I thought about this most of the day . It really bothers me to even post this . As most of you know i bought a new Emmons July 2007 . After doing the waiting game as well as others my wife and i went to the Emmons factory in 2008 and picked it up . It had some problems but sounded great . It had a great tone and rang like a bell . Anyway i sent it back on Oct 1st 2008. I talked with them maybe twice or so since then . Since then i have called ,e-mailed ,called , sent a letter by mail , called again ,and yes you have guessed it already no ''reply ''! I even asked for my money back once but still no reply . As most of you have seen here i had good things to say about the company until now ! I just don't know whats going on down there ! If there was good communication between us this no doubt would not be here . This isn't good business in my opinion ! You must communicate with your customers after all without them you wouldn't have a business at all . Again i didn't want to post this but i didn't know what else to do ! I'm so sorry about doing this . I hope this will be resolved real soon .
It sounds like in your case, you would be better off finding a used one in great shape rather than dealing with the Emmons "factory" and all it's inherent problems. If it were any other name on the guitar besides this one, they probably would have gone out of business long ago.
Gary I thought you had the best idea to drive down and pick it up, that puts the ball in your court. But did something happen you didn't notice right away? hopefully it works out.
How hard would it be for someone to answer the phone.
Definately not very professional.Especially in the days of the ability to BLOG.I was going to order a knee lever but I couldn,t deal with this.
The horror stories continue. My good friend, Walter Roberts has been the Emmons Dealer in La. for over 20 yrs. In 2006 he called in an order for 2 new LeGrand llls. Both buyers paid cash up front. He & they were given a delivery date of 1 yr. Call after call with runarounds. After waiting 2 yrs. Both finally canceled & he refunded $9,ooo.oo. Then they needed 2 Emmons volume pedals which he sent to them. 3 months later can't get answer to a phone call. Don't think they'll pay for the v-pedals, do you?
Anybody got any good experience with these people in the last 3 years. Andy H.
Gary, I know it must have been a gut wrenching decision on your part to post something of this nature. If people such as yourself don't keep the community informed of these type of things, how far does it go? I appreciated you honesty, as always. You're always a great help and inspiration to me, but these guitars have been seeing a lot of unfavorable publicity lately. All it takes is to answer the phone, say I'm sorry, we're working on it, & we'll try to do better, just hang in there. Well, that's what I would expect, although I'm not sure I wouldn't rather not answer the phone either. Perhaps it's just a bad secretary/receptionist? Oh well...just a thought anyway. Trying like heck to see you on Saturday! Bob
Hi Gary,
I'm so sorry to hear about your trouble with your new guitar. I remember how excited and happy you were to be getting this guitar and going with an Emmons. I know Ron Jr. is a good guy and I hope you get the problems resolved satisfactorly for you. You're one of the coolest forum members and I know you wouldn't pass this on to us if it weren't for a good reason. You'll just have to hang with that great Sho-Bud until the Emmons is sorted-out! Don't give-up on Emmons, they have a great history and have made some great instruments.
Good luck with all of this,
Cliff
Gary,
I've been looking to order a new SD-10 and have talked to MSA, Mullen, Williams and Zum and found all of them hugely responsive and helpful. In this economy or any, you would think a company would want more business. Sounds like they are on the way out.
Sorry for your grief!
Gary, You should buy the Emmons LeGrade II that Mike Wilson has for sale. It's a pretty Blue D-10 with 8&5. Looks to be almost the same color as my Zum. Have some fun on that C6th neck.
This is so sad to hear. And it's not the first posting about the present Emmons company's bad communication, customer service and not filling prepaid orders for YEARS. Gary has done everything and been more than patient. And, most importantly, he's a paying customer! We're not talking a little bit of dollars here.
Yet, there are still those who extol that "we must try and understand the other sides story" to the ridiculous extreme. For them I mention two things:
- Understanding is overrated.
- Buy an old Emmons that was made in the company's best days.
Hellow, Mr Preston I am sorry to hear of your situation with your Emmons. If I drove all that way to get my ax,and had gone through all the trouble you have, I would hop in the truck and drive right back down there . Knock on the DOOR UNTILL SOMONE OPENS.I wouldnt expect that a company like that would conduct themselves this way .Maybe Mr Lashley is ill or somthing Best of luck to you
I remember these famous words from their President...
We come in after hours to do repair work or meet our customers because they are passing through town. For those who actually know us, know that we go far out of the way to meet their needs. It is not always easy working 6 days a week and averaging 18 hrs a day. Our Customers are the most important. Our Customers are not dependent on us we are dependent on them. Our Customers are doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to serve them. No company in the world is 100% efficient. We can only adapt and make the needed changes and move on.
Gary, very sorry to hear of your problems.I'm sure they be resolved.
Not trying to down play Gary's problem or anyone else's problems with the Lashleys. But someone asked?
Anybody got any good experience with these people in the last 3 years. Andy H.
Well,I've had excellant parts service this year.Twice I called and got the machine. I left a time they could reach me.And sure enough Ron called both times. And once Bobbie took and order from me.Ron saw somthing on the order he didn't understand. And called me to be sure we were on the same page before he sent the order out.
I really felt like they were on the right track. For the record. The parts I ordered were for added pedal and knee lever changes.Since 1990 I've broke 1 return spring and 1 bellcrank. And the bellcrank I broke was a driver crank for a knee with 4 changes and a feel stop. A pretty big load for a bell-crank to bear.
Gary, I believe at times, there's things on our chests that we need to share with others.
Hopefully, it will all work itself out for you. I know it's hard, but try to think positive. I've always found that things have a way of working themselves out in the end.
Many times folks have pressing problems on them, and their time has been (temporarily) taken up by whatever that problem happens to be.
Our best wishes for a satisfactory resolve on both ends.
I,too, have had nothing but good experiences with the folks at Emmons. They have been helpful and prompt and have given me absolutely no reason to complain.
On the plus side, Paul Norman ordered two knee lever
kits for an upgrade I was doing on a push/pull for him. They gave him a shipping date of three days and
they arrived in a little over a week. This was about a month ago.
That having been said, I don't doubt the horror stories. I hear about them myself. I don't think
there is an ill intent, I think they just find themselves in such a deep hole sometimes that they just hide! But that really serves to damage their
image even more. I have two LeGrandes now and have
owned three more. I would love to see them return to
their glory days. Probably a steep climb!
LeGrande II, Nash. 112, Fender Twin Tone Master, Session 400, Harlow Dobro, R.Q.Jones Dobro
Mmmm, as a matter of fact Gary, i have ordered some parts from them about a month ago for my pretty LeGrande...Rebecca replied back and gave me an update. I thought that was nice!
Maybe they are too busy at the moment too.
Never the less, i am sure they will write to you and you will get an update on your steel.
Gary, if I were you, I would drive back down there and get it from them personally, even if it has not been repaired, you could find someone like Tommy Cass who could repair it for you quicker than the troubled Emmons company.
Steven Black wrote:Gary, if I were you, I would drive back down there and get it from them personally, even if it has not been repaired, you could find someone like Tommy Cass who could repair it for you quicker than the troubled Emmons company.
Maybe Gary's guitar didn't need a repair. He said it had great tone and rang like a bell. He's not said WHY he sent the guitar back. I've never bought a NEW Emmons, but I've bought parts from Rebecca, and she was as nice as she could be.
Emmons does not belong to the Steel Guitar Forum. I doubt if they have time to read, and reply, to every Emmons post.
"Uh, Ron, I wanted my LaGrande to be the same color as Ron Eliot's, except Mica."
They'd NEVER get any guitars built!
I thought about this most of the day . It really bothers me to even post this . As most of you know i bought a new Emmons July 2007 . After doing the waiting game as well as others my wife and i went to the Emmons factory in 2008 and picked it up . It had some problems but sounded great . It had a great tone and rang like a bell . Anyway i sent it back on Oct 1st 2008. I talked with them maybe twice or so since then . Since then i have called ,e-mailed ,called , sent a letter by mail , called again ,and yes you have guessed it already no ''reply ''! I even asked for my money back once but still no reply . As most of you have seen here i had good things to say about the company until now ! I just don't know whats going on down there ! If there was good communication between us this no doubt would not be here . This isn't good business in my opinion ! You must communicate with your customers after all without them you wouldn't have a business at all . Again i didn't want to post this but i didn't know what else to do ! I'm so sorry about doing this . I hope this will be resolved real soon . 
Have some fun on that C6th neck. 
