Buddy Emmons - The Big sciEntist

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 22 Dec 2017 9:05 am

I found this on the tribute FB page The Big E: A Salute to Steel Guitarist Buddy Emmons
https://m.facebook.com/buddyemmonssalut ... l&mt_nav=1

Could be from Buddy's time on the west coast?

What was he doing here?

Dick Wood · Post by **Dick Wood** » 22 Dec 2017 9:31 am

A lick detector?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 22 Dec 2017 9:41 am

It's probably an additional pickup. Buddy experimented with multiple pickups a lot. He came up with something called the "Emmons String Machine", three pickups mounted over the strings, driving three fuzz tones that could be mixed in various ways to simulate violin sounds. I don't know if that's what he's using in the picture, but it could be.

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 22 Dec 2017 9:46 am

That's pretty good Dickey. Without galvanic skin detection how can you tell if it's a real lick?

First I thought about wrist levers, but I don't think so.

Then I considered electro-magnetic transducers to pick up vibrations from the changer fingers on strings 1, 8 and 10?

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 22 Dec 2017 9:48 am

Effects switches.

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 22 Dec 2017 9:51 am

Dan Robinson wrote:Then I considered electro-magnetic transducers to pick up vibrations from the changer fingers on strings 1, 8 and 10?

That could be, but would you need a lever for that? Maybe it isnâ€™t a lever, but a guard rail.

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 22 Dec 2017 10:05 am

That is the Emmons String Machine. A friend actually owns one!

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 22 Dec 2017 10:25 am

Doug and John have seen it before. Thanks guys!

Fred Treece wrote:
Dan Robinson wrote:Then I considered electro-magnetic transducers to pick up vibrations from the changer fingers on strings 1, 8 and 10?
That could be, but would you need a lever for that? Maybe it isnâ€™t a lever, but a guard rail.

I'm guessing here, the "lever" might extend a pole piece, so you can swing it over the string.

I wonder if this connects to Buddy's use of the E-Bow (Once Upon a Time in the West)?

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 22 Dec 2017 10:39 am

He was out there.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 22 Dec 2017 11:23 am

I've owned two of those Emmons String Machines in the past. They were fun to play with at home, but way too much setup and hassle on a live gig, especially in today's world of small stomp boxes that do so much.

I think Foxx built the Emmons String Machine to Emmons specs. I remember seeing a picture of one that looked exactly like the E.S.M. with a Foxx logo on it. Probably built for standard guitar with smaller pickups. Foxx did make an effect called the Tone Machine that was smaller. I've search on line for a picture of the Foxx box that looks just like the Emmons String Machine, but I can't find one. I saw one for sale on eBay about 15 years ago.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 22 Dec 2017 11:29 am

Here's what Buddy Emmons said back in 2002:

As for the String Machine:

I can't say how many were made as I was not in the business end of the Emmons Guitar Company but at best it was relatively few.

I don't remember the exact year they came out but I used it on a 1975 recording so it would have to have been a year or so before that.

The Foxx Tone Machine was my choice because of it being the distortion unit I was using for my work at the time.

I have no recollection of the settings or functions. I used it solely for string sounds. Three rods mounted vertically on the end of my guitar, and attached to those rods were three horizontal rods with single pole pickups that swiveled over the strings I chose for the harmonies. Most of the time I used strings 4, 6, and 10 for wide inversions and a fatter sound.

I used it mostly for demo sessions but the song I mentioned above was Canon in D Major on the Flying fish label. The album title is Buddy Emmons / Steel Guitar and referred to it as the "Rainbow album."

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 22 Dec 2017 11:40 am

I used to have and use a Foxx Tone machine all the way back in the 70s when I was a teen. I loved that thing and still use fuzz boxes (my favorite currently the Fuzz face). Anyway, the tone machine had an octave up, too, like the Octavia, but better!

Chris Templeton · Post by **Chris Templeton** » 22 Dec 2017 1:43 pm

A scientist story: At his house, Buddy had some Nashville music newspaper that interviewed him, probably from the early '70's, where he said that in the future, we'll be able to think pedal steel changes.
Given where computers and technology are heading, he'll probably be proved right.

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 22 Dec 2017 4:01 pm

Chris Templeton wrote:A scientist story: At his house, Buddy had some Nashville music newspaper that interviewed him, probably from the early '70's, where he said that in the future, we'll be able to think pedal steel changes.
Given where computers and technology are heading, he'll probably be proved right.

A leap beyond the electro-mechanical actuation mechanisms that have been discussed so often.

And when it comes to pass, still some prodigal thinker will think beyond what the rest of us can imagine.

Danny Letz · Post by **Danny Letz** » 22 Dec 2017 4:06 pm

I think it's honk baffle. Or maybe a injector deflector detector.

Chris Templeton · Post by **Chris Templeton** » 22 Dec 2017 4:09 pm

Ah yes, the thinker.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 22 Dec 2017 5:23 pm

Yep, just get wired up and "Think it". You will instantly play like Buddy, Speedy, Santo, Curly, or whomever! You won't even need to practice anymore.

Stefan Robertson · Post by **Stefan Robertson** » 22 Dec 2017 11:41 pm

Chris Templeton wrote:Ah yes, the thinker.

I finally figured out the concept behind this picture. As did Maurice Anderson. Hint Hint.

See if you can figure it out. The Thinker.

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 23 Dec 2017 10:16 am

Chris Templeton wrote:Ah yes, the thinker.

Yes, comrade... just get wired up and think it, but you must think in Russian, errrrr, I mean you must think in musical intervals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5DsLow4SVQ

Still gotta know what you're going to do next. The execution is in the hands, unless.... if I could think it, I would still sound like me.

Stefan, I need another hint.

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 23 Dec 2017 11:45 am

Me too.