The difference in a excellent steel an a special steel!

[Henry Matthews]

I agree about some of the old Sho Buds
Ike the finger tip and rack and barrel. The Sho Buds that Ive had have been magnificent instruments in every way and stayed in perfect tune but they were the later like mid 80’s. They were the Pro ll and Pro lll models and both had tone to die for and both were lacquer guitars and big in size compared to say a push pull, which I didn’t like so eventually got rid of them.
As far as the push pulls, yes, for the regular everyday person, they can be a mechanical nightmare. I’m able to work on mine if needed so that doesn’t present a problem for me. I just put a tunable split on my 6th string last Friday so push pulls can have splits, they just work a little different.

[Brint Hannay]

Most old Sho~Buds don't stay in tune.

If that's the case I guess maybe I've just been lucky. I have four 70's Sho-Buds, two with "Super Pro" mechanics, one with two-hole pullers with fixed swivels, and one with two-hole pullers and barrels, and they all stay in tune very well.

At one point I had the barrels-behind-two-hole pullers guitar set up in my practice room and lost track of the Allen wrench for tuning the pulls for about a month or so, but it was OK because I never needed it.

[Henry Matthews]

Most old Sho~Buds don't stay in tune.

If that's the case I guess maybe I've just been lucky. I have four 70's Sho-Buds, two with "Super Pro" mechanics, one with two-hole pullers with fixed swivels, and one with two-hole pullers and barrels, and they all stay in tune very well.

At one point I had the barrels-behind-two-hole pullers guitar set up in my practice room and lost track of the Allen wrench for tuning the pulls for about a month or so, but it was OK because I never needed it.

No, not lucky, lol, those models never that I know of had any tuning problems. The 2 hole pull guitars actually played great and stayed in tune, the ones I’ve had anyway.

[Jack Hanson]

Most old Sho~Buds don't stay in tune.

A "proper set up push pull" Emmons pp is a rarity.

My brand-new '70s Pro 1 would not return the fourth string drop to pitch, period. So I dumped it. It's been my opinion ever since that is one reason Lloyd Green did not drop the Es on both 4 & 8. (Someone here will undoubtedly correct me if I'm wrong.)

All three of my push/pulls were set up by Clem Schmitz. He knows how to do it right.

[Johnie King]

Bump

[Dave Grafe]

Since 1973 I have owned and played four Sho-Buds, three Emmons push-pulls, three Zums, a Fessenden and a couple of Desert Rose guitars. Of this baker's dozen I still have the only two that make me want to practice every day.

[Brooks Montgomery]

drum roll….and they are?…Dave….?

[Bobby D. Jones]

The only steel that the builder has complete control of, Is guitars with bodies built out of fibers like the MSA Milles or full metal body like the Fuzzy steels.

When you add wood, You add an UNKNOWN.
Every piece of wood, Because of the tree species, Or sub species, Where it grows, The amount of dry weather or wet weather, Sun during its growth, The wood has its own personality. Then how it is milled, Can add or subtract other unknowns. Like Quarter sawing.

[Bob Carlucci]

I once had a phone conversation with Jim Palanscar about a problem I was having with a very temperamental sho bud,, He uttered a sentence that has stuck with me for decades, only because it made perfect sense.. "Some pieces of wood have NO business being in a steel guitar".

[Dave Grafe]

drum roll….and they are?…Dave….?

Ha!
1974 Emmons Cuttail D10 8+6 rebuilt by Tommy Cass
1983 Zumsteel D10 9+9 rebuilt by myself

Every one of my guitars has had something special going on but I've never been able to afford keeping them all. Others have been easier to play but these two have a sound that has me entranced every time I sit down behind them.

[Brett Day]

My steel is excellent and special at the same time because it was built by Shot Jackson's two sons, David and Harry, and I'm now using a bar that helps me get the tone and sound I've been looking for-the bar is my Ezzee Slide polymer tone bar. I love my current steel, but I really want to try out the new Sho-Bud models-Maverick II and Pro V because in my 25 years as a steel guitarist, I've been a fan of Sho-Bud, but have never played one. I do know the Jackson steels are special