Buddy Emmons

Don Sutro · Post by **Don Sutro** » 8 Feb 2015 6:52 am

Would someone know if Buddy Emmons still plays live and, if so, where/when?

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 8 Feb 2015 9:53 am

Last I heard he has retired, and that was a couple years ago.

DG Whitley · Post by **DG Whitley** » 10 Feb 2015 7:28 pm

...what Jack said...

Andy Eder · Post by **Andy Eder** » 18 Mar 2015 2:46 pm

Yes, according to my grapevine, Buddy hasn't played in over 2 years.

Glenn Demichele · Post by **Glenn Demichele** » 18 Mar 2015 8:11 pm

Gosh, I hope he takes his time and someday releases a studio album. My dad is 86, and sings great and plays jazz accordion, and me and my brother did an "album" with him in my basement for posterity. It's good, and he has a lot to offer musically, regardless of lower dexterity and testerone levels. If you got something to say, it doesn't matter if you say it slowly, Buddy.

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 19 Jun 2015 7:08 am

last thing I heard is that Buddy got himself a nice S12 C6 Sierra, and it's enjoying himself ... he probably got tired of people and too much attention , so he is just keeping it to himself ... I don't blame him a one bit...

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 19 Jun 2015 8:31 am

Damir Besic wrote:last thing I heard is that Buddy got himself a nice S12 C6 Sierra...

I heard the same thing a couple weeks ago from someone who would know. He said it was personally delivered to Buddy by a couple guys from Southern California whose names would be familiar to most everyone on this Forum.

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 19 Jun 2015 8:46 am

Buddy always liked Sierra guitars, his favorite C6 guitar was Sierra... those are great guitars, back in a day known as "Cadillac of steel guitars", and they were expensive as well, today you can't get 16 hundred bucks for a nice S10, most get barely $1200, go figure...

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 19 Jun 2015 9:54 am

probably cause they have the aesthetics of a warehouse..ha ha.
i've heard buddy make them sound perfect.

who delivered it? jim and jd?

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 19 Jun 2015 10:04 am

Chris, I think Sierras are gorgeous guitars, they are mechanically great, and they sound wonderful... only thing is weight, but then again, all steel guitars from that era are little on the heavy side...but thats just me, I love steel guitars period ... I believe JD got it to Buddy...

Mark Wayne · Post by **Mark Wayne** » 19 Jun 2015 10:52 am

I believe he performed "Pachelbel's Canon" on a 12-string.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 19 Jun 2015 11:52 am

He's had several Sierra guitars that I'm aware of, and if he just got another I am very happy to hear it!

David Nugent · Post by **David Nugent** » 20 Jun 2015 4:11 am

Buddy was playing a white D-10 Sierra when he appeared as a member of the house band on the 'Church Street Station' TV show on TNN. Sounded like Buddy which is as great a compliment as you can give!

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 20 Jun 2015 5:35 am

There is a lot of mechanical engineering in a Sierra. Don Christensen(Sp?) put a lot of effort into it. I remember him talking about how they tested and changed designs until they got to the point when a string broke it stayed in the changer string slot and didn't drop down into the changer.

However, I remember Buddy at St Louis with his Sierra and it was obviously Buddy Emmons but there was something missing in his sound. The next year he was back with The Blade and the Buddy Emmons sound was back (it was mentioned the Sierra was on the Bus and the reason for playing the Blade). There was a comment I saw (don't remember if it was on the forum or somewhere else) about Buddy having string breakage problems with the Sierra and the reason he stopped playing it???

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 20 Jun 2015 7:42 am

Not very long ago that Sierra was owned by Gary Newcomb.

Jim was in Austin with a truck full of Goodrich and mentioned to me that he had his eye out for a particular Sierra model 12st for Buddy Emmons. I remember Gary telling me he was going to sell one of his steels and everything ended up working out.

Tony Glassman · Post by **Tony Glassman** » 20 Jun 2015 12:12 pm

Jack Stoner wrote:There is a lot of mechanical engineering in a Sierra. Don Christensen(Sp?) put a lot of effort into it. I remember him talking about how they tested and changed designs until they got to the point when a string broke it stayed in the changer string slot and didn't drop down into the changer.

Don was an engineer for Hyster before buying Sierra from Chuck Wright and Ben Harlow. I worked there for about 4-5 years (with Harley James, Larry Behm and Mark Simpson) after Don took over.

Although Don refined production, engineered new features (Change-Lock, Keyless headstock) and added a couple of models (Artist, Tmberwolf, ,Crown etc) , the bulk of the Sierra design had already been done by Chuck Wright.

That said, Don put his heart and soul into Sierra. He was responsible for transforming Sierra from a regional to national brand.

Tommy Shown · Post by **Tommy Shown** » 22 Jun 2015 10:24 am

I saw my first Sierra back in 1979. I was impressed with how they were built. The folding legs and interchangeable pick ups were a great design feature. I went to the web site several months ago they said they have devoted their time in building lap steels, and have discontinued making pedal steels.
Tommy Shown

DG Whitley · Post by **DG Whitley** » 22 Jun 2015 11:15 am

...based on this (on their website) I hope they'll bring them back someday:

Our pedal steels will remain out of production while we explore some new ideas and develop the new Sierra Pedal Steel guitar.

...hopefully it won't be too much longer...

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 22 Jun 2015 11:22 am

DG Whitley wrote:...based on this (on their website) I hope they'll bring them back someday:

Our pedal steels will remain out of production while we explore some new ideas and develop the new Sierra Pedal Steel guitar.
...hopefully it wonâ€™t be too much longer...

Hope youâ€™re correct DG, but seems to me that notice has been on there site for several years now.

DG Whitley · Post by **DG Whitley** » 22 Jun 2015 11:30 am

Dale, I agree, it's been out there now for a while. I would hate to think they're gone forever. I remember getting a full color brochure of their offerings way back when. I just drooled all over it and wanted one so bad, just no cash to do so.

It would be nice to know if they're not coming back though.

Jerry Berger · Post by **Jerry Berger** » 22 Jun 2015 12:34 pm

Hal Stackhouse at Oklahoma Steel Guitar Supply might have information on the future production of Sierra psg's since he is their main distributer of Sierras' lap steels.

Jan Oelbrandt · Post by **Jan Oelbrandt** » 14 Jul 2015 11:11 am

Damir Besic wrote:last thing I heard is that Buddy got himself a nice S12 C6 Sierra

Wow, I sure would like to know the copedent he's using (being a S12 C6 player myself)

Paul Norman · Post by **Paul Norman** » 14 Jul 2015 1:37 pm

Sierra is all I have ever seen Joe Wright play.

John Russell · Post by **John Russell** » 17 Jul 2015 5:11 pm

Here's the one that rocks my world. This picture was taken about a month ago. This Sierra is set up exactly like my Zumsteel S12U. It's a 1978 model--has beautiful tone and plays great. The mechanicals are a little quieter than the Zum. Very precise and the design and production of this guitar are amazing. They made lots of improvements over the years. I like the folding legs that the older guitars featured. The later ones are lighter. The only negative re this guitar is the weight--about 10 to 12 pounds heavier than the Zum. It weighs about the same as the average D-10.

I'd love to see these reissued but made a little lighter in weight. The GFI is similar in construction and much lighter. With so many great guitars being made these days, it would be risky to build another high-quality guitar with a high sticker price. Also risky to have the appearance of these--players tend to prefer the standard look of "all the others."