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Does anyone have any experience / insight with an Epiphone Emperor? Still on the lookout for an Elitist Broadway, but maybe this is comparable?
EPIPHONE Emperor Matsumoku MIJ Very Early 1980s | Reverb
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04-20-2024 03:35 PM
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I once did own one. They come in 2 different body depths. The model F has the largest body depth, the model T was the thinline. They are considered to be the poormans L5 guitars. The biggest misunderstanding is that some folks think they have solid tops. That is not true, they are laminated tops. The misunderstanding is due to the name Emperor. The early , large body model Emperors were solid. The model you talk about are well build, a tad heavy, solid but reliable guitars. I liked mine a lot. The pickguard is prone to warping.. there is at this right moment one in sunburst for sale in the Netherlands at 1200 Euro.
? Epiphone Emperor — Snaarinstrumenten | Gitaren | Elektrisch — Marktplaats
Not mine. The one in the add that you mention is a rare blonde and looks to be in nice shape !
The one that I owned a long time ago looked like
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Fine guitars, no doubt. However, the price looks bloated. Huge premium for the blonde color. On a quick scan, sunburst samples from the same era can be had for even under 1K in Europe.
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Originally Posted by Gitterbug
They are well made but they are quite heavy and can have a very large neck/heel transition. If you look at the pics closely, you can see the neck is quite high off the body and the neck to heel transition looks quite long. It could be just the pics though.
I would think that you would find it interesting but then soon think there are better ways to spend $2k. Like on a a nice westerly Guild
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I have blonde Emperor F and it's the guitar I play the most.
As already mentioned, they don't have carved tops. They're made with lighter/thinner laminates, similar in some ways to a 1950s/60s era laminated Gibson. They have more acoustic presence than a typical ES175 for example, I'm yet to play a 175 that I've liked as much as the Emperor...
I put Dynasonic pickups in mine and love the sound of it. Thin resonant laminates + dynasonics = delicious!
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I owned the Elitist Broadway and a Gibson L5ces and played them side-by-side very often. Honestly, neither my ear nor my hands could tell the difference except that the Elitist Broadway had a slightly slimmer neck. Both sounded wonderful and the EB sounded every bit as good as the L5ces. And I have a sensational sounding L5ces! If I could sell the L5ces and buy a really fine Elitist Broadway and pocket the difference, I'd probably do it.
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Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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Originally Posted by tomvwash
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Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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Originally Posted by tomvwash
This topic was also discussed earlier here.
And, don't think that an Elitist, which is fine guitar, is sounding as good as a real L-5. There is still a difference in loudness and dynamics.
Just my 2c.
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Originally Posted by bluenote61
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Originally Posted by bluenote61
And I played my EEB and my L5ces alongside an Aria Pro II PE180 for hours, over a period of about 18 months, and the EEB and the L5ces were indistinguishable to my ear. The Aria, being a laminate, had its own sound--imagine an L5ces with "thunk" and you've got it. Closer in some ways to a Tal Farrow or ES350.
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Compared to the Reverb listing, my Terada-made Broadway Elitist has flame maple on the back and sides, octagonal white pointed knobs like early electric Epiphones, a tune-o-matic saddle, and the tuners are Grover Imperials with art-deco, stairstep knobs. Both guitars appear to have a five-layered laminate neck, but the back of the Matsumoku headstock is painted black with a "stinger." The Epi is not painted. I can't tell much about the Matsumoku pickups, but I can say the pickups on my Epi were advertised as USA made and I have reason to believe they are rebranded Gibson Classic 57/57+.
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Originally Posted by Chazmo
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Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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Originally Posted by bluenote61
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I currently have 2 Epiphone broadway elitist and 1 Gibson L5ces. These guitars are awesome to play. When im doing gigs I play an Epiphone broadway made by peerless, which has a very nice sound as well. The broadway elitist sounds like my L5 especially thru my Polytone. These guitars are getting harder to find!
Last edited by Broncobill; 05-30-2024 at 02:55 PM.
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