Sho~Bud Logo Origin

[Kenny Davis]

Forgive me if this has been discussed before -

Did Shot Jackson purposely include the "tilde" symbol between the Sho & Bud, or was it purely coincidental? Considering how it is used in music, it's pretty cool that it was used. The ~ symbol is used many different ways, but in music it calls for 'change in pitch or tone, or rise in pitch followed by a return to standard pitch.'

It would be great to know who did design the logo, and if it was a "stock" font or custom designed. With the "tail" on the letter d, I'd guess it was custom designed. Regardless, it's perfect visually and it fits the pitch change angle of the pedal steel.

[scott murray]

the logo was designed by steel legend Billy Robinson so he may have included the musical symbol intentionally. unfortunately we lost Billy in Oct 2021

here's another one of Billy's pieces:

[Richard Sinkler]

My favorite steel guitar logo.

[Kenny Davis]

Thanks for the info Scott! I remember reading remeberances when Billy passed, but must have missed his obit. He was a multi-talented guy!

I've always wondered about logos and fret position art on our guitars, and how they were decided.

[Herb Steiner]

Just as a sidebar, there was a cookie company in the midwest during the 1970's named "Shur~Good" that used the same font as Billy used for the Sho~Bud logo. When I was touring heavily in that decade I bought a package of the cookies... which were completely uninteresting, btw... intending to show Shot when we returned through Nashville. But the cookie package never made it that far.

Decades later I mentioned it to Billy and he seemed amused but said he had no idea of what was done with the logo once he gave it to Shot. I'm pretty sure that Shot had the logo trademarked, but it's all history now anyway.

The card symbol fret markers were first used on Bigsby Spanish guitars, as far as I recall.

[Johnie King]

Wow I need a Delete button.

[Bill McCloskey]

Were did the playing card suits come from in the design?

[Ian Worley]

...there was a cookie company in the midwest during the 1970's named "Shur~Good" that used the same font...

I remember a discussion about this a few years back (it might have been you that mentioned the Shur-Good logo in that thread too Herb). Apparently that logo predates Sho~Bud, by a few years. The trademark application was filed in 1954. Might be a coincidence but... have a look here: https://trademarks.justia.com/716/76/shur-71676840.html.



The Sho~Bud logo was registered by Gretsch in 2004 but the trademark info shows a "first use anywhere date" of 1958: https://trademarks.justia.com/765/85/sho-76585026.html

[scott murray]

forgive the shameless plug but I designed this sticker awhile back and have a whole bunch available. buy 3 get one free, thru me personally or at my Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/RScottMurray

(I used the tilde symbol to cross the T )

[Donny Hinson]

I would doubt the tilde in the logo has any musical significance or connection. I think it just looked better than a blocky hyphen in between the scripts.

[Kenny Davis]

Maybe we could get the "Together Again" lady to do a dissertation on this subject to find out what was behind the logo question!

[Bill Cunningham]

I seem to remember that Billy a graphic artist by trade after leaving music as a profession.

[Brett Day]

The logo is now used on the new Sho-Bud guitars that David, Harry, Dawn, and Will Jackson are building.

[Chris Templeton]

When I worked for Bobbe Seymour in the 80's, Billy would come to the store from time to time. I always enjoyed his visits.