Help Identifying Weird Shobud/Linkon Pedal Steel Stripped of Parts

[Simon Andrews]

Good Day,

Came across this steel guitar on a local buy and sell in Canada. From what i can tell its got a Linkon Pedal steel neck, I recognize the Canadiana inlays.

From what i do know, Linkons were mostly MSA parts clones, and searched the whole forum on Linkon posts, I think at least one or two members had a Linkon Shobud build. But this has shobud parts?
Not sure if this changer can both take a pro changer or a rack and barrel. Seems to have the fingers but no scissors...

Total shobud newb here but have lots of MSA experience. Just wrapping my head around what a restore would take in parts and costs. Seems like a lot...

Any insight or help is appreciated or thoughts on if its worth snagging. Its priced around $1000, seems steep but I know things aren't cheap and over time could be a fun experience.

"edit"

I do see a serial number stamp 2369 on both the end plate and body.

Thanks

[Wayne Brown]

From what I can see
wayne's (Linkon) fretboards
gumby sho-bud hey heads
pro 11 or pro 111 changer housing and end plates.... also missing some parts but it looks like someone was going to try to modify it.
sho-bud necks (same type of sho-bud guitar)
Also from the position of all the holes in the cabinet also says sho-bud
I would say this guitar is a sho-bud with Linkon fretboards and nothing to do with MSA or Linkon
As a restore project there is nothing under neath to restore. This would be a Build
Thanks
Wayne

[Mike DiAlesandro]

In regards to the changer, it looks like a Sho~Bud changer housing/pick cover from the Professional thru Pro II era. But, the fingers do not appear to be Sho~Bud at all. I have a set of Professional fingers with return springs if you decide to go that route.

Mike D

[Lee Rider]

Two different scale lengths?

[Ian Worley]

What Wayne said, the body, end plates, changer tailpieces and necks with screws on top all look like an early '70s Sho-Bud Professional to me. The serial # comports with that. The the fingers appear to be just the aluminum finger tops from a 1/1 Professional, but with the three piece scissor assemblies removed. So it looks all Sho-Bud to me, except for the funky paint/decoration job, the Linkon fret boards and that aluminum panel contraption bolted to the end plate. As it is in the pics it might be worth a few hundred bucks if you have parts and know-how to rebuild it, but not the $1000 you mentioned

Lee, I think the appearance of different scale lengths in the last pic is just a parallax thing from the 3/4" offset between front and rear decks

[Bobby D. Jones]

Halloween has brought another Sho-Bud Ghost out of the shadows.
Looks like someone patched the guitar together, As a dream double neck lap steel, Complete with legs.

The front legs look like they have holes drilled. For bolt and thumb nut attachment of pedal bar, Perm. era legs/pedal bar attachment.
With no pedal bar, Pedals, Pedal rods, Would be a $$$ expensive bunch of parts to add to the project.
The holes drilled in the front apron for cross rods, Makes it look like an early Sho-Bud perm. cabinet. Which had bell cranks above the cross rods.
I agree with Mike D. the changers are look to be from a pro or pro II series. The key heads look from the pro/pro II era, Actual rollers not just brass string balls.
The fret boards look good.
With the key heads even, The back neck is width of a pickup shorter than the front neck.
The different length scales would/could be another big problem.
This project could be a very deep rabbit hole.

[Ian Worley]

I hate to disagree with you Bobby, but it's not a Permanent, it's an early '70s Professional, July '72 based on the serial #. The necks are not different lengths, it just appears that way in the 3rd pic because of the angle that pic was taken from. If you look at the first two pics and account for the 3/4" difference between the two top decks, the necks are the same. You can see this pretty clearly in the relationship of the two changers to the end plate in the first two pics. It's just a stripped down Professional with different fret boards and an ugly paint job

[Mike DiAlesandro]

I hate to disagree with you Bobby, but it's not a Permanent, it's an early '70s Professional, July '72 based on the serial #. The necks are not different lengths, it just appears that way in the 3rd pic because of the angle that pic was taken from. If you look at the first two pics and account for the 3/4" difference between the two top decks, the necks are the same. You can see this pretty clearly in the relationship of the two changers to the end plate in the first two pics. It's just a stripped down Professional with different fret boards and an ugly paint job

Yes, Ian is right on with his assessment. At first I couldn't understand why someone would remove the scissor portion of the changer fingers, but with a closer look, that appears to be the case. Worth a few bucks in its current condition. I would pay $500 for it as-is.

Mike D

[K Maul]

$1000 is too much. It will take a lot more to restore it to a working D-10. Unless you are an experienced steel mechanic it will also be time consuming and results may not be so great.
It could be a nice console steel, maybe with a couple knee levers to add changes. That’s what I did to a basket case I got cheap.
If you want a nice D-10 save up and wait for a good deal on something newer with all the parts.

[Simon Andrews]

Thank you for all the information, it is appreciated.

I do agree, I don't think they are different scale lengths, its likely the camera work.
The seller is willing to go down to $850. I haven't made any decision either way, mostly just enquired (no extra parts anywhere, this is an estate sale, just a bag of picks and bars).

If it was rebuilt to an SD-10 like an LDG, at least were looking at half the mechanics, and costs, mostly... . If anything comes out of this and anyone is interested I could keep members updated.

Cheers!

[Erv Niehaus]

There are too many parts missing to build it up to a pedal steel.
It would be much too expensive.
If you were to buy it, I would just use it as a console steel.
BTW, I like the paint job.

[Michael Yahl]

Just walk away and don't look back!

[Ricky Davis]

Just walk away and don't look back!

AMEN

[Richard Sinkler]

It looks like a great console steel guitar to me. That might be what the old owner might have been going for. It's beautiful, but I would only pay $300 to $500 max as is. If I was a machinist with a full machine shop to where I could make all the missing parts, I would give $500 and turn it into a great PSG. The fingers in the installed changer would need replacing as they are not complete. And, I would find some Sho~Bud fretboards.

[Bobby D. Jones]

I do not believe this guitar was ever a working/playable Pedal Steel.!.!.! And someone took it apart to clean and work on it.

It looks like someone took a bunch of Sho-Bud parts and assembled/cobbled the parts, Into a D10 console guitar. And quit.

Enlarging the picture and looking at the key heads, The U between string 5-6 are different. Made with 2 different masters. Maybe models or years apart.

Just walk away and don't look back!

[Richard Sinkler]

I do not believe this guitar was ever a working/playable Pedal Steel.!.!.! And someone took it apart to clean and work on it.

All the holes in the bottom of the guitar makes me think it was a real pedal steel with a complete undercarriage.

[Dave Grafe]

Leave it

[Ian Worley]

Occam's razor

[Bob Carlucci]

actually I disagree with most.. It could be a nice steel once again, without much problem EXCEPT the fact that to buy 2 changers, plus every single pull part right down to the pedals and rack, would cost more than you could buy a nice ProII for even at current badly inflated prices.. There are guys out there with boxes and boxes of Bud parts, including pedals, changers etc, but even then, they could sell those same parts for as much as they could get for the entire assembled guitar and with a lot less work.. Best scenario for this poor old Bud?. Somebody with a complete changer and enough good pull parts to turn it into a nice SD-10,,, Even then though, refinishing, value of parts required?,,, Probably not worth it, unless as I stated earlier, it goes to a guy with a big pile of parts readily at hand, .... Its always the same, we have seen this type post a hundred times on this forum over the years. Basket case condition fine old pedal steel guitars stripped of parts. Disgusting. The value of parts needed to repair the steel is typically as much or more than a complete guitar would cost. Guys that strip these guitars of parts really piss me off.. Destroy a Bud for what?. Value of its pull parts?. That crap has always bothered me, on steels and vintage guitars as well, destroying instruments for the value of its parts.... Hate that crap.

[Bobby D. Jones]

In its other life, The body was a part of, A pedal steel guitar. But it looks like, From the filler blocks in front of the changer holes, The blocks were put in and bottom was painted.
The way the holes for cross rod gear is so low on body. Is what makes me think, The body was once in a permeant body. With bell cranks above cross shafts. (Used a permeant as a pattern for the Red Neck Blonde guitar about 1970, I built.)

I was trying to be nice calling it a Sho-bud Ghost.

The more I sit an look at it, Frankenstein steel starts coming to mind.
Or Johnny Cash's, One Piece At A Time.