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Topic: last emmons built. |
Paul Norman
From:
Washington, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2020 10:43 am |
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| When was the last Emmons steel guitar built? |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2020 11:25 am
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I think Ron Jr. is still working on it. 
Erv |
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Tyler Hall
From:
Mt. Juliet, TN
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 5 Mar 2020 12:52 pm Re: last emmons built.
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| Paul Norman wrote: |
| When was the last Emmons steel guitar built? |
By whom? |
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Hook Moore
From:
South Charleston,West Virginia
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Tom Vollmer
From:
Hamburg, Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2020 2:57 pm Last Emmons Made
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I got My Le Grande III Single/double 4 & 5 in 2013
The number is 2431 L. I made Ron Keyheads ,Endplates, And Necks and traded my work for the guitar. It is a shame that it went as it did because this is a Great guitar and after 7 years of playing never had a problem. I must have had at least half dozen Emmons PP,s Le Grande,s and III,s and this is the easiest playing of all. The PP tone is about 5% more desirable but the weight differential makes the III my workhorse. I do have my 1970 D- 10 set up at home with my Webb Amp when I want to hear my best sound. |
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Paul Norman
From:
Washington, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 5 Mar 2020 3:39 pm
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| Thanks Tom. My Le Grande II is 2006 and I was wondering how much longer they built them. `It plays better every time I play it. |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 8 Mar 2020 8:27 pm
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If the SGF archives can be resurrected to the thread concerning the episode that Ron Jr. was called into court and had to finally come up with a guitar that had been paid for long since, I submit that guitar as the "last Emmons made." It was quite a long thread with lots of commentary.
There was also the brouhaha over the guitar that was... or wasn't... sent to Italy.
Sad legacy for a company that once put out the standard against which other guitar tones are compared, and bears the name of the greatest player of the instrument.
_________________
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 9 Mar 2020 12:13 am
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Sad indeed, and largely down to the genetic lottery. Ron Jnr is not the first to have inherited the craft without the business brain. Taking over the family firm is not guaranteed.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 9 Mar 2020 7:38 am
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I had very good experiences with Ron Jr., his wife and the Emmons Guitar Co.
I don't know all the details but the ending was sad. 
Erv |
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Paul Norman
From:
Washington, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 9 Mar 2020 7:50 am
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| Ron Jr. and his wife have been very courteous and honest with me. I bought parts for a push pull and had them sent to another address. I am sorry they had to go out. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 9 Mar 2020 8:36 am
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Some years ago, they found some old p/p cabinets in the basement. They resurrected them with new hardware and I bought two, no problems with the deal what so ever.
Erv |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 9 Mar 2020 8:38 am
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Of course I only know about the demise as reported here.
I'm glad there were happy times 
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Bruce W Heffner
From:
Payson, Arizona
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Posted 10 Mar 2020 6:45 pm last Emmons
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Herb's got the answer and I agree
_________________
Bruce W Heffner AKA Wally
"We live in Arizona now."
Payson, AZ |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 11 Mar 2020 3:49 pm
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| Herb Steiner wrote: |
If the SGF archives can be resurrected to the thread concerning the episode that Ron Jr. was called into court and had to finally come up with a guitar that had been paid for long since, I submit that guitar as the "last Emmons made." It was quite a long thread with lots of commentary.
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I did a search, and for anyone who may be interested, here's some of the details culled from the forum archive about the demise of the Emmons Guitar Co.:
| Shawn Sprouse wrote: |
From:
LaVergne,Tennessee, USA
Post Posted 21 Sep 2014 4:33 am Reply with quote
Well a lot has happened since I posted last, so here is the latest. On August 28 2014 Emmons Guitar Company was served and was scheduled to appear in small claims court on September 17th at 9:40 am. I received a letter from Emmons on Sept.8th acknowledging the court date and stating that my guitar was near completion. In short I fired back my letter of response which they received on Sept. 12th. It basically stated they either had to show up with the money or the guitar or I would go ahead with the case. I drove to Graham,NC on the 16th and was at the courthouse by 8:30 on the 17th fully prepared for a battle. The judge asked why we were there today and I had a list of 12 bullet points to cover, so i preceded down the list. When I got through with my list, the judge looked at Mr. Lashley and said, Mr Lashley do you agree with his timeline? Then came the words I never thought I would hear. Ron said yes sir I do! Then the judge asked him, Do you realize that you gave this man several completion dates? Ron said, yes sir I do! Ron agreed in court that everything I said was true. Ron also said he had the guitar in the truck and that he had been working on it the night before and that he was late getting to court because he was working on it that morning too. Anyway the judge asked if I would take the guitar if it was to my specs. Which I replied I would but I had to check it out first. They granted us a continuance til noon so Ron and I could go back to the shop and check it out. The guitar played pretty good, but needed a knee lever reworked and there was another thing I don't think he thought I noticed. It was the mica was ragged on the bottom edge. It will need to be sanded. As the old saying goes a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush. I weighed my options and figured I better take it and run. If not I would have to chase him for the money and the expense would be more than it would be worth. I'm now through with Emmons and want nothing else to do with them. Dave Robbins is going to check this guitar out for me and I know it will be fine once he goes through it. It is a shame that it took going to court to get something done. Now my case is documented and all I can say is buyer beware! There is another gentleman in Texas that I have been in contact with, that is having the same issue. Money paid and no guitar. He ordered his about 6 months after I did. He is being told story after story as well and from the sounds of it his guitar hasn't been started either. They are giving him a line they gave me about waiting on castings. Anyway this whole nightmare is finally over! Never again will I deal with this company. For the ones that supported me through this ordeal....THANK YOU! |
Here's another post from the same thread:
| Andy Eder wrote: |
From:
North Florida, USA
Post Posted 7 Dec 2014 8:51 pm Topic: Update on Emmons Guitar Company Reply with quote
OK forum folks. I have been a member here about one week and someone who I exchanged emails with told me about this thread. Well I just read about 3-4 pages of postings and am feeling rather nauseous.
In regard to your comment about Emmons, I owned Andy's Guitars in Miami and Tallahassee, Fl. for 18 years, a brick and mortar store which I closed about 8 months ago.
A while back (years), I contacted Emmons about becoming an authorized dealer and dealt with Ron Lashley Jr. He was very happy I called and told me he would love to make me a dealer. He explained that they required a $200.00 non-refundable deposit per guitar with a 2 guitar opening order which I was happy to accept. I sent them a check. That was the last time I heard from him or his "company".
I attempted to call them and email them. They never returned calls or answered emails. I know that they did the same thing to a LARGE DEALER with a well known store in Canada.
Just thought everyone should know they've done this to some "dealers" also.
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And lastly, here's some words about the situation from about 8 years' prior to the above posts by Buddy Emmons himself:
| Buddy Emmons wrote: |
Buddy Emmons
Member
Posts: 1403
From: Hermitage, TN USA
Registered: AUG 98
posted 06 May 2006 12:51 PM Click Here to See the Profile for Buddy Emmons
The Zum is not a freebie. I pay or trade for guitars in order to avoid the politics involved with an endorsement deal. I’m down to three pedal steels now: a Zum, Sierra, and a push/pull (The Blade), and am comfortable knowing I can take any or all of them any place I want and play without incident.
As Bill Ferguson said, the Lord did not give me my email address or my phone number but here’s an example of why one would choose to keep certain personal information from the public. When my home phone number was available through Buddy Emmons Music, I used to get foul mouthed calls on my answering machine from someone in North Carolina, accusing me of flying over his house and spying on him. He said he knew it was me because when he looked up he could see me looking down at him through one of the windows. Another of several more wacky accusations was my sending a radio frequency to him from Nashville and zapping him in the eye while he slept. After I had my number changed he started calling Scotty’s Music, the Nashville musician’s union, Weldon Myrick, and Jeff Newman. I had him checked out and found he was an overly medicated local nuisance. If I could have had my way he’d be in a rubber room wearing paper slippers.
As for my interest in the Emmons Guitar Company, I had no twenty percent ownership to sell to Fred Trogden; ever. So you might want to weigh other things he or she may have told you regarding my relationship with the company and take it for what it’s worth. Passing on this sort of second hand information brings to mind an adage from the book of a martial arts master, which is: “Those who say don’t know and those who know don’t say.â€
While living in California I hired an attorney to investigate my status with the Emmons Guitar Company and found my “partnership†contract was nothing more than a carefully worded agreement for royalties. When I discovered I had no ownership, I was so incensed I told my lawyer to do whatever it took to get me a release. A year or so before, I was persuaded to sign my half of the patent over to the company; so the only leg I would have had left to stand on was gone. To get my release, one of the stipulations was to give them the right to keep the name Emmons Guitar Inc., so I agreed. These facts are a matter of record due to another legal wrangling I had with the company in a Nashville court in the mid 1980’s.
For the sake of the Emmons Legrande owners and potential buyers, I hope this gloom and doom scenario is all overblown nonsense and Ron Jr. can keep the doors open for them and their needs. But from my personal standpoint, I wouldn’t care if it went under tomorrow. My contribution was the designing of the Emmons push/pull model. That and my name pretty much sums up any meaningful relationship I ever had with the company.
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 7:30 am
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Why do some people insist on beating a dead horse?
This has been hashed over SOOOOO many times!!
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 7:37 am
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Because new people come on the forum, some aren't as Forum centric as you and others may be, and a plethora of more reasons. So the old adage "just don't go there" seems to apply.
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_________________
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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Paul Norman
From:
Washington, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 10:29 am
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| Thanks, Herb, but you know Erv thinks he is supposed to monitor everybody's post on here. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 10:52 am
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Paul,
Speak for your self.
It seems like you are monitoring my post.
I have a right to express my view on the subject.
What seems to be your problem with that?  |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 12:14 pm
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Erv, your "view" is that anything bad about Emmons Inc (even if it's fact) should be suppressed - just because your own experiences are all rainbows and unicorns. Sorry, but the world doesn't work that way.
The moral of the story is: This is the age of communication and information. Don't do bad things and then expect everyone to overlook them. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 12:25 pm
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I guess I just hate to see people hang out dirty laundry.
Erv |
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Paul Norman
From:
Washington, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 12:37 pm
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My intention on this post was not to make The Emmons Co. look bad or to cause hard feelings with anybody, but to merely find out how new my guitar was in comparison to when they went out of business.
It don't help any of us to get mad. (in fact; it is hard on your stomach and can cause ulcers ) |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 1:15 pm
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Understood.
Erv |
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Larry Bressington
From:
Nebraska
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 4:56 pm
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Good read that, a lot of wisdom and insight there from Buddy's writing, and sharing the internal workings of his company...I would love to have seen Buddy gone back to playing a Sho-Bud in his later career, going out as he came in as so to speak.
The only downside if he would have, is that be they'd be going for $4500 upwards used and wore out, thankfully we can still buy a nice sweetheart for $2500 ish, i'll take a good ole laquered Bud anyday over an old push pull Emmons.
_________________
A.K.A Chappy. |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 10:58 pm
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I share Erv's aversion to laundry, but Herb is right about new members, of which I was one round about the period in question.
People who lived through a war don't always want to talk about it, but the facts still need to be taught to those who come after.
Also it's a reminder of Buddy's wonderful command of written English.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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