Purchased a Sho-Bud and maintenance tips

[Anthony Del Grosso]

Hey fellas, I just bought a Sho~Bud off FB Marketplace. Plugged it in and it sounds amazing, was just looking for any information on it. Seller never played and just gave me a note from previous owner saying Randy Roads played it for a week before and loved it. He thinks its from the 70s. The undercarriage has tons of holes in it, makes it think somebody redid the bottom? All the rods and levers look extremely shiny, almost like they are new and not from the 70s. I believe the serial number is #7875.

Would you happen to know what the switch is next to the input jack?
Would anybody have tips on cleaning this badboy up? Ive heard of greasing up the springs/cranks/etc. Not sure what product I would use for this.
ANy tips are cleaning up the rollers?
Would like to clip up the tuning pegs as well, they seem extremely stiff and old.
Any recommendations for a newer player would be hopeful!
Thanks everyone

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[Jerry Overstreet]

Your observation is correct. The mechanics have been severly modified, or rather replaced and not Sho-Bud parts, but it looks to be of good quality.

It also was built as a double neck guitar, so the rear one has been removed.

The tuners appear to be Grovers, so they're likely just fine. Could be that the retainer screw on the button has been tightened too tight.

There are 'bud experts here than can tell you about it's original model and design and answer your other questions.

If it plays and sounds good, it's still a very usable instrument, just lost it's value, whatever that may be, as an original Sho~Bud instrument.

[Bill McCloskey]

The serial number would indicate it was built in dec 1974 or jan 1975

[Ian Worley]

The serial number would indicate it was built in dec 1974 or jan 1975

It's actually a very early Professional from the late Baldwin era, probably early 1970. As Jerry said, the undercarriage is non-Sho-Bud except for the changer itself and the Bud tuning barrels for the double raises on strings 4 and 5. Presumably the nylon tuning nuts on those two rods are fixed, epoxied in place or something. There's a glimpse of the pedals in your pics, they're not original either.

The switch appears to be a coil tap, which was typical. The white wire is the full coil, red is a tap midway in the coil, which will give a thinner, brighter tone.

As far as cleanup, it looks pretty rough overall. This would be a candidate for a full tear-down and resto, but if you're a new player and everything works then I would suggest just playing it as-is for a while. Isopropyl alcohol on a soft rag or Q-tip will help to clean grime off the metal parts but it's hard to do a proper or thorough job without dismantling everything. If you want or need to lubricate things, do it very sparingly and wipe off any excess right away, as it will just attract and trap dust and grit. 3in1 oil is good for incidental lubrication, a drop from above between each finger joint at the changer, same between each roller at the nut, thoroughly wipe off any excess. If you have actual stiffness or binding in the mechanism it might require some more invasive maintenance work.

[Bill McCloskey]

Thanks for the correction Ian. I was going by this https://www.donblood.net/sho-bud-serial ... dates.html

[Anthony Del Grosso]

Thanks for the comments. I’m actually starting to do some cleaning. Looks like e eryvody is saying Ronson light fluid has naptha in it and also mothers mag, for the key heads and rollers. Then lube them with tri flow.

I can’t find much on what to clean the body with. I’m not fully sure what the body material is, I don’t think it’s mica, seems like it’s wood? Any recommendations?
Thanjs

[Dave Grafe]

Thanks for the comments. I’m actually starting to do some cleaning. Looks like e eryvody is saying Ronson light fluid has naptha in it and also mothers mag, for the key heads and rollers. Then lube them with tri flow.

I can’t find much on what to clean the body with. I’m not fully sure what the body material is, I don’t think it’s mica, seems like it’s wood? Any recommendations?
Thanjs

Formula 409 is safe for all surfaces and free of toxic fumes, works great for de-greasing parts and also for cleaning the lacquered wood and fretboard.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Any good carnauba based auto polish/cleaner such as Meguiar's is fine for lacquer finishes. It cuts film and scum and leaves a nice shine same as the finish on autombiles.

That's what Lamar Colvin recommended to me and it worked just fine. Only issue with that is keeping it out of nooks and crannies or it shows when dry.

[Bobby D. Jones]

The guitar looks like someone who worked in a machine shop, Or owned a machine shop. Found a Sho-Bud body with the front neck changer and pickup left in it. At an estate sale or yard sale.

Something that really stands out. The first thing they done, Add aluminum reinforcement plates to the front and back aprons. Guitar should have very little cabinet drop.

Then added Mullins style hex cross rods, MSA style bell cranks. And used a few Sho-Bud barrels on some pulls.

If you get the guitar cleaned up, lubed and it will tune up proper. Should be a great sounding, Playing guitar,
Good Luck in this project.

[Henry Matthews]

I’m sure that’s a great sounding rig but if I owned it, I’d take it completely apart and fill all those holes and either flock it like an Emmons or if you could find it, use that green type paint or what ever it was that ShoBuds used to use. But it would only improve looks.