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Congrats - great looking early Emperor!
You ask how many were made in 1936. Exact numbers are not known since no official Epiphone factory documents are known to have survived from their pre-Gibson era. I always loved the old Epis, and a few years ago I started a research project on these instruments: NY Epi Reg - The Unofficial New York Epiphone Serial Number Registry.
My research suggests that two batches of Emperors were produced in 1936 - possibly around 80 examples. You find a table of estimated pre-war Emperor production here: NY Epi Reg - The Unofficial New York Epiphone Serial Number Registry (Fig.4).
If you all have any question about Epiphone instruments I am happy to discuss and share what I know. And owners of pre-1957 Epis are very welcome to contribute info about their instruments to my ongoing research.
Best regards,
Felix
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11-28-2015 02:36 AM
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Man, I'm glad somebody good got that Emperor. Congrats.
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"Warn you off!?" No way, I nearly bought a mid 40's Emperor last year myself. Big bottom guitars rule! So did playing the SE encourage you to step up? We'll have to get some photos of you playing the Emperor too. And who said a female can't be an Emperor...ever heard of Cleopatra...she ruled!
Congrats bro!
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Thanks 2B. Playing your SE didn't hurt. She's a mighty fine guitar. And I greatly appreciated the opportunity. It's always nice to play around (with other guitars that is).
Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
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Wow. Thank you for opening up my eyes to the pre-war Epiphone Emperor. My Epiphonerology is not up to scratch, I admit. I love the asymmetric Epiphone headstock. Very jazzy.
The 9-, 13-layer binding is kinda thick though. Don't like that so much. But just whom am I to complain about 1936 binding in 2015?
Enjoy her is good health. That's 18.5" of whup-ass. I can't imagine the thumping big tones out of the auld Empress Dowager! It must shake the rafters of your house.
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Lovely guitar - and I like the 13 ply binding!
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It is pretty amazing. The luthier told me it would cost over one thousand dollars to replace it. That would hurt a lot. Fortunately, it's solid on the guitar. Obviously cracked in places, but whoever did the work on it saved it. I've seen some pretty sad binding that actually did have to be replaced on guitars a lot younger than this one. A D'Aquisto comes to mind, but that guitar sold for insane money. Sometimes the bindings rot off and there is nothing you can do but replace them. Originally Posted by bananafist
Also, I'm reading a novel right now with a story centered in the Dorset area on the south coast of the UK. Lovely place. I've been there and really enjoyed it.
Thanks for the comments. I really appreciate it.
Steve
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Beautiful. I like those dark old time sunbursts. Gibson made them too back then. Freddie Green used this model when he joined the Basie band in 1937. I believe he kept it as a back up for many years and I have seen a picture of him with it from the beginning of the 1950s - likely when his Stromberg was in for a service.
Last edited by oldane; 11-30-2015 at 03:06 PM.
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Wow, that is drop dead gorgeous! I just LOVE Emperors, and that one is a beauty. I love the Masterbilt headstock. I bet it booms! Enjoy it in good health!
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Hey there,
Thought I'd chime in as I own the serial number one before you... #10459. Picked it up this summer in London (you don't see many of these in Europe...). Amazing instrument. Would like to know it's history as it's got a lot of play wear! Still, plays and sounds fantastic. Lucky us!
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We dont believe you until you post pics 😜
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On the way...
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I posted a minute ago but didn't seem to work, apologies if a double post comes up! Also, only phone pictures, sorry...
Anyway, very different finish, not sure if mine is original but if not it's very old, there's a lot of wear on it, you can see the arm-wear on the top in the photo... Finish on the neck is not original though, it was all chipping when it was found so it got removed and we had french polish put on instead.
Also you can see the maple on the back is very different...
Plays great though, it's been refretted and has a new bone but otherwise all original. Pickguard is on my shelf, I don't really get along with them.
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CDEAS, Originally Posted by cdeas
That is really fantastic. I'm in heaven right now, kind of feeling like Joe and his D'A excel. I'm doing some work on mine currently, involving the finish where some preservation work was done to the original 13ply binding before I got it. It's proceeding amazingly well. Roger (I think) had suggested simply buffing and blending the margins where some luthier had sprayed a light lacquer. That's what I've done so far to the back, with quite successful results. I plan to repost some 'after' shots when I'm done.
Now, on to the frets. When I got it several weeks back the frets had been replaced and it was not up to snuff. Monday, I took the guitar to Mike Lull in Bellevue, WA. He plecked the fretboard, new frets, setup, and 'BAM'!!! He had it done on Wednesday. It's been really difficult to put down, playing late into the night. Simply cannot describe easily the sound that comes from this guitar. It's what I expect if heaven exists, and angels play archtops, and I make it there, for them to sound like! Simply WOW!
I have been somewhat skeptical on this pleck business, but it's hard to imagine and approaches perfection. The action is spot on. The thing about the neck on mine is that it seems to go on for eternity compared to my old L7 (a guitar I also expect the angels to play).
Please share some clips, and I plan to do the same when I figure out a good approach.
Thanks for sharing. Love these old emperors.
Steve
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Haha yes, it has the tone I dreamed it would... So much richer and deeper than nearly every other acoustic archtop I've played... With that bite! And as someone said earlier in the thread, the high strings still have that rounded tone, not shrilly.
I think the tailpieces on both of ours are original though. Officially the frequensator hadn't been released yet but as far as I can tell the second batch of Emperors from late-1936, which ours are from, had frequensators, all but one pictured around that serial number have them.
I'm lucky with the binding on mine, it's survived. One tiny bit on the back at the waist warped a little, not cracked though, the luthier dropped a little glue in the gap it had made so it shouldn't shift anymore. As for the finish, mine has a lot of wear but we decided to leave it as it was instead of trying to fill gaps, apart from the neck.
Action on mine is kinda high for most people even with the bridge at the lowest but that's good for me and any lower would just give more buzz, i'm also using 13s and can play quite hard...
Anyway, beautiful instruments for sure. I waited a while to find one over here and was beginning to think it wouldn't happen and then suddenly this one came out of a house clearance about 1 mile from my house. No idea who it belonged to but apparently it had been in the UK since at least the 60s. Someone clearly loved it considering all the play-wear.
However it didn't come with a good case, some crappy one from the 50s which doesn't provide much protection so I need to invest in that before I start taking it out...
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I found a pic of my old '36 online, serial number 10080
it's the third Emperor listed in the registry.
the early ones had a very dark sunburst, like this one and sky's.
the one cdes posted is obviously refinished but long ago, hence all the additional wear.
aside from the color, the very white binding is a tip off.
keep in mind that old Epiphones that came w/the flat plate tailpiece more often than not had them replaced w/a Frequensator later in life as they were even more fragile than Frequensators which crack @ the bend.
one often sees 30s Epiphones w/open back Grovers 'upgraded' to the familiar sealed back tuners introduced circa 1940 which approximately coincided w/the switch to the center dip peghead.
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I found a guy in S. Cal that has made a few repro tailpieces out of bronze that are very well done. I'm on his list for the next batch to get one. That should be very cool. I like the frequensator tailpieces. On the binding, it's rare to find something like this with the original. They typically rot off. It happens to the best, even more recent D'Aquito's et al!. I'm hoping mine makes it through my lifetime. It would be about 1K to rebind, I think. That would still be something I'd do. Probably ask someone like Gary Hines if he'd do it.
Speaking of cases, mine has the original, which I'm restoring as well. The brass hinges typically rip out of the top because it's fastened to thick pressed fiber/cardboard rim. It's (the case) also covered with a thin brown leather. I cut out the weak part and installed a flat brass strip, covered them with fiber and leather to match, and found brass rivets and a rivet peen and BAM! back together and on the road again. I also pulled back the padding inside and reinstalled webbing straps and ribbon to match the old that had rotted, and reglued it all. Next, I'll replace any missing leather on the case edges. This is a fun project! Much needed up here in the rain forest of the Pacific NW I call home this time of year during the days of the everlasting night, with monsoons to boot!
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just my opinion sky, but once you get the case back to being structurally sound, I'd leave the edge wear alone, it adds character. I'd just glue down any loose edges and call it a day, but ymmv.
I remember mine was missing the orig. handle and someone installed a thick flat piece of leather.
it looked so cool I couldn't bring myself to replace it.
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This thread needs more pix - Just sayin!
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Beautiful guitar - enjoy ! I had a late 40's back in the 90's and loved it - deep rich sound. As you mention the upper bout waist is narrower to facilitate better ergonomics and playing comfort.
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Thanks AlohaJoe! Advice taken. Mike did a fantastic job. Pleck-o-lushish! Plays like but-tuh! Can't believe it. What a difference. Those knarly sharp edged thin frets vanqished. I see that you're a local. Have to meet someday. Thanks. Originally Posted by AlohaJoe
Got that! Like the Hippocratic oath, do no harm! It's pigskin btw. The case is in surprisingly good condition. Originally Posted by wintermoon
Also, my friend and Luthier Lemuel stopped by to drop off my refretted Heritage Eagle last night, and he surveyed the Emperor. What he told me was all positive. He's done countless restorations on old Epi's, including Emperor's from this period. He said all the bracing was solid, the original finish was surprisingly in good shape, the neck set was well done, the pickguard seemed to be original and that I should remove and store it away from the guitar because it was starting to show signs of deterioration from the nitro binding gases, he said hang the guitar on the wall, not to store it in the case, there are small signs of corrosion on the tailpiece and guard hardware, nothing serious that couldn't be buffed out. He also looked at the work I've done so far on the back plate margins where you suggested I buff/blend the finish. He says I'm on the right track. Yeah! I feel like a luthier in training. Thanks for the encouragement Wintermoon. It takes confidence building measures. I was scared to try this myself, but I now know I can do it.
Finally, and this might start a bit of a furor, but he told me that Epiphone was kicking Gibson's Ass during this period, and that in terms of quality and workmanship, the Emperor is/was the epitome of the archtop game. I'm totally floored by his assessment. Needless to say, I love the guitar. I also love Gibson's and would give a left #&t to have an L5 from the same period.
Felix, thanks for your feedback, and Double Thanks for your efforts. It's guys like you that really make this a happening thing Man. You're awesome, and I appreciate what you do. Originally Posted by Masterbilt
Steve
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Somewhat OT... is the 56mm 1.2R the one for the X100? Not such a wide angle and I think you'll be surprised at how it doesn't distort. Thing I love about lenses like that is the ability to play with depth of field on nearfield without distorting proportions. Bet it will take lovely 'guitar portraits' in outdoor light, and low indoor light at day end.
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Hey Travis! No, it's for an X-T1. I liked the X100S so well that I sold it, bought the current X100T, and then decided I liked the idea of having the control of interchangeable lenses as well. So I've swamped guitar gear for photo and audio gear. Hobbies! The compact '100 rangefinder is perfect to always have a great camera with you no matter where you are. That prime lens 56mm is the cats meow indoors. Even using black backdrops no light is too dark for it. I'm learning lots about stopping down to sharpen focus and effect depth of field to my taste. Perhaps a year from now I'll be able to shoot a decent picture. I'm having fun experimenting of late with archtops atop a wide sheet of solid black glass and black matte background attempting to enhance dual reflections. Originally Posted by travisty
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2b,
Stopping down will just 'improve focus' off the focal plane. Try using a big white matte paper background too with lights from both sides or flash bounced off the ceiling to diffuse. The 1.2 will be able to give you a wonderful 'surface gloss' but will de-focus the background enough so it will look like it is floating. At home when I had to take a lot of photos of objects, I had black, white, and gray paper. All three are useful.
Me, for the moment I am sticking with my iPhone6+ and a bit more light. Might change later. Having enormous fun with a quite decent black & white filter app.
If you want to sell your C&Cs let me know.
Now back to your regular thread of skykomishone's really neat Epiphone. I love it. I want it. Love the 13-ply binding. Love the color. Love the shape too. Would love to try playing one someday.
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