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Epiphone Emperor TH on Ebay

L1Picker

By L1Picker
in Epiphone Electrics

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L1Picker

L1Picker

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It does list a SN, and the GuitarDaterProject calls it a MIK from '91. The headstock is similar to other Epi's, but the body is a single cutaway...unlike any other thinline I've seen. Current Emperor models are the larger body, but Epi did make a thinline Emperor in the 50's...this isn't one of them, but is the only thinline Emperor I've seen other than a vintage model.

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JefferySmith

JefferySmith

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Posted
It does list a SN' date=' and the GuitarDaterProject calls it a MIK from '91. The headstock is similar to other Epi's, but the body is a single cutaway...unlike any other thinline I've seen. Current Emperor models are the larger body, but Epi did make a thinline Emperor in the 50's...this isn't one of them, but is the only thinline Emperor I've seen other than a vintage model.

[/quote']

The Byrdland is a thinline, but it is way short scale.

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Uwe

Uwe

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Hello jerrymac and all,

 

just stumbled into this forum and thread during a research on this Epiphone Emperor TH / 1982, which also is the year I bought mine in Cologne, Germany, at the former Valley Arts Guitar Workshop. It has a seven digit serial number starting 304****. They just had got it new from a trade fair then, both each one of the full bodied and thinline version.

 

I had been searching for a Jazz/Fusion box for years then, trying almost everything from Gibson to Guild to Ibanez to ... I don't remember anymore. So, during one of my frequent shop visits at the VAG Shop, suddenly these two beauties stood in front of me. At this 'fatal meeting' I tried the thinline version, and after 10 minutes my heart was gone (by the way, the full bodied model was equally good crafted and playable, but the pickups didn't sound good). The price was about 1.600 Deutsche Mark, which was about 900 - 1.000 $ then.

 

Of course I still have it - and I will never give it away. It is by far the best crafted, and best sounding semi acoustic I ever played. The neck, fretboard and the whole ergonomy is incredible. As soon as you and the guitar got warmed up a little, that guitar almost plays itself. You just have to let your fingers go :- Everyone from my guitar buddies around here who ever played it got a similar impression.

 

I used different string sets during the past 26 years with this guitar: D'Addario 0.11, 0.12, Dean Markley 0.11, 0.12, and D'Angelico 0.12 and 0.13. It has been fitted with Dean Markley 0.11 during the past 15 years or so. I play it with a Fender Twin JBL (late 70ies model), and I guess that this gives a perfect pair. The only 'critical' thing with this guitar is its weight, which is clearly over 4 kg. The reason for this is its solid mahogany sustain block - but this also gives it a very distinct sound character, of course. Anyway, you better play it seated when jamming hours.

 

Sounds perhaps a little enthusiastic, but that's how I feel about it. The TH model is - as was already noticed - quite rare to find, and I suppose only small numbers must have been made of it at Matsumoku. Half a year later or so the Joe Pass model was introduced, which is a fine guitar, too, but doesn't by far have the sustain the 1982 TH has. It is obvious to me, therefore, the Joe Pass model is better suited for 'conventional' Jazz, and the 1982 TH better for Fusion and Jazz Rock. I once played it with a Marshall Full Stack tube amp during a session. This tryout resulted in a bass player asking me to please play single notes, and these only in the upper register, because otherwise he couldn't hear his own bass lines anymore and would rather like to go home then. I did as he requested, and we got along well during the rest of the session. This Epi can become a blower, if you let it go! I bet Eric Clapton would have liked this model instead of his Gibson Byrdland when he played solo in "While my Guitar gently weeps" during the Concert for Bangladesh. With the Emperor 1982 TH, you will blow away any Les Paul or Stratocaster you like - though this shouldn't be the main domain for this (or any) guitar.

 

The musician on dubstars' photo happens to be Paul Mimlitsch from NY. I once tried to contact him via e-mail to talk some stuff with him on this guitar, but unfortunately he didn't answer. Perhaps he does now =D>

 

My suggestion: If you can get one, try it. You won't deny it.

 

Cheers, Uwe

 

 

 

It is a Emperor T (for thinline)' date=' made by Matsumoku in Japan November 1981. It has a center block like a 335.

[/quote']

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carverman

carverman

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I didn't think they made a long-scale thin hollowbody like that. I have always assumed that the Emperor was a full sized jazz archtop.

 

The Emperor started off as a full bodied acoustic archtop and was electrified

by Epiphone NYC towards the late 40s and early 50s and through the Epiphone

turmoil until it got bought out by Gibson. The Emperor was equivalent and

some thought even superior in acoustic tone to the Super 400, and was it's biggest

competition in the big jazz box offerings when Epiphone was a viable operation and

run by Epi himself before his death in '43.

 

When Ted McCarty bought the "Epiphone package" lock,stock and barrel,

from Epiphone, they decided for some reason,

(possibly so it didn't compete directly with the Super 400 or L5),

to turn the Emperor Regent electric full body into a 3 pickup thinline version for a limited

amount of time in the late 60s

http://www.vintageguitars.org.uk/epiphone66p2.php

 

If you read the specs, you will note that it is slightly under 2" thick.

 

These were very hard to get as well back then, with orders sometimes waiting

for several months up to a year or even more. All were pretty much made in

the Epiphone (Eleanor St, Kalamazoo) "custom" shop back then,

set up separate from the Gibson factory, so that the Epiphone line

would not impact Gibson product production which in those years,

which was undergoing a lot of expansion.

 

These rare guitars are worth somewheres between $8700 and $11,000

on todays collector market..and if there is one available they don't last

very long on the market.

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carverman

carverman

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The Byrdland is a thinline' date=' but it is way short scale.[/quote']

 

The Byrdland is a baby brother compared to the Emperor..there

is no comparison really..it is the King of all jazz boxes!

 

BTW..you have now assumed the persona of Wilfred Brimley...are

you going through some kind of identity crisis?..what happened to Sam K.? :-

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carverman

carverman

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Sounds perhaps a little enthusiastic' date=' but that's how I feel about it. The TH model is - as was already noticed - quite rare to find, and I suppose only small numbers must have been made of it at Matsumoku. Half a year later or so the Joe Pass model was introduced, which is a fine guitar, too, but doesn't by far have the sustain the 1982 TH has. It is obvious to me, therefore, the Joe Pass model is better suited for 'conventional' Jazz, and the 1982 TH better for Fusion and Jazz Rock. [/quote']

 

The Joe Pass model is the Emperor II, with the 3-way switch moved to the upper bout...ES-175 style, the way

Joe Pass preferred. I also have (had) a '91 MIK Emp II that had the 3 way selector located in the cutaway..

both fine guitars...but still no comparison to the Epi NYC carved spruce top Emperor.

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Uwe

Uwe

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Hello,

 

Here are two pictures of my Emperor 1982 TH:

 

A full view: Epi Emperor TH 1982

 

One remarkable detail is the brass bridge, which is different from the other Emperor models in discussion. This bridge, which is mounted in brass tubes into the sustain block, adds to the excellent sustain of the guitar, too.

 

Bridge, Tailpiece, and PUs: Epi Emperor TH 1982

 

The Joe Pass model is the Emperor II' date=' with the 3-way switch moved to the upper bout...ES-175 style, the way

Joe Pass preferred. I also have (had) a '91 MIK Emp II that had the 3 way selector located in the cutaway..

both fine guitars...but still no comparison to the Epi NYC carved spruce top Emperor.[/quote']

 

@carverman: I can imagine an old Epi Emperor is something very, very special.

 

Cheers, Uwe

 

P.S.

Another nice detail with my Epi Emperor 1982 TH is that it came with two different sets of pick guard and truss rod covers. What you see on the photos are the 'neutral' black covers. The other set provides an (artifical) tortoise shell pickguard and truss rod cover with an engraved Epiphone "E" each. I rather like the 'neutral' style - regarding the unmistakeable signature and floral inlay on the headstock, which are 'epiphony' enough for me.

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carverman

carverman

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Hello' date='

 

 

@carverman: I can imagine an old Epi Emperor is something very, very special.

 

Cheers, Uwe[/quote']

 

Yes, the original Epiphone Emperors made by Epaminondas Anastasios Stathopoulo

(Epi) were "par excellence" quality, because he would not comprimise. Some of the

customs he made (like the George Van Eps 7 string Emperor, he actually tried out

himself to be satisfied that it was as perfect as he could make them. Not too many

know that Epiphone Banjo Company made world famous banjos in the 20s/30s

and in 1931 introduced the Masterbilt guitar. They offered a complete line of handcarved

f-hole archtops that surpassed Gibson for a while. Their banjos (which included the

Emperor banjo) surpassed all the other makers in tone and quality.

 

With Epi's passing in '43, George Van Eps viewed it as" the soul of Epiphone had

departed as well". Frixo would have been the better choice to keep the company

going and he wanted to get back in (after a disagreement with his brother), but

unfortunately he died..and with that the NYC Epiphone legacy came to a close.

 

Frixo has a personalized Emperor, and I wonder where that is today..it would be

worth tens of thousands on the collector market because the hand carved tops

and backs were tap tuned by the skilled luthiers in NYC and the Emperors back

then were the top of the Epiphone line. Any NYC made or even Gibson Kalamazoo

made Emperors are part of the US history and deserve a place of honor.

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