This Professional is an early one, we think a 1970, based on the pickups and tuners. Duane Marrs says it probably was a custom guitar since the neck selector and coil tap switches are between the necks, rather than on the endplate. It now has a Marrs/Surratt undercarriage and changer and plays like a dream, still with the characteristic S~B sound.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

[This message was edited by Herb Steiner on 16 August 2005 at 05:36 PM.]

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73 PRO II, 79/80 PRO III
Steelkings,Fender guitars,Preston covers,
and Taylor(Tut that is)
Reso's
"Of all the things Ive lost in life, I miss my mind the most"

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Sho-Bud: Professional & Fingertip

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Steelin' Greetings
Marco Schouten
Sho-Bud LLG; Guyatone 6 string lap steel; John Pearse bar; Emmons bar; Evans SE200 amp

Let me start with the infamous “rack and barrel” system. This system is an antiquated mechanical system and adds absolutely nothing to the sound of the older Sho-Buds. It might be adequate if you desire to be a Lloyd Green clone, but if you want to survive in a cover band playing all the licks that come out of Nashville, good luck. Try synching this up on a RKL on a Rack and Barrel system.
1st string whole tone raise
2nd string half tone raise
6th string whole tone lower, plain string
3rd string the C-6th neck, whole tone lower.
On a rack and barrel system you will feel each pull activate until you reach the stop. This I can not endure.
This isn’t an unusual knee lever pull. I would bet most of the weekend pickers have this knee lever on their guitars. I would think it would be an absolute necessity for a road picker out of Nashville.
However, if you think the rack and barrel system will make you sound out of this world, be my guest.

In my opinion the reason the older Sho-Buds had a sweet tone was “ALUMINUM CHANGERS”. That’s what I’m saying. Sho_Bud lost that tone when they started using the Chrome plated Zinc changers. The two hole pullers made the action a little smoother, but the sound was not what the older guitars were.

I found out that Sho-Bud installed aluminum changers in their endorsee guitars. Even the SuperPro players had aluminum changers in their guitars. All of us other suckers bought the Sho-Buds with the “cap pistol” changers with the chrome plating.

My first effort to improve my Sho-Buds was to make them play with the same easy action as the Franklin Guitar. Somewhere around 1983-84, Kevin Ryan brought his brand spanking new FRANKLIN over to my apartment for me to adjust the return compensators. Mr Franklin had the compensators properly adjusted when the guitar was shipped but Kevin turned the wrong nylon tuners on the 4th string. Having compromised the settings on the return compensators, nothing he tried would arrive at the results he desired. The part that simply awes me is the fact that Kevin could tell that the string was not returning to proper pitch with just his ear. I would die for an ear like that. Kevin finally gave up and brought the guitar to me. I used a Korg AT-12 tuner and adjusted the return compensators. After I had the guitar all setup, I played it for awhile. It simply blew my mind how easy the FRANKLIN guitar played. So I started modifying my Sho-Buds to duplicate the action that impressed me. It has been a never ending quest but I have finally arrived with the results I wanted. My first big change was installing triple raise and double lower changers. The next big change was installing 14 whole pulling fingers like the later Emmons guitars. The guitars played like butter, but I still didn’t have the “sound” I wanted. My good Friend Albert Johnson suggested and made some changers from 6061 aluminum. We put them on my early 70’s Pro-III. I couldn’t believe the difference in the tone. When I bought my Professional a year ago, I removed and threw away most of the antiquated under carriage. It took some machining but I adapted it for triple raise, double lower changers with the aluminum uppers. I had Dana Flood to play the guitar before and after the conversion. Dana, Albert Johnson and I all agreed that the guitar sounded better after the conversion. All three of my Sho-Buds have aluminum changers and 14 whole pulling fingers.

That’s all I’ve got to say about Sho-Buds.

[This message was edited by Joey Ace on 18 August 2005 at 06:40 AM.]

If you are asking about obtainig A Steel for the pleasure of owning a Classic /Collectable then the D10 Professional is a wise choice.

BUT..

My opinion ( like it matters) is that it is NOT a road worthy or GIG worthy guitar, meaning by todays configuration standards..

IF you are playing an extended configuration , like Leon mentions above, and are looking for a Guitar to match the one you have with an extended setup, it probably ain't gonna happen with an old Professional.

When I had mine, I loved it..but 8+2 was not gonna make it. I purchased all the parts to add another 2 levers but reality landed on my head and I decided to sell it ..and did.

And of course the arguement of "You don't need the extended configuration " always shows up and that is true..if you don't play an extended set up with multiple knee levers and changes.

IF you are playing a 9+8 setup..8+2 is not gonna make you happy...

IF looking at a beautiful old Professional is gonna make you happy then there ya go..

For those who didn't see it the first time, it was exactly what is there now, only repeated FIVE times, due to a computer problem.

quote:

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I like the old style tear-drop Sho Bud knee levers and the left knee left lever that is mounted at an angle to better follow the natural swing of your left leg, does anyone know if Marrs can supply this angled set-up?

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Trouble free, no rebuilding, and those John Coop replacement parts are probably the best you'll find.

Sometimes people dis the plated fingers and other parts.

Mine lasted the best part or more than 3000 bar bush league gigs. Probably two thousand of them before any holes started getting egg shaped, or indentatinos appeared in the fingers to the point where I noticed, and If'n I'd have kept it out of the weather, musty car trunks and oiled it it'd have lasted longer. Then there were the beer baptisms it got on a bi-yearly basis.

I"ve seen a number of them sell lately for good prices.

If you buy a Professional, it's a crap shoot. Some of them were different.Some of the years had split axles and the baskets already were a touchy deal. The one I sent to Duane and Jeff to become a Super Marrs~Bud would have been a nightmare to get working again.

JMHO

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association