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Topic: Any More Buddy Emmons Surprises? |
Chris Lucker
From:
Los Angeles, California USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2010 11:34 am |
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Here is what the Buddie Emmons Bigsby looked like before the three necks were cut.
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2010 12:54 pm
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| Man, for a serious musician, Buddy sure had to wear a lot of silly hats! |
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Roger Crawford
From:
Griffin, GA USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2010 1:23 pm
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| I think I remember seeing the top picture before showing the panel on Buddy's guitar. If memory serves me, and that's questionable, I think I remember that the band shaved their heads for some reason, and they wore those hats just to cover up the deed. Cowboy hats seemed to be part of the uniform with some bands. |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 2 Mar 2010 1:23 pm
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Yeah! What are those hats in the top picture??? They look like the Sons Of The Desert in the Laurel & Hardy film!
_________________
Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Paul Sutherland
From:
Placerville, California
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Posted 2 Mar 2010 2:54 pm
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| In the picture Chris Luker posted must above I see at least three electric instruments and only one amp. Did they all play through the same amp? If so, was that the norm for the day; or was there some other reason to share an amp on that occasion? |
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Buddy Emmons
From:
Hermitage, TN USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 2 Mar 2010 3:07 pm
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By the time that video was made I had already replaced the back neck in 1956 with a one piece wood neck. I went to the lumberyard and got a piece of curly maple the thickness of the aluminum neck, traced around it, and cut it out in my apartment. Sounds a bit extreme, but that’s the way I was at the time. If I had something bugging me, I didn’t sleep until I straightened it out.
Experimenting with my Bigsby is the reason Shot Jackson asked me if I’d be interested in helping him design the Sho-Bud. Once I had access to Shot’s garage I had the tools to allow me to separate the necks of the Bigsby and replace the aluminum with a wooden inserts to minimize the expansion factor. It was the tuning problem with the Bigsby neck that prompted me to design the three piece aluminum neck for the Emmons push-pull guitar. It gives me chills now to think I took a saw to the necks of that beautiful Bigsby guitar, but that’s the way it is when you’re eighteen years old and bullet proof.
For the history buffs, there’s something I’ve wanted to correct for a long time. I have a video clip of my playing the Bigsby with the split pedal sound, so it was configured that way several months before we started building Sho-Buds. I’m sorry to say that it negates my story about calling Jimmy Day from the road and him having split pedals reversed on his guitar when I got home. I don’t for the life of me recall how I got the phone call mixed up with the facts, but it made for a good story. Jimmy didn’t use split pedals until we made his first Sho-Bud in 1957; and the simple truth behind why he split them the opposite way is that he was Jimmy Day and wanted to do it his way.
As for the silly hats, the boys and I were having a little taste in the motel room after a show date when I talked them into shaving their heads in a Mohawk style hair do. I had to go first but when it was over, I had accomplished my mission and we looked like hell. The next morning we were called into Jimmy Dicken’s room and after a long look, he said, “I want all three of you to go to your rooms and shave the rest of that ---- off or catch the first thing smokin’.” I hadn’t been with the band but a few weeks, so it sounded like a good idea to me. With no hair, our western style hats were a bit wobbly so we went out and found whatever we could to cover our ugly heads.
Thanks for all nice words. Hope I’ve shed a little light on the past.
Buddy |
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Roger Crawford
From:
Griffin, GA USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2010 4:26 pm
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| Buddy, thanks for the post. I hope you know how much we love you and your music. |
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2010 5:39 pm
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ditto what Roger said!
Thanks for sharing those incredible stories and setting the record straight on the split pedals.
wow!  |
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Walter Bowden
From:
Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2010 5:50 pm
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I do love a good "road story". Thanks Buddy
_________________
Emmons S10, p/p, Nashville 112, Zion 50 tele style guitar, Gibson LP Classic w/Vox AC30, Fender Deluxe De Ville and a Rawdon-Hall classical |
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Fish
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Posted 2 Mar 2010 8:45 pm
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Every now and then I read a golden post like this new one from Buddy Emmons and I'm reminded again how great this forum can be. Thanks b0b for this great resource you've given all of us.
Buddy, thank you for shedding new light on your and Jimmy Day's "split pedal" history. I'm fascinated by these details and I'm reminded how great an innovation the "split pedal" idea is every single day. To me, the bend between the 2nd and the major 3rd interval of the E9th tuning (when bending strings 5 & 10 in open A with the pedals down) is by far the most distinctive sound of this tuning. I fell in love with it the first time I ever heard pedal steel and I can't seem to get enough of it to this day.
And hey, your post today is the biggest "Buddy Surprise" of all. Thanks a million for everything you've done for - and with - the pedal steel guitar.
Steve Fishell
p.s. If you ever feel like it, I'm curious to know how in the heck you came up with the idea for the chromatic strings on the E9th tuning....was the 5-string banjo with it's high G string any influence? |
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Ernie Renn
From:
Brainerd, Minnesota USA
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Buddy Emmons
From:
Hermitage, TN USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 5:10 am
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Fish,
Good to hear from you. The story behind the F# and D# strings is pretty much based upon my concern for what to do on my first Ray Price session. Jimmy Day had set a high standard with his style on Ray’s shuffle sound whereas I was used to doing my thing on the more conservative recordings of Ernest Tubb. My answer was not to rely so much on my playing ability but more toward the introduction of a totally different sound to the tuning. I’m not implying I couldn’t cut a shuffle but we all know what Jimmy sounded like on Ray Price’s material and what I was doing with Ernest Tubb, and they were two different animals.
After Jimmy added the E note to the middle of the tuning and Ralph Mooney, the high G#, the tuning was only two notes shy of turning a harmonic pedal sound into one with more melodic capabilities. I chose the F# and D# notes as a means of closing that gap and supplying a major scale from the middle E to the high G# string, having no idea what I would do with it when the time came to use it. I knew it would be different but I also knew it would take a certain type of song to pull it off. That song was the second song Ray recorded on the first session called, You Took Her Off My Hands.
Having a Sho~Bud permanent model, I had to put the two strings on the 9th and 10th positions which made it extremely difficult to maneuver when trying to integrate them melodically with the top three strings. I was wound so tight during the turnaround, I prayed at the end of the song that I wouldn’t have to do it again and my prayer was answered. During the playback I relaxed and got the feeling that something good had just happened.
The original plan was to have the strings on the first and second positions so the new notes would be close to the G#, E, and B strings. That would allow you to integrate them comfortably as you learned and still maintain the integrity of the E9th tuning. When I was satisfied the sound worked as I had hoped, I took my guitar to Shot Jackson and he configured the pedal hardware to accommodate the placement of the new strings. |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 5:18 am
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It's fascinating to learn of the evolution of something that has always - for me - been an integral part of the 'landscape'!
It's hard to imagine playing E9 without those strings - and even harder to imagine having them at '9 and 10'!!!
Thanks for the stories, Buddy...
_________________
Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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John Davis
From:
Cambridge, U.K.
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 6:15 am
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Yes, Thanks for the stories, Buddy...
And thanks for all you have done for us and especially thanks for my P/pulls I have tried the best of the rest and my "Emmons" will see me out.
Reckon that about covers it, the rest of you guys already said all the nice stuff.
ps. I know some pretty good fishing holes over here in Merry England if`n you ever get the time...... |
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Zachary Walters
From:
Maryland
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 7:07 am
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Not sure if you'll check this thread again Buddy... the moment in time that's responsible for hooking me into the steel was about three months ago when I saw a 1961 vid of "Drivin Nails in my Coffin" on YouTube. It was all over... and it only took me until I was about 30. Now I get home from work and play my GFI all night like I was back in junior high.
Cheers from another rookie steeler,
Zach
_________________
1981 Push-Pull
2009 Super Glide Custom
Last edited by Zachary Walters on 8 Jul 2010 11:17 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Charles Curtis
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 7:16 am
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| Once again, you've made my day much brighter Buddy. Thank you!! |
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Ransom Beers
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 7:19 am
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| Wow ,almost as good as being there.Mr.Emmons,I too will echo the sentiments of the others.I'm new at the game but listening to you play "Blue Jade"made the hair stand up on my neck.Scotty said it was a beautiful pc.,a bit of an understatement I'm thinking.Again thank you for what you've done to enhance & promote the steel guitar. |
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Fish
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 8:10 am
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I'm speechless.
Buddy, your post this morning regarding the chromatic/melodic strings sent me running to my copy of the Ray Price Bear Family boxset (it's pricey but well-worth it folks). I listened to "You Took Her Off My Hands" and held my breathe through the solo. It's perfect of course, and now I appreciate it even more after learning of it's historical importance.
When you realize the technical hoops you had to jump through just to nail the track, on a live, two-track session, with strings, AND with producers Don Law and Frank Jones mixed into the equation (was this possibly your first session for them?), it's a dazzling display of improvisation, artistic expression and courage (or craziness).
I can't even imagine trying something like this on a live tracking date, especially back then when everything went down live with no overdubs or fixes. One mistake and you're toast, with a string section staring at you to boot.
Thank you for sharing this story, Buddy. You took a lot of risk to bring us this new sound that we use every day. |
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Dave Burr
From:
League City, TX
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 9:14 am
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You can listen to "You Took Her off My Hands" at the link below. Just click the "play" button at the left of the song. WOW! This is great even if you don't consider the challenges of having the chromatic strings on the bottom! Which is ten times worse than patting your head while rubbing your belly all the while skipping rope and reciting the Preamble to the Constitution!!! 
http://www.rhapsody.com/ray-price/touch-my-heart-burning-memories
_________________
Respectfully,
david burr |
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Ernie Renn
From:
Brainerd, Minnesota USA
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 9:27 am
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And I'll say it again: The Greatest!
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My best,
Ernie
www.BuddyEmmons.com |
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Mike Sweeney
From:
Nashville,TN,USA
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 9:37 am
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If you want to hear a good funny story let's see if Buddy will tell the one about sitting in with Bill Monroe on the Opry one night. I've heard him tell it but some of you may not have heard it.
_________________
Zumsteel steel guitars, Telonics and Peavey amplifiers, GHS strings. |
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Dave Burr
From:
League City, TX
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Roger Crawford
From:
Griffin, GA USA
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 9:47 am
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| Ernie, I admire your taste in steel guitarists! |
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Roy Thomson
From:
Wolfville, Nova Scotia,Canada
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 12:51 pm
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No one comes close!
Love all your playing Buddy.
Nice to have met you.
Roy
_________________
Custom Tabs Various Tunings
Courses Lap Steel, Pedal Steel |
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Steve English
From:
Baja, Arizona
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Posted 4 Mar 2010 1:36 pm
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| Quote: |
During the playback I relaxed and got the feeling that something good had just happened.
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I get that same feeling every time you post on this forum!!
In the immortal words of Gomer Pyle: thank ya, thank ya, thank ya!! |
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