EMMONS ARE BACK

[steveman747]

Emmons are back! They are reproducing the '65 Wraparound Push Pull.
Unfortunately I will not be getting one because my bank account already hates me enough for the Hudsonator.

https://www.emmonsguitar.co/

Apparently, this has been a closely guarded secret with some top steel players in Nashville. It definitely took me by surprise when I saw the announcement on Facebook last night.

[Ken Byng]

It was only a matter of time. The Emmons name and that of the Lashley family are now untangled. Buddy was ripped off with his part in the Emmons company many years ago by Senior, and Junior was totally without shame in his lack of customer service. He ran down the company and reduced the standard of workmanship to a completely unacceptable level.

The technology is there these days with modern CNC machines to reproduce the classic push pull guitar to a highly consistent and incredible quality. This is pretty seismic news in steel guitar land, but many years too late for poor old Buddy.

[steveman747]

It was only a matter of time. The Emmons name and that of the Lashley family are now untangled. Buddy was ripped off with his part in the Emmons company many years ago by Senior, and Junior was totally without shame in his lack of customer service. He ran down the company and reduced the standard of workmanship to a completely unacceptable level.

The technology is there these days with modern CNC machines to reproduce the classic push pull guitar to a highly consistent and incredible quality. This is pretty seismic news in steel guitar land, but many years too late for poor old Buddy.

I did see a couple of comments about how great it was the Lashley's were not involved. I didn't want to get into politics on Facebook so I stayed out of it to avoid any offense but I'm sure most BSS members will be in agreement that the brand has now been taken over with much better people. I have heard some horror stories over the years about ordering Emmons steels direct to Britain during the Lashley Era. My dad actually nearly ordered some S10 reproduction push pull from them before he ordered my Show Pro. Good thing we didn't because they shut down without a trace not long after.

The technology is definitely there but I don't know how they are going about it in terms of production. They may go down the "it has to be identical to the real thing" production method. Either way...it is nice to see the '65 back. '65s have been shooting up in price recently to astronomical levels. Just hope someday, someone makes a Franklin Pedabro replica to relieve my urge

I'm a spiritual person, I'm sure Buddy is looking down with a smile. Not just for his guitar name coming back, but with the influx of pedal steel guitar interest recently.

[Ken Byng]

Steven
Buddy was interviewed back in the early 1970's by the great Bob Powell, editor of Country Music People for a special edition that featured pedal steel players.

Buddy said that he designed a new changer, a new keyhead and a new compact body that was covered in mica glass. This was around 1963. Buddy took his ideas to Shot Jackson who he was in partnership with in the Sho~Bud business. Shot didn't see that it was necessary to change things, so nothing happened. Buddy's father was a mechanical engineer, and made some parts from Buddy's drawings and plans. About that time, Ron Lashley Snr came to one of Buddy's gigs, and brought one of his prototype guitars for Buddy to check out. Buddy said it was a kind of Sho~Bud clone, but that while the lacquer finish was poor, it was well engineered.

Buddy showed Lashley his parts, drawings and told him of his ideas. Lashley offered to build a prototype of buddy's ideas, and came back after a period of time and showed it to Buddy. Buddy said that it looked fabulous with the black mica, but that the pedal and lever action was too stiff. He suggested to Lashley what could be done to improve the actions, who subsequently went away and carried out Buddy's mods. When it came back, it was much more playable and the two of them agreed to go into partnership and market the guitar under the trade name of Emmons.

Things went well, and Buddy's name and involvement ensured that many pros put in orders for the new Emmons guitar. However the situation soured when Lashley designed a new mounting for the changer (the bolt-on) without consulting Buddy. Buddy felt that while the tone was slightly improved, the fact that the roller mounting went straight on to the neck assembly meant that temperature changes played havoc with the tuning. This was something that the cut tail model never suffered with. Buddy got a number of complaints about the tuning instability from players, and challenged Lashley Snr for not consulting with him on this new design. Upon checking, Buddy found that Lashley had registered the company in his name only and Buddy had no place in the Emmons company. Ironic, seeing as his name was sitting proudly on the front of every guitar. Buddy left the so called partnership and took out an advert in Guitar Player magazine broadcasting the fact that he had no association with Emmons Guitar Inc. He returned to Sho~Bud with Shot Jackson for a while.

Effectively Buddy was crapped on by the Lashley family - Ron Snr in particular. The fact that his ideas were the foundation that the push pull was built on made it a disgraceful move that exposed Buddy's lack of business acumen. He later said that his ideas and designs were the achievements in his lifetime that he was most proud of. Buddy's comments are all in black and white concerning this tale in several publications (particularly BuddyEmmons.Com) and I have done my best to paraphrase his points of view accurately.

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

This can only get better, cannot wait to see a new wrap for reasonable money..... I'm in.

[Ken Byng]

I asked Kelsey and Darin on the steel forum if they would be using CNC technology for the new guitars. The reason I asked the question is because not all Emmons push pulls have THAT tone that made them legendary. I was immediately jumped on by one poster insisting that metal parts should be cast and not machined. I wasn't going to get into a debate on that one.

However Darin sent me a PM with the following message.

Ken,
Yes, the tone and precision of these guitars rely on tolerances of +/- .001 so we are utilizing CAD technology for every inch on design, engineering and assembly/fitment before it even goes to our CNC and CAM processes. Rigorous effort has gone into the Resound65 and it is an amazing Gen2 production of the classic 1965 model. Stay tuned...

Cheers,

Things are looking good for the new Emmons company as far as uniformity of tone and engineered parts. I will keep my powder dry as far as purchasing one of these new guitars is concerned, but if they came up with a nice red mica body guitar I have to say that I would be very tempted. Somehow I think they will be in the new MSA price range or the new Sierras though. They definitely won't be cheap.

[steveman747]

I asked Kelsey and Darin on the steel forum if they would be using CNC technology for the new guitars. The reason I asked the question is because not all Emmons push pulls have THAT tone that made them legendary. I was immediately jumped on by one poster insisting that metal parts should be cast and not machined. I wasn't going to get into a debate on that one.

However Darin sent me a PM with the following message.

Ken,
Yes, the tone and precision of these guitars rely on tolerances of +/- .001 so we are utilizing CAD technology for every inch on design, engineering and assembly/fitment before it even goes to our CNC and CAM processes. Rigorous effort has gone into the Resound65 and it is an amazing Gen2 production of the classic 1965 model. Stay tuned...

Cheers,

Things are looking good for the new Emmons company as far as uniformity of tone and engineered parts. I will keep my powder dry as far as purchasing one of these new guitars is concerned, but if they came up with a nice red mica body guitar I have to say that I would be very tempted. Somehow I think they will be in the new MSA price range or the new Sierras though. They definitely won't be cheap.

Haha, that's why I didn't want to mention owt regarding CNC. I've seen the same arguments on the SGF in the past about Cast vs CNC.
I guess that settles it then. They should definitely get a great product with CNC and they should also be able to build them more efficiently. I'm no engineer but I've heard cast die templates can be really pricey anyway so CNC is probably the best way to go for efficiency and consistency.

I'm in agreement with the pricing. I can't see them being cheaper than 5 grand. Even then, they'll probably push Sierra prices.
Unless they drink 1 too many beers and send me a drunk message wanting to sponsor me...I can't see myself owning one. Not as a semi pro anyway.

That being said...still great to have "that" sound back. Vintage wraps are pushing £10k+ so these should come in cheaper I hope.

[Ken Byng]

I'm more than happy with my cut tail. If that model is good enough for Mike Johnson, it's certainly good enough for me. I did a remote session yesterday for a young band that features a very good female singer/songwriter, and the bass player of the band (who knows nothing about pedal steel) emailed me to thank me and said that the tone of the steel guitar was fantastic. That was my Emmons.

MSA uses modern day CNC technology these days, and their guitars are very uniform in terms of build quality and tone. The way that they manufacture their guitars means that they never have a dud one among them. I think that the Emmons ReSound'65 model will be the same.

One of the benefits of the new Emmons Guitar Co. being formed, is that people like Michael Yahl who has always held back from making replacement Emmons parts like changer fingers and other major parts for fear of being sued by Lashley Jnr, may now feel freer to go ahead if given permission by the the new company. The two new owners of Emmons Guitar Co. must have spent the last couple of years working to procure the Emmons company name from Lashley Jnr. I have a feeling that the Wrap won't be the only model that Kelcey ONeil and Darin Shiflett will be involved with. Of course, the Wrap model is the one that has the biggest kudos and legendary status.

[steveman747]

I'm more than happy with my cut tail. If that model is good enough for Mike Johnson, it's certainly good enough for me. I did a remote session yesterday for a young band that features a very good female singer/songwriter, and the bass player of the band (who knows nothing about pedal steel) emailed me to thank me and said that the tone of the steel guitar was fantastic. That was my Emmons.

MSA uses modern day CNC technology these days, and their guitars are very uniform in terms of build quality and tone. The way that they manufacture their guitars means that they never have a dud one among them. I think that the Emmons ReSound'65 model will be the same.

One of the benefits of the new Emmons Guitar Co. being formed, is that people like Michael Yahl who has always held back from making replacement Emmons parts like changer fingers and other major parts for fear of being sued by Lashley Jnr, may now feel freer to go ahead if given permission by the the new company. The two new owners of Emmons Guitar Co. must have spent the last couple of years working to procure the Emmons company name from Lashley Jnr. I have a feeling that the Wrap won't be the only model that Kelcey ONeil and Darin Shiflett will be involved with. Of course, the Wrap model is the one that has the biggest kudos and legendary status.

I said the same about Miss You Nights, you were playing the push pull on that one wasn't you? Great tone!
Off topic I know, but it is nice to see younger bands appreciating pedal steel again. I've been in the same boat recently.

It has been a bane of the Emmons community for year has getting parts. Luckily we've had Bob on this side of the pond but I know the Americans have struggled with legalities. If the new guitars are anywhere as good as the recent Skaggs restorations they'll be well worth it.

I'm in agreement. The wrap will probably be their first and eventually the "premium model". I reckon they'll make Cut Tails and All Pulls at some point too, maybe Bolt On's also but with the existence of Wraparounds I don't know how feasible the Bolt On will be.

Hopefully they tap into the acoustic/reso pedal steel market too...the bug has well bitten me for that sound.

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Steven, my bolt on is the best sounding guitar i have ever played, I think the metal neck ones suffered some tuning probs but my wood neck model is very stable even when they place me under the aircon vent at my monthly Bulkington gig, that vent blows hot and cold not good for tuning.