Tru Country Steel Sound

[Ricky Hagan]

How many noticed the different sound from the Emmons that Rick played with Justin and The Sho Bud that Dicky played with Amber.I'm not saying that either sounded bad,I'm just saying the tone was very different.Both are great players so it's not in the hands.I won't say which I thought sounded better that just an opinion.

[Graham]

I could be wrong good buddy, but I think you will find that Dicky has been playing the same Emmons push/pull forever. If memory serves me, he calls it Big Red or some such name.

[Tommy Minniear]

Graham,
I believe in recent months, maybe a year or so, that Dickey has been playing a Sho~Bud.

[Ricky Hagan]

Good to hear from you Graham.Hope all is well with you.Yes it's true Dicky has been using a Sho Bud lately.Just wondering how many noticed the difference in tone between the 2 guitars.Another example is on utube.Look up Herby and listen to the differents in tone between the emmons he used on steel guitar rag and the later songs on the Mullen.Same player so it's not the players hands.It up to the person which one they like best.Sound or tone is in the ears of the beholder.I'v heard some mighty good souding steels on many differents brands.

[Pete Walthall]

hi ricky there aint no good way but its my way i though rick price had the best tone to my ears.BUT i thank rick price has one of the best tones i've heard.

[Graham]

Tommy and Ricky - I bow to your knowledge. I didn't know Dicky had started playing a Sho-Bud. Thought his old Emmons sounded good enough!

Ricky - Doing just fine. Hope all is well with you and yours and if you see Danny, give him my best.

Pete - Good to see you chime in too, Pete. It's been a while since I've talked to you.

[Dave Biller]

You fellas are all correct. Dicky still frequently plays his old push/pull, a '66 rosewood bolt on which he calls "Rosie", and also plays a lot of gigs (particularly with Amber) and records on his Sho~Bud LDG, which Amber's husband, Randy Lindley scored for him a few years ago. Dicky just fell in love with the guitar. Both Dicky and Rick are enormously important figures in my life.

[Rick Campbell]

You fellas are all correct. Dicky still frequently plays his old push/pull, a '66 rosewood bolt on which he calls "Rosie", and also plays a lot of gigs (particularly with Amber) and records on his Sho~Bud LDG, which Amber's husband, Randy Lindley scored for him a few years ago. Dicky just fell in love with the guitar. Both Dicky and Rick are enormously important figures in my life.

Dave,

You're a lucky guy for being so close to all this. The "importance" of these guys reaches far beyond TX. At least to East TN that I can testify to personally, and it's alive and well when it get's here.

I've heard Dicky play both the Push Pull and the Bud live and I couldn't tell much, if any, difference in them. Keep in mind this was a year or so apart so maybe a side by side comparison might have been different. I'm sort of the opinion that Dicky's playing, the licks, the execution, what, when, etc.... is so dominant that it overshadows any tone differences in the guitars. I envy you for being where steel and fiddles are a main course on the country music menu, and not an optional side item as it is in "you know where".... and of course, your clean tastful playing is the icing on the cake.

[Bill Terry]

I sold that round-front LDG to Randy that Dicky is now playing. I can tell you it never sounded like that when I owned. Dicky sounds like Dicky..

[Kevin Hatton]

What amp is he playing it through?

[Rick Campbell]

I sold that round-front LDG to Randy that Dicky is now playing. I can tell you it never sounded like that when I owned. Dicky sounds like Dicky..

Bill I agree. Common sense tells the story. I usually go down to Nashville whenever Dicky is doing the Midnight Jamboree with Amber. The theater is full of steel players, and they almost fight for the front row seats in front of Dicky. They come out from everywhere to hear him play, many pros that I recognize. Actually, there's probably more steel players there than I even realize. It doesn't hurt anything that Amber and Randy are doing the kind of music that made Nashville Music City USA. It's one of the highlights of my year.

[Terry H Sutton]

I think my old Shobud has it's original sound.

Opinions please

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ4pxyXSCsg

[Kevin Hatton]

Again, what amp is Dicky playing through?

[Rick Campbell]

Again, what amp is Dicky playing through?

Kevin,

It's an old Fender of some type. Again, I think he would get his souind out of most anything.

[Mike Brinkmeyer]

Although filmed a year ago, both Dickey and Randy appear to be possibly playing through Twin Reverbs in this clip . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljYjfKAA ... re=related

[Kevin Hatton]

I highly disagree that he would get that sound out of almost anything. Buddy Emmons didn't and neither did Tom Brumley once they switched their rigs. I could name others. Equipment plays a big part, with the guitar being #1 followed by the amp. Lloyd Green's tone on his JCH was nothing like his LDG. You can't make a stock Peavey SS sound like a Fender Twin tube amp. That being said Dick Overby is one of my favorite tone players.

[Dave Biller]

Kevin, to answer your question, Dicky generally plays his sho~bud through a silverface vibrasonic with factory D-130 speaker. He also has had an old peavey LTD for many years which he would usually pair up with the Emmons. Boss RV-3 provides the reverb. Hilton volume pedal. When he puts the hammer down it'll make your vision blur! Rick, I sure look forward to meeting you one of these days...

[Bill Terry]

I highly disagree that he would get that sound out of almost anything.

I'm not saying he sounds the same on the Emmons and the Sho-Bud, I'm just saying he sounds like Dicky no matter what he's playing, but that topic is a dead horse if there ever was one.

[Johnny Cox]

I keep seeing the statement "difference in the tone of the two guitars". In order to know that Dickie would have had to play both guitars through the same amp and effects as would Rick. Your hearing two different players through two different rigs there is no possible way to compair the sound of the guitars in this situation. Over the years I have heard Dickie play on Sho-Buds, Pro II, LDG, Emmons and even an MCI. He always sounds just like Dickie. Had he chose to play Rick's guitar he would have still sounded just like Dickie. When are you guys gonna figure out that a guy sounds like himself. If I sit down at Dickies rig which ever one it is I'm going to sound like me not Dickie. And when Dickie sits down at your rig he is going to sound like Dickie whether or not you spent $500 or $20,000. It starts and ends with the player not the gear. Believe it or not!

[Jimmy Lewis]

I agree with Mr. Johnny Cox that it has mostly to do with the player. I know that equitment plays a part but that part is getting the player to sound like HE wants himself to sound. I believe it's in the players hands and his heart. Wayne Cox came to my house one day and played my Emmons and it had a totally diffenent sound when he played it than when I played it. A lot of it has to do with he playes a heck of a lot better than I do but it still has to do with the player.

[Bill Howard]

I keep seeing the statement "difference in the tone of the two guitars". In order to know that Dickie would have had to play both guitars through the same amp and effects as would Rick. Your hearing two different players through two different rigs there is no possible way to compair the sound of the guitars in this situation. Over the years I have heard Dickie play on Sho-Buds, Pro II, LDG, Emmons and even an MCI. He always sounds just like Dickie. Had he chose to play Rick's guitar he would have still sounded just like Dickie. When are you guys gonna figure out that a guy sounds like himself. If I sit down at Dickies rig which ever one it is I'm going to sound like me not Dickie. And when Dickie sits down at your rig he is going to sound like Dickie whether or not you spent $500 or $20,000. It starts and ends with the player not the gear. Believe it or not!

Johnny it totally amazes Me thatabout every musician that hears your sound who likes it will walk up and look at your AMP,Guitar,Pick up's.Effects....
and this applies to Guitar Players as well.
I went to a Steel show took my Emmons LL2,87 model NV400 I use a Dan Echo delay thats it period,Guys were asking me what I was doing to get that sound.....I get ask the same thing when I play lead,
I make it sound the way I LIKE IT TO SOUND..Most good players do this I found my Dan Echo to be the key i get raves about it all the time but it's the PLAYER GUYS!

[Ricky Hagan]

Johnny are you saying that the guitar or amp has no effect on the sound?If so then why don't we all play the same guitar and amp.If we're always gonna sound the same no matter what we use whats the point in ever trying something new.

[Jamie Lennon]

I played Ricks guitar for the Georgette Jones part of the tru country taping and still sounded like me.

Rick is a monster player !!!

[Charlie Moore]

Jamie,you are 100% correct,Rick and yourself sounded TOTALY differant on the same guitar and amp,effects etc...Charlie...

[Johnny Cox]

Rick, I believe Charlie answered the question and proved my point. After being a professional steel player for 40 years now, playing almost every brand of guitar and amp ever built. Watching first hand the greatest steel players in the world experiment for those fourty years I without any hesitation can say to you that 75% of any players sound lies within the players hands, head and heart. Hands = technique, head = knowledge and heart = the feeling with which he plays. All this determines his/her sound. The gear, guitar/amp/effects accounts for maybe 15% at best. The rest is the conditions in which he is playing i.e., the room, mics, sound engineer wheather live or recorded ect. I have different guitars and amps and effects that all have a little different response, or tone color but they will all produce my sound but only when I play them. If I had the infamous "Blade" I still would not even come close to sounding like Buddy Emmons, I would just sound like me. It may be a better sounding me then again it may not.