Doc T Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I haven't been on here in ages, but given my experience with the help and advice I got before, it's time to come back. I just got a Joe Pass Emperor II on CL for $300.00 US (with a crappy case that I trashed and put it in a new TKL case). I have no idea what year this thing was made. It is in really good shape (a few nicks here and there) but all of the stickers on the headstock are gone. All I have is a serial number: S7032024. I am guessing a Samick factory in Korea as the place of origin, or am I wrong? What has really thrown me for a loop is the pinned, tunomatic bridge. I am guessing that the original owner did that, or did these ever get manufactured with a pinned bridge? The guy I got it from is not the original owner and was weak on details of ownership. After a truss rod adjustment and some new D'Addario flatwound 12's I gave a run through and really like the overall tone and playability. Things I don't like: the tuners seem pretty cheap (not as good as the Grovers on my Sheraton II; the tunomatic bridge. The bridge looks like a high-end replacement but I think I would prefer a rosewood bridge. Does anyone have any suggestions for drop-in replacement tuners and a rosewood bridge that would fit this guitar? Thanks in advance! I tried to upload pictures but now matter how I downsized them, they would not load Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPS1976 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I haven't been on here in ages, but given my experience with the help and advice I got before, it's time to come back. I just got a Joe Pass Emperor II on CL for $300.00 US (with a crappy case that I trashed and put it in a new TKL case). I have no idea what year this thing was made. It is in really good shape (a few nicks here and there) but all of the stickers on the headstock are gone. All I have is a serial number: S7032024. I am guessing a Samick factory in Korea as the place of origin, or am I wrong? What has really thrown me for a loop is the pinned, tunomatic bridge. I am guessing that the original owner did that, or did these ever get manufactured with a pinned bridge? The guy I got it from is not the original owner and was weak on details of ownership. After a truss rod adjustment and some new D'Addario flatwound 12's I gave a run through and really like the overall tone and playability. Things I don't like: the tuners seem pretty cheap (not as good as the Grovers on my Sheraton II; the tunomatic bridge. The bridge looks like a high-end replacement but I think I would prefer a rosewood bridge. Does anyone have any suggestions for drop-in replacement tuners and a rosewood bridge that would fit this guitar? Thanks in advance! I tried to upload pictures but now matter how I downsized them, they would not load not sure about the place of origin. seems right. as far as tuners, you can't go wrong with Grovers. since that's what Epi currently uses you can at least see how they look on the current model. here's a place that has a bunch of rosewood bridges you may want to check out: http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/gbridge_wood.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc T Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 not sure about the place of origin. seems right. as far as tuners, you can't go wrong with Grovers. since that's what Epi currently uses you can at least see how they look on the current model. here's a place that has a bunch of rosewood bridges you may want to check out: http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/gbridge_wood.htm Thanks for the link to the bridges. It looks like I will find a good one there. As far as the tuners, I want to get drop-in's. My experience with a Gretsch 5120 is that I had to take a drill and reamer to widen the holes for a new set of Grovers (the original open back tuners were junk). That was time-consuming and difficult. Side note: I have given up on uploading pics. Never had that problem before on this forum. And even before I select a file, I have a message that says: "Used 491.8K of your 500K global upload quota (Max. single file size: 8.2K)." Not sure why that appears even before I select a file Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Doc... It depends on how many overall photos you've uploaded onto the forum. Other pix will affect what you can now upload. BTW, I'm happy enough with my tunamatic or whatever it's spelled. I made the opposite switch on one of my archtops. With what I do... no prob. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vomer Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Doc, try an image hosting site like photobucket, upload your photos there for free, and past the links in here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc T Posted July 26, 2014 Author Share Posted July 26, 2014 Thanks to all who responded. I loaded pics 2-3 years ago, but all of those posts seem to be gone. So I did not not know that I had reached some sort of quota. As far as the pinned bridge, I can probably live with it for a while. But the stock tuners are really terrible. I am researching what I can simply drop in and it looks like Grovers of some sort should be a good replacement (the stock Grovers on my Sheraton II are great). I also took another look at the tail piece and it looks pretty flimsy. Is there a good after-market replacement for that? Finally, I have searched in vain for a site that would allow me to match my serial number to a factory and year. I think that the "S" in "S7032024" means Samick (Korea) but the rest makes no sense to me (certainly NOT 1970!) Can someone help? I really would like to know what year this thing was made. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabar Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Your guitar is indeed a Samick, made in 1997. In the 90's, Samick often just used the last digit of the year. I'm surprised at your comments about the tuners and tailpiece (unless they were replaced before you got the guitar). The late 90's Samick guitars I've seen all had excellent tuners. I have a 2001 Samick-made Joe Pass, and it came with Grovers that have worked perfectly since I got it, and the tailpiece is perfectly solid. For replacement parts, though, I'd suggest allparts.com or guitarfetish.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc T Posted July 26, 2014 Author Share Posted July 26, 2014 Parabar Thanks for such a detailed response! The guy who sold it to me was clueless on any of these details since he was not the original owner. The tuners look stock to me--but they have nothing engraved on them, so I have no idea what they are. They definitely do not look like any Grovers I have seen. They don't "feel" right to me, when compared to all of my other guitars (and they all have Grovers). I found a good set of pictures of a JP that looks identical to mine here: http://www.justgreatguitars.com/product/Electric/Archtop/Epiphone-Joe-Pass.aspx There is a good close-up of the back of the headstock and tuners. Mine has a pinned bridge. But everything else is identical. My tail piece has some corrosion on it and I wondered if there is a well known after-market replacement for it. I honestly like this guitar but I also enjoy doing upgrades. Some people have complained about the pickups, but for what I want out of this one, I think that they are perfectly fine. Thanks again for the helpful comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc T Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 So I solved my issues with the tuners by ordering a new set of Grover Rotomatics, 102 series (18:1 ratio) from Stewmac.com. They came 2 days after I ordered them and lo and behold--no reaming, drilling, etc. They are a perfect "drop-in" replacement and light years better than the original tuners that came with the guitar. It only took me about 30 minutes to take the old ones out and put the new ones in. It looks like the Grovers would probably fit into most any Epiphone headstock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Sounds as if you're having some pretty good luck... Best to you and your JP... m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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