08/08/2026
ReSound'65 | Workshop Journal
Vol. 1 • Issue 5 — “A New Shiny Thing”
Another busy week inside the Emmons Guitar Co. Production Center, with work moving from raw maple all the way to some very shiny aluminum.
As ReSound'65 bodies cycle through production, new hard maple is being sourced, inspected, and prepared for the next batch. Phil has been busy reducing the raw stock on the precision planer, and CNC cutting parts while maintaining our required ±.005" tolerance as that lumber begins its transformation into Emmons Guitar parts. We should see more of those pieces coming together as bodies next week.
On the metal side of the shop, endplates, necks, changers, levers, and pedal racks have been getting plenty of attention.
Parts coming off the Haas VF-4 are precise, but they're nowhere near finished. Milling leaves fine striations in the aluminum, so each part moves through progressive stages of sanding with a pneumatic DA sander before it can be polished. Flats need to remain flat, edges need to stay crisp, and every surface is inspected before moving to the buffer.
Then we make them shine.
Depending on the part, we're working with pieces ranging from only a couple of inches to more than 30" long. Bringing them to that deep, mirror-like finish requires a careful balance of buffing wheels, compounds, speed, pressure, motion, and heat. Friction can bring the aluminum surface to around 130°F during the process—and the person at the buffer has to control all of it while safely controlling the part.
Once polished, we're still not finished.
Buffing compound finds its way into seemingly every hole, thread, pocket, and corner, so the parts go through a thorough cleaning process followed by another inspection. The finished surfaces are then carefully masked to protect them during assembly.
And if we find a wisp, scratch, or imperfection along the way?
Back to the buffer.
That's the less glamorous side of making shiny things shiny.
While our latest flocked bodies continue curing, we're also fabricating custom-height guitar legs according to each player's specifications. Chrome-finished steel tubing is cut to length, fitted with the classic chromed clutch assembly, and finished with our custom threaded steel inserts. Those inserts are precision-fit and pressed into the tubing for a strong, durable connection to the endplate.
It may seem like a small detail—right up until you've had a guitar leg that spins when you try to tighten it.
The Custom Lacquer side of the shop is moving too, although this week provided one of those reminders that progress doesn't always move in a straight line.
One lacquer body had made it through finishing and well into assembly when the clear coat chipped all the way down to the wood inlay. It was nearly ready to move into final assembly and undercarriage installation.
Instead, it came apart, - again! This isn't the first issue with this finish, but we hope and pray it is the last :).
The body went back to the booth for repair, and we're already making good progress toward getting it back into the production flow. It's never fun to move backward, but we'd much rather discover an issue here than have a customer discover it later.
So that's the week: raw maple becoming precision parts, aluminum becoming mirrors, guitar legs being built to fit their players, bodies curing, lacquer being repaired, and a whole lot of sanding, polishing, cleaning, inspecting, masking, and occasionally doing it all over again.
Just another week building ReSound'65 pedal steel guitars.
The full Workshop Journal includes more of the story, media, and behind-the-scenes details:
Production Center:
https://www.emmonsguitar.co/status
Workshop Journal Blog:
https://www.emmonsguitar.co/blog/categories/production
