiers in every state and many countries who offer their service.
Just one word of caution is that there is no license to do this work so be sure to see some of their work before you hand your guitar body over.
Make that two words of advise; also agree on price and time required before you start with anyone.
Here is a link to those pages;
http://luthiersupply.com/local_luthiers.html

Good Luck.

Thanks, Andy

I’m not really there yet, but absolutely enjoy the pictures of your projects which spurs me to want to be there, sooner then later...I’ll look through your suggestions...I have no idea whatsoever what a one or two tone refinish
SHOULD run cost wise...and maybe some of that nice abolone inlay too.

Thanks again,

Dale

steelinatune

The Steel Guitar Forum

Re-Building a couple of Sho Buds

Good tip

Beef it up?

Another day and another one got colored

A couple more pictures

Sanded & Buffed

Response to comments

More Response...

Refinish Sho Bud

Padding the lath

Two more getting close

Inlay

Pearl Strips

Re: Refinish Sho Bud