The Steel Guitar Forum

What is considered the best sounding Emmons? The Wrap around, the bolt on, the split end, the full back, the Lashley Legrand I, II ? I was told today that the best sounding years was 67 to 70. I was also told that the rose wood guitars of 1970 sounded better than the black ones for some strange reason. Any opinions? I was told the best sounding Emmons ever was a 1970 rose wood.

That's easy. The best sounding steel guitar is the one played by the best sounding steel guitarist, and everybody knows who that is....

Bobby Bowman has said before that the best sounding Emmons that he ever heard was a student model Emmons.

My answer to the best sounding Emmons? Why, Buddy of course!

Keith,

It seems that your post has brought out all of the smart alecs, so I guess I'll just jump in too.

The answer:

MINE!! Especially since I hooked it up to one of your pedals.

1973 Emmons PP, cut tail, cut back. Black, aluminum necks.

I like mine, a 2002 All Pull, lacquer.

Please let me add; my guitar is not for sale.

Obviously, BEST means different things to different players. Does that mean more sustain,
more emphasis on a certain frequency, or whatever. Each changer that was used back then brought out a different character. Even the cut-tails vary in tonality from year to year as slightly different construction methods were adopted. The specs on the pickups also evolved as you got into the 70's and early 80's.

Randy Rheinhards 64 Emmons Wrap around . But Where are we gonna find one? Love My hilton Potless Volume pedal. Keep up The good work Keith . Randy Keith Gilliam.

Randy, Randy's guitar immediately came to my mind when I saw this; I do wish that no one would tell anyone else about it just in case it comes on the market, I might have a shot. Oh well.

Best sounding Emmons I ever heard was forumite Lawrence Lupkin's S10 PP that Clem Schmitz rebuilt. Absolutely amazing sounding.

The Blade

double post

this 1982 is the best one I've had of about a dozen or so:

The Wraparounds are thin sounding compared to the others IMHO. The crosshafts and other parts are a lot thinner/smaller underneath too and that has something to do with the tone as well. I've got the best sounding one I ever owned or heard here now. This one is a 71 Birdseye maple D-10 9/8 with alluminum necks with the cut-tail changer and full back on the back apron. I've owned a 66 with the Bolt-on changer and it won't compare to the tone or sustain of this one. This guitar is a Sunburst finish top, back and front done by A J Nelson of Sho-Bud fame only just a few years ago.

Dustin...OK to double post what you said!

I have owned several cut tails and there was definitely some variation in the tone. Some are thinner... some are warmer. My current mid-70s S-10 is the thickest, best sounding Emmons p/p I have ever played, better than my D-10s. I have no idea why , but the difference can be heard in the instrument itself (without an amp).

Keith, EVERYBODY knows that no matter which production group, the biggest secret to PP tone is to have a BLACK guitar!!

I recently bought a single neck Lashley Legrand II with a pad--used. It has a George L T.W. pickup on it. I put stainless steel strings on it. The sound is amazing. All my friends hear the difference. I used to have a 1966 black Emmons many years ago. I am still kicking myself for selling that guitar. I am having the chance to buy a 1970 Double Neck soon. A really great guitar has a special ringing sound, even when the power is turned off. I never was crazy about the Emmons wood grain rose wood formica, although Dickey Overby plays one.

One time I tested 5 Emmons push-pulls, all cut tails, playing one after the other, through the same amp, using no volume pedal, just patching direct: steel to amp... and the differences were amazing. A couple of them sounded "darker" in tone, and one was so bright and thin it was annoying! These side by side comparisons revealed that 'not all push pulls are created equal' Why does this happen? I don't know, but like I said above, the differences can often be heard in the instrument itself (without an amp).

My two D-10 P/P are my favorites

Bobbe Seymour has said that the tone of an Emmons push/pull can be "tuned" by things like the tension on the neck screws. This indicates that the differences heard among similar models might not be entirely inherent, but might to some extent be differences in these types of adjustments. On the other hand, he also said you had to go through several of them to find one with "that tone." I guess these things will always be a bit of a mystery, like the secrets of the Stradivari violins.

I have a few .....bolt ons, cut tails, wood necks, etc. my favorite I keep going back to is an early 80s cut tail, next to that I have a Legrande III with 108Ns than plays and sounds damn good, and it does sound like an Emmons

I have to agree with Doug on this one.
I haven't tried every steel in the world, but I do own 2 Emmons a 74 Double Neck (owned nearly 25 years now) and a 78 S-10 Emmons (owned 3 years now) almost like Dougs in his picture. As far as the Emmons sound ... my S-10 has it. I love playing the S-10 live for the sound, much better than my D-10 which I also love, but the S-10 just sounds killer. It does not care what amp it runs through, Emmons tone always.

I think it's interesting that one of the arguments invariably brought up against an S12 universal is that the bigger body of a D10 gives better tone (usually referring to all-pulls). Yet here we have a couple of people saying that in p/p comparisons the S10s sound better. Is the p/p somehow different than all-pulls in this respect? Or is this just something that is purely a matter of taste, with no objective meaning?

I do not know which model is considered the best sounding but I do know this. I have a LeGrande III and it sure does not have the Emmons tone the push pull guitars have. It is a nice guitar but the sound just is not there compared to the push pull I had several years ago.