The Steel Guitar Forum

I had a 6 string Gibson UltraTone... really an ugly looking guitar, so ugly it was almost nice again. At the same time I was also playing a D8 Gibson Console Grande and that was among one of the wrong reasons I let the UT slip away. The UT had such an "electric" sound like I never again found on any other steel guitar ever again. I never knew if all UT's had it... it was so "electric" , other members of the band called it the "hair blower". Today I wished I had it just to try to duplicate the pickup to my modern guitars.

... J-D.

In 1977 I had a brand spankin' new MSA S-10 3 and 4 in one hand, and a check for $1000 in the other, and a looming divorce.
I sat the guitar down and left the store.
Those moments get burned indelibly into the brain...

The one I always regretted not buying was a Sierra that Buddy Emmons had turned back in to the the Sierra shop. This was around 1994, I think. It was a black 10/12, with some sort of E13 pedal tuning on the 12 string back neck, and it had Buddy's name stenciled on the front. Don would have given me a great deal on it, too. I just wouldn't have had the heart to remove Buddy's name from the front, and I couldn't have gigged with it that way. I was afraid that someone would see me playing it and think " So that's Buddy Emmons... He ain't so hot..."

I let go of a beautiful brand new '76 Emmons Loafer. Green sunburst lacquer/wood neck with "castle wall" inlay. I only had it a few months, and I got rid of it because I couldn't get the hang of the changer. It sounded great, but I just couldn't get it to play in tune.
I just botched up the works by fooling with it and not knowing what I was doing.
And it's doubly irksome because now my main axe is a p/p.

The first push-pull I bought from Bobbe the one. A 1980 Black Emmons D-10 9+4 #2783D. I think I put it on consignment thru Bobbe. What a mistake! All push-pulls sound good, but some have that "magic" that gets a hold of you. I might consider trading the current owner my 78 Emmons Rosewood guitar if the 1980 is not abused.

As some may recall, I traded my infamous white Derby toward the 1980 Emmons about 10 years ago!

Delivered there upstairs at Sho-Bud ('73), set up by Duane Marrs. Natural with blue aprons. Wanted to buy it back, no dice.

I'd like to have another shot at my blue Sierra.

my First pro guitar my '73 ZB S-10:



I miss my skinny '73 body too. Still have the hair though... given enough time to grow it out...


I don't miss the S10 now as much as I used to 'cause I have it's big brother ('73 ZB D10) but it was a long 30 years between them...i could still hear the sound of my S-10 in my head (literally... I have this weird auditory memory), and when I sat down to the D10 it lived up to that idealized memory...