classicxman Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Hi, This is my first post and I have a question, but first a bit about myself. I'm 53 and first picked up a guitar at 14. Took a few lessons but all that circle of 5ths stuff was like calculus to me. I'll play for a month or two, then I won't touch it for a few years. I want to be really good, but I get frustrated too easily--maybe in my next life I'll come back with natural talent. I picked it up last night when I got tired of sitting in front of the tube and really got into a kind of meditative groove. It was cool. I hadn't touched it for about a year before that. Anyways, I still don't know a song all the way through, but I do a mean opening to stairway to heaven. That about sums up me and the guitar. Now for my question. My wife bought be this Epiphone from an old music store about 12 years ago. It was hanging up in the store for several months and every time I went by I drooled. She surprised me one xmas. It looks like a Broadway but the tailpiece (or frequencator--is that what you call it?) is different. The only markings I can find are a 5-digit serial number scrawled in red ink inside the body (16663). Can anyone enlighten me as to the possible origins of this guitar. Is it a Broadway or some rip-off? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pohatu771 Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 It looks like an early-80s model, but I'm not an expert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Given the tailpiece, bird's beak on the fretboard, and the point of the cutaway, it looks like a Joe Pass Emperor II. Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbirchett Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Given the tailpiece' date=' bird's beak on the fretboard, and the point of the cutaway, it looks like a Joe Pass Emperor II. Red 333[/quote'] Looks a little like one but the pickup selector switch is in the wrong place. The Broadway has it on the cutaway, the JP Emporer II is on the upper bout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubstar Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 pretty sure the pre-JP emperor IIs had the PU switch near the cutaway...so I'd say that's an Emperor II Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Hi' date=' My wife bought be this Epiphone from an old music store about 12 years ago. It was hanging up in the store for several months and every time I went by I drooled. She surprised me one xmas. It looks like a Broadway but the tailpiece (or frequencator--is that what you call it?) is different. The only markings I can find are a 5-digit serial number scrawled in red ink inside the body (16663). Can anyone enlighten me as to the possible origins of this guitar. Is it a Broadway or some rip-off? Thanks. [/quote'] It certainly looks like a late 80s/early 90s Emperor II. The "Gibson" engraving on the trc confirms it. My '91 Emp II has the 3-way in the cutaway, rather than in the upper bout like the Joe Pass model. These are very well made guitars. Guitar dater project doesn't seem to recognize the serial number..and they do mention that they don't have records (yet) of the 80s Epiphones..but based on the 5 serial number (sticker?)..it could be a late '80s/early 90s Samick made. Your wife deserves some congratulations on picking a nice sounding jazz guitar! These are mine..I changed the tailpiece from the oem " Lyre style" to an aftermarket and the "Gotoh style" asian tuners to Klusons. [ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicxman Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Carverman, Where did you get your tailpieces. Mine has a couple broken welds and I wasn't sure if I should try and repair/replate the original or go with after-market. I like yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Carverman' date=' Where did you get your tailpieces. Mine has a couple broken welds and I wasn't sure if I should try and repair/replate the original or go with after-market. I like yours.[/quote'] These are GFS jazz style tailpieces. Very stylish and inexpensive. The gold seems to be holding up too. I got rid of the "lyre style" because the wires vibrated and had a small buzz. The GFS have a slight curve which also provides some string compensation. If you are going to go for the tp, their t-o-m is quite nice too...but you may have to sand down the thickness of the wooden portion (from the top) to lower the action more than the adjusters allow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWANG Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 There are a million book cd combinations out there.. pick a band you like which doesn't play the most difficult things in the world and get a couple of book/cds. step by step.. no theory needed.. no reading of music notation.. simple tab.. slow versions of each part... then fast versions.. and often full songs without the guitar so you can play along. get something like a roland micro cube.. plug a 20.00 cd player into it.. use speaker or headphones and you'll be playing in no time. try some credence or beatles.. lots of 'not too hard' stuff there. TWANG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicxman Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 There are a million book cd combinations out there.. pick a band you like which doesn't play the most difficult things in the world and get a couple of book/cds.step by step.. no theory needed.. no reading of music notation.. simple tab.. slow versions of each part... then fast versions.. and often full songs without the guitar so you can play along. get something like a roland micro cube.. plug a 20.00 cd player into it.. use speaker or headphones and you'll be playing in no time. try some credence or beatles.. lots of 'not too hard' stuff there. TWANG Thanks for the input. I have stacks of songbooks. Raised on Neil Young (you can't get much easier than that). While I love Beatles stuff, I try and stay away from them, usin' all those $10 chords and such I just need to play more regularly and try different stuff so I don't bore myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emetry Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 www.chordie.com Lots of versions of different songsand artists. I specifically go there because it has tabs for all the chords, so you don't have to guess at them, but from what I recall, they also have versions of songs with lead or limited "$10 chords" What have you got to lose, right? Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captmidnight Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Thanks for the input. I have stacks of songbooks. Raised on Neil Young (you can't get much easier than that). While I love Beatles stuff' date=' I try and stay away from them, usin' all those $10 chords and such I just need to play more regularly and try different stuff so I don't bore myself.[/quote'] Classicxman...there is a site where you can get cords and tabs and they also have some videos to teach you. The songs are rated on the videos from beginner to easy to advanced. You can also click on what key you want to play it in and it will change it for you...say the song is in E and you want it in A ...just click it (have to be a member for that, about 25 bucks a year). Its free if you just wanna visit and not watch any of the videos. http://www.e-chords.com/ They have country, rock, blues, classical, hell about any type of music you could want to find. some of the songs even have a backing track you can play with. Then there is another http://www.threechordguitar.com/index.htm Mojo's site is free and even has a forum and request line. most of his songs are 3 cord...give or take a few...lol Plenty of good places to look around in...even youtube has a bunch...just type in the song name and add guitar lesson and most times you will get several different videos, some good....some just plain old crappy:-& Even Gibson has a site where you can pick up some pretty good pointers and lessons. Lots out there these days! Hope that helps a little, Capt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicxman Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Thanks for the info Cap'n. I just joined this board, but I'm likin' it already #-o/ Thanks to some good advice from Carverman, looks like I'll be upgrading the axe. Thanks to what appears to be a cold winter comin'. I'll have some more time to practice instead of spending time with my other love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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