BEWARE...SCAM STEEL GUITAR ADVERT

[David Hartley]

As you know, my ShoBud is sold.

Another identical advert has appeared on a selling site called GUMTREE...that I never even heard of!

I got this message via eBay today....

Dear Sir. Unfortunately I was not able to bid in your Sho-Bud Pro 1. Looking on Gum Tree there is a West Yorkshire advert with your photograph. Item Ad ref 103281241 and my question is, was your buyer from this area? I do not want to drive 400 miles and get robbed. Thank you, Kind regards, .................

I have contacted the GUMTREE and let them know, it's a scam ad....

[Ken Byng]

A lot of us here have long been aware of scam ads on Gumtree. Pictures of pedal steels have been included in ads that have been lifted from elsewhere. The prices of pedal steels advertised have looked like real bargains, but the ads have just been 'too good to be true' scams.

[Tony Russell Davis]

Here we go again, see link to my comment on "wanted" - viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2651&start=10 - Tony

[Lawrence Dexter]

Dear Mr Hartley. It was myself who contacted you about the bogus advert in Yorkshire with your photograph. It was good that you stopped anyone being caught in a fraudulent transaction. I think there may be another Gum Tree fishing advert. Listing number ref: 103260228 for a Black 1976 Gretsch Sho Bud Super Pro Pedal Steel Guitar with Case in Nottingham that is currently running. I have received one reply asked for my email address to send more photographs to. Gum Tree no longer allows e-mail addresses to be sent in messages. There is also a spelling mistake on the advert that sounds like broken english. So twice in one week I have found bogus messages on Gum Tree.

While I was in Sudbury last weekend in the sun visiting my friend who used to be the Gibson guitar demonstrator for europe, for his sons 21st birthday, I did not have access to bid on your Sho Bud Pro 1 which would have been ideal for my home recording studio near Portsmouth.

I am a guitarist and have played all over the UK for thirty years and have been teaching the guitar at schools, college for sixteen years. I also have private students visit most evenings.

I have played the guitar in many styles of music and band line ups from duo's to full blown jazz bands, rock groups with long hair ( before it went gray ha ha ha ) and during 1988 for the Pete Palmer Country Band until a non fault road traffic accident that stopped me working for the following five years. Never having played a pedal steel to date and wanting to add this instrument for my own enjoyment and recording options, I am trying to find a Sho Bud LDG or Pro 1. Two weeks ago my friend arrived hot foot from a major record company in Nashville who are requesting his demo tracks to be recorded at my house. We are also giving music to the Para Olympics free of charge but I fear it is too late now to include the pedal steel sound tracks I have in my head. This has prompted me to try and find a good instrument.

I am not a rich person as I share my small home studio with my students free of charge as part of their studies but I expect to pay a realistic price for my pedal steel guitar.

Should you or your friends know of a reasonable too good condition Sho Bud LDG or Pro 1 with as many foot and knee pedals as possible please, that is for sale or another pedal steel guitar that has the same tone please contact me on 07811537481. Almost all of my students do not know what a pedal steel guitar is and I would like to record some of my own music using the Sho Bud sound. After playing live or in a recording studio to help everyone else with their music, as friends and as my employment I am going to sit down and record my own material now. I bought the recording equipment to be able to hear music how I want to hear it and not how someone else wants to change it. My sound and arrangements first and when finished my friends are welcome to change everything if they want to. I would like to include the Sho Bud sound in some of my music and of course to get what I hear in my head will take me a good while to learn to play but it is the only way I know of getting what I can hear in my head is to play every instrument myself. ...... I expect like the piano and guitar the pedal steel will also take me a life times work to master. So thank you for reading this and any help you can give me finding an instrument that has "The" sound. Kind regards, Lawrence