1946 Epiphone Emperor Carved-Top Archtop Guitar

Overview: I mean, it doesn't get much bigger and badder than this, huh? During the "archtop wars" between Gibson and Epiphone, the Emperor was the absolute pro choice of its day, gaining a bit of width over a Gibson Super 400 and, per its Epiphone build-style, a lot more forward punch. It's a beast!

This one is on the rather-clean side and features an aftermarket Kent Armstrong mini-humbucker fit to a pickguard with controls mounted on it. It's ready to play acoustic like a '30s-style big-band stomper but will also fit nicely into any modern (or retro!) plugged-in jazz ensemble, too. I've currently got it strung with roundwound phosphor bronze strings and have the pickup poles adjusted to balance with them as best as possible.

What more to say? This is one of those "cream of the crop" guitars -- the neck is comfortable and rather quick for an old-fashioned profile, it has the looks, and it has the sound.

Repairs included: The last shop to work on this gave it a neck reset and fit the pickup and pickguard. Unfortunately, both jobs were on the slightly-botched side. I re-reset the neck (and fit it a little higher in the joint so the truss rod works correctly and doesn't want to kink-up the extension), leveled and dressed the frets, rewired the harness (it had been wired a little funky and was very noisy), cleaned it up, and set it up. It's playing spot-on, has plenty of adjustment room at the bridge, and is ready to go.

• Weight: 6 lbs 10 oz
• Scale length: 25 1/2"
• Nut width: 1 11/16"
• Neck shape: medium soft V/C
• Board radius: 7 1/4"
• Depth at first fret: 0.94"
• Depth at seventh fret: 1.01"
• Body width: 18 3/8"
• Body depth: 3 1/4"
• Top wood: solid, carved spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid, figured maple
• Bracing type: tonebar
• Bridge: ebony
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: maple (multi-piece)
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 54w-12 lights
• Truss rod: adjustable (some adjustment left, behind pickup)
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium/modern

Condition notes: It's quite the clean guitar for its age. The hardware (original stuff -- tailpiece and tuners) shows plating wear throughout but looks nice despite it. The bridge is a replacement but it's excellent quality. The pickup, pickguard, and harness are all aftermarket but look the part. I swapped the Strat-style knobs for retro-looking pointers. I found no cracks and the finish appears to be original as far as I can tell. It has weather-check here and there throughout (especially at the headstock veneer). The frets appear to be an older refret job. Someone added a strap button to the heel (in two places) and there is a second hole in the very rear of the heel. I found no cracks but there are a few light scratches, small nicks, and a small ding or two here and there (one on the back of the neck, pictured). There may be a light "water mark" in the finish on the back of the guitar's center seam -- I'm not sure if it's just in the grain or a finish flaw. It's slight, in either case, and hard to see in all that curly maple.

It comes with: It has an excellent, modern, hard case.

Consignor tag: TMCK