Who Own's A Le Grande III?

Bob Snelgrove · Post by **Bob Snelgrove** » 12 Oct 2002 12:24 pm

I'm really looking for opinions from folks that own one or have at least seen/played on one.

Like to know how the pedal/knee action is?

Like to know how close to a P/P they sound using similair single coil P/U's?

C'mon, I know someone has one of these babies

thx

bob

Mike Weirauch · Post by **Mike Weirauch** » 12 Oct 2002 6:29 pm

I have two. One with single coils and one with 705's. The knee and pedal action is stiff compared to a Zum and the knee lever travel is about a quarter of a mile long. I also have a push/pull and no, neither one sound like it does. They are both good guitars but I enjoy playing my Zum much more than either one of the Legrande's or the push/pull. I will say that my son's Carter has a better tone than either of the LeGrande III's but not the push/pull. The Zum is about equal to them in tone but has a much better string separation. NOW, I said the tone was equal but I didn't say they sounded alike. The Emmons sound like Emmons and the Zum sounds like a Zum and the push/pull just kicks ass and takes names. If I had to sell them all and keep just one, it would be either the Zum or my Son's Carter. Wow, what a decision that would be!

Bob Snelgrove · Post by **Bob Snelgrove** » 12 Oct 2002 6:57 pm

Thanks, Mike

How would you compare the action of the P/P vs. the Legrande? Ans has your P/P been set up by one of the "Gurus"

thx

bob

Mike Weirauch · Post by **Mike Weirauch** » 12 Oct 2002 8:45 pm

Surprisingly, my push/pull has an easier action than either LeGrande III. Bucky Reid put my push/pull together and tweeked it to perfection. I later sent it to Bryan Adams who replaced some parts with original Emmons parts and then put his magic to it so that is two Guru's who have worked on my push/pull and I recommend both highly.

Bob Snelgrove · Post by **Bob Snelgrove** » 12 Oct 2002 9:46 pm

Thanks, Mike

That's what I was hoping to hear.

bob

RON PRESTON · Post by **RON PRESTON** » 13 Oct 2002 2:53 pm

Ron Lashley Jr.,Chris Cid, and I built my III in 2000 when I worked for Emmons...and the counterforce is perfect as far as the cabinet drop. DEAD 440 with all pedals and knee levers ingaged...as far as the TONE ...well, what can I say...Clean and Bright...the pick-up is a Humbucker that was wound at 21,000 ohms that J.D. Manness had orderd for his axe when we built his in 2000. He changed his mind, called me, and ask if he could change his mind, and I said no problem. HIs was already wound, and was sitting on the pick-up shelf. When we started building mine, Ron Jr. ask me what kind of pick-up I wanted, and I said THE ONE THAT J.D. FIRST ORDERD.
I've NEVER been sorry for that move.
My III is a single neck, by-the-way. And single necks have there OWN personal sound verses the D-10. I have heard and read posts here on the PSF that some that own a III dosn't like them because they say the counterforse dosn't work right. I don't understand...

Dennis Manuel · Post by **Dennis Manuel** » 14 Oct 2002 8:46 am

I own a Legrande lll and it is a very well made guitar. The counterforce is not a gimmick, it works awesome. When it comes to sound my personal preference is a single coil pickup. When I got my Legrande lll it had humbuckers on it and I hated the sound as the sound seemed dead to me. Replaced the humbuckers with single coils that were wound to 20K and in my opinion it really improved the sound. I now have Lawrence 710s on it, however, I still like the single coil sound and will move in that direction again shortly. Now with all that said, if you want "That Sound" the Emmons push pull guitars, once again in my opinion, are the only guitars that will satisfy the craving your ear has. The P/P guitars do not snark out above the 12th fret as the all pull guitars do. As far as pedal and knee lever action, if they are set up right there is not much difference. Both work very well, however, you will not be able to get all the splits with a P/P guitar. Hope this helps.[This message was edited by Dennis Manuel on 14 October 2002 at 09:47 AM.]

Peewee Charles · Post by **Peewee Charles** » 14 Oct 2002 1:26 pm

Hi Bob,
I received my Emmons LeGrande 3 last October. It is a well built, great sounding guitar. If you'd like to hear it, I did a tribute to the American Relief Fund last October, after the horrific tragedy of 9/11. Go to my web site & click on tribute & load the MP3. I literally got the guitar & took it into the studio to record "The Star Spangled Banner", all proceeds to the families. I played with Gord Lightfoot for 14 years & remember playing San Jose years ago, beautiful city. All the best!
Ed (Peewee Charles)

Here's my site. Also check out my rendition of Rudolph in the music section with a Big Band! Health & Happiness!! http://members.rogers.com/music12/index.html

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 14 Oct 2002 2:38 pm

Bob, LeGrande III? The greatest! Would this guitar enjoy the greatest reputation in the world if it wasn't great? Ask Buddy, Jeff P. and thousands of others---> Sound, you have to be kidding! WONDERFUL? You bet. The sound all others are compared to!

Bob Snelgrove · Post by **Bob Snelgrove** » 14 Oct 2002 3:00 pm

Bobbe said:

"Bob, LeGrande III? The greatest! The sound all others are compared to!"

I says:

Bobbe, Bobbe

I said LeGrande, not *PUSH PULL*

Don't tell me my beloved P/P Has now been de-throned!?. I thought you were my best P/P buddy in the world, someone I could count on to defend its' honor forever, a guy that stood up to the rest of the all-pull world, head held up high, standing his ground!

Anyone want to buy a like new '78 Crawford P/P 9/10?

bob

(sorry

Bowie Martin · Post by **Bowie Martin** » 14 Oct 2002 4:56 pm

I have a 12 year old Legrande with Humbucking Pickups, a Legrande II with the stock pick up, and a III with the Humbucking units; I play the 12 year old and III interchangeably, and while my picking ain't great, I do get great comments on the tone, and from the studio engineer; they can not tell which one I am using...and I feel totally comfortable with either one...

Bob Snelgrove · Post by **Bob Snelgrove** » 14 Oct 2002 5:36 pm

Bowie

Is there a big difference in the stock (single coils) from the Humbuckers? You mentioned interchanging the 2 w/ humbuckers but not the sc's?

thx

bob

Mike Weirauch · Post by **Mike Weirauch** » 14 Oct 2002 7:07 pm

LeGrande III? The greatest!

......And when did you change your mind? You tell everyone who will listen to get a LeGrande II INSTEAD of the LeGrande III. You even suggested to me to take the anti detuner off my guitar.

and thousands of others

......I seriously doubt that very few more than 200 have been built since their inception. Logic will tell you that since their beginning, not all guitars produced were LeGrande III's and shortly after their debute, the former owner took over the company and production dwindled to near nothing before it was rescued by Ron Lashley, Jr. A good guitar? YES! The greatest ever? NO!
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>The sound all others are compared to!
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
......Correct me but hasn't the LeGrande III only been in production for like 6 years? When I read this statement over I am reminded of the sparkle of PeeWee Roger's push/pull, Lloyd Green's Sho~Bud, Wayne Dahl's new Carter last Saturday night on the Opry, Jimmie Crawford's JCH and Mike Cass' EMCI.

Again I say, I'm not bashing the LeGrande III's as I own two but they are not the resurrection of the push/pull or the industry standard. One thing, the anti-detuner DOES do the job of eliminating any and all cabinet drop. I still play mine, just not nearly as much as I used to.

Bobbe, surely you are not going to let me get away with this!

[This message was edited for spelling so it would not be mistaken for a Bobbe Seymour post][This message was edited by Mike Weirauch on 14 October 2002 at 09:01 PM.]

Henning Antonsen · Post by **Henning Antonsen** » 15 Oct 2002 12:19 am

I own a LeGrande III S-10, single-coil pick-up, 4 floor pedals & 5 knee levers (bought at Bobbe's, actually). I would say the pedal action is relatively stiff, compared to other brands I have played (even a 70's D-12 Sho-Bud!). In the studio, I don't get the sound I'm looking for by going direct to the board (yeah, I know, it's probably all in the hands...), but through my Session 500 it sounds real good. It's mainly the mids that have to be tweaked a bit, IMO.

The "Compensator" mechanism, which is the main reason why I settled for a LeGrande III, works fine. I may not know how to play, but at least I'm in tune.

Henning Antonsen

RON PRESTON · Post by **RON PRESTON** » 15 Oct 2002 3:38 am

From my experience at Emmons for almost two years, I found that my ears LOVED the sound of the SINGLE COIL, (on a aingle neck) but they have a HUM to them. BUT THOSE GUITARS SOUNDED AWSOME!!!
HUMBUCKERS, on the other hand, (single neck again) sounded FLAWLESSLY CLEAN, and this is very hard to explain, because everyone hears TONES differently. NOW, a gentelman came in one day, and hooked up his WILLAMS, through my FET 500 EVANS, and again... This guitar had its OWN TONE.......But it was KILLER.....TONE TO THE BONE,as they say.I have seen and heard MANY different BRANDS, PEOPLE, and YES, several different WORLD TOP NAMES come into the factory, sit down, hook up, and have a KILLER SOUND, BUT, MANY did NOT sound like the P/P, or a EMMONS ALL PULL, but, they ALL HAD THEIR OWN PERSONAL TONE, which was VERY ACCEPTPAL..(I know, I can't spell the TONE WORD, Dr. BOBBE TAUGHT ME)

Harry Hess · Post by **Harry Hess** » 15 Oct 2002 6:41 pm

My D-10 LeGrande III plays smooth as silk. The anti-detuner works perfectly and the pedal action in only the slightest bit stiffer than my D-10 LeGrande II. If I play the III for a few weeks and switch to the II, I notice slightly less stiff pedal action. But not enough to concern me.

I do notice that my Laquer body III sounds a lot richer & warmer than my mica II.

Never played a P/P, so I can't compare the tone, but I think I'm lucky to have two all pulls with great tone.

I wouldn't part with either of them.

Regards,
HH