Sho-Bud is a brand name for a manufacturer of

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

s that was founded by

Shot Jackson Harold Bradley "Shot" Jackson (September 4, 1920-January 24, 1991) was an American country guitarist best known for playing Dobro and pedal steel guitar. He also designed and manufactured guitars under the name Sho-Bud. Biography Jackson moved t ...

and

Buddy Emmons Buddy Gene Emmons (January 27, 1937 – July 21, 2015) was an American musician who is widely regarded as the world's foremost pedal steel guitarist of his day. He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1981. Affectionately known ...

in 1955 in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

, Tennessee.

History

In the early 1950s Shot installed string pullers with pedals on Fender,

Rickenbacker Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. Rickenbacker is the first known maker of electric guitars, with a steel guitar in 1932, and produces a range of electric guitars and bass ...

, and other steel guitars. Shot approached steel guitarist

Bud Isaacs Forrest "Bud" Isaacs (1928–2016) was an American steel guitarist who made country music history in 1954 as the first person to play pedal steel guitar on a hit record. He is known for his playing his innovative technique on Webb Pierce's 1954 r ...

to start the Sho-Bud company together, using the terms "Sho" named after Shot Jackson and "Bud" after Bud Isaacs. Bud Isaacs was an early partner in the endeavor, and was involved in designing the guitars but later left, after which Shot approached steel guitarist Buddy Emmons. In 1955 Buddy Emmons joined Shot and the two continued the endeavor to create the brand and company. The brand was founded in a small garage in 1955 in

, Tennessee by

and

, both active steel players in the 1950s. The company later relocated to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Tennessee in 1963. In 1963 Emmons left the company, and Shot's sons, David and Harry, accompanied Shot in building Sho-Bud Steel Guitars. Duane Marrs then joined the company. David Shot was involved in designing the first "all pull" mechanics of the company's steel pedal guitars, which allowed for more musical flexibility. Later in 1963, Buddy Emmons left Sho-Bud to start his Emmons Guitar Company with Ron Lashley. In the 1970s they also expanded their line and offered acoustic guitars. They also made a line of dobro-style

resonator guitar A resonator guitar or resophonic guitar (often generically called a " Dobro") is an acoustic guitar that produces sound by conducting string vibrations through the bridge to one or more spun metal cones (resonators), instead of to the guitar' ...

s in conjunction with

Gretsch Gretsch is an American company that manufactures and markets musical instruments. The company was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Fri ...

under the name Sho-Bro, a play on the word "

dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

". The name is currently owned by Gretsch, which purchased the company in 1979, and there are no models in production. In 2024, Shot Jackson's sons, David and Harry Jackson confirmed that Sho-Bud will start building steel guitars again.

Pedal steel models

Models produced include the Permanent, Fingertip, Crossover, Maverick, Professional, Pro I, Pro II, Pro III, Super Pro and LDG (Lloyd Green).

Notes

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.sho-bud.com
Jacksonsteelguitars.com
*https://web.archive.org/web/20161026193248/http://www.locobox.com/shobudacoustic/
Pete Drake Member of the Musician's Hall of Fame for Steel Guitar and player of Sho-bud guitars.
Guitar manufacturing companies of the United States Steel guitar