GEAR PAGE - Here are some pics and info on my gear
If anyone has a pedal steel or other related equipment to sell, then do get in touch with me. Also if you are looking for a particular piece of kit, let me know.
I am in contact with many players from all over the country and even some from abroad, so I can often put buyers and sellers in touch with each other.
I can also supply SIT Strings for pedal steel and also guitar and bass.
Here are my two Emmons Twin Ten pedal steels, both early 1970's. I had to go over to the States twice to see Tommy Cass (of Gardner, Massachusetts). The first trip was to buy "Blondie" from him and during this visit I saw "Red" and knew I would have to go back, Tommy agreed to keep her until I could return. Look at the lovely flaming on the birdseye maple used on these two beauties.
"Blondie"
The serial numbers on these two are very close and according to Carter's charts -
"Blondie" was one of the last built in 1970 (might have been a Christmas present for someone) and "Red" was the very first built in 1971. They look pretty good at over thirty years old, don't they?
"Red"
I enlisted Tommy's help to set "Blondie" and "Red" up for me so that they both play exactly the same - using the Gordon Huntley pedal layout. "Red" is still pretty much original - Tommy had done some work on her about 8 years earlier for the previous owner, a friend of his who sadly had now passed on. Tommy is one of the kings of the push-pull and he did a total rebuild on "Blondie" for me, even down to remanufacturing some parts, so she's actually better now than when new - thanks for a job well done. If anyone wants any quality work done or to buy a rebuilt steel guitar, get in touch with Tommy.
Tommy Cass
Tommy and LeGrande
Tommy used to be the steel player with Roy Drusky, but nowadays is more content to be a push-pull technician, but he even managed to organise a gig for me to try "Blondie" out. We drove to the Circle 9 Ranch in Epsom, New Hampshire - about 80 miles towards Maine from Gardner and met up with a bunch of real nice guys with a band called Country Felix that I sat in with.
John playing Blondie in New Hampshire
Have a look on my links page and you can track down some more photos of the gig on Chris Caruso's website (he's the bass player with Country Felix) and a lot more information and photos about Tommy and his work on the Steel Guitar Forum discussion page.
Gibson flanked by ZB & Emmons steels backed by Fender Amps
This used to be the core part of my gear, the Emmons Twin Ten here was my main piece of kit for a long time, but was traded in to make way for "Red" and "Blondie". The ZB Custom (see close-up below) a relatively recent purchase has also moved on, but I still have the Gibson 330. I've got a couple of Fender Twins and a couple of Dual Showmans (all silver fronted 2x12 combos), there are JBL's in two of them and Fender speakers in the others. Other little bits of kit I use are a DOD Digital Delay and a JHS Rockbox with headphones, this is for rehearsing without annoying the neighbours.
John Davis uses SIT Stay In Tune Emmons Signature Series Strings
Keep 'em coming Virgil, they sound great!
Close-up of the ZB Custom
Here's the ZB I used to have, the finish is really nice with beading and inlays in the wood. This has now moved on and is in a new home in Dundee, Scotland.
Close-up of my Gibson
Here's the 330, it's 1962/3 and those P90's have a really sweet sound. As you can see it is fitted with a Bigsby, maybe I should get a 'B'- Bender put on it, or even better - learn to play it properly!