Well Pablo, I refrained from commenting at first because I wanted to see how the thread was gonna go. Yes, the Allen wrench thing is one of the design flaws of the Emmons Original, similar to, but not as problematic as, the wing nuts on the pedal rack of the old Sho~Buds where the screw fits through the holes in the front legs.
<font size=1>Whenever you remove a wing nut, there's an opportunity to drop it. And statistics show that 43% of the time, the wing nut will fall through the only crack in the stage, which is invariably where the steel guitarist sits. So your lost 29-cent wing nut renders your beautiful rosewood/maple inlaid fancy-schmancy Sho-Bud totally useless.</font>
I generally refrain from making statements like "Brand X is the Best, and then there's the Rest" because although they roll off the tongue real easy-like, they're WAY too jingoistic and you're basically preaching to the choir while offending everyone else who happens to have a different opinion or guitar. These kind of pronouncements usually say much more about the guy saying them than they do about the instruments themselves. I know statements like this often come out of joy and pride in one's own possessions, but the message delivered can be skewed by the tone of the statement. Often what's said can come off like chest-thumping, like "I'm smart and you're not."
I recall one thread here a long time ago when a dear friend of mine, so enthused about getting a Sho-Bud and playing it through a Twin Reverb, stated that mica-covered guitars were "kitchen countertops" and "not real steel guitars," and that tube amplifiers were the only amps worth listening to. I told him I appreciated his enthusiasm for his new-to-him equipment and sound, but that he just told Buddy Emmons that he wasn't playing a real steel guitar and that his sound wasn't worth listening to.
Then there are the volunteered opinions coming strictly from left field that aren't even solicited, in response to but not even related to the questions being asked. One forumite used to talk about how the only steel guitar worth listening to is a "brand X with Bill Lawrence pickups," and that anyone who had anything else would sound like crap until they replaced what they were playing with the above-mentioned guitar. Well, okay... except that probably wasn't the answer that the original poster was seeking when he was asking about how to adjust a knee lever on his own excellent (but not "Brand X") guitar. These kinds of statements lead me to believe that the speaker probably can't play for beans, is justly insecure about his abilities, and feels he needs to reinforce his feelings by bragging about what he owns. The more guys that say "yeah, right on..." to those statements, the more he's happy, and he's looking for any opportunity to get the reinforcement.
And there's times when statements like that are simply not appropriate, and that's when they reflect negatively not only on the choices made by other players, many with higher credentials and skills than the speaker, but also their intelligence. Such as, "anyone who doesn't play (what I play) is an idiot," or "go ahead and play what guitar you've got if you want to sound like sh!t." Don't laugh... I've seen it right here.
I tend to make statements, when asked about my equipment choices and what I play, that reflect how I feel about my equipment as it relates
to me, why I play certain brands and not others, and perhaps what advantages
I've found in some brands and pitfalls
I've found in others, usually from personal experiences, since I've been doing this silly game for 37 years.
I do have an enviable assortment of old Emmons guitars because I love the vibe I get from them and the tone they produce. They have their drawbacks, for sure. For the last month or so, I've been playing my Fessenden and I frankly love the ease of action, it's cosmetic beauty (rosewood and maple lacquer cabinet), it's stay-in-tuneness, and its great tone. I will be playing this guitar at ISGC, incidentally.
BTW, it has George Lewis pickups and it doesn't sound like crap.
Bottom line: it's about the player, not the instrument. A skilled carpenter can create a masterpiece with a handsaw and a cheap hammer, where a well-heeled hobbyist with a collection of Makita and Snap-On tools that would make a hardware store owner drool with envy could turn some high priced lumber into a high priced pile of sawdust and firewood.
POSTSCRIPT: Getting back to the
original post, I'd agree with Tut Taylor about Gibson mandolins and banjos, at least for the majority of the time they were produced. Gibson used to advertise that "the least expensive Gibson was superior to the best of any other brand," and for a great length of time, that was true. Likewise, Martin flattops set the standard in tone for that style guitar. Gibson could NOT make the same claim for arch-top guitars, though they were the first to manufacture those instruments based on violin structural principles, because there quickly came other builders, such as Stromberg, Epiphone, and D'Angelico, with equally fine competitive products. The availability of comparable substitutes provided by competitive builders, such as with mandolins, resonator guitars, and pedal steels today, makes the "best and rest" statements hard to justify, IMHO.
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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Herb Steiner on 09 August 2002 at 07:59 AM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Herb Steiner on 09 August 2002 at 08:26 AM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Herb Steiner on 09 August 2002 at 08:36 AM.]</p></FONT>
I don't know how it could possibly be better said than that. Right about the Sho-Bud wing-nuts too. Had some Sho-Buds I really liked (and some I didn't) but hate the wing-nuts.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 09 August 2002 at 10:00 AM.]</p></FONT>