Wooden Neck over Aluminum on Push Pull.

Barry Yasika · From: Bethlehem, Pa.

I like to hear opinions concerning Emmons, Push Pulls with wooden necks as opposed to the more standard Aluminum necks both pro and con. Things like tone, investment potential, playability, maintenance and which would cost more or less out of pocket if everything was the exact same except for the necks.

Barry Yasika · From: Bethlehem, Pa.

I forgot to mention the bodies would be laquer not mica finish.

joe long · From: San Antonio, Texas

I have owned both with the mice body. The wooden neck was not as bright in its tone. The wooden neck had a great rich sound.

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

i've got two wood neck lacquer jobs which i love.
do i sound better than buddy emmons?
i'd say your playing ability will make either one sound fantastic....or not.

so don't buy one or the other in hopes of that making a difference.

Barry Yasika · From: Bethlehem, Pa.

I know what you mean Chris. I've read Jeff Newman's "Tone Be or Tone Not Be" Your sound is all in your hands. My real concerns are Investment, Mechanical and Tone Difference. Joe Long pretty much supported what I kind of surmised when he said the wooden necks are richer, which makes sense to me. Thanks to both of you for your input!! Smile

Mike Kowalik · From: San Antonio,Texas

I have a lacquer bodied push pull that has aluminum necks but I wish it had wood necks.....I just prefer the richer sounds the wood necks give the guitar.
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Rich Upright · From: Florida, USA

I am a firm believer that aluminum necks give a much better sound than wood on almost any guitar EXCEPT Sho-Buds. Aluminum neck Buds sound terrible. I have heard very few wood neck guitars that sound really good, with the exception of SOME Buds, MSAs, & Deckleys. Aluminum necks seem to be more throaty, have more resonance, & sustain. Wood necks sound harsh & "screechy". This is just my honest opinion; not set in stone.
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chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

i gotta disagree with that buncha hooey.

Billy Carr · From: Seminary, Mississippi, USA (deceased)

I've had both wood & aluminum necks. I've never readjusted the mounting screws on a wood neck but I've done it on every aluminum neck I've had. I carefully studied everything I could find about Big E talking about torqueing aluminum necks to improve tone/sustain. There's a difference if done properly. Checkout John Hughey playing w/Conway on some 70's shows, etc. and notice the necks on his Emmons guitars. Especially the light blue w/black wood necks.

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

For resale value mica finish, metal neck , black Emmons PPs tend to sell faster and for more money. I personally prefer the metal neck and mica sound.
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Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

The mica covered models with the aluminum neck tend to be the ones more associated with the Emmons PP Tone.

"And obviously Black mica" (LOL)

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

as well as john, weldon and sonny garrish played wood necks a bunch.
ever hear a record with one of those guys on it?

i didn't hear harsh and screechy.

i still really think it'e the player, pretty much.

Andrew Buhler · From: Maryland, USA

I have two D-10 push pulls: a 1970 rosewood mica push/pull with wooden necks and a 1982 rosewood mica with metal necks. After taking into account factors such as differences in pickup impedance and body type (fatback vs cutback), I think that the wood necker has a different sounding attack, less metallic and softer, than the metal necked guitar.

In addition, the sound of the 5th and 6th strings when played together on the E9 neck are more pronounced on the wood necked guitar when compared to the metal necked guitar--listen to Sonny Garrish on Red Steagall's "Whatever Made Me Think"and Gene Watson's "One Too Many Times" or John Hughey on Willie's "It's Not Supposed to Be That Way" as examples of this. You can also hear this quality with Buddy Charleton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK_qrg4Jz20.

Finally, the wood necker is plenty bright and both guitars are plenty rich, so I feel other descriptors should be used when comparing wood vs metal necks on Emmons Original guitars. I've played the wood necked Emmons for more than 10 years and finally feel like I have somewhat of a basis for comparison.

Tony Glassman · From: The Great Northwest

I have 'em both & love 'em both......wouldn't change either one .

Barry Yasika · From: Bethlehem, Pa.

I really appreciate all the input. I was talking to Billy Knowles about this over the weekend and he pretty summed it for me when he said that after he and a another pro steel player made several comparisons in his shop on both wooden and aluminum neck, Emmons, Push Pulls. Billy said that it was very difficult to actually hear any discernible difference as the observer. I want to say the Steel Player's name was Ronnie Cox but don't quote me on that, The point whoever the man who was there with Billy made was "I think we hear with our eyes". Smile

Now, I don't want to debate that either way because we all have our own preferences, likes, dislikes and opinions, I just got a chuckle out of his insight.

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

I've had both and can't really tell any discernible difference myself given the fact that all guitars sound different, I would not be able to tell a wood neck from a metal neck. I believe Maurice Anderson did some testing on this and found that the tone actually came from around an inch or two around the pickup and the rest of the neck made no difference.
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Henry Matthews

D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes.

Jeremy Threlfall · From: now in Western Australia

My understanding on the matter is that wooden necks can be screwed down into the rest of the guitar (and in particular to the keyhead) more positively, making for a "stronger" guitar. This is due to the difference in temperature expansion of wood and metal. I have an impression that wooden necks give a richer more full-bodied sound, and metal necks are brighter and livelier. I would use single coils on a wood necked guitar and humbuckers on a metal neck.
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Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

Jeremy, your idea about making a "stronger" cabinet is not what an Emmons is about. An Emmons cabinet gets it strength from how it is put into the endplates and how other component parts are integrated, such as cross shafts, control panel, necks. It is not simply a cabinet to which parts are attached. Everything works together to create tension and tone. It is too bad that John Fabian and Charkes Reese made that Emmons restoration video that was on the Carter site. They showed how NOT to restore an Emmons. The video is somewhere on the Internet. Watch it and their mistakes are glaring.
I bought that guitar from Fabian -- it is Emmons Number Five -- and had it sent directly to Mike Cass to undo what was done in the video. Of course, mica had to be replaced because they did not know what they were doing in the video.
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Chris Lucker
Red Bellies, Bigsbys and a lot of other guitars.

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