Brad,
It is built and sounds the same as always.
The only difference is that the pedals are LeGrande style.
You will have to contact Emmons and inquire about a new one. When I bought mine they were advertising the SD-10 p/p and I asked them about a D-10. I talked them out of two of them.
What qualifies someone as a "knowledgeable member" when it comes to what you hear and how it sounds compared to another guitar . As we see everyone apparently hears something different. There are extremes that can be quickly ruled out but there are quite a few that think they have the winner.
Well let's see now, I've been playing steel guitar for approx 60 years, but then, what do I know?
And Bill, what qualifications do you have to ask that question?
Last edited by Erv Niehaus on 16 Jan 2012 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Erv, do you hear the same thing and have the same opinion as someone who has been playing for 59 years?
Do I need qualifications to ask a question. I'm just trying to learn from the big guys.
Last edited by Bill Lowe on 16 Jan 2012 3:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Old Emmons, Sho-Buds, ZB's, Fenders: IMHO, they are the pedal steel guitars that have the tone, although they all sound different enough from each other
Brad Malone wrote:I just sat down at Herb Stiener's 80's PP and was reminded again about how unique a PP really is<<
Hey Bob, You let the cat out of the bag, now everybody will know that Herb has the best sounding Steel in the world...ha, ha, ha.
Brad
I do have the best sounding PP in the world, but the guitar Bob played the other night isn't it.
Rather, it's the '64 wraparound that I got in a swap with Jim Loessberg, though Jim would say that HIS is the best sounding PP and mine comes in a close second. But regardless...
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?
I have owned four P/Ps, a 66, 70, 78 and an 80. Even though they all sounded good, they were all different but I think my Zum Hybrid has the same traits that is close to the P/Ps I had and maybe even better than two of them. I loved the 80 model and also the 78 but the other two were lacking something. This is to my ears playing the guitars. I couldn't tell any difference when someone else played them and I listened. I watched Jody Cameron swap guitars in mid- stream one day (P/P and a Carter) and out front, they both sounded so close, blind folded, you couldn't tell them apart. Jody makes anything sound good.
My point is that a lot of this tone stuff derives from the player that is playing at that point in time of a particular guitar. The P/Ps had that certain growl as some call it, to the player. I've heard lots of guitars that some one else was playing sound really good, have even bought a few. When I got home with them, they had lost all their tone that I was hearing with someone else playing. I've also had guitars that didn't sound good with someone else playing but sound good to me when I played them.
Don't test a steel guitar or a fiddle in the storm cellar. They will always sound great.
Henry Matthews
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.
I just bought my first push/pull a couple of months ago, a black '78. When I first took it out to my weekly tuesday night gig I could tell most of the regulars at the bar (even a couple guys in the band) couldn't tell it was a different guitar from my all pull, they're both black mica guitars. More people told me how much they thought my tone had improved in those first couple weeks than I can remember. That was with George L pickups in it. I've since put truetones in it and now my excitement can hardly be contained!!
I haven't played nearly as many steel guitars in my day as probably most people here on the forum, but I do know that I have a very picky ear when it comes to sound and I'm really digging the sound of this guitar. The other guitar that I own that I always liked the sound of is a fender 1000. I know there are plenty of great all pull guitars out there, but for me, they've always left something to be desired. On an all pull, I feel like I'm always trying to pull a sound out of it that's just not there. Of course, I'm still honeymooning...
When these discussions come up, I'm reminded of a test that Randy Beavers did here a few years ago. He recorded a cd with some of it being done on a P/P and some on his Zum. His challenge was for anyone to tell which songs were done on which steel. Here's what so amazing, there were no changes except the steel and no one on this forum got it right. Now here's my question. If people have such sensitive ears as to the fact that they can tell a P/P from all others, why did no one get the right songs played on a P/P versus a Zum. Especially on this forum. No flames please. Just think about the test and answer it truthfully.
Doug, funny you mentioned that about Randy. I did the same thing about four years ago on the forum. I recorded four guitars on the same tune. A Rains D-10, a P/P D-10, an EMCI and an old Sho-Bud single neck that I was working on that only had two pedals and one knee working. Finally after just a process of elimination, someone got it right. Most thought the EMCI was the P/P and the Rains was the EMCI but most got the old Bud right off. It did have a very distinctive tone.
Hey Herb and Jim, both of yall's sound great, all time.
Henry Matthews
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.
The whole tone thing is so subjective. There's so many variables, not the least of which are your eyes and the feeling you get while you're playing.
Case in point... years ago ('76) I was on a tour and not very happy with the tone I was getting out of my old Sho-Bud. Pretty much bummed out about it, actually.
One afternoon, I came out of a dressing room on my way to do the sound check and I heard a really good sounding steel playing in the hall, as the sound crew was ringing out the PA. I thought man, I wish my steel sounded like that. And then, a few seconds later I realized that they were playing a recording of us from the previous night.
For what it's worth...
btw... at the Dallas show a couple years ago I thought the gtr that sounded the closest to a p/p was Chuck Back playing his Desert Rose.
I'm going with my keyless GFI. With the placement and composition of the Maple die board, this sounds really close to an "Emmons Growl". Excellent tone and sustain.
And ole Bob at GFI will definately take care of any customer service that you may need.
I have to agree with b0b’s reply on age effecting tone recognition.
The more and more I carry, load and unload my little Stage One PSG to and from the gig the more and more it begins to sound like the best P/P I ever heard.
I was trying to remember what that old PP weighed...I think it was either 78 or 82 lbs with the case and a Goodrich tucked in...the Carter is 58lbs-only 6 more lbs than I have years...pointing out the inverse relationship between the choice of steel and how old you are...at least in my case.
I'm sure I'll won't be able to carry an 82 lb guitar around when I am 76...
