ex Tommy White '76 P/P Emmons

[Roger Rettig]

I've flirted with the idea of owning a p/p Emmons for many years. I didn't know that this one was on the market when Jimbo bought it or I'd have been tempted.

The reason? Tommy's 'Day' set-up which is almost identical to mine (Bs to Bb on RKL) would have meant I could have played it 'as is'. Or 'as was' - on the video those butterfly tuners caught my eye, too, and I've always liked their appearance.

I may have been inclined to keep that white tape on the KLs, too (presumably added for 'visibility')! I've seen any number of nice looking p/p Emmons for sale but they're almost invariably 'Emmons' set-ups which is enough to put me off the idea.

[Tommy Detamore]

You need this guitar Roger

[Tommy White]

Aha! If that is the guitar Jim bought from me , which I have no reason to think it’s not, then it was most assuredly my guitar and the guitar from the video! My apologies to Peter for not recognizing the guitar. It is a special sounding Emmons that I enjoyed playing very much!
Someone is going to get a real jewel at the right price too!😊

[Tommy Detamore]

A lot of it is the pilot in that video of course , but the tone of that guitar is exemplary IMHO.

[Roger Rettig]

You said it all, TD!

[Ken Byng]

That rig of Tommy's sounded incredible on his video. I played it dozens of times and there is no doubt in my mind that the tone was as good as it gets and inspired me to buy a push pull and a Webb 614.

I have also sat right in front of Mike Johnson's red push pull through a Peavey LTD with EPS-15C Eminence speaker, and his tone was top class too.

Roger - try a push pull. Get someone who is well versed in setting up a p/p (there are lots of good Emmons techs around) to put your set-up on it. You will never regret it.

[Roger Rettig]

Ken:

When I want to demonstrate to somebody the full range and beauty of what pedal steel can be, I have no hesitation in pointing them towards that amazing 'outro' on Tommy's tape. It has everything - invention, imagination and the best tone I've ever heard. We all know it's 99% Tommy's unique abilities but the Emmons and the Webb didn't hurt, I'm sure.

Maybe I'll do the push/pull thing one day although I can't, in all conscience, justify the outlay at this late stage in my 'career'.

Then I'll see a photo of one of Tommy Cass' amazing restorations and I start to ponder the idea.....

[Ken Byng]

Well Roger, I believe that every steel player should have owning a p/p on their bucket list. They hold their value really well. I bought my p/p from the late Ron Mawn, who set my guitar up in Day mode and put bearings on the cross shafts.

One of the first things I noticed when I got mine is how it is relatively unaffected by temperature change compared to an all pull guitar.

[Jim Cohen]

A lot of it is the pilot in that video of course...

... as proven by my brief ownership of it.

[Peter Freiberger]

No apology necessary, Tommy. I think we’ve all learned to be wary of false claims of “provenance”, intentional or not. Regardless, I would advise anyone that in my experience of buying or just trying out a well known player’s instrument, you may get a fine instrument but the mojo of a previous owner can’t be bought.

[Ken Byng]

The old adage of "It's all in the hands" certainly applies to Tommy White as he is a real master player. But occasionally the player and guitar combination is extra special, as with Buddy and The Blade, Lloyd with the Lightning Bolt and his LDG, Jimmy Day had a Sho~Bud Pro 111 that he sounded great with, and Weldon Myrick with his push pull.

Tommy White and this push pull were a formidable partnership, and the two seemed made for each other. He got a boo-wah effect just with his right picking hand at times in that C6 outro on his video that I have never heard from any other player or from any other guitar that I've heard Tommy play.

[Gary Walker]

When I answered Jim's ad on the Forum and met him at Phoenix; we were loading into my car, and I asked him if he had left any of Tommy's licks on it. I was heart broken when he said, "wiped the hard drive clean" and not only that, it was changed from Day to Emmons setup. It came from Jim with 8 & 6 bright levers. Larry Petree from Bakersfield changed it back to Jimmy's setup. I did not take any pix under neath.

[kevin ryan]

I got this at the Goodrich shop today to fix, pretty sure Tommy owned it. It came with a lot of tone but no licks, very disappointed!

[George Duncan Sypert]

I played that guitar a little when Gary Walker had it in Flagstaff. I had a PP at the time but not had one very long. I had a really good visit with Gary at his home. Soon after he moved to California.

[Gary Walker]

George, you are right, that was a very nice visit you and your son graced us with. Sometimes wish we could step into the time machine and revisit times like that. Ah, those were the days. So sorry I didn't take the camera out and freeze the moment in time. I always took pics of the cat when he did something cute.

[J R Rose]

Would like to find one of those video's of Tommy's. Anyone got an idea? Thanks, J.R.

[J R Rose]

All is Cool, found one. Thanks, J.R.

[Bill Cunningham]

Sort of interesting or even amazing. Peter is trying to sell a notable or even possibly historically significant guitar. It gets two pages of discussion but no evidence of a potential buyer.

Good luck, Peter.