Originally Posted by
BeBob
I have to wonder about this DA blowout, and whether we're reliving the history of the Epiphone Emperor Regent.
In the big scheme of things, I don't think there's all that much demand for Korean laminate construction archtops with full-size bodies, long scales, and floating pickups. That's a combination of 3 things that seriously tends to weed out many guitar buyers. Many people aren't comfortable with a 17" x 3" body. It's huge. Many don't like the longer scale. And the vast majority of us can't see the merits of a floating pickup on a laminate construction top. The fact that they use cheap Korean-made Kent Armstrong type pickups doesn't help the situation.
The most recent attempt (that I can remember) to produce this type of guitar (laminate construction, 17x3-inch body, 25-1/2 scale, floating pickup) was made by Epiphone with their Emperor Regent. It was basically the same guitar as their Broadway model, with the difference being that the Broadway had two body-mounted humbuckers and body-mounted knobs, in sort of a L5-CES type of layout. That in-body humbucking pickup configuration works well with laminate bodies. The floating mini-HB doesn't seem to work all that well in laminate tops. Add to that the fact that Epi used a floating mini-HB that wasn't all that great and it's easy to understand why the Emperor Regent didn't survive in the marketplace. It was popular with the small market demographic that likes that type of guitar, but it wasn't that successful in appealing to the majority of guitar buyers. It got discontinued but Epiphone still makes the Broadway, presumably because the in-body HB design appeals to more people. It certainly sounds different.
For a time there wasn't a replacement for the ER, so we saw ER prices starting to climb. There wasn't another guitar with these sorts of features available in the marketplace, and once there seemed to be some pent-up demand evidenced by the rising price of ER in the used market, then DA came along with the Korean and Indonesian production EXL-1.
I think it's interesting that the Korean manufacturers are trying to sell what's basically the same guitar with some dressier appointments. It was rapidly accepted by jazz guys who've always longed for a real DA. With the Korean DA at least we have something that looks the part.
But how different is it really from the Emperor Regent?
To my ears they sound pretty much the same. I own both a 2009 ER and a 2016 EXL-1. The bodies look to be identical. Same size, same shape, same f-holes, same binding, same bracing inside. In all likelihood I think these two bodies are built using the same pattern, if they aren't being built by the same people. Both have the volume/tone control mounted in the same locations on the pickguard, and the same mediocre Korean-made Kent Armstrong floating mini-HB pickup. At the body end of the instrument it's hard to tell the guitars apart.
What's different? Bling. The Epi ER had it's signature "Frequensator" tailpiece and the DA EXL-1 has it's signature "stairstep" tailpiece. The heastocks have the signature appearance that's unique to the brands, but much of the neck construction is the same. The DA neck adds a walnut strip in the middle of a 2-piece neck, where the Epi neck is maple. Both have rosewood fingerboards with inlays. The DA neck is a bit thicker; they call it a C-profile but to me it's more of a D-shape with a shoulder. The Epi neck is a more slender C-shape, which Epi calls a SlipTaper "C" profile. Both guitars have necks that are channeled for a neck-mounted floating pickup, even though the DA doesn't use the channel and mounts the pickup to the pickguard. Both guitars used Grover tuners, the DA using Imperials.
Looking beyond the external cosmetics, I think it's safe to say that deep down inside these are the same guitar, with only a few changes in the add-ons.
I know I'm about to step out on a limb in saying this, but I think that the EXL-1 is being blown out just because there's not a very big market appeal for this type of guitar. Outside of the hardcore jazz world, a 17x3 long scale with a floating mini HB is a tough sell.
If my theory is correct, then the Korean factories have done a great job of re-marketing the old guitar with new branding and a new face. When the DA EXL-1 first came out, it was expensive. The few people who had to have it paid a lot for it. And during the course of the product's lifespan it's features changed along with it's price. It's cheaper now, but the ebony fingerboards are gone and some of the features are gradually changing in step with the price reductions. That's sort of a textbook approach to marketing a product, where it starts off being expensive, and goes through sequential stepped price cuts during it's lifetime, to sell it at the maximum profit to as many people at as many price points as possible.
All of this makes me wonder if the EXL-1 is going to be continued or if it's going to be discontinued. The $599 blowout was huge. After a huge price drop like that I think it'll be tough to go back to selling the guitars at higher prices. I can't imagine it ever going back to $1399. In all honesty, there's just no way this is a $1400 guitar.
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Grant Green, What is This Thing
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