Kenny202

The guy has already confirmed Korea. I think I am going to pass on it

yeah funny you say that, I am exactly the same mind. Always nice solid and usually well made but never anything special sound wise or set up wise. The newer Chinese ones in my opinion far superior in every way. very good guitars. I have a question in with the seller at the moment as to where his is manufactured. Where they only made in Korea?

Firstly have had Sheratons and Emperors / Joe Pass and pretty unimpressed. To me very lifeless lack luster guitars. Do have a Chinese Riviera which I love but different animal all together with the mini hums. I just play general country, soft rock etc....not a jazzer so Jazz tones not important for me. Just after a nice playing, nice sounding guitar. Anyone have any experience or opinions? Much appreciated

Just wondering how these are regarded. Have the opportunity to buy one at a decent price. I wont go into the Korea / Vs China thing as I have and have had tons of Chinese Epis and I think they are a fine instrument. I bought a MIC Riviera which was beat to hell, looked like it had been underwater the bridge was that corroded, but replaced the bridge, cleaned it up and looks like new now. Some of the Korean models I have had in the past looked well made (Sheraton, Dot) and were strong but just had no tone or feel. Could I expect this to be a different sound and feel to a Sheraton? I know there are newer models (JP II, pro etc) but how are these regarded? I see most of them for sale are the Joe Pass II model, makes me wonder was this an upgrade or problems with the first one? Any build / neck issues? Would actually prefer a more brighter than woody tone. Any advice appreciated EDIT: BTW I assumed this was a standard Joe Pass Emperor, and not the Emperor II, as there is no Joe Pass II on the Truss cover, and the label inside the guitar says only Emperor. Is this a first series Emperor or and Emperor II? https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CsogvwdOpdIaxuqJAkE1sRwrIqxhQ5XE?usp=sharing

Bought this lovely thing today. Always wanted a Firebird and I love mini humbuckers. Got it for a great price too $460 US Appears to be made Unsung factory Korea, never heard of them. Are they difficult to put strings on or keep in tune? I'm not a whammy guy and never worked on a Maestro Vibrola. Why the long gold plate behind the bridge? Does it cover the springs for the whammy? Did they come out with the Gibson headstock cover? I remember some of the early Epi Hollow bodies and LP came with Gibson truss cover Did the original have a neck through body? What is the neck construction on this one? Anyone own, have any experience or opinion on this guitar? I haven't seen it in the flesh yet, on the way https://photos.app.goo.gl/mQdZ5zt1guah1Lvv5 https://photos.app.goo.gl/2gSSn5oyCqoovcyk6 https://photos.app.goo.gl/o18CHKqwRwgveQLR8 https://photos.app.goo.gl/zG1hN7rM7CAKNYHr5 https://photos.app.goo.gl/Fn9iJoigwGEnRy2Z7 https://photos.app.goo.gl/ccY9fbuuLio1xzQn8

Got this guitar some time ago, owner told me Korean 2000. Everything looks normal to me apart from non standard tailpiece (doesn't have the micro tuners) but knowing what the corrosion is like on Epi metal work I wouldn't be surprised if it was replaced. The guitar is very good, particularly the neck. Pick ups are marked epiphone and sound great. I have seen fake BB Kings but they were all Gibson fakes and the headstock inlay was unmistakably different and definitely not original. Not sure if they fake Epis too. One thing does concern me is I have put the serial number into a few of the Serial number decoder sites and just comes up number not recognized. (R0003026) Any ideas?

This one was in terrible shape. The bridge was actually what I could only describe as rotten. All of the intonation adjusters corroded into the slots. one of the bridge posts was actually corroded / welded into the bridge. Was very lucky to get it off and be able to unscrew the string posts (ordered a Wilkinson). I have never seen so much grime and rubbish on a guitar and the action was at least 5mm off the fret board. I have bought literally hundreds of used guitars over the years and this is the worst one I have seen. I mean its been abused, looks like it has been left in the weather. Its a testament to the Chinese manufacturers how well this thing has cleaned up. Their paint finishes are exceptional. To my eye it looks like the neck is twisted, I can't check for certain until I get the new bridge and restring it. It could be due to the nut being proud one side it makes it look that way to the eye. If it is would be the first modern guitar I ever had with this condition. Do all replacement nuts come as a standard height or are they different and need to be sanded down per guitar same as an acoustic bridge?

Got this Epi Riviera today. Had one before. Made in China 2011 model I believe. I seem to remember my other one was a thinner body and it was around the same vintage? I couldn't swear to it but this one to me looks about as thick as a Dot or Sheraton Other issue is the nut is a lot higher on the bass side. I thought at first it mustn't be sitting in the wood slot correctly at first but it is actually sitting at least 1mm, maybe 2 higher on the bass E string side. Is this normal or has it been replaced and someone done a bad job. Most guitars I have seen the top of the nut is always parallel with the fretboard

Got a 2nd hand Epi Riv today. 2011 model I believe. Guy described it as 90%. I think he meant 10! Anyway, bridge all rotten and corroded, was lucky to get the posts out actually I can buy one online and plenty of Tunomatic clones out there. I only need the bridge without the tailpiece. Will the tunomatic generic bridge be the same for my guitar? I see a lot of tunomatics say for Les Pauls and SG's....Are these different to a 335 style bridge? Are the bridges interchangeable between say dots, Sheratons, RIvieras? I'll just throw the tailpiece away

Sorry, I know this is off topic but I am desperate and hoping one of you guys might know. I have an Aria ES 335 made in Korea knock off (80's / 90's) which I stupidly broke a volume pot shaft getting the knob off tonight. Typical 335 config, 2 tone controls, 2 volumes, 2 HB pick ups. My problem is there appears to be no ohm value on the pot? It's one of those small dime size pots like you get in the Epiphones. Would anyone know or care to guess what size it would be so I can order another. At the least does anyone know what ohm value are the volume pots in the Korean Epi Dots, Sheratons etc Many thanks in advance

First glance differences...wrong colour Varitone plate, heel of the guitar bound, Grover copy Machine heads? Adjustable micro tune stop piece totally wrong. Pretty impressive copy though. If you had a choice of headstock labels I doubt very much anyone would select Epiphone over Gibson lol. I tell you one tell tale thing I have seen on all of these copies is the rear cover is much smaller on every copy BB King I have seen compared to real thing. Thanks again for your help

Wow thank you so much. This one is a dead ringer for mine down to tone knobs, knurled nut on the switch, machine heads 100% same. Headstock, Mickey mouse ears, bridge. Only thing different the stop tail which must have been replaced for some reason. Was playing it again last night man what a nice playing guitar. I've had a few Gibson ES355's and this thing whole different level in sound and playability. The varitone switch gives so many tones and it really does ring like a bell. Having said that I recently sold an immaculate Joe Pass that I couldn't bond with and had a very sterile tone, or so I thought. The Jazz guy who came around to buy it blew me away with the sound he was getting out of it. The neck is just awesome. Lowest action and the string tension is so soft bends are so easy. Definitely a keeper. Thanks again for your help

I had another look and there is no logo on stop tail or bridge but the stop tail is clearly not original anyway as it doesn't have the micro tuners. I am so paranoid I plugged the guitar in today and was only getting an output on the treble pick up. Detuned it, checked the pickups, then removed the back cover until I remembered I probably plugged into the stereo outlet instead of mono. Yep, thats what I did lol. I did remove the back cover and have a look at the electronics and one glance with the tiny pots etc and thought it must be a copy. I googled wiring photos EPI Lucille and exactly the same as what I have to the last detail. These Epi BB Kings are pretty expensive you would think they could put full size decent pots in them. I had a look at the back of the pick ups and have Epi logo and says Dot, LP rear etc. Do these come with the same stock pick ups you get on a Dot? In any case the guitar sounds amazing and the action is silky. Neck is really nice. Hear a lot of people saying these necks very chunky but my neck thickish but very thin across the fret board. So I don't know. I would be extremely surprised if the guitar is a fake. By the serial number is about a 2000 mod Korean made so I am guessing very different to how they are produced now and I think back then they even varied from factory to factory when doing some research on an Epi Riviera I had. I am still unconvinced they do copy Epiphone Lucilles. I have seen plenty of copy GIBSON Lucilles on Aliexpress etc but no Epi's. Would love to see some images of one if anyone has. The copy GIBSON Lucille's look absolutely fake with different logos on the headstock etc. To top that off the copy GIBSON Lucilles I have seen are around the same retail price as an EPI Lucille even from China.

You got me worried now lol. I went and had another look and I notice mine doesn't have the tuneable bridge, has the standard Gibson bridge. I just assumed earlier models didn't have this feature. Had a look on google images and the bulk of them have the tuneable bridge but quite a few also normal bridge. Still, the inlays etc look a bit too good to be a fake and from what I can see online I can't see any reference to fake Epiphones anywhere, particularly Lucilles. Anyone have anymore info?

Yes no way its a copy. Literally had hundreds of guitars over the years and fakes even good ones are not hard to spot. Pick ups, bridge everything marked Epiphone. Do they even make fake Epi's? I live in Thailand and see tons of fake USA Fenders and Gibson's and believe it or not some excellent players but their logos, printing etc you would know in a heartbeat it was a fake. Some excellent stuff coming out of China now. I had an Epi RIviera Epi Chinese factory made, one of the best guitars I ever played. Build and hardware very good. They can't be ignored anymore same as Japan used to be known for junk. This is BB King is an excellent guitar by the way, in fact I sold my Joe Pass in favour of it. Appreciate the info though