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Topic: The Emmons sound |
Fred Glave
From:
McHenry, Illinois, USA
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Posted 13 Mar 2012 7:59 am |
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Everybody has their own preference for tone etc., but when I hear a tune that I know has an Emmons steel I hear something distinct. Seems like the tone is more up front and stands out with thicker tones. Even on Youtube clips where an Emmons is used I can hear the tone. Is it specific to the steel or Push-Pull, strings used or is it the amp/settings etc.? Or is it the player? Or maybe I'm crazy.
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Zum Encore, Zum Stage One, Fender 2000, Harlan Bros., Multi-Kord, |
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Bud Angelotti
From:
Larryville, NJ, USA
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Posted 13 Mar 2012 9:53 am
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| It is all those things to some degree. Also very much, the Emmons guitar. Like the difference between a Gibson or a Fender 6 string. You are not crazy! |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 13 Mar 2012 3:22 pm Re: The Emmons sound
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| Fred Glave wrote: |
| ...but when I hear a tune that I know has an Emmons steel I hear something distinct. |
Okay, just for giggles, how about if you don't know a tune has an Emmons steel. Can you still always identify an Emmons guitar?
Just funnin' with you Fred! 
Actually, here's a true story - I was at a steel show some years back with my good friend Curry Coster. Curry is sorta hooked on the p/p Emmons sound, too (I think at the time, he had 3 of them). Anyhow, a player at the show had been playing an Emmons p/p, but it just didn't have the sound I was expecting. The next player up was playing a Mullen...and there was "the sound"! I then remarked to Curry that the Mullen sounded more like a p/p than the p/p that had just played, and he agreed!
Then he gave me a little smile and said "It's in the hands". |
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Fred Glave
From:
McHenry, Illinois, USA
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Posted 13 Mar 2012 6:18 pm
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Well Donny it could all just be in the hands, but only if the same hands get "the sound" from any given guitar. To take you up on the challange though, I'd like to have someone post 3 or more anonymous sound clips and see if I, (or anyone who wants to) pick out the Emmons/PP. But then again, the Emmons sample might be disguised in a sneaky fashion, and throw everyone off the track!  That wouldn't be right.
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Zum Encore, Zum Stage One, Fender 2000, Harlan Bros., Multi-Kord, |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 13 Mar 2012 6:44 pm
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| Fred Glave wrote: |
| Well Donny it could all just be in the hands, but only if the same hands get "the sound" from any given guitar. To take you up on the challange though, I'd like to have someone post 3 or more anonymous sound clips and see if I, (or anyone who wants to) pick out the Emmons/PP. But then again, the Emmons sample might be disguised in a sneaky fashion, and throw everyone off the track! That wouldn't be right. |
Fred
I tried taking one of those "blindfold tests" with three different sound file clips of varying guitars someone put up on the Internet. The problem was, the blindfold prevented me from clicking on the hyperlinks! I clicked all over the damn monitor screen for an hour before I ever hit one of the sound files!
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My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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Cal Sharp
From:
the farm in Kornfield Kounty, TN
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Gary Preston
From:
Columbus, Ohio, USA
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Posted 13 Mar 2012 7:22 pm
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How bout asking Mr. Buddie Emmons if someone like him or another great player were to play an Emmons P/P/ or LeGrande lll or a Zumsteel ect, ect, ect ,if they closed a door behind where he played each steel in a room by himself if he thinks anyone can tell the difference !!! I think we all may be surprised at the answer ! Not what you want to hear right ?  |
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Dave Simonis
From:
Stevens Point, WI USA
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Posted 13 Mar 2012 8:41 pm
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsEQRBS7tDc&feature=related
...does it get any more Emmons than this? What a combination.
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Dave Simonis
Fiddle: Zeta, Arthur Conner, many others.../Steel: GFI SD-10 Ultra.../Mandolin: Breedlove.../Guitar: Gibson, Fender, Taylor.../Amps: Peavey NV112, Evans FET 500.../Others: Hilton, Goodrich, Stereo Steel, Pendulum Pre-amp... |
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Fred Glave
From:
McHenry, Illinois, USA
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Posted 13 Mar 2012 8:57 pm
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Well Dave that does indeed sound VERY Emmonsy. But it also looks as though there is an Emmons label on the steel. And Cal, I think you're probably right. And Gary, I think that Buddy can make any steel sound sweet enough to die for, BUT...will it sound like an Emmons steel?
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Zum Encore, Zum Stage One, Fender 2000, Harlan Bros., Multi-Kord, |
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Cal Sharp
From:
the farm in Kornfield Kounty, TN
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Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 13 Mar 2012 10:57 pm
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| Excellent right hand technique Cal. That's how I try to do it. |
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Bill Miller
From:
Gaspe, Quebec, Canada
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Posted 14 Mar 2012 4:16 am
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| Quote: |
| How bout asking Mr. Buddie Emmons if someone like him or another great player were to play an Emmons P/P/ or LeGrande lll or a Zumsteel ect, ect, ect ,if they closed a door behind where he played each steel in a room by himself if he thinks anyone can tell the difference !!! |
I can't remember what thread it was in but quite recently there was a statement attributed to Buddy Emmons on this very subject. The jist of it was that Buddy had done two recording sessions, one with an Emmons ( push/pull?) and the other with a Carter and listening to them later he " couldn't tell a dime's worth of difference" . Or at least that's my recollection of what was said.
The Bobby Flores CDs feature many different steel players, even within the same CD and I think the majority of them are Emmons Push/pull players. However, Tommy Detamore plays on the same projects using a Carter and to my ear his tone is very similar to the cuts where the Emmons are used. |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 14 Mar 2012 7:20 am
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I think there is something special about an Emmons PP myself. Just picked up a 67 D10 because I just love that feel and sound. Nothing else can scratch that particular itch.
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Bob |
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Dan Galysh
From:
Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 14 Mar 2012 7:46 am
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| It's that throaty midrange. You can hear it in the 4, 5 and 6 string group. I heard it in Cal's clip. I have heard of prominent players who publicly play other guitars, but specifically record with a push pull. |
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Fred Glave
From:
McHenry, Illinois, USA
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Posted 14 Mar 2012 8:00 am
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Yes Cal, that's the sound. Bright but full, no thin notes. Very nice. Bill, I think there is a spectrum of tones that every steel has, and there may be some overlap....I don't know. But also in a studio recording the final result is not always a good sample due to the final mix down and such.
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Zum Encore, Zum Stage One, Fender 2000, Harlan Bros., Multi-Kord, |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 14 Mar 2012 8:10 am
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| Bob Hoffnar wrote: |
| I think there is something special about an Emmons PP myself. Just picked up a 67 D10 because I just love that feel and sound. Nothing else can scratch that particular itch. |
Austin is becoming more and more of an Emmons town. Jim Loessberg, Marty Muse, David Biller, Nathan Fleming, Ken Metcalf, Danny Hawk, Bob Hoffnar, Craig Holden, Neil Flanz, Tom Pittman, yours truly; there might be more Emmons players than non- in this burg now.
My apologies to any Austin-based Emmons players who I have inadvertently left out.
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My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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Gary Preston
From:
Columbus, Ohio, USA
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Posted 14 Mar 2012 1:42 pm
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 We all know there is always going to be questions about different steels and players as long as we have different steels and players ! But lets not get into ( how to tune a steel ? ) Whew !   This can go on forever ! |
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richard burton
From:
Britain
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Posted 14 Mar 2012 10:11 pm
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I associate the PP sound with the clarity in the upper register.
Here's me playing my PP on 'Half A Man'. I'm only doing fills in the first half of the tune, but I do the melody in the second half
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seX2ONPsJN0 |
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 15 Mar 2012 1:22 pm
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where's that picture of beating a dead horse?
everyone should play whatever makes them happy! |
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Rick Collins
From:
Claremont , CA USA
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Posted 15 Mar 2012 2:15 pm
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...what Dan Galysh said __ I too hear the 'Emmons PP sound' in the mid-range.
...ever notice how those who don't play or have never owned a PP are the ones who don't hear the difference!  |
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Cal Sharp
From:
the farm in Kornfield Kounty, TN
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Posted 15 Mar 2012 4:31 pm
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I did a session for this guy one time and used one of my P/P's. Some time later I did another session for his sister, with my other P/P, and she bitched me out because I didn't get the same sound. Sounded the same to me.
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Me: Steel Guitar Madness
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Fred Glave
From:
McHenry, Illinois, USA
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Posted 16 Mar 2012 10:02 am
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Rick, I've never played an Emmons or any PP, but I can hear a distinct tonal quality from high to low that I don't hear from other steels. Play what makes you happy...yes. But you also have to find what makes you happy too.
_________________
Zum Encore, Zum Stage One, Fender 2000, Harlan Bros., Multi-Kord, |
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 16 Mar 2012 10:13 am
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| cal..i think i see a connection in what you said! (...'she'....'bitched'...) |
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Fred Glave
From:
McHenry, Illinois, USA
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Posted 16 Mar 2012 10:51 am
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A good example of the tone I'm talking about is linked in a post of mine right now in Steel Players forum Titled The Song that Hooked Me...Thanks Buddy. Of course Buddy Emmons is playing, and he's gonna sound incredible no matter what he's playing, but the classic tone is there in all of it's glory.
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Zum Encore, Zum Stage One, Fender 2000, Harlan Bros., Multi-Kord, |
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Bill Howard
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 19 Mar 2012 4:17 am Great playing
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Cal never had heard you play but I love country steel players and in my truly humble opinion not everyone who sits at a steel sounds like a country player but you can sure play the country on one... I have not heard another steel player use the (I think( 5-6-9 along with A pedal I don't remember if I came up with that or stole it off someone(many yrs ago:) your the first since if I stole it:).
great playing any who... |
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