Same Make & Model - Two Different Tones (Epi Emperors)

[tordiway]

I've got a 2006 Epi Emperor Regent, 2014 Epi Emperor Regent, and a 2006 Epi Broadway. All three made at the Unsung, Korea factory. Fit finish, trim, materials, etc. essentially the same across all three. Here's the puzzler: the 2006 Epi Emperor Regent has an acoustic sound that is big, bold, and full. I love it. The other two have an acoustic sound that is thin and bright. Yuk. How can this be? Has anyone else come upon a similar situation where the year/make/model of the guitars is essentially the same, yet, the acoustic sounds are so different? This is driving me nuts. Thanks.

[Sam Sherry]

The year/make/model of the guitars is essentially the same, yet, the acoustic sounds are so different? This is driving me nuts. Thanks.

T, welcome to JGF. There's a lot of helpful people here (and me).

The answer to your question is, "Statistics." Unsung builds xxx guitars using the same molds and process. But the braces are solid spruce so each is (minutely) different from the other. The tops are plywood but there is (even more minute) variation between sheets. The difference are tiny but they are real. And every once in a blue moon those 'average' curves are simply ideal for those particular pieces (and the strings you choose and the setup you have). When that happens you smile and you try not to sell that one.

+ + +

{Don LaFontaine voice on}In a world where no-one shopped on the internet,{/Don LaFontaine} folks used to go to a guitar store, play seventeen 'identical' guitars and buy the one they liked. Decades ago my boss on the sales floor, Tom Baxer, said, "Sam, everybody leaves here thinking that they have just bought the one. And for a while at least, everyone of them is correct."

Cherchez le ton!

[Gitterbug]

I think the 2014 Regent will improve over time. My '99 just keeps getting better. The Broadway sports two through-the-top PUs, so it's a different animal. Of course, there are differences between individual guitars, which is part of the fun.

[citizenk74]

I've got a 2006 Epi Emperor Regent, 2014 Epi Emperor Regent, and a 2006 Epi Broadway. All three made at the Unsung, Korea factory. Fit finish, trim, materials, etc. essentially the same across all three. Here's the puzzler: the 2006 Epi Emperor Regent has an acoustic sound that is big, bold, and full. I love it. The other two have an acoustic sound that is thin and bright. Yuk. How can this be? Has anyone else come upon a similar situation where the year/make/model of the guitars is essentially the same, yet, the acoustic sounds are so different? This is driving me nuts. Thanks.

[tordiway]

Thanks for the replies and good advice. This is the first time I'd ever strung up all three with the same brand strings and in the same open tuning so I could do an A-B-C test. Yes, the '14 Regent sounds much closer to the '06 Regent than does the '06 B'way so maybe the '14 will get there someday after all? I got it from a guy who had installed a piezo-type pickup inside the body, in addition to the stock floating Humbucker. I guess he thought it would sound like a wooden acoustic guitar that way, or something. (It doesn't, it sounds hollow and terrible.) Then I bought the B'way this year only because Regents have gone out of sight $. (I bought the first two less than a decade ago for < $500, now guys are asking $800-$1,000 for them on Reverb!) Interesting also that the stock Humbuckers on the Regents sound just fine to me, but the stock pups on the B'way sound terrible. Had to put a K Armstong '57 in the neck position just to be able to enjoy hearing it plugged in. Anyway, thanks for the responses.