Pushpull encounter
Posted: 7 Oct 2002 6:28 am
I played a show this weekend with the Philadelphia-area band Redd i Ramblers, who do an eclectic mix of bluegrass, old-timey flatpicking and Celtic music. The meeting point was the guitar player's house where he took a moment to show me his newest acquisition, the Emmons original pictured below which may have an interesting player association.
It's all wood with wooden necks, flat-back, bolt-on changers, 9 pedal & 7 knee, wide cast pedals and black knee levers, tobacco sunburst (brown to black) lacquer finish with light-and-dark wood marquetry inlay, Lawrence blade humbuckers, Kluson button tuners, brown and white screw-on logo badge, black flocking, and white-lined fretboards. The serial number, if that's what it is, is 1965D stamped into the extrusion below the C6 changer. I could find no other numbers and there's nothing else with it to indicate the age or previous owner.
Its condition is extremely used, to say the least - this guitar has some serious mileage and was clearly heavily played and traveled. The lacquer is chipped along all the leading edges, the metal is cloudy, one pedal rod is missing, there are numerous bar dings and chips between the necks, the E9 fretboard is warped and scotch taped at the changer end, the logo sticker on the front of the pedal rack is clear plastic - the word "Emmons" and the chevron have completely worn away - and it's filthy, filthy, filthy, with several thick circular dirt spots that I suspect started out as beer drops. At the same time, the C6 neck and pedals do not appear to have been played very much at all. The three E9 pedals are shiny and worn; the six C6 pedals exhibit almost no wear.
Mystery axe:
The Redd i guitarist works in the financial industry with an accountant who was formerly employed by a Nashville firm that did bookkeeping for country music acts. A client gave the accountant this guitar before he left Nashville for Pennsylvania, telling him that it had once belonged to a professional steeler. Between the 9 & 7 setup and the wear and tear, I have no problem believing this was once a pro's guitar. The accountant played it for four or five years before getting married and starting a family. The steel has been packed away in his attic for about the last 10 years.
The E9 neck sounds great and plays OK despite the fact that the strings are at least a decade old and it hasn't been adjusted or lubricated in all that time and probably longer. The pedals are set up Emmons style and the knee levers are not particularly exotic - Es to Eb, Es to F, G# to G, F# to G#, D to C#, Eb to D. I think the E to Ebs are split, with LKR lowering the 4th and RKL lowering the 8th. What I know about C6 isn't worth mentioning, but the tuning is different from what's on my LeGrande. Maybe it has the G on top instead of the D, and the pedal action seemed really stiff on the C6 side.
Bolt-on changers with Lawrence blade humbuckers:
Despite its condition, it has the clear ringing sound and high sustain that is characteristic of these guitars. It didn't seem to have that razor sharp string separation when I played 4 and 8, and 5 and 10 as pairs, but probably a fresh set of strings would fix that.
It's a flatback:
Then there is the question of what to do with it. At this point, it's on open-ended loan to the Redd i guitarist. He has done nothing except set it up and tune the E9 neck and pedals. He expects at some point that the owner will tell him just to keep it, perhaps in exchange for a nominal sum.
I wasn't sure what to advise him to do. A full-blown overhaul and cleanup by one of the pushpull experts would restore it to peak performance level and close to its original beauty. But if this turns out to be a famous player's guitar, would that be a desecration? This steel is in the precise scummy condition that it was in when it came off the road. That beer could be from Tootsies and the dust from the rafters of the Ryman. You'd never scrub a vintage tele, (those might be Merle's sweat drops!!) but the debate's never been settled as to whether old steels are vintage guitars or machines that require maintenance and repair, and are actually more valuable for having been restored.
So, suggestions are welcome. And if anyone has an idea who this steel belonged to based on the description and photos, we're interested in knowing.
It's all wood with wooden necks, flat-back, bolt-on changers, 9 pedal & 7 knee, wide cast pedals and black knee levers, tobacco sunburst (brown to black) lacquer finish with light-and-dark wood marquetry inlay, Lawrence blade humbuckers, Kluson button tuners, brown and white screw-on logo badge, black flocking, and white-lined fretboards. The serial number, if that's what it is, is 1965D stamped into the extrusion below the C6 changer. I could find no other numbers and there's nothing else with it to indicate the age or previous owner.
Its condition is extremely used, to say the least - this guitar has some serious mileage and was clearly heavily played and traveled. The lacquer is chipped along all the leading edges, the metal is cloudy, one pedal rod is missing, there are numerous bar dings and chips between the necks, the E9 fretboard is warped and scotch taped at the changer end, the logo sticker on the front of the pedal rack is clear plastic - the word "Emmons" and the chevron have completely worn away - and it's filthy, filthy, filthy, with several thick circular dirt spots that I suspect started out as beer drops. At the same time, the C6 neck and pedals do not appear to have been played very much at all. The three E9 pedals are shiny and worn; the six C6 pedals exhibit almost no wear.
Mystery axe:
The Redd i guitarist works in the financial industry with an accountant who was formerly employed by a Nashville firm that did bookkeeping for country music acts. A client gave the accountant this guitar before he left Nashville for Pennsylvania, telling him that it had once belonged to a professional steeler. Between the 9 & 7 setup and the wear and tear, I have no problem believing this was once a pro's guitar. The accountant played it for four or five years before getting married and starting a family. The steel has been packed away in his attic for about the last 10 years.
The E9 neck sounds great and plays OK despite the fact that the strings are at least a decade old and it hasn't been adjusted or lubricated in all that time and probably longer. The pedals are set up Emmons style and the knee levers are not particularly exotic - Es to Eb, Es to F, G# to G, F# to G#, D to C#, Eb to D. I think the E to Ebs are split, with LKR lowering the 4th and RKL lowering the 8th. What I know about C6 isn't worth mentioning, but the tuning is different from what's on my LeGrande. Maybe it has the G on top instead of the D, and the pedal action seemed really stiff on the C6 side.
Bolt-on changers with Lawrence blade humbuckers:
Despite its condition, it has the clear ringing sound and high sustain that is characteristic of these guitars. It didn't seem to have that razor sharp string separation when I played 4 and 8, and 5 and 10 as pairs, but probably a fresh set of strings would fix that.
It's a flatback:
Then there is the question of what to do with it. At this point, it's on open-ended loan to the Redd i guitarist. He has done nothing except set it up and tune the E9 neck and pedals. He expects at some point that the owner will tell him just to keep it, perhaps in exchange for a nominal sum.
I wasn't sure what to advise him to do. A full-blown overhaul and cleanup by one of the pushpull experts would restore it to peak performance level and close to its original beauty. But if this turns out to be a famous player's guitar, would that be a desecration? This steel is in the precise scummy condition that it was in when it came off the road. That beer could be from Tootsies and the dust from the rafters of the Ryman. You'd never scrub a vintage tele, (those might be Merle's sweat drops!!) but the debate's never been settled as to whether old steels are vintage guitars or machines that require maintenance and repair, and are actually more valuable for having been restored.
So, suggestions are welcome. And if anyone has an idea who this steel belonged to based on the description and photos, we're interested in knowing.