80s Epiphone Emperor v Elitist Broadway

[tomvwash]

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

[hotpepper01]

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

[Gitterbug]

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.

[Archie]

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.

I would have thought the price for these would be around £1,500 so $2,000 is not crazy high.

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

[entresz]

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!

[lawson-stone]

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.

[tomvwash]

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.

Yes! Still on the lookout for the Elitist and the solid top.

[lawson-stone]

Yes! Still on the lookout for the Elitist and the solid top.

Can't believe I actually had one, which was absolutely perfect, and sold it.

[tomvwash]

Can't believe I actually had one, which was absolutely perfect, and sold it.

Same here...why oh why...

[bluenote61]

Yes! Still on the lookout for the Elitist and the solid top.

My Broadway Elitist had no solid top. It had an second thin wood layer on the inner side of the top. Maybe due to easier fabrication because they had pressed tops, not carved.
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.

[tomvwash]

My Broadway Elitist had no solid top. It had an second thin wood layer on the inner side of the top. Maybe due to easier fabrication because they had pressed tops, not carved.
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.

I would probably agree with that. I still wish I had taken some time to play the two side by side for tone comparison.

[lawson-stone]

My Broadway Elitist had no solid top. It had an second thin wood layer on the inner side of the top. Maybe due to easier fabrication because they had pressed tops, not carved.
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.

I looked at the pickup openings and it looked solid. There is a strip of thin wood under the bridge, but not under the whole top.

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.

[Chazmo]

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+.

[lawson-stone]

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+.

That sounds like mine. The pickups were Epiphone USA 50S? (can't see the full label in my picture) and sounded wonderful. This was a guitar I felt no temptation at all to modify in any way.

[bluenote61]

I looked at the pickup openings and it looked solid. There is a strip of thin wood under the bridge, but not under the whole top.

Did you also had a look into the pot holes? This would give you clarification whether the thin wood layer would be only under the bridge area.

[lawson-stone]

Did you also had a look into the pot holes? This would give you clarification whether the thin wood layer would be only under the bridge area.

I actually fished a camera down into the body and it's clear it's a small piece of wood directly under the bridge.