Update on Emmons Guitar Company

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 12 Dec 2014 8:38 am

the quality of the business does not diminish the quality or reputation of the Emmons badge. it is because of the badge that the business dealings can be taken advantage of.

Sadly , there is no sympathy and should not be for those involved on the "receiving money" end of the transaction. Quite frankly those people who are conducting business in this manner are very fortunate that the strong arm of the law has not dealt them a very severe legal blow, and for that reason alone they are able to continue on in the manner they are.

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 16 Dec 2014 10:08 am

Alan Brookes wrote:I hope that the failure of the Emmons Guitar Company hasn't caused any embarassment for Buddy. He had the foresight to introduce a great guitar line, and the fact that his successors couldn't keep the company alive shouldn't be any reflection on him.

how they treated him, I wouldn't be surprised if they got sued by him as well...

Tommy White · Post by **Tommy White** » 24 Jan 2015 10:47 pm

That Mullen says it all.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 25 Jan 2015 3:16 am

From what I read, Buddy hasn't had any association with the Emmons Guitar Co for a long time. If he were to take any legal action it would have been done years ago.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 25 Jan 2015 9:02 am

My understanding is that Emmons Guitar Company by Lashley, Inc. is a different company now, in the legal sense, from the original Emmons Guitar, Inc. formed by Buddy and Ron.

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 11 Apr 2015 5:32 am

There is an interesting topic in the Forum archives in which Mr. Emmons addresses that as a sidebar to the original post.
http://steelguitarforum.com/Archives/Ar ... 550-2.html and scroll down.
[The whole story is wild, but don't take my word for it:
Tommy White
Member
"Fun free entertainment!
I do wonder how to zap ones eye. I also wonder what happens to one after being zapped in the eye while asleep."]

Tom Gorr · Post by **Tom Gorr** » 11 Apr 2015 6:58 am

Yes...that thread should be a sticky in the Humor section. Or they should make a movie about it. Jim Carrey anyone?

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 11 Apr 2015 7:53 am

I've not seen that archive thread before, and it's a bit scary. One thing though - not only does Mr. Emmons play the steel better than anyone else, he types better too. Any connection?

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 11 Apr 2015 10:12 am

Charlie McDonald wrote:There is an interesting topic in the Forum archives in which Mr. Emmons addresses that as a sidebar to the original post.

http://steelguitarforum.com/Archives/Ar ... 550-2.html and scroll down.
...

I think that Buddy's comment from back then is worth repeating here, lest he be blamed for the workings of a company in which he had no financial interest.

Buddy Emmons wrote: The Zum is not a freebie. I pay or trade for guitars in order to avoid the politics involved with an endorsement deal. I’m down to three pedal steels now: a Zum, Sierra, and a push/pull (The Blade), and am comfortable knowing I can take any or all of them any place I want and play without incident.
As Bill Ferguson said, the Lord did not give me my email address or my phone number but here’s an example of why one would choose to keep certain personal information from the public. When my home phone number was available through Buddy Emmons Music, I used to get foul mouthed calls on my answering machine from someone in North Carolina, accusing me of flying over his house and spying on him. He said he knew it was me because when he looked up he could see me looking down at him through one of the windows. Another of several more wacky accusations was my sending a radio frequency to him from Nashville and zapping him in the eye while he slept. After I had my number changed he started calling Scotty’s Music, the Nashville musician’s union, Weldon Myrick, and Jeff Newman. I had him checked out and found he was an overly medicated local nuisance. If I could have had my way he’d be in a rubber room wearing paper slippers.

As for my interest in the Emmons Guitar Company, I had no twenty percent ownership to sell to Fred Trogden; ever. So you might want to weigh other things he or she may have told you regarding my relationship with the company and take it for what it’s worth. Passing on this sort of second hand information brings to mind an adage from the book of a martial arts master, which is: “Those who say don’t know and those who know don’t say.”

While living in California I hired an attorney to investigate my status with the Emmons Guitar Company and found my “partnership” contract was nothing more than a carefully worded agreement for royalties. When I discovered I had no ownership, I was so incensed I told my lawyer to do whatever it took to get me a release. A year or so before, I was persuaded to sign my half of the patent over to the company; so the only leg I would have had left to stand on was gone. To get my release, one of the stipulations was to give them the right to keep the name Emmons Guitar Inc., so I agreed. These facts are a matter of record due to another legal wrangling I had with the company in a Nashville court in the mid 1980’s.

For the sake of the Emmons Legrande owners and potential buyers, I hope this gloom and doom scenario is all overblown nonsense and Ron Jr. can keep the doors open for them and their needs. But from my personal standpoint, I wouldn’t care if it went under tomorrow. My contribution was the designing of the Emmons push/pull model. That and my name pretty much sums up any meaningful relationship I ever had with the company.

Andy DePaule · Post by **Andy DePaule** » 12 Feb 2017 7:30 am

Seems to be complete now that Buddy put in his experience of what happened to him. He designed a great guitar and lost it to someone who seems to have had no respect for the inventor. Happens a lot, too bad.

In business you need a good reputation.
In my business I have now and then had to re-ship an order that was lost is shipping at a total loss of any profit and then some, but it kept my reputation good.
I always try to respond to e-mail/phone inquiries quickly and give honest answers.
Even when I've made a mistake people have been good about it because I stayed in touch and never screwed anyone.

Now I'm waiting on my new Mullen. Part of the reason I ordered from them was their reputation and they have responded to every little request with a quick response. I feel confident I will get the guitar I order and don't worry at all.

God Bless Buddy where ever he is now.
He gave so much of himself to all of us.

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 12 Feb 2017 7:49 am

Like I said before, great guitars, I love them, but as far as Lashleys go, don't really care, hope they had bankrupt, and lost everything...people say "goes around, comes around" ...