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Topic: ??? about Emmons student models |
Eric Philippsen
From:
Central Florida USA
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Posted 10 May 2024 4:21 am |
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Although I definitely know and love its older-brother models, I’ve always had a weakness for Emmons student GS10 models. Wobbly and all, in my opinion I still think they really nail the Emmons sound. Some say it’s because they’re so simply constructed that there are far less things to keep the cabinet from vibrating.
Anyway, I’ve recently come to find out there are gaps in my knowledge about them. Can some of you help?
- Did the early ones all come without mica covering?
- When were the first GS10’s offered?
- What wood colors, other than sunburst, were there?
- What year did Emmons go from a white fretboard to a multi-colored one?
Thanks. |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 10 May 2024 9:33 am
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The GS-10s were built in the seventies-my first steel was a GS-10 built in 1974. I'm thinking the reason they were built is to give new players a chance to try out a new steel before upgrading to a different model. When I got my Emmons GS-10 for Christmas in 1999 at the age of eighteen, I was a new steel player at the time, and had one question about the Emmons I'd gotten, so I sent an email to Bobbe Seymour after I'd gotten it, wanting to know what year the guitar was built and he sent me an email back, telling me that the Emmons I'd gotten was built in 1974, so the Emmons GS-10 I've still got has been around for fifty years, and I got it twenty-four years ago in 1999. The color of my Emmons is a rosewood type color.
Last edited by Brett Day on 13 May 2024 5:52 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Tucker Jackson
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 10 May 2024 9:46 am
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Questions about the GS-10?
"Paging Jack Hanson... Collector Jack Hanson to the lobby, please." |
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Larry Chung
From:
San Francisco, CA, USA
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Posted 10 May 2024 3:45 pm
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I own a super-early one, it's a gold-painted model with pots dated to late 1969. Plain wood and wooden pedal bar, wide-spaced pedals. A fabulous, fun, light-weight steel that was nicely converted to 3+4 by its previous owner. The pickup is maybe 12k. Sound fabulous, smaller changer, no neck, simple black and white atom fretboard. Original two-line Kluson oval button tuners.
Sounds every bit as good as my S-10, D-10s and U-12. Emmons tone and easy playability. A joy to play.
Good luck on your search.
LC |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 12 May 2024 11:08 am
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| Tucker Jackson wrote: |
| "Paging Jack Hanson... Collector Jack Hanson to the lobby, please." |
First things first -- I have a whole lot to learn before I would ever consider myself an expert on steel guitars in general, Emmons pedal steels, or GS-10s in particular. Nor am I really a collector, especially of Emmons steels. I have, however, over the course of the last half century, owned and played three of 'em -- a '73 rosewood 'mica fatback cut-tail D-10, a '73 sunburst lacquer GS-10, and a '73 bowlin' ball 'mica GS-10. The fact they are all from 1973 is just a coincidence, but was confirmed from separate inquiries to the old Emmons company when it still existed.
Since I rarely (if ever) play out anymore -- at least since the pandemic -- I am slowly reducing my modest collection. My beloved #161 GS (aka Li'l Sunny) has recently found a new home in the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps its new owner will chime in with his opinion. If there's anyone within a reasonable driving distance of south-central Colorado (I will not ship this one) who is interested in a great old rosewood 'mica fatback cut-tail D-10, shoot me a p.m. I'm gonna hang on to my 3 x 1 bowlin' ball. It doesn't look like much, but even with its extremely microphonic pickup, it sounds like a million bucks!
Here are a few observations and opinions I have concluded about Emmons GS-10s, from my experiences with the two that I have owned. They are excellent-sounding instruments with a few quirks that can be dealt with fairly simply. First, the fact that they are relatively light in weight and a tad on the wobbly side can be improved -- but not altogether eliminated -- by replacing the stock legs with heavier, fully-adjustable professional model legs. Four knee levers -- two on the left, and two on the right -- is doable. The installation of a LKV would not be advisable, in my opinion.
Second, the extreme parallax effect of not having a raised neck between the fretboard and the strings can be greatly reduced by the installation of a raised wooden neck extension ala the old Emmons Black Rock pedal steels. Clem Schmitz in the Twin Cities is the only guy besides myself who has ever worked on my Emmonses since I purchased them, and Clem installed a neck from an old Black Rock on my Bowlin' Ball mica GS-10. It was such an improvement that I duplicated a Black Rock neck from hardrock maple, and installed it on my sunburst lacquer GS-10. A highly recommended mod.
There are other differences between the student and professional models. The pickups are different. Pro model pickups are generally wound to between 15K and 16K and even higher, while the student models are usually closer to 12K - 13K. The pickups are also mounted differently on the student models. The GS changer is not the same as a pro model E9 changer.
Why do they sound so good? I dunno, but they certainly do -- at least in my opinion. Perhaps merely a happy accident? |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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David Rattray
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 12 May 2024 1:12 pm Incredible
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| Really as good as any Emmons ...simply incredible... |
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