Seeking advice on assessing condition of emmons p/p

Ed Brooks · From: Seattle Washington, USA

I was made aware yesterday of an Emmons D10 push pull for sale locally. I know for the past 10 years it has been in a private studio and only had minimal use.

I am gonna check it out today and could use any advice on what to look for to assess it's condition. I have never looked "under the hood" on one before. I have been studying how to tune it and have read the wilderness guide, which all pointed how little I know.

As best I can tell by the shape of the pedals it is an 80's guitar, looks to have original single coil pickups.

I know that I will want to sent it to one of the talent mechanics out there, but I just wanna make sure I make a good choice.

Thanks for your consideration and any advice.

Ed
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A blind beagle, a shepherd retriever mix, and a brown lab mix

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

don't send it to anybody or spend money if not necessary. it could very well be in fine functioning condition.

tony glassman, lynn stafford, any of you good washington steel players who love push/pulls might want to give this guy a tiny bit of advice and maybe a looksee if convenient.

the good thing about push pulls is they should keep working fine unless some dumbass screwed it up.

Eric Philippsen · From: Central Florida USA

If it's been sitting unused in a studio for ten years then the strings that are on it are probably at least that old. That's no biggie but you won't be able to tell much about it's sound until you change them. The good thing is that, brought back to life, it'll sound killer because it's, well, a push-pull.

Probably the biggest thing to worry about is whether there have been any mods or "what the hell happened here" changes AND you being unable to recognize those because of your unfamiliarity with what it's supposed to look like. Most of the p/p's I've found have had a knee lever or two added. That, too, is no biggie unless the installation was done poorly. Unfortunately, I've seen my fair share of those, too.

I'd suggest going there, taking a bunch of pics and immediately emailing them to someone who knows push-pulls. That guy can then look at the pics and should be able to see if anything is hugely amiss. It's the next best thing to the guy being there.

Congratulations on finding a sleeper.

Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

What Eric said is true, and let me say that I've never seen a PP in such bad shape that it couldn't be repaired correctly. I recently thought I saw the ultimate "parts" guitar, until Lynn Stafford performed an amazing restoration on it. And a correctly assembled and set up PP is a joy to play. Smile

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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?

Ed Brooks · From: Seattle Washington, USA

Thanks you guys,

Lynn was kind enough over the phone to give me some pointers on what to look for before I went and saw the guitar. As best as I can tell there are no mods, it is missing one of the open tuning screws and is real dirty. There is quite a bit of play in the some of the tuners . Strings are real old but it tuned up and most of the changes were close to being in tune. It is 8x4, ser #2783 D. A piece of tape on the case says '80, but it has the black anodized pedals.

They let me take it home for the weekend so It's in my music room. I can't imagine it's gonna leave. Very Happy

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A blind beagle, a shepherd retriever mix, and a brown lab mix

Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

I would say that 1980 is about when the PPs started wearing the anodized "LeGrande" pedals. My 1982 has those pedals with a 6XXX series serial number, so yours might be among the last 100 or so of the 2XXX series. Or so I surmise. Wink

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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?

Tony Glassman · From: The Great Northwest

Ed, just remember that the two happiest days of any man's life are the day he buys his first bass boat and the day he buys a push pull Smile

Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

Ed Brooks · From: Seattle Washington, USA

Every time I walk by my studio I. Poke my head in to take a look. My wife just laughs and says "Are you making sure it's really there?" Cool

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A blind beagle, a shepherd retriever mix, and a brown lab mix

Jon Hyde · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

When i got my Push Pull Lynn was super kind with lots of advice. I got it on Ebay and he helped me to determine whether I was getting a good deal etc. When I did get it, he gave me lots of advice on cleaning it up and ultimately (when I was too baffled to do it myself!) he reassembled it and set it up. it's been playing great for about 2 years now, Lynn really knows his stuff!!

Lynn Stafford · From: Ridgefield, WA USA

Hi Ed,

It's been a pleasure talking with you recently. Congratulations on a great score with that Emmons. I'm looking forward to meeting you in the near future, when you bring it down to get it squared away.

Jon Hyde: Thanks very much for the kind words. I hope you'll be able to come down to the steel jam on May 19th. It will be good to see you again!
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Best regards,
Lynn Stafford

STEEL GUITAR WEST
http://www.steelguitarwest.com
Steel Guitar Technician (Restoration, Set-up, Service and Repair work)

Previous Emmons Authorized Dealer & Service Technician (original factory is now closed)

ZumSteel Authorized Service Technician
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