Members dsound Posted June 4, 2009 Members Share Posted June 4, 2009 Attached is and image of a 70's era Epiphone Emperor. Looks a lot like a byrdland. The seller wants $1600. Looks nice and I'd like to check it out but I'd like to get some info before I make the trek out there. Also, there is another seller selling a vintage Guild CE-100 D starfire for $2000. http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/msg/1195055781.html http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/msg/1195055781.html Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jim_Soloway Posted June 4, 2009 Members Share Posted June 4, 2009 $1600 buys a lot of guitar and the 70's were not a good time for Epiphone. It might be a great guitar, but I wouldn't count on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members harrisbquinn Posted June 4, 2009 Members Share Posted June 4, 2009 i dont know much about emperors but that one looks more like the later japanese reissues...epi stopped making the emperor in 1970 and reissued them in the early 90's...ask for a serial number and some better pictures. post them here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Teletypist Posted June 4, 2009 Members Share Posted June 4, 2009 Epi: ^^^^What he said - and my op: not a great guitar, there's a lot out there better for less $. The Guild: I'm a Guild fan. Back in the 60's I used to walk past the factory every day on my way to work, and after work sometimes stopped by to say HI. I have some nice Guilds. $2000 for a CE100D is stupid. And BTW: a CE100 is not a Starfire, it's a Capri. Shows the seller is ignorant of the Guild, and you'd better watch your step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members harrisbquinn Posted June 4, 2009 Members Share Posted June 4, 2009 ok, did some research...there were no emps made after 69* unless they were special ordered...so none from the 70's. the emperor II was released in 82...this is what I believe is in the craigslist ad. the emp II became the joe pass signature guitar in 95 but as early as 91 his name can be found on epi emps (love that name shortening...epi emp, that's great)....an emp II is worth around 500-600$...along the lines of a joe pass (the pass models are worth 400-500$) so I think the person selling this guitar is listing it as an original emperor when, realistically, it's an emperor II from the 80's or early 90's....damn fine instruments, dont get me wrong but 1600$ my ass!!! edit: *there were none made after 69...and after 57 they were all thinline 3 pup models Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Teletypist Posted June 4, 2009 Members Share Posted June 4, 2009 I seem to recall having a blue-label Emperor, making it a 70-71.Admittedly, my memory isn't what it used to be, but I'll look thru my photo archive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members peteyforto Posted June 4, 2009 Members Share Posted June 4, 2009 $2000 for the CE100D is a little steep. I sold a blonde 63 for a $1000 8 years ago and I don't think they've appreciated that much since then. Nice guitar, like an ES-175 but a little bigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The_Yeti Posted June 4, 2009 Members Share Posted June 4, 2009 Looks like a 83' made in Japan thinline Emperor (made in the matsumoku factory alongside aria's)It is semi-hollow (not full hollow like a Byrdland)great guitar but only worth $600-$800 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members harrisbquinn Posted June 4, 2009 Members Share Posted June 4, 2009 Looks like a 83' made in Japan thinline Emperor (made in the matsumoku factory alongside aria's)It is semi-hollow (not full hollow like a Byrdland)great guitar but only worth $600-$800 nice...where did you find the matsumoku bit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted June 4, 2009 Members Share Posted June 4, 2009 ok, did some research...there were no emps made after 69* unless they were special ordered...so none from the 70's. the emperor II was released in 82...this is what I believe is in the craigslist ad. the emp II became the joe pass signature guitar in 95 but as early as 91 his name can be found on epi emps (love that name shortening...epi emp, that's great)....an emp II is worth around 500-600$...along the lines of a joe pass (the pass models are worth 400-500$) so I think the person selling this guitar is listing it as an original emperor when, realistically, it's an emperor II from the 80's or early 90's....damn fine instruments, dont get me wrong but 1600$ my ass!!! edit: *there were none made after 69...and after 57 they were all thinline 3 pup models You're probably totally 100% correct, however, my 1983 build in matsumoku aria pro II wasn't bought until 1989/1990 - probably stewed in a shop until then. I bought it from the original owner in 94, he said he was 1st owner and had gotten it 4 years before. That's NOS for you, isn't it? So it still could have been bought in the 70s (nevermind the thinline argument, that's another point altogether). Anyhow, back to minding my own business..... Edit: or it vould be a down right lie and an 80's made guitar. Really got to read things all the way through AND mind my own business... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dsound Posted June 4, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 4, 2009 Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I'll probably stay away from these then. I'm looking for a jazz guitar be: $1000 and $2200. I've had my eye on the Peerless stuff. The ES-137 looks nice but a bit pricey and I don't know about the 490T's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The_Yeti Posted June 4, 2009 Members Share Posted June 4, 2009 nice...where did you find the matsumoku bit? I am just obsessed with 80's era japanese guitars, because at that time they were producing high accuracy gibson clones which sell for cheap these days. I have 2 amazing firebird clones, a 345 clone, a 175 clone, a 175 thinline clone, and also happen to have 2 of the fully hollow '83 emperors. In researching my emperors, I learned about the thinline semi hollow version (an example of which is in the craiglist post), From the wiki: "Gibson decided to move Epiphone production to Japan in the early 70s, and chose Aria as its contractor. As a subcontractor to Aria, Matsumoku manufactured most electric Epiphones made in Japan from 1970 through 1986" The three dead giveaways that will identify the '83 thinline emperor will be the aria style tune-o-matic, a Norlin era gibson label, and the serial number. Here is one of my fully hollow '83 emperors.... joy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dsound Posted June 5, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 5, 2009 Hey, does anyone know anything about the Gibson ES-135? There's someone selling a cherry ES-135 (2004) on Craigslist for 1275. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chizzel89 Posted December 7, 2010 Members Share Posted December 7, 2010 I am just obsessed with 80's era japanese guitars, because at that time they were producing high accuracy gibson clones which sell for cheap these days. I have 2 amazing firebird clones, a 345 clone, a 175 clone, a 175 thinline clone, and also happen to have 2 of the fully hollow '83 emperors. In researching my emperors, I learned about the thinline semi hollow version (an example of which is in the craiglist post), From the wiki: "Gibson decided to move Epiphone production to Japan in the early 70s, and chose Aria as its contractor. As a subcontractor to Aria, Matsumoku manufactured most electric Epiphones made in Japan from 1970 through 1986" The three dead giveaways that will identify the '83 thinline emperor will be the aria style tune-o-matic, a Norlin era gibson label, and the serial number. Here is one of my fully hollow '83 emperors.... joy... I have one of these. It looks identical to yours in every single aspect apart from it not having a vibrato. I can't find much out about it and was hoping you could shed some light on it! The serial number is 3073831 and is on the back of the head stock. The label inside is a creamy/ light brown colour with light brown blotches on it and is rectangular. It says: "Epiphone, Style: Emperor F, No:(this is blank)" Then it says "Guarrantee void if number defaced". Then it finishes with "Epiphone, a division of Gibson Inc., Kalmazoo, Michigan." I bought it off ebay 4 years ago off the bloke who had bought it new in 1984, in the UK I imagine. It has seymour duncan 59's fitted and a coil tap switch. It's so good that I've not played either my Fender Mex telecaster or my USA strat for 3 years. It's just gorgeous (sound, finish, playability etc), and does all that I want it to, though it would be cool to be able to get to the upper frets but that's the price you pay for a huge hollow body tone. For this reason I'd love to know which other semi-acoustics came out of the same factory so I can try and find one. Were all of the Emperors of this exact style built in the same factory in Japan, or were some built by Terada, some by Fuji-gen and some built in Korea? What wood was the body made of? My instinct points to a solid spruce top, then laminate back and sides? During my googling on these mysterious guitars, all of the Emperors of this exact style were said to be Japanese built guitars of "fine quality". I certainly think mine is. I've played the "Joe Pass II" emperor, and they feel poorly finished with inconsistent slightly awkward action, they go out of tune easily (I only need to tune mine every few days and I play all the time!) and appear to be quite crudely put together under the thick gloss finish. I'm quite happy for people to write these guitars off as poor quality and nasty... hopefully that reputation will continue until I've got my hands on one or two more of these little gems! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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