Roadhouse Warrior
This is the story of
the Roadhouse Warrior.
A 1976 Sho-Bud LDG
out of Northern Texas.
At the time I picked this up,
it was obvious it had been sitting in the corner for a long time.
It looked much better in pictures than it was.
Upon immediately seeing it with my own eyes I figured it was destined to become a donor for future projects.
The mounting holes for the legs were completely stripped out.
A repair was attempted with a plumbing fitting and some filler.
The BL 705 pickup was cracked and split from top to bottom.
The endplates and body were gouged, chipped, broken and in very poor shape.
The legs were mismatched, unoriginal and inoperable.
The undercarriage was dirty, crusty, rusty, broken and busted.
The pull rods were crisscrossed and bent.
The pedal bar was in very poor shape too.
Covered in black hockey tape and banged up badly.
I tore most of the tape off before pictures were taken.
The cracks in the pad aligned with where the players arms would’ve been.
It exhibited excessive playing wear on the pedals and fingerboard.
All these things naturally started to intrigue me.
The pedal wear was more than I could ever imagine.
I continued to look it over while sipping some whiskey at home.
Looking for more signs of the previous player and his signature wear on the instrument.
I could tell this one has seen a million gigs and spent most its life at Roadhouses.
Honky Tonkin’ through bar fights, and trucking across Texas and state lines for decades.
I started to see a steel that wasn’t just beat up and misused.
I started to see a well played and loved instrument
that had a fateful ending.
This shop was performing what repairs they could for him over time.
When the player with no name didn’t return for it…. there it stayed. He was gone.
So it was put in the corner.
Probably messed around with by employees and customers.
Eventually disregarded as something in the way at the shop.
Where it sat baking in the sun.
You can tell by the UV damage that it laid with its back to the window. Maybe another window mostly shining on the front left side.
The gouges on the front of the steel were a big sign.
Something chunked away at the Sho-Bud lettering and the endplate often as it sat in the way. Getting hit by pallets or kicked day to day.
I could smell exhaust and it was covered in a black soot.
It really just kind of became part of the shop.
The more I stared, the more I saw the history
and signs of the player.
So I decided it needed to live again. I just couldn’t let it be disregarded like before.
But it would need a lot of work.
New endplates, many small and hard to find parts, legs and more.
So I called Mel to come over for a photo shoot before I started to fix it up.
It was a team effort to get it up and barely balancing on all 4 legs.
It fell over a couple times but we tried and tried again.
Flipping it over and capturing as much as possible.
I then posted pictures on Instagram and a little backstory on it.
Immediately getting tons of attention.
Most were in favor of restoration and others were on the skeptical side.
One person in particular was extremely interested.
Jeff, a machinist, welder, fabricator, mechanic and pedal steel player.
He’s given me advice and a nudge now and again with which direction to go on other projects. So we jawed about it over the phone.
This one was calling his name. It spoke to him.
Having a history in both of his passions. He envisioned a blend of old and new.
Original parts where possible and some upgrades.
Think Mad Max….. A Roadhouse Warrior!
He was more than confident that repairing or fabricating any metal parts
would be easy for him.
So I started in… a complete tear down.
Very sticky, corroded, rusty and covered in a thick film of a tar-like residue.
The exhaust and smoke was sticking to the oils and grease improperly used on it.
The changer axle had to be gently removed with a hammer and a punch. Back and forth until finally free.
I immediately saw signs of other repairs.
Some welds here and there.
Holes drilled and filled in.
Good enough to get it playing again.
I gathered up parts and sent them right off to Jeff.
Endplates, brackets, and a knee lever.
It took quite some time and old fashioned elbow grease
to get the thick film off the cabinet.
Keeping the original wear patterns and patina was agreed upon.
So I cleaned, polished and buffed out as much as possible.
Before
After
The metal components were quite terrible. Especially the fingers.
But in the end, everything cleaned up real nice.
Before
Before
Before
After
After
After
When It came time for the pad to be reupholstered I decided on an original style.
I went back and forth with other colors and prints but nothing looked right.
I decided to leave the old pad on and wrap the new one over it.
Figuring it would be an awesome surprise to someone decades from now to find underneath. Plus the old pad would give the new one a nice height and stiffness.
Before
After
All the while Jeff was working on the other parts…
The leg holes were expertly drilled out and new steel inserts were installed.
He buffed and polished them to shine again but with a perfect balance of keeping the wear and history still visible. It can be tough to find that stopping point.
Before
Before
After
After
Before
One knee lever bracket was missing a portion, so I sent a bracket from another steel for him to copy.
The knee lever itself got doctored up too.
Opening them up upon arrival was unbelievable.
Extremely well crafted and revived.
After
Eventually I started putting it back together.
I had to rob some parts here and there, including a set of legs from
an old rack and barrel I have.
Jeff and I decided on a new LXR 16 instead of the old chrome surround.
Something newer. Seemed perfect since the pickup is similar but a current model.
I also installed a coil tap to give it a cool upgrade and tucked it up by the input jack.
Before
Before
After
After
I finally got it all together and strung it up.
Jeff has a unique copedent and it took some further modifications to make that happen.
In the end, everything was moving nice and freely,
but took a while to cooperate at first.
The undercarriage was so used to its tortured state.
Lots of filing, bending, and coercing was still needed.
Before
After
It finally settled in but I just didn’t like the strings I put on it so I pulled them off and installed a set of Jagwires. A world of difference.
Such great acoustic resonance and volume. It really came to life. Great natural clarity and projection.
Mel came over to get some ‘after’ pictures and she was the first of many to exclaim.
“It sounds like a harp!”, as I strummed it openly.
My friend Brian came over and gave it a big thumbs up.
He helped me out with a couple final tweaks here and there.
I was then ready to release it after having another player's input.
After a few chats and videos Jeff and I decided it was time.
So off it went!
There was no case so I fortified a large box with plywood and crossed my fingers.
It arrived safe and sound.
It was great to see pictures and a video of him opening it and giving glowing approval.
(You can check out the video by tapping here)
We did this one together.
But it wouldn't have happened without him.
It meant so much more to both of us that he was the key factor to make sure this forgotten player’s steel...
which is now his own...
as he envisioned...
was able to cross the finish line.
The perfect ending to an unfortunate beginning.
Jeff is most likely ripping hot licks on it as you’re reading this
and will be for a very long time.
The best part was becoming best friends forever.
Next activity… Karate in the garage… or maybe building bunk beds together…
