Emmons,George Bush and Tommy Cass

John Davis · Post by **John Davis** » 4 Dec 2003 4:51 pm

In my book three of the most important people on the planet!!!Emmons cos he`s the best,
George is probably most powerfull, but Tommy Cass is a master craftsman when it comes
to a rebuild of your push-pull guitar, especially if you want it slightly better than
when it left the Emmon`s factory way back in 1970 !!!
If you want to find "The wizard of the North" just follow the yellow brick road (as I did)
up to Gardner Massachusetts, you will be amazed at what Tommy`s done to those guitars!
A word of warning, Tommy does`ent do "cheap" , but you certainly get what you pay for in
terms of quality workmanship and customer satisfaction!
I sincerly believe that a little bit of your heart and soul went into "Blondie" Tommy and
I salute you for it! if you ever want it back it will be when they pry it from my cold
dead fingers!!!!

One very happy bunny here in the UK.

Bob, how do I add a picture to this??

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 4 Dec 2003 5:19 pm

You got that right! Tommy's the best guy I ever seen on the p/p guitars bar none and the nicest guy too. I wouldn't be afraid to let him work on my Sho-Bud either. Ditto on the other two guys, my sentiments exactly.

Bobby Boggs · Post by **Bobby Boggs** » 4 Dec 2003 5:28 pm

Are Tommy and Mike Cass related??

Kevin Mincke · Post by **Kevin Mincke** » 4 Dec 2003 11:35 pm

Nope......

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 5 Dec 2003 3:02 am

I am in 101% agreement with John!
And I HAD Tommy Work on my Sho-Bud before I even saw it.

Tommy really does put heart and soul in his PP restorations. But even amoungst some great steels, Blondie stood out. Obviously enough to get John to fly across the pond to play and buy her.

I am happy Blondie is over here in a good home. I will have to get over the manche and visit her and John sometime. Cambridge is a pretty town.

No not cheap work... GOOD work.
And as New England yankee's say
Long after the joy of low price wears off,
lingers the curse of poor quailty.

And as my Welsh buddy says, Tommy and John ; "Good on you."

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 5 Dec 2003 7:22 am

Too expensive.

John Davis · Post by **John Davis** » 6 Dec 2003 5:37 pm

I have to disagree with you Kevin, I am not a wealthy person, and it will take a little time to recover from the expense of going across the pond, But I firmly believe that I got what I paid for, a truely exceptional guitar! and if Tommy had stuck out for the 500 bucks I beat him down! he would have got that too ( but please don`t tell him cos I may want to go back for another one!!!)

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 6 Dec 2003 6:40 pm

Tommy Cass is our Ace here in New England. I live about 50 miles from Tommy, and I have been to his shop many times.

In 1988 Tommy completely rebuilt my Emmons D-10 and when I went to pick it up... I didn't recognize it! ALL metal parts were highly polished to a mirror finish (underside and topside), new tuners, all new springs and screws (heavier duty than original).

Tommy had dismantled the guitar totally, including the changers, replaced worn parts, cleaned and buffed all parts, put new flocking on the underside..etc, etc. The guitar looked stunning! It sparkled all over (and under) like a fine piece of jewelry... much nicer than when it came from the Emmons factory. I know because I bought it new in 1978.

Of course, by 2002 the guitar was completely worn out again from 1000s of gigs, and I have now "upgraded" to a 1976 S-10 Emmons... lightweight, easy to haul around, set up, tear down, etc.

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My Site - Instruction | Doug's Free Tab | Steels and Accessories

[This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 06 December 2003 at 06:43 PM.]

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 6 Dec 2003 9:04 pm

Well, Kevin has declared Tommy as too expensive, so I guess we should all avoid him

.

Tommy is a first class individual that had a lot to do with my playing the steel, not to mention the incredible job he did on my PP Emmons clear back in 1973 (if he was that good then, he's probably even better now). I would have no hesitation in having him do a guitar for me anytime. I hope that blanket statement above does not deter anybody from checking Tommy out. Geez....

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 7 Dec 2003 1:56 am

Kevin, it may seem too expensive if you have never seen his work. But quality hand work by a person with 40 years expirence doesn't come cheap. Nor should it.

Ever restore and antique car or hot rod?
Imagine your plumber doing a TOTAL steel restoration at his rates.

It is a piece by piece total makeover, not just a regulate and buff a bit job.

He is checking EVERY single piece and replacing where neccesary. And if you are the owner at the time he consults with you often on all points and does nothing you don't OK.
Each lever and pedal is reinstalled and regulated one at a time, in a logical order, so that it can be set for long term accuracy and stability.

It seems this should be SOP, but often isn't in most guitar shops.

John flew from England after seeing my pic here, and was not disapointed when he got there, and bought Blondie, and is happy.

How can you say that is too expensive.

I spent about 10 minutes on my back just looking at her undernieth, just going oohh!

There were 8 PP's there to play, I tried a black one 1st, but this one I spent hours on.
Johns a lucky dog!

John McGann · Post by **John McGann** » 7 Dec 2003 7:13 am

Maybe it was Carl Dixon who had this great quote:

Speed, Quality, Price- pick two.

Tom is a great guy, a top notch steel mechanic, and you get what you pay for!

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 7 Dec 2003 7:21 am

I bought my 66 bolt-on from Tommy a couple of years ago. This guitar is by far in better shape than it was new. When Doug said "mirror finish" that's not an understatement. This guitar looks as if the springs are chrome along with literally everything underneath, a true piece of artwork under there. You can actually see your face in the necks. He put my set-up on it and even added the second string raise because it was on the guitar I traded in. I didn't think you could put that on a p/p because I'd heard from experts here you couldn't do that but it works and not only that but has very short pedal travel. Along with it being more than I asked for it was packed better than any guitar I've ever bought and would stand up to any trip. He put some personal identification on this guitar for me and I dare say you'll never see it just in case it comes up missing God forbid. I don't know anybody that complains about the price of working on these things more than me but the mans work is worth it and actually I didn't find him to be unreasonable at all. I also got extra Emmons decals and the set-up typed out for reference. If you think I'm joking then send me an e-mail and I'll send you some pix of this guitar. I doubt there's one out here in better shape and after playing it for two years it still holds up as good as the day I got it.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 7 Dec 2003 8:45 am

Tom installed a half stop on string 1 (E9, double raise string 1) on two of my push/pulls. It's kind of a trick with a P/P because you need to add another cross-shaft and some other parts. I'm not sure how it all works, but it's smooth as silk.

There's a current post here in the Pedal Steel section about "restorations" vs. "clean-ups". I'd have to say that Tom is a total restoration guy. He does general repair work too, adds knee levers, etc. I like to have Tom "tune up" my steel guitar every couple of years. I'm lucky because he lives closeby.

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My Site - Instruction | Doug's Free Tab | Steels and Accessories

John Davis · Post by **John Davis** » 7 Dec 2003 3:55 pm

Hey you guy`s, thanks for the support, I did`ent realise I was opening a can of worms here for Tommy. I was just trying to give an honest assesment of what I found up there in MA, but I guess you can`t just write about it,Its something you have to see for yourself but I will say it one more time These guitars are in better condition than when they left the factory!!!>>> and as far as the service goes, Tommy even organised a gig for me so I could give Blondie a test run!!!And drove me the 80 miles to it!
And when the rest of the band stopped slobbering over my new steel,We all had a great night!
attention to detail like that, priceless!!
sincerely,JD.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 7 Dec 2003 6:38 pm

John and "Blondie" playing in New Hampshire

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Chris Caruso · Post by **Chris Caruso** » 8 Dec 2003 3:46 pm

I was playing Bass at that New Hampshire gig where John gave Blondie the test run. It sounded fantastic!!!John got a big hand from the crowd, showing up all the way from England to play this gig!!!Tommy Cass has been a very good friend of mine for a long time and his workmanship on these guitars is superb. John looked pretty happy playing his last Sunday!!

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 9 Dec 2003 9:58 pm

Chris, was this a steel guitar jam or a regular band gig?

Chris Caruso · Post by **Chris Caruso** » 10 Dec 2003 3:26 pm

This was a New Hampshire Country Music Association jam. There are some more pictures at www.countryfelix.com John did a fine job of backing up singers that he never heard before.

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 10 Dec 2003 7:27 pm

This picture is nice, but it hardly does justice to this instrument.
And you can't hear it either....DRAT!!!
I guess I will have to go visit Blondie in England sometime.

Where was this jam?
I doubt the Circle 9 Ranch is still alive.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 11 Dec 2003 6:47 am

Tom Cass is a class act and any player looking to purchase a guitar or have his guitar serviced by Tom is fortunate as his work is impeccable.

The Circle 9 ranch is alive & well. My band plays there minus myself as it takes 3 hours for me to get there.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 11 Dec 2003 9:44 am

225 years ago Napolean made speeches and Beethoven wrote music. Today nobody remembrers or cares what Napolean said, but millions of people listen to Beethoven's works every day.

Politicians come and go, but great musicians are immortal. Buddy Emmons will be remembered when both George Bush and Bill Clinton are nothing more than names in history books. [This message was edited by Mike Perlowin on 11 December 2003 at 01:23 PM.]

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 11 Dec 2003 10:31 am

I was wondering when W. was going to show back up... couldn't agree with you more, Mike. For a minute I thought this thread was about Tommy Cass restoring one of Buddy's old guitars for the prez... now that would go down in history...

[This message was edited by Mark van Allen on 11 December 2003 at 10:32 AM.]

John Davis · Post by **John Davis** » 11 Dec 2003 12:10 pm

Its true!! Its true

Blondes do have more fun!!!!!!!

Chris Caruso · Post by **Chris Caruso** » 11 Dec 2003 4:08 pm

Yes, this jam was at the Circle 9 Ranch in Epsom New Hampshire!!!