What Happened to all of Buddy’s Steels?

[John Goux]

Some of our great players use the same guitar over their careers, like Paul a Franklin and Jay Dee Maness.
Buddy Emmons seems to have changed guitars regularly . Every video I watch he seems to have a different steel.
Counting back from 2006, I can see 2 Zums, an Emmons LL 3, Sierra, EMCI, push pulls, Shobud, Bixby, and many others along the way.

Some of this was during the development period of pedal steel. But once the tuning had arrived, he still seemed to have jumped companies on a regular basis.

It would take a storage facility to house all those guitars. Was there someone selling off instruments for him? Are there players that bought steels from Buddy personally? Does his family have a a bunch of his steels? I wonder if there are former guitars of his, sitting in people’s closets.

John

[Tim Sergent]

Hook Moore owned one on Buddy's Zum's

[Marty Broussard]

What happened to the Carter U12(Cheeks)?

[Tim Sergent]

And the JCH that Jimmy Crawford built for him

[scott murray]

I'm not the expert but wasn't Cheeks the Sierra? if so, I believe it resides at Jim Palenscar's shop.

his son has The Blade if I'm not mistaken.

the old Sho-Bud with his name spelled "Buddie" on the front is at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum.

I believe several more were auctioned by Gruhn Guitars around the time of Buddy's estate sale.

[Damir Besic]

there was no pedal steel guitars auctioned at Gruhns, only 3 Dobros , few lap steels, and some other stuff... I don’t know who has metal body Dobro , Gary Morse has wooden body 10 string , and Buddy’s wooden body 6 string Dobro is here in my bedroom , and I’m getting ready to record some tracks with it

[Austin Tripp]

I tracked down several of Buddys guitars several years ago just out of curiosity but only found a handful of them.

The red EMCI that Buddy had popped up in a discussion on one of the pedal steel pages on Facebook a while back. His SKH that he used for several years that has the little rose in the middle of the front apron belongs to a fellow forum member. Charlie Stepp had Buddys Derby or a few of them, not sure how many Buddy actually had. Hook Moore owned the Zum that Buddy had. Emmons son has the Blade. Brown Bart and Black Bart I've yet to find.

[Gary Reed]

Damir,
What tuning did Buddy prefer on his Dobro’s?
Thanks

[Ron Funk]

I believe BE's Black extended C6th tuning Sierra with Cheeks emblazoned in white on the front apron resides near Springfield, IL

And I believe BE's Brown Bart is still alive and well near Champaign, IL

[Ron Funk]

John -

Here's a side story about why some steelers might change steels during their careers:

Many years ago, maybe early to mid 80's, Scotty put on a NY Eve show & dance with 'BE and all the boys' at one of the major St L hotels.
It was quite the shindig.....large circular tables, white tablecloths, the whole nine yards.

Upon entering the huge hall, I noticed a second steel sitting at left rear of the stage. At the first intermission, I asked Scotty if there was going to be another steeler playing with BE that night.

Scotty replied "Stick around to midnight and you'll see"

BE and the band played on....

Then precisely at midnight, (as I recall, during the Auld Lang Syne sing-along) Buddy took the steel that he had been playing to the back of the stage, and returned with the steel that had been previously sitting there.

I can only assume a different endorsement deal became effective at Midnight.

Ron

[Damir Besic]

Damir,
What tuning did Buddy prefer on his Dobro’s?
Thanks

I believe this one was open G , and one with 10 strings was C6 or something, but you’d have to ask Gary about that for a better info

[John LeMaster]

An image I found in a search. Don't know for sure this was Buddy's, but decal says "Cheeks".

[scott murray]

guess Buddy had at least a couple Cheeks

[Ernie Renn]

The Carter 12 named "Cheeks" Ron Funk said he knew the owner. (Ron, have the owner contact me.)

There was a Sierra 12 string. I'm not sure were that made off to.

The Blade is with the Emmons family. I think Dyke Corson has one of the LL-III's. Hook Moore had the Zum hybrid. (Buddy traded the other Zum with Bruce Zumsteg for the hybrid.) Buddy's long time bass player, David Smith has the black Emmons LeGrande prototype. (The one with the cracked front apron. I think the yellow sticker covered the crack.)

After Buddy left Emmons Guitar he played several different brands. I think he was trying to find one he liked the most. The ones he played the most, we obviously contenders. He'd go back to the Blade when he'd get frustrated. I think to right himself.

After he had gone on to another brand, we were listening to a CD and he knew from what he had played that it was the Carter. He said he thought it sounded pretty good and didn't remember why he had moved on.

He did like the white keyless Sierra D-10. (He played HERE!) He said he played it differently because it would sustain longer.

There's plenty of Buddy's guitars floating around.

If anybody knows how I can get in touch with Buddy's son, Larry, I'd appreciate it. Larry owns the Emmons single 12 basketweave and the last time I talked to him, he said it was still exactly the way Buddy left it. (Buddy would've like to borrowed it back. He liked that one, too.)

If you all have pictures and maybe some dates...

[Ron Hogan]

I believe Jack Stanton ownes the "one for the road" guitar.

[Peter Freiberger]

Mike Cass has, or had, at least one of the EMCI's. Emmons' last steel, the 12 string Sierra, came from Jim Palenscar and is back at Jim's shop now. Here's a picture of it. The guy behind it is definitely NOT Buddy!

[john widgren]

I did some extensive mechanical work on the ""Baby Grande" (SKH with the little rose) It's in the mid Atlantic region, in very good hands being enjoyed, cared for, and played by an excellent and very worthy player. I thought it had a quite special sound, and it played well (when I got thru with it)

[Jim Palenscar]

"Cheeks"- Buddy's last guitar- a 12 string Sierra C6 quasi-universal- is indeed at the shop. I imagine someday I'll let it go but its historical significance and what I went through to get it back makes me proud to just have it for display and the memories it brings back.

[Jack Stanton]

You are correct, Ron Hogan, and John Widgren did an excellent job making it play like butter.

[Austin Tripp]

Jack, if you have a picture of the guitar would you mind posting it? That was my favorite Buddy era!

[Bill C. Buntin]

I wonder where the(I think two)? Bud carter built MCIs are? I think Buddy was really partial to them at one time. Would love to have one of them.

Bill

[Jack Stanton]

Austin, I'll shoot some pics

[Ron Funk]

Buddy's original Extended C6th tuning 12 string Sierra


http://www.buddyemmons.com/SierraC612.htm