Back to the P/P

Jory Simmons · From: Elkhorn, Wisconsin, USA

Thought some of you would find this interesting....I've Been playin a Mullen for 8 months now, and I just set up my Old Emmons and re-strung it to play at a show this afternoon. Thought it would be fun. After playin my Mullen...it was like kickin a dead horse......but of course the tone was to die for...just plain sounds better. One thing I did was go to a .020 from a .022plain on the 6th string...and from a .038 to a .036 on the low B. These two changes make it play a little easier. So...Thanks Danny H for the Jagwires!
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Jory Simmons

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

Hey Jory...I have had the same experience after playing modern all pull guitars and then going back to my wonderful sounding '65 P/P. I think it has more to do with losing muscle memory in the ankles and how far you need to go with a knee lever. I did find that after a short readjustment, the Emmons seems to play just fine. However, lately I have been taking a modern reliable steel to sessions...mostly because the modern steel has humbuckers.
TC

Jory Simmons · From: Elkhorn, Wisconsin, USA

Wow!!!! Ankle memory??? Thats a term not often heard!!! But considering my horrible weak ankles....You are probably right TC....Maybe I just need heavier shoes!!!!Still, nice to hear from you! Jory
PS..I should mention to the rest of you guys...if you're ever in need in Chi-town...be it gear, sound re-inforce, etc, TC Furlong's "The Man". After all ...I did buy my Emmons from Him ( Brand new,in 1981)!!!!
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Jory Simmons

Tony Glassman · From: The Great Northwest

Funny this thread should pop up. I've been playing a Zum and a Coop'd Sho Bud for the last 6 months and loving them both......Just last Thursday, I took my p/p to a gig for old time's sake. I forgot just how good those guitars sound. Doesn't play bad either.

The Emmons may have just comeback to win the starting QB slot in my steel line-up.

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

Jory...ankle memory...funny! So let's see...buy a new P/P from ol' TC in 1981, play it for 27 years and you can probably sell it for way more than you paid (not that you would). And you got all of that good tone for all of that time. If only the Wall Street wizards were as good at investing as you, the economy might be in much better shape than it is Wink

.
TC

Peter Freiberger · From: California, USA

You're all wrong. The only thing those old P/P guitars are good for is putting wheels on and making wagons. Give me a call and I'll come pick 'em up and take them to the dump for you.

Doug Seymour · From: Jamestown NY USA (deceased)

I doubt you'll get any calls to haul 'em away. Guys that love them always will! "You can't teach an old dog new tricks!" I recall my experience with trying to help my buddy with his P/P after being "self taught" on all pulls my whole life!? I couldn't even begin to tune the darn thing and I don't think a good sounding steel of one make/type is any better than any other good sounding steel! So there!

Jory Simmons · From: Elkhorn, Wisconsin, USA

C'mon...you guys...are you all nuts???????? anyway....after playin the gig tonight with the p/p....as the temps got colder here in Wi ( it was an outdoor gig at a country club/golf course)...I remembered why I got the mullen in the first place!!!!!!! JD
PS....as the temps went down tonight...I was grabbin'
for the allen wrench........
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Jory Simmons

Jory Simmons · From: Elkhorn, Wisconsin, USA

Yeah.......as my investment folder was goin down these past weeks......The value of my p/p was goin up!!!!!!!!!!! Tommy....I don't expect you'd remember that I wanted a red SD10....back in '80...thanks for talkin me into a Black D10!!!!!!!! JD
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Jory Simmons

Nick Reed · From: Russellville, KY USA

Oh Yeah, they always come back to Mama!

Nuff Said!

Danny Bates · From: Fresno, CA. USA

Jory, It sure sounds like you got spoiled by that easy playing Mullen.

Fighting that push/pull is the best part because the tone is definately worth the extra work that we gotta do. Smile

Here's a question a fisherman (like yourself) can relate to...
Is the size of the fish worth the extra work to reel him in?

Remember ... We suffer for our music. We suffer for our tone. But, we really suffer when we play the high notes on a push/pull and then play an all pull. Because we realize we're gonna be suffering behind a push/pull for a long time! Welcome back Wink

James Quackenbush · From: Pomona, New York, USA

Jory,
This thread is a good one .....I've had songs where the tone of the P/P fits just right and I will reach for it ......I've had many different pedal steels , but have only once resorted to wanting to sell my P/P and now I'm really glad that i haven't sold it ....It will probably be the last steel I ever sell , if I ever sell it .....It's the one "Go To " steel for more than one reason ....Funny how the steel that is the hardest to play, and the hardest to set up, and the noisiest hardware , is the one that still sounds incredible year after year !!....Jim

Paul Wade · From: mundelein,ill

jory,
after playing my green emmons p/p for acouple of months i went and bought a used fessy d-10 man
what a guitar Very Happy

hope to meet up with you in
wisconsin rapids this year and maybe t.c too. oh,yea
bought my first p.s.g from t.c a shobud

p.w
www.zip-country.com

Craig A Davidson · From: Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin USA

Paul I hope I can get both of you to play the show. The date is March 20-22, 2009. We are now back to the right week-end after swapping around last year. We will soon be putting up the event on the forum.

Larry Bressington · From: Nebraska

One reason i went back to a wound 6th, tuning stability is wonderful, especially on the chilly nights outside. Smile

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

I pulled out my old '75 P/P a few weeks ago and played it for a while. It doesn't play quite as easy as my new MSA's, but it plays pretty good for a 33 year old guitar. I restored it a few years ago and spent 2 to 3 weeks just setting it up. I got everything adjusted to where I only had to use a couple of equalizer springs and I do some modern changes such as raising the first string a full step, and lowering the sixth string a whole step. It still has a great sound, but it's just too nice to take out of the house. I don't want any "bandstand bumps" on it.

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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.

Tommy R. Butler · From: Nashville, Tennessee

Lynn Stafford gets the honor on this one... Aint she a beaut !!!!

Cliff Kane · From: the late great golden state

The push-pull is in a league by itself. For those of us lucky enough to have a push-pull and an all-pull, going back to the push-pull is going home to tone. I am very lucky to have some great sounding guitars, but the push-pull is the guitar. I use my EMCI a lot because it is light, it has some cool changes, and it sounds really good, but even that guitar is not quite up to the push-pull. When a push-pull is set-up right it plays real good. I go back-and-forth between my push-pull, my EMCI, and my Fender 400 (my new guitar Very Happy

), and they all play well but feel different. It takes me a little while to settle into one after playing another for awhile, and they all influence my playing a bit, but the push-pull plays as well as the others.

Push-Pulls Forever!
Cheer!
Cliff