1989 Epiphone Emperor JDM (pre-pre Joe Pass)

[DanG]

Hi everybody,

I recently acquired this Made in Japan 1989 Terada Epiphone Emperor JDM.

It’s a glossy iced tea sunburst, 24.75” scale, 16” width at the lower bout, and about 2.75” depth. Tree of life headstock inlay, mother of pearl fret inlays, multi-ply binding, bound f-holes, and gold hardware. Laminated spruce top and laminated flamed maple back and sides. Finished with a thin coat of polyurethane. I paid $1200.

It’s all original as far as I can tell except for the bridge, tailpiece, and missing pick guard.

The guitar looks beautiful, sounds great, and plays really nicely after I restrung it with TI JS112s.

I’ve had a hard time finding much information on these guitars, and please correct me if I have my facts wrong, but as I understand it, Terada took over the production of Japanese Epiphones after Matsumoku sometime around 1986. They were primarily intended for the foreign market but they wanted to make some high quality guitars exclusively for the domestic market which were labeled as Japanese domestic market or JDM. In the late 80’s or early 90’s Epiphone started moving most of their production to Korea. One of the models they wanted produced for export was the so-called pre-Joe Pass Emperor. You all know the story from there.

I’m a big fan of Japanese guitars from the 80’s. I have a 1983 Matsumoku Epiphone Emperor F which is a great instrument in every way and my first guitar that I ever got was a 1981 Matsumoku Vantage Avenger AV 310 that I still have.

I had been interested in a guitar with these dimensions for a while but never found one that checked all the boxes. When I became aware of the Terada pre-pre Joe Pass Emperor my GAS took over and I had no choice but to find one. I’ve had it for about two months and I’m really enjoying it.

If anyone has any more information about these guitars I’d be very interested.

[Chezdeluxe]

Congratulations That guitar looks beautiful.I was not aware of the Terada JDM.

I agree with you about the Matsumoku era Emperors from the 80s and have two F models

A blonde which is stock standard apart from replacing the abr saddle with an ebony saddle and a hotrodded sunburst which had the pickups changed and locking tuners installed by a previous owner.

I went a couple of steps further and replaced the pickups yet again with Tonerider Rebel 90s, and installed a Bigsby and a roller bridge….A Matsumoku Emperor T with the semi solid construction is on my wish list.

Japanese quality from the 1980s is superb as is evident from my number 1 electric, a Yamaha SA2000S.

You are sure to get great enjoyment from your Terada Emperor.

[Rickco]

I had a '93 Terada Emp which I replaced the stock electronics and installed 57 classics. With no exaggeration it was one of the best guitars Ive ever played or heard, played next to any CES style guitar it sounded exceptional sort of Tal like. Sold to finance a fantasy guitar which I have and love but improvements were not huge. The interesting thing about the '93 is it has a 5 piece neck which I dont see on the immediate years before or after and it was really sweet (for me). Ive had a great adventure enjoying great guitars along the way and getting to keep a few but that Epi was really special. Ill also add because I have no one else to tell, my current Epi is a '35 16" walnut Broadway whole nother thing but holy moly!

[DanG]

Hi Rickco,

Was your Terada Emperor the L5 clone or the pre-Joe Pass style?

I’m curious why you chose to change the pickups and electronics. Were you unhappy with the sound? I feel like it sounds pretty good with the stock pickups through my amps (‘94 deluxe reverb reissue, DV Mark little jazz, and Roland cube 30).

I also can’t find anything about the pickups. I suspect they’re the Maxon built MMK75s that were also used in the 80s Matsumoku guitars but there are no markings to be found.

[Rickco]

Hey Dan, it did sound good with the stock pickups but I had the pair of 57s so put them in. I also replaced the wiring with CTS harness etc. With this change it truly went into the "L5- Tal" territory, I had owned 2 Peerless Emp Regents previously which were exceptional for the cost and also benefited from pickup upgrades but the Terada was in another league of quality, equal to Gibson. Heres the original ad,
SOLD 1993 Epiphone Emperor-J
Rare vintage in excellent condition
Sold in Japan only, Emperor-J not only represents the impeccable craftsmanship, also put herself in the first line of rare Japan vintage. Epiphone Introduced Orange Label from a Japanese Manufacturer Terada Music from 1987-1997, featuring lighter and smaller-looking body. When the production of Terada stopped in 1997 it was handed over by Korean Companies from 1998, which again inherited to Chinese vendors from 2005.

As a full hollow body, Emperor-J plays warm and bright. If you are a Jazz player and in search for a jazz box, she is the perfect choice. Except for the cosmetic chip off the nut which doesn’t affect playability at all, and the wears on bottom cushion of the hard case, all the parts and guitar woods are in excellent condition. You may also notice the Frequensator was replaced as brand new one.


Lastly, as a guide to decode the serial number, the 5 digit numbers can be interpreted as YCPPP, where Y=year. C=model code. PPP=production number. Model Codes (C) are
1 = NVJ, 2 = EMPEROR, 3 = RIVIERA, 4 = SHERATON, 5 = CASINO, 6 = Limited Edition, 7 = EB-2, 8 = ES-930J, 9 = EMPEROR-J.
Body (top) carved solid spruce top
(back) archived maple
(sides) maple
Neck 3 piece maple
Fretboard rosewood
Inlay Abalone
Headstock Perl "Tree of Life"
Scale 25.5" (647.7mm)
Tailpiece Frequensator
Serial Nbr 39557
Price (guitar): $ 1234

Sample Audio

7036 collectors have watched this guitar since Feb. 7, 2014.
This guitar has sold to United States on March 3, 2014. The buyer commented "Great seller, even recorded a guitar sample when asked, thanks again"
Please click to inquire further details on this guitar.
I watched it change hands for twice the price, if you see it buy it!
Congrats on your NGD, I bet you got a keeper!

[DanG]

Ok, so yours was the L5 style which, according to the info in the ad for your guitar, has a 9 as the second number in the serial number indicating it’s the Emperor-J. Mine has a 2 as the second number which indicates that it’s a plain old Emperor with no letter after. My sn is 92012.

Here’s a pic of my ‘83 Emperor-F next to my new-to-me ‘89 Emperor for comparison.

[Rickco]

Im pretty sure you have a Terada(J). The Matsumoku were generally heavier but great builds. Epiphone labeling and marketing in those years can be hard to decode, even harder when they went to Korea. Mine had a nitro finish according to the master luthier I consulted ( I dont know how he knew...?) Even if it was made for export its still a Japanese Terada model The neck inlays are different on yours, body depth would be 3". Im pretty sure differences between dom vs J would be mainly cosmetic the quality of build from those makers has always been top notch.

[DanG]

According to your post and many others online, I actually have the Emperor (no J, F, T, or any suffix) based on the serial number with 2 as the second number. Also based on the fact that it’s 24.75” scale, rosewood fretboard, 16” lower bout, and 2.75” depth- all smaller than the Emperor J (Terada) and F (Matsumoku). It shares the same dimensions as the Korean pre-Joe Pass and subsequent signature Joe Pass models.

There’s one currently for sale on reverb and they can be found in the sold section on that site for anyone who’s interested in checking them out. There are a few on ebay too but usually located in Japan and asking ridiculous prices.

They used an oval orange label inside the body, they usually have the little bowtie inlays on the bridge base and a trapeze style tailpiece with the curly metalwork inside and a diamond stamp where the strings are held in place. They also use the script Epiphone font on the headstock with the E that looks like a backwards 3. Finally, the filial thing } at the body end of the neck is different, and to my eye, nicer than the Matsumoku and later Korean and Chinese versions.

I’ve read through most of the threads on here that discuss the pre and later Joe Pass models made in Korea, possibly Indonesia, and China but haven’t seen any mention of the Japanese made guitars. Surprised that no one here has had one or knows anything about them.

I think part of the problem with finding information about it is that there have been like 50 different Epiphone models over the years that have used Emperor in the name.