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Topic: "the blade" |
Joe Krumel
From:
Hermitage, Tn.
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Posted 22 Nov 2008 5:05 pm |
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| What is meant by "the blade" when talking about the emmons guitar? thanks ,Joe Krumel |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 22 Nov 2008 5:10 pm
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Sonny Jenkins
From:
Texas Masonic Retirement Center,,,Arlington Tx
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Posted 22 Nov 2008 5:23 pm
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| MAYBE 'CAUSE IT CUT'S LIKE A RAZOR,,,,,,,,,,"BLADE" |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 3:04 am
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Joe
It's the name by which Buddy Emmons' rosewood mica push/pull is known. It doesn't refer to a type of steel - just to that one in particular. I'm not clear about how the nick-name was coined or who coined it.
That word confused me at first, too!
Others know more than I do about the guitar's specifics, but I think its serial # is in the 123X range and that it's a late-'60s guitar. I believe that he still has it.
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 3:06 am
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Ooops!
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Last edited by Roger Rettig on 23 Nov 2008 11:37 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Danny Bates
From:
Fresno, CA. USA
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 6:37 am
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Jack Dougherty
From:
Spring Hill, Florida, USA
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 7:04 am
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Yes to most of the above. Buddy's Rosewood Mica had (and I guess still has)) a distinctive recording quality that seem to transcend most. A clear bite and responsive tone that was unmistakable. Also used on the Black Album (as I recall) Ernie Renn most likely has a more accurate accounting of the "Blade"
JD
PS: I had the pleasure of playing it in the late eighties. It was all that and a bag of chips.  |
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Dave Diehl
From:
Mechanicsville, MD, USA
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 10:06 am
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| I don't know if he does all of them but, Buddy gives his guitars names. Hum, I thought everybody knew "the Blade". |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 10:14 am
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| Dave Diehl wrote: |
| I don't know if he does all of them but, Buddy gives his guitars names. Hum, I thought everybody knew "the Blade". |
It seems most hardcore steel fans and players are familiar with the name, but we have yet to get the definitive answer in this thread as to why "The Blade."
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Mark |
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Jack Dougherty
From:
Spring Hill, Florida, USA
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 12:37 pm
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| I was perhaps too defuse in my answer. The bite I referred to was the knife cutting recording edge of this particular guitar. Hence..... |
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Bill Fisher
From:
Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 1:44 pm
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I imagine it's the "cut-right-through-tone" that this refers to.
Bill |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 1:51 pm
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Sure - all of the answers here make legitimate sense - but we can imagine all we want.
It seems Buddy hasn't been around here in quite awhile, maybe he'll chime in and give us the story behind the legend.
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Mark |
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Larry Bell
From:
Englewood, Florida
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 2:26 pm
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A tone that will "blister a beagle's ear at 50 paces" was another less complimentary description I've heard Buddy use. When Emmons push-pulls were at the height of their popularity (70s) a much more top-end-heavy tone was in vogue. If you listen to Buddy's tone in more recent years you'll notice a much 'ballsier' tone.
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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
My CD's: 'I've Got Friends in COLD Places' - 'Pedal Steel Guitar'
2021 Rittenberry S/D-12 8x7, 1976 Emmons S/D-12 7x6, 1969 Emmons S/D-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Quilter ToneBlock 202 TT-12 |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 2:46 pm
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when I got my first pp from Bobbe I took it home ,set it up in my living room and ...didn`t like the tone..it was way too bright and clear, sharp...like a blade yes....I disliked the tone so much I went back to Bobbe and complained to him about it, "it was not nice and mellow like a LDG Bud I had, it was too sharp" I said.....but I kept it to give it a one more chance...I took the guitar down town to the Tootssies for the gig and 20 seconds in the first song I knew what was the fass all about...that guitar had cut thru the whole guacamole of sounds on that stage like a hot knife thru the butter....that nite I became a p/p man....no guitar I ever owned had a tone so sharp and clear as the p/p guitars...
if you are playing steel guitar conventions or some easy listening steel instrumentals-hotel gig, you will have no problem with any of the moder steel guitars..but...BUT...if you are in the band situation where you need to fight with bass,drums,lead guitars etc....p/p steel will do the job, I guarantee 100%....I had MSA which sounded beautiful in the livingroom but on the stage didn`t have enough "balls" to cut thru the band and I even had a hard time to hear the guitar myself, how some people would say "it just couldn`t cut it"....
Db
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www.steelguitarsonline.com |
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Russ Tkac
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 3:52 pm
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| Russ Tkac wrote: |
I call my PP "The Spade" because when I play it it sounds like dirt....
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On that basis I should call mine "The Latrine".  |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 4:26 pm
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| Quote: |
| Roger, the Black album guitar (the Blade) and the guitar in the above picture are the same and it has a rosewood Formica finish. I’ve had it for thirty six years and it still honks. Time took its toll on the decal so in one of my weaker moments I mounted the plastic plate on it. I have since replaced it with a small white sticker that has a drawing of a razor blade. |
Russ, thank you for digging up that thread. The quote above is from Buddy, and the story of why the razor blade sticker - so did the guitar become The Blade after he applied the sticker, or was it known by that name before?
And his only description of the sound of the guitar in that thread is that "it still honks."
If Buddy had applied a Ducks Unlimited sticker of a goose in flight instead of a razor blade, would this guitar be known as The Honker? 
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Mark |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 23 Nov 2008 5:50 pm
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I wrote:
"That word confused me at first, too!
Others know more than I do about the guitar's specifics, but I think its serial # is in the 123X range and that it's a late-'60s guitar. I believe that he still has it."
See? That thread that Russ kindly pointed us back to dates from when I was still 'confused'....
I still got the number wrong, though!!!
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Damir raises an interesting point. I tend to favour a warmer sound, and I sometimes wonder if it's the right direction to take. I recently recorded a steel soundtrack for a theatre show and, when we went to use the free tickets they'd given me, I was horrified by how little 'edge' my tone had. It worked fine on ballads, but the rockier stuff was almost lost. Some of this could have been the mix, but I bet it was mostly me!
I've always been a bit put off by that p/p sharpness, but I'm inclined to give it another try one of these days.
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Dave Diehl
From:
Mechanicsville, MD, USA
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Posted 24 Nov 2008 9:16 am
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| As a follow on to the question "why did he name it the Blade", why did he name his LeGrande III's the Bart Brothers... Brown and Black? |
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Ernie Renn
From:
Brainerd, Minnesota USA
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Posted 24 Nov 2008 10:21 am
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I asked where the name came from. Buddy's reply was...
"The name is a result of a lot of positive comments I used to receive regarding the recorded sound of the guitar. So, "The Blade" comes from the guitar's ability to cut through a track and still deliver a quality sound. I'm guessing that the name came about sometime in the late 70's."
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My best,
Ernie
www.BuddyEmmons.com |
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Nick Reed
From:
Russellville, KY USA
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Posted 24 Nov 2008 10:27 pm
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I have names for all of my guitars. I call my '71 "The Blade"
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 24 Nov 2008 10:34 pm
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Nick; WHY?
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<marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster |
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Nick Reed
From:
Russellville, KY USA
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Posted 25 Nov 2008 4:42 am
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| Cause it's RAZOR SHARP! Next question please |
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Russ Tkac
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Posted 25 Nov 2008 6:46 am
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Nick,
How do you post while you're dreaming? |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 25 Nov 2008 11:40 am
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He's waiting for the meds to kick in....
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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