-
Originally Posted by SamBooka
This one is supposed to be a 2005 Korean made model. Does anyone know what factory they were built in then?
I am not sure what type of case comes with it however I think the seller is a student in need of some quick cash and this guitar has been for sale locally for at least 2 weeks and no one has bought it yet. I am surprised that nobody has picked it up yet.
-
01-16-2015 12:31 PM
-
For that price it is indeed a very good deal.
I like the way these natural from the 90s are aging despite being dipped in plastic...hope mine will also!
I overpaid a bit for my 2003 (from Peerless plant) because it already had the mods I wanted to do at the time...
Anyway I still have it and it has the best neck I have ever played, I ended up routing a Gibson classic 57 in it looking for a tone the floater could not provide to finally have a Charlie Christian single coil in humbucker form.
If you like a low action these neck are perfect for that, mine is just before buzzing with 15-56 and it plays like butter.
-
I just came back from buying the guitar! The seller accepted my offer of $400.
Everything seems to work. The volume control is a little dirty from lack of use but over all it's beautiful and well built. In fact there is not even a mark or ding on the body anywhere. The action is perfect. The pickup works well and it's quite loud acoustically. I am pretty happy with my purchase and hope to enjoy this guitar for years to come.
According to the Epiphone wiki my guitar was built in the Peerless factory in 2005. I have only read good things about this factory. I'll try to get my friend with his digital camera to take some pictures of it today so I can post them later tonight or tomorrow. I can't wait to get these round wound strings off it and try some flatwounds!
-
Congratulations! I know you are going to love the guitar. Great price as well. Can't wait to see pics. I Had TI 13s on mine and they sounded fantastic.
Last edited by rsclosson; 01-17-2015 at 01:37 PM.
-
My teacher did something drastic and fun to his Emperor Regent: strung them with LaBella nylon flatwounds and eliminated the volume and tone knobs and the pickguard (pickup directly to the jack). It sounded great ! Acoustic tone was louder and interesting and electric sound had no noise and surprisingly did not become bright or brittle . Originally Posted by OldGuitarPlayer
-
You mean the tapewounds?
How would a magnetic pickup work with nylon strings?
-
I think that is what he meant.. I have been using the black nylon tapewound labellas on my emp reg for 4-5 years now at least (and I am on my second set, I replaced the first set because one of the kids dinged the guitar against a table and put a dent in a couple of the wound strings) Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
-
Wow! I just got back from an open mic jam thing in my neighborhood and brought the Epiphone along so I could jam with some folks. I just plugged straight direct into the mixing board and played some old time swing and blues with it and backed up a few friends. I didn't play any real "jazz" on it except for a couple of standards like "All Of Me" and "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" which I also sang and played a few licks on..
I backed a friend of mine up on the old time classic "The Viper" and "St James Infirmary" too. I played it like I would play any of my solid bodies and it stayed in tune and plays amazingly with low action and no fretting out anywhere. It also is very responsive in the fact that the harder you play it the louder it gets. I wonder if that is caused by the top vibrating when played hard. Even with the light gauge round wounds it sounded pretty good. It's setup with a wound 3rd string so that is nice. This is a very very versatile guitar. The pickup is a very rich but a little weak however in future if I play through a PA system I'll bring my pre-amp/DI box to boost the signal.
All my friends at the open mic loved it. I am trying to get my buddy to upload some pics and I hope to share them with you all.
-
Here is a pic from yesterdays jam with my new Epiphone Emperor Regent. The other pic is mine next to buddy's Godin 5th Ave Kingpin. Also an excellent budget archtop. The weird looking streaks on mine are from the camera flash. My guitar has a shiny finish on it unlike the Godin. The Godin is also a dream to play.
Last edited by OldGuitarPlayer; 01-18-2015 at 08:06 PM.
-
Dear OldGuitarPlayer,
I also recently bought an emperor regent NA guitar from the Peerless factory (1997). The former owner had replaced the floating pickup with a classic 57 pickup. Sounds good although I would have preffered a floating pickup. But I bought it as it sounded great acoustically even with the old EJ21 daddarios 0.012 electric guitar strings. Fine neck!!. Only when I looked inside with a torch I discovered that the heelblock that enforces the neck to body connection was made out of three pieces of plywood glued on top of each other, which maybe explained the somewhat sour flavor in the acoustic tone. I combine fingerpicking blues and lead blues with some sitar like bends on it so I might go to a lower gauge of stings. Thought about a set of ghs white bronze 0.12s or just try electric guitar strings 0.011 on it, to make it more into an electric guitar. Just saw a video on youtube of a L5 gibson from 1934 ( ) This made me realise how good an archtop can sound even played as a flattop!! So my emperor regent will after all be not so bad as an electric guitar with its classic 57 pickup.
-
Screaming deal!! I got Peerless Broadway (I forget what year it is) for $475 w/HSC.
I've been going thru pickups trying to find the right ones, but the guitar itself is great. Even has a nice acoustic voice, for sitting around the house. TI 12 round wounds on mine.
How do you like the stock Epi floater? Any desire to change it?
-
Basic construction and the player make the sound: 17" laminated maple guitar, maple neck, 25.5 scale, one cut away, floating pickup. Just like Aria L5 copy, 80's Ibanez, etc.
-
There is one for sale and I have been wondering about the tonal values of a solid carved top with a floating Kent Armstrong pick-up played in my small home Tascam based lab. My amp is a Fender '65 Delux Reverb.
I recently drove for 3 hours when I found one.
And three hours back home disappointed because the thing was unplayable and there was a terrible amp available.
My other option is a D'Angelico EXL-1 also built in South Korea. I have never touched one of those built have heard them well recorded on YouTube. The EXL-1 has a laminated top and the guitar has a sweet round tone.
I have also played a couple of Ibanez models and found some of them them to be excellent but the big 17 inch box appeals to me for some reason. Any thoughts and insights? Should I drive 4.5 hours to check out the Epiphone Emperor Regent? Or go and pick up a new EXL-1 or Ibanez?
-
Errr.. what is this carved top of which you speak? Epi Regs (at least all the modern ones ) are laminated tops too.
I have an epi emp reg. I dont LOVE it .. but like it enough to keep it as my travel guitar and cant see myself selling it anytime soon. You will find lots of people who find them Meh.. and lots of people who love them. Quite a few threads on them here..
-
Is cost a factor?
if it is, then Emperor Regent is great.
you can't go wrong with either especially if you can sit down and play both..
are you sure the Emperor has a solid carved top?
-
montreal!!! shouldn't you be looking at godins!!! hah
epi's can be hit & miss, as you found..some good ones and some not so..depends upon year and where they were made…and luck!…the d'angelico..i was slightly disappointed..a bit heavy and not very live sounding…beautiful lookin though!!..maybe i just played a poor one
take a look at the guild newark series too…some beauties...in that realm
cheersLast edited by neatomic; 09-12-2015 at 10:53 PM. Reason: sp
-
Thanks for the feedback. I believe that the guitar in question is recent and therefore probably has a laminated top. I am more concerned with playability and tone. The one I tried needed professional help in a big was and sounded thin.
Cost factor, Joe, yes. I would really prefer to be looking at a problem like trying to decide between an L-5, ES 175 or Heritage 575. I just bought a very nice keyboard, monitors, mikes and other recording stuff and was trying to delay bankruptcy. And I'm not a professional musician. Perhaps I'll wait and try to find a good used Gibson. I have been offered a 47 year old L5 recently for $9K canadian. That's about $15K USD since the oil world went down.
Godin, Neatomic? I just cannot do it. Don't like the look and they look frail. Godin has had problems on their acoustic models with structural integrity recently because of a poor adhesive. They sued the adhesive manufacturer and won.
I'll take a look at the Guild Newark series.
If anyone know about the H-575, please let me know.
They are not sold here, but I am in the USA often and may try one out in a store.
By the way, I tried a G&L ASAT Bluesboy.
Again, the store had no Fender amps so I heard thin jangling shimmer coming from the humbucker.
Thanks for your insights.
-
Damn right they need professional help.... Originally Posted by RationalAlan
Check out my journey! https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...weaks-ngd.html
It's not all bad though. I like the neck, size and shape. I would prefer a D'Anger but cannot justify the cost at the moment.
This guitar is a student model/2nd guitar price point and it does that well. But the QC is poor on the later made ones.
If you trawl through the linked thread above you'll find a picture showing that these are laminated tops.
Yes the pickup is thin. I find I have to boost bass and cut trebles on my amp to get an acceptable tone but then again a mini h/bkr is thin sounding.
I love to tinker and frankenstein guitars and I have plans for the electrics on this guitar.
-
Ok, I know a 94 Epi Emperor Regent is not a Gibson es150 or es250, but a Vintage Vibe CC pickup under the 24 fret harmonic should have sounded at least a little like CC...No? Played it through a Twin Reverb, Peavey Classic 30, and that Epiphone thing in the background.---No CC to be heard.
The Amp must be essential for the CC sound as in "Solo flight" and "Six Appeal".
Those of you with Es150&250s, what's the formula?
I guess the real questions are: 1) does that sound only come from the combination of a vintage pickup with a vintage amp? 2) Is the V.Vibe CC pickup not the best for that use? 3) the fact that my CC P/U was floating rather than mounted changed everything?
Last edited by 10course; 11-09-2015 at 05:12 PM.
-
Mine doesnt sound like charlie either (see my avatar) but I figure that is because I have the pickup very close to the strings (which was a sonovabich to pull off.. how did you do it? PG Mount?).
Thing is I like it that way..
-
Just my 2 cents here but, just because a pickup looks like a CC doesnt mean its going to be able to match the CC pickup tone. Many years ago I had a late 50s L4 that had an original CC installed in it and had the organic CC tone we all know and love. In the years since ,Ive heard a couple of the aftermarket CC pickups that look the same but not sounding the same, at all! I dont mean to sound like a know it all but, thats been what Ive seen and heard , just like the humbucking size P90 pickups that sound nothing like a P90. I realize original CCs are a small fortune, if you can find one but!! Someone told me Duncan was making one true to the original, Ive never heard or seen one for that matter but I do have one of his Stapletop ALNICO V P90s in my Seventy Seven Stork Jazz 2 that sounds exactly like the originals in my Byrdland and other Gibsons. If CCs tone is what youre looking for maybe a Duncan might dupe the tone. Again, Ive never heard one so I cant say for sure but just the fact your looking to get CCs tone is great!! Bob
-
I made the pickguard and bass side bracket for the pickup. On the pickguard, you can barely see a single screw (I colored it almost black with gun bluing compound) that holds the treble side up. There is a spring between the pickup tab and pickguard like a Strat. On the bass side, the brass bracket is exactly the shape of the underside of the pickup top plate--which is why you can't see it from the front view and makes it look mounted other than the arm connecting it to the side of the neck. Originally Posted by SamBooka
The pickguard side is adjustable, but the bass side is unfortunately not other than slightly bending it. ---I used the spring side to set the height, and made the bracket to that height.
I have to say I'm a little sad to have fabricated all those custom things and not achieved the goal.Last edited by 10course; 11-09-2015 at 06:56 PM.
-
Some observations/considerations and thoughts on this,
Firstly, as FredArchtop pointed out, Jimmy Raney (and Rene Thomas) used the ES-150/EH-150 combination, and sound completely different to C.Christian. For that matter, Kessel and Farlow both with CC pickups on Gibson 350s sound completely different to each other as well.
One of the things I've read seems to happen pretty commonly is that people's first exposure to a CC pickup can take them completely by surprise, as the p/up sounds quite different to what they expect.
Secondly, I feel anyone hoping to get a vintage sound out of one of these may need to totally rethink their reference points as per amp eq settings which they may have used in the past.
At this point, I wont speculate any further as to the specific points that you may feel are shortcomings in approximating CC's tone, but I think it's pretty universally agreed, CC's own pickup was backed relatively far away from the strings. Anyone who's used a CC will probably tell you that out of any p/up on the market, the CC is the most tonally affected by proximity to the strings.
In addition, I don't know what strings you have on the Epi, but it fairly well accepted CC would have been using roundwounds. I think it's been suggested that the Martin Tony Rice Monel strings might be the closest to what was likely being used in that era, or you could try Rotosound Top Tape (monel, but flatwound). There's also been some speculation as to how Charlie set his volume control. One consideration in this point though is that considering the low wattage of his amplifier, Charlie was still achieving adequate volume in relation to the other instruments on live recordings. However his tone clearly displays lower gain qualities, which are clearly due to the height of the p/up.
I'd suggest putting on some of CC's recordings, and carrying out a tonal comparison by playing along. Listen for things like pick noise to ascertain how much treble Charlie had in his sound. BTW, the Sony Genius of the Electric Guitar box set is undoubtedly the best audio quality for these recordings for reference.
There's also a great video on youtube by the forums Jonathan Stout, in which he demonstrates the varying tonal qualities determined by backing off the volume on his ES-150. Check it out.
The guitar and the workmanship look absolutely great. I hope you find the tone you're looking for.
Keep us posted (we love sound clips).
-
I love what you've done there. The bracket idea is great, nice one there mate. Originally Posted by 10course
TC, what you have there is what my Epi Emp Reg is going to transition to, when the funds are available.
I have a h/bkr sized VV CC rider on a Tele with a phat O/D capacitor and brass saddles going through an Ampeg GVT.
The whole package has a nice 'bell like tone' and the volume and tone pots are used to roll off the highs.
It's almost sounding like a steel guitar, it doesn't sound like an ES 150 but instead of Thunk or Channg it goes 'Thun-shannng', does that make sense?
Anyways, I find the Ampeg contributes so much to the tone of any guitar I put into it. For me the Baxendale tone stack can bring out the best in any guitar I put through it.
So the Epi Emp Reg took a lot of fiddling to get a good tone out of it. The volume control never gets passed half and the tone control is rolled back 2 thirds to 3 quarters!
My intention with this guitar is to wire in a faux Baxendale circuit with one of those floating CC pickups from VV.
I'll give it a go to see whether I like it.
-
Joe says DONT REPOST 'KAY? Originally Posted by jazzbow
.
Actually I run this on my strat and find it wonderful... takes some of the woofiness out of the neck pickup if you roll the pickup off too much.
G&L use a 1M reverse audio pot IIRC. They are very hard to find but if you use a 2M audio pot with a 2M resistor in parallel it gets you close (mine only works from 7 to 10 so I might do this shortly).
Reply With Quote
Knaggs Chena A
Today, 06:19 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos