Sho-Bud

In the early 1950s Shot installed string pullers with pedals on Fender, Rickenbacker, and other steel guitars. Shot approached steel guitarist Bud Isaacs 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{{cite web | title=Bud Isaacs | publisher=NAMM | date=April 20, 2010 | url=https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/bud-isaacs | access-date=March 9, 2022}}{{cite book | last=Carlin | first=R. | title=Country | publisher=Facts On File, Incorporated | series=American Popular Music | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-8160-6977-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M8p_WFCDe7AC&pg=PA161 | access-date=March 9, 2022 | page=161}} 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.{{efn|"In 1955, Buddy Emmons, who played a Bigsby's pedal steel with Little Jimmy Dickens's Country Boys, Joined Shot Jackson to build the first Sho-Bud pedal guitar"{{cite book | last=Kingsbury | first=P. | author2=Country Music Foundation Staff | last3=Garrard | first3=L. | last4=Cooper | first4=D.C. | last5=Foundation | first5=T.C.T.C.M. | last6=Rumble | first6=J. | title=The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1998 | isbn=978-0-19-511671-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQoKAQAAMAAJ | access-date=March 9, 2022 | page=410}}}}

The brand was founded in a small garage in 1955 in Madison, Tennessee{{cite book | title=Emmons & Jackson Team Again; Set Co. | publisher=Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) | issn=0006-2510 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-wgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30 | access-date=March 9, 2022 | page=30}}{{cite book | last=Gruhn | first=G. | last2=Carter | first2=W. | title=Electric Guitars and Basses: A Photographic History | publisher=Backbeat Books | series=G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-87930-974-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPTq-lVMMhcC&pg=PA42 | access-date=March 9, 2022 | page=42}} by Shot Jackson and Buddy Emmons,{{cite web | last=Thanki | first=Juli | last2=Tennessean | first2=The | title=Steel guitar legend Buddy Emmons dies at 78 | website=Home | date=July 30, 2015 | url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/2015/07/30/steel-guitar-legend-buddy-emmons-dies-78/30854955/ | access-date=March 9, 2022}}{{cite book | last=Fry | first=R.W. | title=Performing Nashville: Music Tourism and Country Music's Main Street | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK | series=Leisure Studies in a Global Era | year=2017 | isbn=978-1-137-50482-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PvSqDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 | access-date=March 9, 2022 | page=16}} both active steel players in the 1950s. The company later relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in 1963.{{cite web | last=Hurt | first=Edd | title=Remembering Steel Guitar Innovator Buddy Emmons | website=Nashville Scene | date=July 30, 2015 | url=https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/remembering-steel-guitar-innovator-buddy-emmons/article_eeac096e-2f20-5598-9d04-6eefc51e05a5.html | access-date=March 9, 2022}}{{cite book | last=Kronenburg | first=R. | title=This Must Be The Place: An Architectural History of Popular Music Performance Venues | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-5013-1930-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ayXNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 | access-date=March 9, 2022 | page=37}}

In 1963 Emmons left the company, and Shot's sons, David and Harry, accompanied Shot in building Sho-Bud Steel Guitars.{{cite web | title=History | website=Jackson Steel Guitar | date=August 25, 2020 | url=https://www.jacksonsteelguitar.com/history/ | access-date=March 9, 2022}} 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.{{cite book | last=Stimeling | first=T.D. | title=The Oxford Handbook of Country Music | publisher=Oxford University Press | series=Oxford Handbooks | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-19-024818-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TYlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA195 | access-date=March 9, 2022 | page=195}} Later in 1963, Buddy Emmons left Sho-Bud to start his Emmons Guitar Company with Ron Lashley.{{cite web |title=Shot Jackson and the Sho-Bud Pedal Steel Guitar Company |url=http://www.planet.eon.net/~gsimmons/shobud/shot.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20020707235050/http://www.planet.eon.net/~gsimmons/shobud/shot.html |archivedate=2002-07-07 }}

In the 1970s they also expanded their line and offered acoustic guitars. They also made a line of dobro-style resonator guitars in conjunction with Gretsch under the name Sho-Bro, a play on the word "dobro". The name is currently owned by Gretsch, which purchased the company in 1979,{{cite book | last=Bacon | first=T. | title=The Ultimate Guitar Sourcebook | publisher=Race Point Publishing | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-61058-842-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1H0AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 | access-date=March 9, 2022 | page=75}} 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.

Models produced include the Permanent, Fingertip, Crossover, Maverick, Professional, Pro I, Pro II, Pro III, Super Pro and LDG (Lloyd Green).{{cite book | title=Beat Instrumental & Songwriting & Recording | publisher=Beat Publications | issue=nos. 154-157 | year=1979 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_T5LAAAAYAAJ | access-date=March 9, 2022 | page=154-157}}{{cite book | last=Greenwood | first=A. | last2=Hembree | first2=G. | title=The Official Vintage Guitar Magazine Price Guide | publisher=Vintage Guitar Books | series=Official Vintage Guitar Magazine Price Guide | year=2009 | isbn=978-1-884883-21-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o_SLwpadkxgC&pg=PA490 | access-date=March 9, 2022 | page=490}}

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• {{official|http://www.sho-bud.com}}
• [http://www.jacksonsteelguitars.com Jacksonsteelguitars.com]
• https://web.archive.org/web/20161026193248/http://www.locobox.com/shobudacoustic/
• [http://www.petedrake.net/bio/ Pete Drake Member of the Musician's Hall of Fame for Steel Guitar and player of Sho-bud guitars.]

Category:Guitar manufacturing companies of the United States

Category:Steel guitar