All The Emmons Models, and How They Differ?

Jim Fogarty · From: Phila, Pa, USA

So.....eventually I plan to invest in a classic D-10 Emmons. I have a vague idea of the differences, but haven't been able to find a resource that maybe chronologically lists all the models and how they differ......playing and tone-wise.

Any resource you can recommend?

Barring that (heh), can someone give a quick....or detailed!.....rundown of the various models and changes, through the years?

Thanks!

Ian Worley · From: Sacramento, CA

It's probably all in Steve Fishell's new book! To get into much detail there is enough to fill a couple of pages, and there will then be an equal number of opinions and flaming about the veracity of the info shared (many of those will likely end up here soon). PP play-ability and tone questions always make for a lively debate too.

Some discussion here: https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=1822673, and here is a synopsis that someone posted way back in the dark ages. It included a lot of blanks and question marks on many of the details that the OP was asking for input on, that thread kind of died without much discussion:

Kelcey ONeil · From: Sevierville, TN

Jim,

By classic Emmons I'm assuming you're referring to push pull models, and among them you have three basic iterations: Wraparound, Bolt On, and Cut Tail.

The Wraparound is Buddy Emmons Original design and was released in 1964 and continued through 1965. Only 50 or so were made and are highly sought for their rarity and tone. The main distinction is that the necks are hollow and the changer only mounts to the body, with no contact with the endplate or neck. The first 12 guitars had cast aluminum changer fingers instead of billet, and a few more thereafter also retained very rudimentary changer mounts that caused tuning problems. This was soon fixed and several of the earlier guitars were upgreded with the improved mounts. The sound is very "open" and clear without being thin, and is epitomized by the opening lines of Ray Price's "Touch My Heart".

The Bolt On was produced in 1966 and 67' and is characterized by a more aggressive tone and a thicker midrange. The changer is attached by machine screws to the top of the neck and is not attached to the body directly. The neck is no longer hollow and has three ribs across the underneath. They're known for being able to cut the mix almost too well and remaing very lively in the upper registers.

The Cut Tail debuted in 1967 and continued in its basic form until the end of push pull production in the mid 80's. The changer mounts are similar to the later Wraparound ones, but the back of the neck was cut out and replaced with a separate block that attaches to the back of the mounts and through the endplate. The tone is often thinner and more crisp compared to the others, and has clear lows and a rather scooped midrange. Buddy's "Blade" is a 68' Cut Tail and can be heard on the "Black Album".

All of these share the same basic appointments, with the major distinctions being made in how the changer is attached to the guitar and not any difference in the changer itself. Through 1969 the other features of the guitar, including body and endplate specs, were consistent with the original design. All 8 pedal guitars featured wide 2 3/4" pedal spacing, with playability(with some exceptions) depending mostly on the quality of the setup. All guitars prior to 1970 are closely related to the original and are generally regarded as having desirable qualities not found in later models.

In 1970 the "Fatback" version of the Cut Tail showed up and ran through 1974. Its intended purpose was to correct the aprons bowing outward(an issue some early guitars had) by eliminating the leg cutout on the back apron, adding steel rails down the bottom of the aprons, a strap across the aprons, and changing the pedal stop bar from wood to steel. Also, the joint between the bodies was made wider as well widening the body itself and making the endplates thicker. Time soon told most of this to be overkill as the apron rails were removed and the leg cutout resumed around 75', with the strap across the aprons being really the only addition required to address the issue. Despite all this, the Emmons tone still managed to shine brightly, albeit with the tone and the guitar itself now being a bit on the heavy side.

The guitars in this period retained the wide pedals, but the spacing narrowed a bit at times down to 2 5/8"
Or 2 1/2". In about 74' the narrow pedals appeared with generally 2 3/8" spacing.

It is worth noting that many wood neck Emmons with lacquer finishes were produced during this time, and were favored by pros like John Hughey. These utilized the same changer mounts as the original metal neck Bolt On guitars, but are not to be considered unique in this regard as the changer is not actually attached to the neck. These seem to have a distinctly warmer tone compared to their aluminum neck counterparts.

From 1975 through the end of production, little was changed other than the introduction of the Legrande style extruded pedals in 1979-80. The early 80's models are known for playing a bit better sometimes as the production had undergone a lot of refinement by then.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell, and despite their differences very few other guitars can hang with them in the tone department. Some are definitely better than others in terms of quality, but disappointments are rare.
_________________
Co-owner and operator: Emmons Guitar Co.

Jim Fogarty · From: Phila, Pa, USA

Wow......both posts are far more than I could have hoped for! Thank you.

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

I still don’t understand why the wrap around was discontinued as it seems to be the most superior models after tuning issues were fixed.also the wrap could be totally built before necks were added as I hear was a shortage getting necks made back then. Being out of necks didn’t halt total production of guitars like the Bolton did. I do prefer the bolt on sound of the Boltons but can totally understand why they quit making them.I’ve only played couple wrap arounds so really unfair to compare. I’ve played and owned several boltons.
_________________
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.

Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

Ian Worley, did anyone fact check the Rainer or Fishell information you posted?
I saw too many errors to count and I barely got through the list.
For example, "No knee levers in 1964?" There were six knees in 1964 and they were the original Emmons teardrop shaped knees. If Fishell simply cared to examine the Emmons 1964 brochure, he would see Buddie (correct spelling at the time) Emmons playing guitar ES 130 002 with a knee lever. I have posted on this forum photos of the 1964 brochure as well as the 1964 knees on Wraparounds in my collection.
No Bolt-ons in 1964? There were four 1964 Bolt-ons but the axles were skinnier so no ledge needed to be machined to mount the changer pillows. The pillows were bolted on top of normal Wraparound necks. Again, I have posted photos and details about these guitars from my collection.
There were six different pedal styles. Four different bellcranks in 1963 and 64 alone. The pyramid shaped cross shaft angle brackets are not mentioned. The different flocking colors. The cabinet widths. The finger differences and how the pull rods were originally attached to the fingers with springs. The return rod changes. The mica differences -- not color changes.How the mica was attached. Keyhead changes. so many things.
I don't see much reason to go through the list and offer corrections, because apparently other posts by me and others with the correct information has been ignored.
_________________
Chris Lucker
Red Bellies, Bigsbys and a lot of other guitars.

Fish · Posted 28 Jul 2022 7:22 pm

Hi Chris,

Just to be clear: I am not associated with any of the information mentioned above in Ian's post, and none of this is from Buddy's biography.

I still have those wonderful original Emmons brochures you sent me Chris, thanks again! Unfortunately, we weren't able to include them in the book.

I nominate Kelcey O'Neil to write the book about the history of the Emmons guitar. Kelcey, your writing here is tremendous and your knowledge is vast.

Steve Fishell

Ian Worley · From: Sacramento, CA

Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

Chris, maybe you can shed some light as to why the wrap around was discontinued.
The cut tail is basically same design, that is I mean the changer is separated from the neck, it just attaches to body very different than the wrap around changer. Why did the cut tail become the standard design on all Emmons guitars, even the Legrands?
_________________
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.

Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

Henry, the major difference between a Wraparound and any other model (other than some student models) is that the Wraparound in the only Emmons where the changer os not solidly mounted to the endplate tabs through the cabinet.
A Wraparound Bolt-on and a regular Bolt-On has the axle pillows mounted on to the neck which is in turn bolted to the endplate.
A Cut tail has the axle pillow legs screwed into the end block which is in turn mounted through the cabinet to the endplate.
On a wraparound, the axle pillows are mounted to the cabinet alone through the top deck. The early Wraparounds had "Wraparound disease" whereby the axle pillows would visible move forward when pedals were activated -- especially bass side of the E9 neck and the treble side of the C6 neck. The earliest axle pillows had short bases -- much like Bolt-On axle pillows -- so the string tension had a cam action to lift the top deck and pull forward. The top decks were stiffer where near the front and rear aprons. A solution was to make the pillow legs very long. Another solution, was to shift to make only single neck Wraparounds beginning in late 1965.
Another problem with the early Wraparounds was the controls were mounted on the sides of the necks. The center of the D10 cabinets, which are not supposed to be glued together, needed more support to keep them straight and spread apart, so a center control panel was added to do that job.
Also, I should add that the rear aprons on the first two guitars to leave the Factory were lower than the "normal" Emmons cut rear aprons. The rear aprons were so shallow that Marlen pyramid brackets were used to support the cross shafts. The cross shafts, despite being closer to the decks than on later guitars, were still too high to connect with the rear apron. By high, I am referring to an upside down guitar.
Here is a crude solution to the moving axle pillows on an early guitar. See the pieces of what looks like front apron trim stuffed between the axle pillows and the changer cutout?:

_________________
Chris Lucker
Red Bellies, Bigsbys and a lot of other guitars.

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

Thanks Chris, very understandable.
_________________
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.

Mitch Ellis · From: Collins, Mississippi USA

Does anybody know what ever happened to the very first Emmons that was created? I read the story of how Buddy and Ron Lashley Sr. met and discussed building that first steel. In the story, Buddy said that when he first saw it that it was unlike anything that he had ever seen. Does this steel even still exist? thank you.

Mitch

Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

If you are talking about the 1963 prototype(s) that never left the Factory? Last I heard they were still with Ron. They have still another style bellcrank.
The first Emmons to leave the Factory has the original serial number style. It is ES 130 002 from January 1964 and is pictured in the 1964 brochure -- the picture with Buddie Emmons (not Buddy) playing the guitar. It is simple to identify as only one guitar was made like it. The other photos in the brochure are a different guitar. Most people believe that 464001 is the first Emmons, but it was actually the second to leave the Factory. I sold ES 130 002 a few years ago. It has three original Emmons tear drop knees and had one copy. It only had one originally, however. It is one of the easiest Emmons guitars to identify in photos because of the way the pickups are NOT mounted.
_________________
Chris Lucker
Red Bellies, Bigsbys and a lot of other guitars.

Mitch Ellis · From: Collins, Mississippi USA

Thank you, Chris. It must have taken you years to gather all of this information. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Mitch

Jim Fogarty · From: Phila, Pa, USA

This is all very helpful, thank you!

BTW, we talk about Emmons, the steel and the player, so much here that doing a search is almost useless. Trust me, I tried! Winking

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Too much arguing and conjecture here, and not enough playing. Laughing

J R Rose · From: Keota, Oklahoma, USA

I just want to say a big Thank You to all who took time to share their knowledge of the Emmons Guitar. I was so glad to see this thread revived and moved to the fore front. Just reading the history of the Emmons was a joy for me. I had missed it in the beginning somehow. It's not everyday you have smart gentlemen sharing their knowledge of many years of study and research. Thanks Again To All, J.R. Rose
_________________
NOTHING..Sold it all. J.R. Rose

Forum Index > Pedal Steel		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic