I have been involved for a little over a year now, in the tedious process of restoring this once fine instrument. It is quite possibly one of only two Stereo guitars still fully intact & somewhat functional, with the original Stereo pickups & wiring harness,as designed & installed at the factory by Buddy Emmons in 1964.
I know where the other one is but I will decline to disclose that info at this time
.Ths guitar should be ready in time for Scotty's convention over the Labor Day weekend.
This process has been a long & convoluted one. First, we had to figure out how to get it apart,
(thanx E)
.Then I commissioned the help of Dave Wilkerson at Techstar, here in Nashville.Buddy had some idea of how the harness should work, but it had been altered a number of times on this particular guitar. Dave, going on E's memory, designed a schematic for me and made it fool proof
.This guitar was in a sad state of disrepair & neglect & I have taken great pains to restore it to better than new condition. Some of the improvements Ive made are; an up to date return spring system, repair of the shorted out pickups(done at Emmons Co),remanufacture of the wiring harness with factory parts(as mentioned earlier),total re-mica & reflock of the body, luster buffing of all metal parts,improved changer pillar mounts(the old ones,having no legs, tended to warp the body badly),etc,etc,etc,as you would expect in any restoration I would be involved in.
Even falling apart & with pickups shorting out frequently this guitar had THAT sound. Im confident my ministrations will once again allow this fine old, rare artifact to render that tone that can "blister a beagles ear at 40 paces" & mechanically speaking,it will be playable for the first time in 20 years, or so.
If you've never seen & heard one of these guitars you will be in for a treat!! Buddy told me that he felt it was the most beautiful sound he ever heard out of a steel guitar, these Stereo models.He also said that in '64 it really wasnt feasable for a player to own & haul 2 amps
.Therefore, very few of these were made. The serial # of this one is ES,7-64-003. It was originally owned by Sonny Curtis, who took delivery of it in mid to late '64.
Please look for it in the Emmons room at Scotty's convention.
I hope this answers most of the inquiries Ive been recieving about this horn.Thanx......MC
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Mike Cass on 12 July 2001 at 10:39 PM.]</p></FONT>
