Epiphone Broadway & Emperor Regent

[DC]

Hey, everyone...I'm the new kid on the block. A Strat owner but Gibson archtop lover.

 

I bought a Strat last year for sentimental reasons because I used to own 2 before I got married. (After the kids came I had to sell them.) What I really love are the big jazz boxes. I can't afford the Wes Montgomery L5-CES, which I eventually hope to own, so I'm considering the 2 Epis: Broadway or Emperor Regent.

 

Should I save my money and wait?

 

Thanks,

DC

[L5Larry]

I would suggest you jump in and get your feet wet at the price level that you can afford, that's what I did years ago. Like you I was jones'n for an L-5, but I couldn't really justify that kind of expenditure on my first jazzbox, and especially not to the first wife.

 

After some research I bought a Washburn J-6 (a Samick built L-5CES copy), spent a few hundred bucks extra to replace all the electronics with Gibson Classic '57's, switchcraft switch and jack, CTS pots, and Gibson knobs etc. Even with the mods I was into the guitar for less than $1000, a far cry from the price of an L-5. This guitar did nothing to quell my desire for the Gibson (nor was it supposed to), but after playing around with it for a couple of years it did solidify in my mind that an L-5 purchase would be justified. It still wasn't an easy sell to the then wife, and ended up costing me double. She got a new roof on the house, and I got my L-5.

 

I started off a Strat player, then bought a Firebird, then a Les Paul, then an ES-335. So over the course of twenty five years or so I was logically working my way up to the full bodied archtop. My L-5 is now by far the guitar I play most, followed a close second by an L-7 and then an ES-345.

 

I'm not real familiar with the Epi's you mentioned, but as my Washburn was a stepping stone to the L-5, the Epi should be a very nice (and affordable) guitar to do the same for you.

[Red 333]

I have both the standard Broadway and the more upscale Elitist Broadway. I'll tell you about the standard as it's the less expensive of the two, and only one still in production.

 

My regular Broadway was made in Korea, and while the body wood is simpler than the made in Japan Elitist, the workmanship is almost as good. It's a very carefully made and handsome instrument.

 

Epiphone uses plain maple for the back and sides, and a scarf-jointed neck to keep the cost down, but includes the distinctive, and elaborate abalone tree-of-life headstock inlay, block fretboard inlays, neck and headstock binsing, and 5-ply body binding.

 

I replaced the cello-style bridge with a Gibson tunomatic assemby, which brightened the sound more to my liking, but otherwise have left it stock. The stock Epiphone humbuckers are pretty good in this application, and I bet an upgrade to something like Gibson '57 Classics would really bring this instrument to life.

 

Unplugged, it projects pretty well for having such a thick, laminated top, and has bright, snappy tone. However, this is definitely an instrument made to be played electricly.

 

The Broadway is definitely one of Epiphone's best made and best value guitars.

 

More than a few people on the Epiphone forum have and love Emperors. You should ask about them, there. A guy named Svet has a number of Gibson, Eastman, Epiphone and other archtops, including an Emperor, and he will be able to tell you about it, and in relation to some of his others. He's also a Jazz guitarist, while I am not, so he may be more insightful about how his Emperor performs in that regard than I have been able to be about the Broadway.

 

Below are some Epiphone archtops. The standard Broadway is on the top row, and the Elitist on the bottom.

 

Red 333

 

[DC]

Larry. Red -

 

Thanks for the replies. I guess I shouldn't really be worried about buying an Asian-made guitar - almost every car I've owned has been Japanese!

 

DC

[lpdeluxe]

Samick-made guitars seem always to be of good quality, whatever the constraints they have on using expensive wood. I have owned several Samicks: a bass, a couple of Epiphones, and now a Samick-brand L5CES copy. Korean-made, in this era a CAD-CAM machines, does not mean low quality.

 

The Samick HJ 650 TS is a 3-1/2" thick, 17" arch top with typically Gibson controls (with the exception that the pickup switch is on the upper bass bout) with excellent fit and poly finish. Right now I have a new set of speed knobs on order -- the originals are loose and it's not surprising that it has lost one.

 

This one has hung on a wall for ten years, and was pretty far off playability: the bridge had slid about and inch lower from where it belonged, the action was high, and the tailpiece was loose with the result that the strings were about half an inch laterally away from the pole pieces, and the pickguard was askew. A couple of hours with my tools and a good tuner and it became playable. I usually don't worry if a guitar is out of adjustment. The test is whether it can be properly set up, and the Samick passed with flying colors.

 

For now, I'm disinclined to change anything other than the knobs. It has a great jazzbo sound, is easy to play, and looks great. Its only fault is that it's not blonde! (And thanks for those blonde beauties, Red 333.)

 

A photo, forthwith:

 

[ladyscaglyc]

You may consider the Emperor II Joe Pass.

I've replaced the neck EpiHB on mine with a GFS P-90

& added a TruArc Copper bridge.

What a great feel & sound.

 

It gets as much play as my White Falcon.

[anothersixstringer]

Some years ago, I had the Epi Joe Pass and later I got the Epi Regent. I would first ask about the type of music you want to play with your guitar. I found that for Bop style you might like the Epi JP better. If your thing is Swing/Early Jazz then by all means get the Regent. This is a wonderful, fantastic guitar. With the right set of strings you will be swinging no end...!