Questions about the TMH Wraparound guitar

Ron Whitworth · Post by **Ron Whitworth** » 13 Feb 2011 7:32 am

Hello;
Since I do not know & I know many of you out may want to know this I want to ask some questions about the Emmons Wraparound guitar that Buddy played on the original Touch My Heart song by Ray Price.
Kind of like a steel guitar history lesson for those out there who do not know about this guitar.

1. Was this guitar a 1964?

2. How long did Buddy own the guitar?

3. Why did Buddy sell the guitar to Dickey Overby?

4. How long did Dickey own the guitar?

5. Who did Dickey sell the guitar to & why?

6. What did Buddy replace this guitar with?

Thanks You for reading this & please answer if you know the answer(s). I have heard about the guitar being made into a wagon for a long time now but have never heard any specifics on the guitar itself.
This will be a history that all fans of pedal steel can look up in the future if they want to know.
Thanks Much... Ron

Ron Whitworth · Post by **Ron Whitworth** » 14 Feb 2011 10:51 am

Bump it up...

Buddy Emmons · Post by **Buddy Emmons** » 14 Feb 2011 12:27 pm

I don’t remember the year I received the Touch My Heart guitar but there was a prototype or two I played before I settled for it. It would be safe to say it was one of the first production models from the Emmons Guitar Company and my first guitar to use on professional jobs. I probably played it a couple of years.

I sold the guitar to Dickey Overby because I assumed that all Emmons guitars would sound the same and my interest was more in mechanics and improvements of the pedal mechanism that might be in the works.

I don’t know how long Dickey Overby kept the guitar or who he sold it to, but it wasn’t long after he parted with it that he realized his replacement guitar lacked something he had gotten used to and could no longer hear or feel.

Dickey was short on mechanical expertise, so after he had the guitar a few months, he asked me to work it. I can only guess his purpose for selling was due to the difficulty of adjusting the timing and leverage of the undercarriage.

I replaced the guitar I sold to Dickey with another black Emmons push-pull. I don’t remember much about it other than taking the sound for granted and being more concerned about a stable pedal mechanism.

I ordered the rosewood model I call The Blade in 1967. I still have it and it has served me well, but after a while I realized it didn’t have the magic of the Touch My Heart guitar. One of the few guitars I’ve heard with that magic is still around and owned by Randy Reinhard. It’s an early push-pull I dubbed “the horn of plenty” in the 1970’s, and no one I know that has heard it will disagree.

One thing I’ll add is that the early Emmons push-pulls had pickups in the 15K range, which would have something to do with the clarity of sound. I recently put two 14,800K pickups in The Blade and it improved the transparency throughout the mid-range; especially noticeable on the C6 tuning.

I haven’t done much more than play the guitar enough to note the difference between the new and old pickups, but Ron Elliott, Tony Wilcox and Herb Steiner were present when Bobby Bowman put them in the guitar and the assessment through a Fender Steel King amp was a thumbs up from all. Most of all, I’d like to thank Herb Steiner for parting with one of his 14.8K pickups; couldn’t have done it without you, Herbster.

Paul Sutherland · Post by **Paul Sutherland** » 14 Feb 2011 2:10 pm

It's amazing to think there is a steel somewhere on this earth that sounds better than the Blade.

Ron Whitworth · Post by **Ron Whitworth** » 14 Feb 2011 3:42 pm

Mr Emmons;
Thank You Sir for taking the time to answer my thread about that very special steel guitar.
I appreciate this very much.
Now everyone will be able to read the history about this special guitar that you once owned.
Enjoy your retirement Sir.
Thanks Again.
Ron

Buddy Emmons · Post by **Buddy Emmons** » 15 Feb 2011 7:29 am

You’re quite welcome, Ron.

I appreciate your feelings toward the Blade, Paul. As for sound, there’s not that much difference between the Blade and what you hear recorded with the first Emmons guitars. Maybe you could liken it to playing the same venue on different nights with the same equipment and not sounding quite like you did the night before. It’s just a different kind of good.

The magic I talk about is the feeling the Emmons Original gave me while playing. When an instrument affects how you feel, it affects how you play; and that was my experience with the Touch My Heart guitar.

Ron Whitworth · Post by **Ron Whitworth** » 15 Feb 2011 11:02 am

Mr Emmons;
Regarding the Emmons Wraparound guitars >

My favorite statement I ever read that you made here on the Steel Forum was on 13 Jan 2002 as follows:

" When I make a fuss over a wraparound, it's because I've never played another guitar that inspired me as much. Many musicians say the same for other guitars, so it boils down to if you can play what you feel and feel what you play; you've got the right instrument."

I never really fully understood the weight of those words until I recently acquired one of these guitars.

When you sit down to one of these guitars & feel the response back & hear the tone of the guitar as you play - it is unbelievable IMHO compared to any other guitar. Then I think of the age of the guitar 46-47 yrs old it is just mindboggling to say the least!

You were a very brave & daring young man to accomplish what you did at that time in history.
To change the whole design concept of the guitar as you did & to have the tone/sound end up as it did was
a feat that will never be met or topped in any of our lifetimes!! IMHO.
You style of playing along with many of your design ideas have been copied & will be copied for many years to come.

Thanks for you time answering Sir.
Ron

Dave Burr · Post by **Dave Burr** » 16 Feb 2011 8:06 pm

bump because I don't want this one to drop off the page...

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 17 Feb 2011 10:27 am

interesting about the magic. not to bother mr. emmons , but what can you attribute the difference to compared to other similar models? could it be that the specific pieces of maple or even perhaps some of the aluminum parts just luckily had a unique resonant quality?

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 17 Feb 2011 1:04 pm

Buddy
Thanks for the shout out, I was glad and honored to contribute. I figured that since I'd gotten so much out of Her Bladeness over the years, the least I could do was toss a bone over to her side of the fence.

Roger Crawford · Post by **Roger Crawford** » 17 Feb 2011 1:54 pm

Her Bladeness...I like it!

Shorty Smith · Post by **Shorty Smith** » 17 Feb 2011 4:31 pm

I have a 73 Emmon P/P I bought in 73, I call it wonderful, and it still plays wonderful, what might Buddy caLL it , Shorty

Buddy Emmons · Post by **Buddy Emmons** » 17 Feb 2011 8:28 pm

Chris… I wish I knew the difference and so do many of the guitar builders I’ve worked with over the years; and they know a lot more about what they’re doing than I did when I designed it.

The physics of a design has much to do with the sound. Some of the distinct differences in push-pulls and other pedal guitars were the ½ inch thick cabinet, three piece aluminum necks, and Formica covered maple cabinet. Unlike the suspended fingers of an all-pull mechanism, all stops on the push-pull were against aluminum and the aluminum stops were pressed firmly against the cabinet. Also, there were pedal stops against the bottom of the cabinet, which allowed for a lot of resonance throughout the wood. I don’t know if it had anything to do with the sound, but it sure looks good on paper.

I wasn’t aware of any major changes in the original design until I got The Blade in early 1968. I thought it was a pretty good guitar and in time got used to the sound and never looked back; that is until Randy Reinhard sat his guitar up next to mine.

Randy and I spent a lot of time locking horns in those days and I was always amazed at the sound he got out of his guitar. He used to ask me to hold the cabinet while he raked the strings so I could feel the body vibrate and he could gloat. I knew what he had so I had no problem with his rubbing it in.

But the difference in the “magic” guitar compared to similar models is not likely to heard or felt by everybody. Over the years I’ve had hundreds of players sit down at The Blade and play through my amp with my tone settings and they ended up sounding like they did on their own guitars.

When I recorded Touch My Heart, I had the combination of ingredients of a singer that stirred my emotions and a guitar that allowed me to express those feelings to the fullest. As I discovered what the guitar was capable of, I in turn was able to expand beyond what I thought were my limits. Maybe that’s the magic I’m talking about.

Ron Whitworth · Post by **Ron Whitworth** » 18 Feb 2011 10:56 am

Another profound statement from Mr Emmons>

" But the difference in the “magic” guitar compared to similar models is not likely to heard or felt by everybody. Over the years I’ve had hundreds of players sit down at The Blade and play through my amp with my tone settings and they ended up sounding like they did on their own guitars "

I have talked with some steel players & some say they cannot hear any difference between guitars & then some say they can hear a lot of difference between guitars. I think a lot of folks hear a lot of things differently & that is why we eventually come up with different styles/flavors of the same song - not a bad thing at all ( IMHO ) - just think how boring it would be if we all sounded the same.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 18 Feb 2011 11:36 am

neat, thanx!
i especially appreciate the emotional connection to the singer.

Gary Spaeth · Post by **Gary Spaeth** » 11 Apr 2011 9:54 am

Jeannie Seeley's "Don't Touch Me" was recorded at around the same time. I'm guessing it was the same guitar? sure sounds similar.

too bad "the wagon" couldn't be disassembled and analyzed for grain orientation, mechanics etc. then try to replicate.

Brendan Mitchell · Post by **Brendan Mitchell** » 12 Apr 2011 5:04 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJYFzEjrOuw
Is this the recording referred to ?

Gary Spaeth · Post by **Gary Spaeth** » 31 Jan 2018 7:14 am

ya that's it and it's absolutely the best recording of steel guitar EVER!!

Ron Whitworth · Post by **Ron Whitworth** » 31 Jan 2018 8:44 am

YES Brendan that is the sound !!!!!!!

An older topic I know but I still love to read it.

Everything about that record was GREAT - the singer, the band & most of all
BUDDY EMMONS & his beautiful steel guitar sound !!!

I agree with you Gary !
Ron

Gary Spaeth · Post by **Gary Spaeth** » 10 Mar 2023 4:38 pm

a reply from Jeannie Seely