Trading Emmons D-10 for ShoBud D10. Anyone ever done that?

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 12 May 2015 12:14 pm

How sweet.

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 12 May 2015 12:16 pm

I know

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 12 May 2015 12:18 pm

I don't care what anybody says, Damir is ok.

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 12 May 2015 12:23 pm

thank you my friend, I appreciate that

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 12 May 2015 12:24 pm

You're very welcome, friend.

Abe Levy · Post by **Abe Levy** » 12 May 2015 12:47 pm

That's a lot of mud over apples and oranges!! For what it's worth, I considered selling one of my Emmons guitars for that shobud. I really think those will be very hard to find and be very expensive in the near future. I wouldn't trade my LAST Emmons for it, but would love to have it in the stable. I'm jealous.

Tom Quinn · Post by **Tom Quinn** » 12 May 2015 12:55 pm

It's whatever floats the particular person's boat. There are folks who only play cable operated Fenders. Who knows what is cool and what is not?

To me Sho-Bud/Emmons push-pulls are very much like Indian/Harley. Sho-Buds do zip for me and I've owned at least four Professionals and a Pro II. I don't like their saccharine tone although they are beautiful in a nice-furniture sort of way. Emmons push-pulls are like my two Harleys -- you either like them and put up with their various idiosyncrasies or you buy a Suzuki/Yamaha/Honda, i.e., an all-pull toneless white-breadomatic guitar. (Oops!!! My bad)

But I digress... -L-

Have fun with the fingertip, it's beautiful and it's your $$$. That should be the end of the conversation right there! -L-

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 12 May 2015 12:57 pm

I always wanted 2 guitars in my collection, '66 Emmons bolt on, and Sho~Bud fingertip or permanent... maybe someday I will be able to afford those guitars just for my own amusement...but I don't see that happening any time soon

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 12 May 2015 1:00 pm

Tom Quinn wrote:all-pull toneless white-breadomatic guitar

lol...

Jake Gathright · Post by **Jake Gathright** » 12 May 2015 1:16 pm

I can relate to the bike thing, too. Ive had everything from a '74 ironhead chopper to metric cafe racers that I have built myself. I dig the old stuff that needs a little maintenance to keep going smooth. I also deer hunt with a traditional recurve bow, grow my own tobacco, and stuff like that. So maybe im just the wierd one who likes a little extra challenge...

Tom Quinn · Post by **Tom Quinn** » 12 May 2015 1:32 pm

You sound normal to me, plus anyone named "Jake" has to be cool, right?

Cartwright Thompson · Post by **Cartwright Thompson** » 12 May 2015 1:37 pm

It's funny how these threads ALWAYS end up as Emmons vs. Sho-Bud or Tubes vs. Solid State or blah blah blah...
Who cares what the other guy plays/likes?!?
Just do what you like and make sounds that appeal to you.

Tom Quinn · Post by **Tom Quinn** » 12 May 2015 2:16 pm

Cartwright, do you think it might be -- get ready here -- because he traded an Emmons for a -- you can see this coming, right? -- Sho-Bud. That's why this thread ended up "there..."

See Science, Rocket.

Mitch Ellis · Post by **Mitch Ellis** » 12 May 2015 8:24 pm

Jake Gathright wrote: I play the old school way. I play a guitar, a volume pedal, and a tube amp. I don't get into the fancy gadgets and this and that.

I feel pretty much the same way. I would really like to hear you play. I bet that fingertip is a TONE MACHINE! It's one of the best looking steels that I've ever saw. Only about 100 made? I didn't know that. And out of that 100, how many do you think are in the condition that yours is in? You're a lucky man, Jake!

Mitch

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 13 May 2015 11:25 am

People with a natural ear for pitch don't have so much trouble keeping their guitars in tune.

Actually, like many a-peep here, when I started playing a loaded (5+5) S10, I realized that I needed to specifically work on in-tuneness harder, even after 30 years of git & a decade of fretless bass. So I did the requisite playing against drones and trying to get intervals and then chords into perfect tune, wherein I ran into the same problem as the other peeps: even without "perfect" pitch you can train your ear well past the point where the offsets needed for our Western equal-tempered tuning become downright disturbing! And the absolute worst offender was a steel-"tampered" adjustment shuck that ended with certain intervals being 14 and 17 cents out. Supposedly "People with a natural ear for pitch", i.e. perfect pitch, find quite a lot of music to be unbearable. I had to UN-train or DE-train my ear to even be able to RE-enjoy a lot of good music, and to this day I find "Sketches of Spain" - where Miles Davis was pushing the concept of "blue notes" to the limit, and doing so against a chamber orchestra - it's just, like, WRONG.

You'd think somebody could've clued the guy in, huh?

The moral of the story is, everybody's cheating and some people are just better at it - why do you think some of the best steel guitarists ever AUTOMATICALLY plaster a big grin on their face? Not for the clam they just hit, but for the one they're about to. And every electronic multi-geegaw made has "chorus" and "doubling" and "detune" settings to make notes out-of-tune enough to be interesting again.

Tony Glassman · Post by **Tony Glassman** » 13 May 2015 11:37 am

I'm glad that no one "clued-in" Miles Davis.

The "Sketches of Spain" Miles/Gil Evans collaboration is IMHO, a masterpiece. I still enjoy that album after 4 decades of listening to it.

Now if you wanna talk about his later stuff (e.g. "Bitches Brew"), I'll agree.......difficult to listen to, and very non-musical. It's almost as if he was searching for the "anti-Miles", when compared to his earlier efforts ("Kinda Blue", "Sketches" etc).

But we digress........The OP was re: a Finger-Tip vs LG trade. If the old Sho-Bud tone is what he craved, then the trade was a good one. I'm a staunch Emmons guy, but have always been fascinated by sound of the old Finger-Tips. If money was no object, I'd have one in the stable.

Jason Duguay · Post by **Jason Duguay** » 13 May 2015 5:51 pm

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 13 May 2015 7:54 pm

So Jake, did Damir's package arrive yet? I'm aching to know about your first impression cuz, man..... that Bud is gorgeous. So don't keep us in suspense.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 15 May 2015 5:39 pm

Erv Niehaus wrote: I asked him later if he still had it and he said: "No, I couldn't keep it in tune".
You can argue all you want but that particular model Sho~Bud was a dog!
BTW: If that guitar was so great, it's a wonder Lloyd isn't still playing it.

Guitars that can't be tuned must be pretty common, because some players go thorough a dozen or more, and still can't find one that plays in tune!

Quentin Hickey · Post by **Quentin Hickey** » 15 May 2015 6:55 pm

If you ever watch Doug Jernigan play his really nice sounding Dark blue Zum, he is always retuning a string or 2 while playing. But thats probably the fault of a machine tuner not that awsome Zum.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 16 May 2015 5:37 am

pretty funny thread,

I am reminded of the wisdom of the late great Bobbe Seymour.

"Emmons guitars are great..but NOT ALL OF THEM are great"

He followed by saying..."the name tag doesn't make it a great guitar"

I have also sat across from him in his store when he played a few Push Pulls that he acquired...Sometimes he would point to one and say..buy that one it's awesome..then he would point to another and say...thats the bastard child..it has no tone, no soul , don't buy that one unless you want to continue to sound bad ! Typical Seymour wisdom..Ha !

Me, I'm a Sho Bud guy but a player first, if the Steel is not to my liking I really don't care what badge is on it. My Emmons LG was a nice enough Steel but it didn't sing to me . It's gone...

I think many of us put too much stock into the badge name when at the end of the day we still need a guitar that is comfy to play and sounds pretty good cause' WE still have to play in tune, on pitch and in meter...

I gig with a small Sho Bud Pro I these days, I have probably played 20 gigs with it over the past several months , the only people that even remotely cared that it was a Sho Bud was a hand full of players that stopped by to say hi.

Trade an Emmons for a Sho Bud ? Sure why not ? Whats the problem ?

John Brabant · Post by **John Brabant** » 16 May 2015 3:28 pm

And let's not forget folks that Lloyd played a new fingertip, most likely in the same condition as the James Moorhead renovated beaut. that Damir sold you. I believe that is what he played on the Byrds Sweethearts of the Rodeo, at a time when he could have owned a 1968 or older Emmons P-P. They were likely comparably priced at the time and he chose the Bud over the Emmons. If I could sound like Lloyd Green on that album, all I would play would be that Fingertip.

Tom Quinn · Post by **Tom Quinn** » 16 May 2015 7:58 pm

Find it interesting that some of you guys have to trash Emmons guitars to push your Sho-Buds. Have fun. My fatback sounds good as it gets and the name on the front is the name of the best steel player in the history of the universe... Emmons.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 17 May 2015 12:35 am

nobody's trashing anything here.

Obviously everyone loves there individual guitars but that doesn't mean every individual will love it.

back to the topic, trade an Emmons for a Sho Bud ? Sure why not..whats the problem ?

I'm a Corvette guy, owned maybe 10 or 12. A couple of them were the best friggin Vettes I have ever owned or driven, rocket ships out of the gate....but a couple of them were the worst cars I have ever owned.

funny thing though, they all had the Corvette badge...

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 17 May 2015 12:48 am

I am reading some funny stuff with regard to tone re: both the Emmons ( push pulls, not all pulls) and the Sho Buds. Two iconic LP's come to mind which I will bet that most of us if not all of us own. Both are an iconic "living record" of tone... The Emmons Black Album and Charlie Pride Live at Panther Hall.

Yet we digress...

Anyone tried to remove the cross shafts on a Legrand lately ? Ha !

When I restored my D10 Legrand that was the only issue I ran across.