YVANHOE1 Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 Hello, New to this forum, I'd like to have some advice about the guitar I could buy a few days ago ! Advertised as a JOE PASS but w/o pickguard I wonder if this EPI is an Emperor II or a Broadway as the pick-up switch is located on the cutaway. As you can see the tailpiece is an Emperor II one. The truss rod cover says GIBSON, seriel number is 9062497. I want to keep this guitar and need to complete it with a matching pickguard, should I buy a Joe Pass or a neutral black one ?? What about the tail piece ?? Any idea where I can find original EPIPHONE parts ??? Lot of questions ! Thanks for your precious HELP Yvan PICS ARE HERE : http://www.yvanhoe.com/EPI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valriver40 Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 your guitar was in made korea june 1989. it looks in excellent shape.it is a emperor not a broadway. earlier guitars had the selector switch on the bottom part of the cutaway. the tailpiece is original. as for parts just google epiphone guitar parts . i hope this helps you. i think a black pickguard would look nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carverman Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 Hello' date=' New to this forum, I'd like to have some advice about the guitar I could buy a few days ago ! Advertised as a JOE PASS but w/o pickguard I wonder if this EPI is an Emperor II or a Broadway as the pick-up switch is located on the cutaway. As you can see the tailpiece is an Emperor II one. The truss rod cover says GIBSON, seriel number is 9062497. [/quote'] It is an Emperor II made by Samick..a beautiful ES-175 type of archtop. Yours being a natural has flamed maple back and sides. The Emp IIs came with the 3-way selector in the cutaway. The Joe Pass, is almost identical except they moved the 3-way to the upper treble bout ES-175 style. Joe Pass was an ES-175 player until he started to endorse these Epiphone Emperors with his signature pickguard and preference for having the 3-way selector in that location. I had a couple of them, they are Emperor IIs. Mine were both sunbursts. The '91 is similar to yours with the 3-way in the cutaway and the '95 JP has it in the upper bout. I want to keep this guitar and need to complete it with a matching pickguard, should I buy a Joe Pass or a neutral black one ?? The OEM ones tended to rattle, so most players probably took it off and never replaced it. Also some didn't like the cheesy look of the autographed pickguard. One of mine ('91-Samick EMPII had "Gibson "on the trc) did come with a tortoishell coloured pickguard. Tthe JP (with Joe Pass script on the trc), did not have one, so I made my own out of ebony and put the gold coloured "e" on it. Being more solid and wood, it doesn't rattle. I think the black pickguard looks good on mine. What about the tail piece ?? Tailpiece rattled and buzzed a lot. I replaced both of them with the GFS Jazz tailpiece. It would look really nice with the second version of the ES-175 tp (with the diamonds in the string bar) but those are Gibson proprietary and very hard to find. Any idea where I can find original EPIPHONE parts ??? E-Bay is probably the best place. You can try Epiphone as well, but these being older guitars, they probably don't keep those parts anymore...the pickguard. Everything else is aftermarket and probably depending on your financial resources might be better upgraded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabar Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 carverman wrote It would look really nice with the second version of the ES-175 tp (with the diamonds in the string bar) but those are Gibson proprietary and very hard to find. That's actually the original tailpiece design for the ES-175 when it was first introduced in 1949. It was replaced by the "zigzag" version (like the one on the Epi version) in 1957. The original diamond version was restored in 1969. As for pickguards, if you want an original bound tortoiseshell, your best bet may be eBay or on this forum, if someone has removed their pickguard and would be willing to sell it to you. Bound pickguards are quite expensive as aftermarket items, and as far as I know Epiphone does not sell replacement pickguards separately. The Joe Pass signature is easily removed with Goo Gone, for those who don't like it. Carverman's wooden pickguard is an elegant option, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YVANHOE1 Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 Hello Thanks for the replies, could find everything I need here, non original, but nice enough : http://www.axesrus.com/axecart.htm Here's another supplier but they only sell to U.K. and Ireland customers !!!!!http://www.rosetti.co.uk Thanks again, guys Yvan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Hi Yvanhoe1 You might enjoy this, it is footage of Joe Pass actually playing an Epiphone Joe Pass, to fulfill his contract regarding his signature model, apparently he also used the Epiphone as a traveling guitar. He played a Gibson ES-175 normally. Look where the switch is situated on the man's Epiphone Joe Pass :-) [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nODlYylv2E[/YOUTUBE] Your guitar looks in beautiful condition. Pickguards are expensive I am looking to get bespoke Baltic Amber for my Joe pass and Levin 335. As I say expensive.... you might want to look at: Pickguard Heaven also some nice tailpieces at GFS GFS tailpieces I may consider selling my original Joe Pass pickguard once I have the new Baltic Amber one, and I also want to switch my Joe Pass inscribed truss-rod cover, for one with just the Epiphone logo, if anyone knows where I can get one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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