Emperor Regent ....make-over

[Louie7]

Ok, this is NOT yer average B-stock Musicians Friend/Guitar Center/Sam Ash blow-out Epiphone Emperor Regent.

 

It's an A-stock, made in the Samick Factory, 1996 model that was hand selected by McKensie River Music.

 

Consider the instrument basically a body and neck, because all the Asian parts are junk. I loved the guitar, the look, the sound, the playability and the price.

 

But....... wanting more.... I decided that this was going to be an UPGRADE.

And an upgrade it became. It took years, but it's done.

 

Here's what it looked like when I got it home....

 

 

First thing was to replace the sealed (but still cheap, import) tuners with genuine Grover Imperials.... so I could keep it in tune.

 

 

Never could find good strings that were long enough for the cheap asian 'Frequensator tailpiece' , so I replaced it with Klusons recently reissued 'Art Deco' Tailpiece.

 

 

I disliked the stingy and badly warped cheapo pickguard, because it was puny and also had vol and tone knobs mounted on it, which were also cheap and in the way of my strumming hand.

 

The replacement.... a brand new Gibson L-5C bound pickguard. Nice!

 

 

Here is the control system I created with low-profile 500K rotary thumbwheel pots and a .02 ceramic cap.

 

 

Totally out of the way, now... I can control the volume and tone perfectly.

 

And best of all, they connect to the fabulous sounding KENT ARMSTRONG 'Johnny Smith' model floating pickup, which clocks in at 8K and will NOT feedback.

 

 

 

 

 

DANG if the darned thing doesn't sound awl wooden an stuff.

[brianh]

 

Nice job Louie, especially the pickguard / tone control upgrade. Please share where you got the vol / tone pots.

 

BTW, Gibson L-5 strings are long enough for the D string with an inch to spare on Emperors with Feakysator tailpieces. They sound great too.

[LongMan]

First thing was to replace the sealed (but still cheap, import) tuners with genuine Grover Imperials.... so I could keep it in tune.

Are this real Grover Imperials or GR109G Super Rotomatics? I thought of putting Imperials on my Broadway, but they need 12mm holes. The 109 series uses 10mm holes, and has the same 3 step wings as the Imperials.

 

Never could find good strings that were long enough for the cheap asian 'Frequensator tailpiece' , so I replaced it with Klusons recently reissued 'Art Deco' Tailpiece.

Hmm, I own a Riviera and a Broadway, both with Frequensator tail piece, but I never experienced problems with too short strings. And I use some different string types like D'Addario XL and Chromes, Elixier NanoWeb, Dean Markley Blue Steel and Thomastik Infeld Bebop Jazz.

[eor]

i like what's happening here. can we get some shots of the whole thing?

 

funny you mention the tail piece, i just did a string change on my sheraton with the bigsby (with the tension bar) and one of the strings barely made it. i got less than one wrap on the post before i ran out of string. and then the ball end came off on the little one. thanks, newtone! :(

 

also, is that an import or us made kent armstrong? i have the regular kent humbucker in my big gretsch, but am really curious about the mini. because i like minis and they look cooler. i wonder how the mini bite translates to a giant spruce topped hollowbody. especially since mine doesn't have a tone knob.

[Louie7]

ok, thanks . . . a whole buncha good questions... If I forget to address one, just sound off.

 

Yeah, the rotary pots are from WD.... I think they were about $3.50 ea, but I had to do the mounting myself.

I've seen pre-mounted and pre-wired sets at Stew Mac, but I bought these before they were offered and I kinda liked doing it myself.

 

Regarding the pickup. It's the U.S. made Kent Armstrong, not the import knockoff.

 

Tuners are not Super Rotomatics. The real deal!

 

Strings.... currently I have installed Thomastik-Infeld JS 110 Swing Series flat-wounds 10 ~ 44.

They reach the Kluson tailpiece, but the 6th string has too much red thread and it hangs over the nut slot slightly. It doesn't seem to affect the tone or volume, but it still bugs me, cause it looks sloppy.

 

Pete posed the question: Does the cheap Asian wood bother me ? Well, that's sort of a loaded question, since almost all guitar wood is imported from somewhere. But no, it doesn't bother me at all. When I bought this guitar in 1999, I took a slight bow out of the neck with the truss-rod, and it hasn't moved a jot since. The fit and finish on this guitar is perfect. Probably made on a Wednesday.

[RSDx]

Sweet!!! Great job ..... the vol and tone pot mounting is trick Nice looking Regent, there, sir!!!

[Louie7]

Sank you velly mush !

 

It did turn out exactly like I'd hoped it would.

 

Lotsa room for mistakes and miscalculations. I guess that's why it took me 11 years.

[eor]

some clips/video wouldn't kill anyone. and elaborate on the mini, if you would. i got something similar and i wonder what the difference would be. i'm not unhappy with the humbucker, but i do love me a mini and it would look nicer than a plain flat black bar. did you order it directly from kent? i emailed him a few times and he was pretty nice.

[brianh]

I had some thoughts about modding my Emperor, but it involved a coping saw and a Lollar Charlie Christian or P90.

 

If I do it, I hope it doesn't take 11 years...

[Louie7]

I had some thoughts about modding my Emperor, but it involved a coping saw and a Lollar Charlie Christian or P90.

 

If I do it, I hope it doesn't take 11 years...

 

 

*haha* yes, Brian... but be certain that I wasn't working on it continually, during that 11 years.

[Whitmore Willy]

Louie,

 

That is beautiful.

 

Willy

[SamBooka]

I had some thoughts about modding my Emperor, but it involved a coping saw and a Lollar Charlie Christian or P90.

 

If I do it, I hope it doesn't take 11 years...

PM me before you pull out the saw.. I put a lollar Custom P90 and a Vintage Vibe CC Rider (Charlie Christian style) in mine.

The CC is in there now.