Epiphone Emperor Regent - Why so little love?

[Rickco]

The peerless models are exceptional for the money, trade out the stock floater for a KA or equiv youd have to spend 3X the money they go for to get something equivalent. Listen to some of the videos from members here.

[Gitterbug]

Have said this many times before: my MIK -99 ER is the last one to leave the house. Flawless build, great for big band work, the acoustic tone improving as years go by. Original PU replaced with a Sky (MIK Kent Armstrong) 6-pole.

I consider the Frequensator tailpiece stupid, but it's part and parcel of the EPI looks and does no harm.

[chrisrubenwinters]

Mine is a '95 Peerless bought off an old music school professor. This guitar is my favorite. The acoustic resonance is very impressive for a laminate top. I spent many hours in music school practicing on this instrument without an amplifier. In general I like how the Johnny Smith-style design straddles the worlds of acoustic and electric; the acoustic sound of the instrument gives a bit of a "bite" to the timbre that connects the guitar to the heritage of many other folk lutes (another interest of mine, and usually very bright-sounding instruments!) around the world.

I have upgraded with Grover 18:1 Rotomatics, a Lollar Johnny Smith pickup (which also helps produce a timbre that maintains some of the aforementioned acoustic "bite"), CTS pots, fretwork including stainless steel for the first nine frets (I intend to keep this guitar for a long time, and there is negligible difference in timbre between notes plucked on the stainless steel frets vs. the nickel silver frets), and I string it up with Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Swing .13s. (The knobs are a matter of aesthetic preference and are from Q-Parts.)

I enjoy archtops with inset humbuckers and longer sustain as well, but to me, they become more fundamentally electric instruments, whereas this one occupies a unique middle ground.

This guitar is one for life. The only thing I could see displacing it in my collection would be a Campellone or something else handcrafted, but my opportunity to make such a purchase is, alas, probably decades away (I am 28).

Many examples of recordings on this guitar (and other instruments of mine) can be found on my Instagram: Chris Ruben Winters (@crwinters.guitar) • Instagram photos and videos

[DawgBone]

Mine is a '95 Peerless bought off an old music school professor. This guitar is my favorite. The acoustic resonance is very impressive for a laminate top. I spent many hours in music school practicing on this instrument without an amplifier. In general I like how the Johnny Smith-style design straddles the worlds of acoustic and electric; the acoustic sound of the instrument gives a bit of a "bite" to the timbre that connects the guitar to the heritage of many other folk lutes (another interest of mine, and usually very bright-sounding instruments!) around the world.

I have upgraded with Grover 18:1 Rotomatics, a Lollar Johnny Smith pickup (which also helps produce a timbre that maintains some of the aforementioned acoustic "bite"), CTS pots, fretwork including stainless steel for the first nine frets (I intend to keep this guitar for a long time, and there is negligible difference in timbre between notes plucked on the stainless steel frets vs. the nickel silver frets), and I string it up with Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Swing .13s. (The knobs are a matter of aesthetic preference and are from Q-Parts.)

I enjoy archtops with inset humbuckers and longer sustain as well, but to me, they become more fundamentally electric instruments, whereas this one occupies a unique middle ground.

This guitar is one for life. The only thing I could see displacing it in my collection would be a Campellone or something else handcrafted, but my opportunity to make such a purchase is, alas, probably decades away (I am 28).

Many examples of recordings on this guitar (and other instruments of mine) can be found on my Instagram: Chris Ruben Winters (@crwinters.guitar) • Instagram photos and videos

That's beautiful Chris. Always wanted one of those but tbh probably wouldn't get enough play time here to justify it. An axe like that is very "real" to me, and you should hang onto it until you are too old to play it or have moved on to another guitar at which point it might be cool to gift it to a young person who shows promise in the jazz guitar realm and might be struggling to afford a guitar that works well in the jazz realm. Just a thought anyways. Until then, enjoy it in good health.