Emperor Regent

[ksdaddy]

Last year I bought a '99 Epi Emperor in sunburst. I don't think I played it an hour, I just wasn't in the mood for a jazz box at the time I guess. I sold it this spring to help my daughter buy a new laptop.

 

I'm thinking jazz box again and going up into four digits just won't work for me right now. I would have to sell off a bunch of stuff to make it happen. So I'm thinking Emperor again.

 

Mine was a '99 and I don't think I could have found a flaw in that thing if you held a gun to my head. The workmanship was downright scary. I've got a chance at two blondes right now, one a '95 and one an '04, both about the same money, both made by Peerless.

 

I'm not asking anyone to make generalizations here, but what is the opinion of a mid 90s one vs an '04? Were the older ones better (which is standard guitar folklore) or did they get better as they went along, therefore making the '04 better?

 

I don't know when they shifted from Korea to China, but I assume that was basically a money decision by Henry.

[bobouz]

This particular model is still made in Korea, but who knows what factory Epi is now using. Go to Sweetwater's Guitar Gallery and you can view three that are currently in stock (note the "made in Korea" on the back of the headstocks). As for which year is better, the earlier Samick made stuff is highly regarded, but so are the later Peerless built versions. Some believe the pickups were improved on the later Peerless models (around '03 I believe). I have a '04 Casino made by Peerless, and the build quality is quite impressive.

[crust]

I owned a Emperor Regent from that time frame. It was a very nice instrument (I no longer own it). The knob placement like the one I owned has been modified on the newer ones (so you wont bump the knobs as easily while playing). I enjoyed playing this guitar, may get another some time soon