1974 Emmons facelift

Scott Moon · Post by **Scott Moon** » 19 Mar 2021 1:44 pm

My Emmons is about to get a serious face lift...stay tuned!

Scott

Dave Campbell · Post by **Dave Campbell** » 19 Mar 2021 2:18 pm

i think it already looks cool.

Liam Sullins · Post by **Liam Sullins** » 19 Mar 2021 5:50 pm

Gotta keep that checking and story! If not I can't wait to see what it is! Bolt On, what year?

Scott Moon · Post by **Scott Moon** » 19 Mar 2021 6:06 pm

1974 Fat Back with wood necks and bolt on changers. It looks green but when I took the necks and fret boards off it appears that it was originally blue. So that's what color I am going back with. Will post progress.....
Scott

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 20 Mar 2021 2:55 am

Why are the two decks of the cabinet together without the endplates?

Liam Sullins · Post by **Liam Sullins** » 20 Mar 2021 8:09 am

Chris Lucker wrote:Why are the two decks of the cabinet together without the endplates?

I think they're glued together.

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 20 Mar 2021 9:26 am

Who glued them together, and why?

Kelcey ONeil · Post by **Kelcey ONeil** » 20 Mar 2021 2:40 pm

I think what Chris is implying is that there is the possibility of the body joint warping while out of the end plates, and that the joint should be screwed together rather than glued( which if it’s factory, it is). I’ve had old Emmons bodies out of the end plates for months with no issues at all, but you never know either. It’s definitely true that a new cabinet needs to find itself in end plates ASAP as it can warp itself into oblivion as it’s drying out, however once a body had gotten old and dry the possibility of that happening is much less.

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 20 Mar 2021 3:40 pm

No I am saying the cabinet should be in two pieces snd when you return it to the endplates, you do so one neck at a time—then fasten down the middle. The center screws are to keep the necks spread apart— not together.

I am guessing that the aged lacquer at the center overlap may have “melted” with time and just seems like it is glued.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 21 Mar 2021 6:03 am

I have worked on several Emmons guitars and have never seen necks with so many screw holes in them.
Do you know the story with that?
Erv

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 21 Mar 2021 8:46 am

Or, Erv, why the countersinks in the top of the necks? This isn't a Sho-Bud.

Necks glued together and mounting the necks from the top are Sho-Bud features -- not Emmons.

Mike DiAlesandro · Post by **Mike DiAlesandro** » 21 Mar 2021 11:12 am

I had a 75' like that, I got from Damir. I played it for 5 years as it was, than sold it to a guy who wanted to redo it. I thought it was nice as it was, looked good at gigs, and sounded great. It also was originally blue, faded to green.

Peter Leavenworth · Post by **Peter Leavenworth** » 22 Mar 2021 4:43 am

Hi Scott,
Here's my '74 Emmons after I refinished the cabinet before Tommy Cass re-built the mechanics. This started out with well-worn green finish like yours
and it also had the original blue finish under the decal and finger boards. That particular finish seems to have often turned green from exposure to sunlight. I could see the bird's eye veneer through the original finish so I knew beforehand that I wanted a natural finish. Oddly enough, the veneer under the E9 finger boards was the most dense birds eye I've ever seen!
Peter

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 22 Mar 2021 6:33 am

Chris,
Yes, you are correct.
The Emmons necks are fastened on from the bottom.
Erv

Adam Przybyla · Post by **Adam Przybyla** » 22 Mar 2021 7:34 pm

Here is the guitar Mike mentioned. It’s got the exact same pattern of top neck screws as Scott’s, so they were obviously fastening wooden necks differently than aluminum ones.

Mike, you’ll be happy to know that, aside from a complete mechanical cleaning/rebuild, I only drop filled the spots where the lacquer had completely chipped away and refinished the tops of the necks green to match the cabinet. My OCD was not going to be okay with that tobacco brown burst. Otherwise, the old patina is still intact and looks great!

Chris Lucker · Post by **Chris Lucker** » 22 Mar 2021 8:35 pm

Nope. That guitar was redone by someone other than the Factory. The neck mounting screws come from below. Maybe Fabian at Carter or some other folks with a set of screw drivers did the work. Remember, John Fabian produced his â€œfamousâ€ video about how to restore Emmons guitars. But if anyone watches them with a critical mind, they will come to the WTF conclusion. For example, â€œWe are carefully reapplying the original mica....here we show how to use a laminate trimmer to cut off the excess mica.â€ My point is, there are a lot of people who work on Emmons guitars who donâ€™t know what they are doing.
What to the serial number? I will check if the card file notes that it had necks screwed from the top. Hard to tune the necks if you need to remove the fretboards to do it.
I donâ€™t think you can convince anyone that those huge countersinks shown in the original posterâ€™s photos are original. Those countersinks are so big you could hide drugs or diamonds

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 23 Mar 2021 6:40 am

Those necks were redone.
I have worked on many an Emmons with wood necks and none looked like that.
Erv

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 23 Mar 2021 7:05 am

Looking forward to seeing the new do. Bet it'll be really pretty.

Scott Moon · Post by **Scott Moon** » 23 Mar 2021 1:57 pm

The only thing redone on this guitar has been a couple knee levers added (which are now gone) and the E9th PU was rewound. Everything else is original. Aluminum necks were attached from the bottom, wood necks attached from the top with very large wood screws. That's why the counter sinks are so big. The fret boards are glued on top.

Geese guys....this was a simple post about my guitar and the refurbish job. It was not intended to draw out all the criticism and trash talk of my guitar. If you don't like what you see go bother someone else. There are plenty of other posts to hyjack. RANT OVER....
Sorry folks...had to say it.

Scott Moon · Post by **Scott Moon** » 23 Mar 2021 2:00 pm

Progress...stay tuned

Scott Moon · Post by **Scott Moon** » 23 Mar 2021 2:04 pm

BTW....

Peter...Awesome looking guitar. Nice job!

Adam...that guitar looks familiar lol. the finish definitely looks better on yours. Nice!

Kelcey ONeil · Post by **Kelcey ONeil** » 23 Mar 2021 2:47 pm

More power to you Scott, you should be ashamed of yourself for liking your guitar, much less doing what you please with something that belongs to you!

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 23 Mar 2021 3:23 pm

Hey Scott my friend,,,long time no see,,,,or hear!!!,,LOL Where would this website be without the self proclaimed experts,,,you know what they say,,,opinions are like (bleeps),,,everybody's got one.

Scott Moon · Post by **Scott Moon** » 23 Mar 2021 6:04 pm

Hey Sonny!
yeah it's been a while. We need to get together and visit one of these days

Scott

Marty Neer · Post by **Marty Neer** » 23 Mar 2021 7:36 pm

Hey Scott sent you a PM. Marty