This auction is for a 1996 Epiphone Emperor Regent with case that has been transformed into a professional class, dead ringer for a Gibson Wes Montgomery single pickup L-5.  It was transformed 5 years ago by a very talented luthier. Features: Quoted here is his description of amazing craftsmanship... I tossed the crummy Johnny Smith-style floating pickup and kidney-shaped pickguard, routed out a place for a pickup, and then installed a gold Alnico 5 PAF humbucker.  The pickup is a Stewmac Golden Age Parson Street humbucker, ideal for reproducing that classic Wes tone, as the neck position GAPS Alnico 5 PAF reads at mid 7K ohms. A jazz arched top guitar only needs the neck pickup, and it should be "warm," so this setup is perfect for jazz players. Who needs a bridge pickup? The vintage-sounding Golden Age Parson Street humbuckers are getting raves, many regarding these hand-wound pickups as comparable with the most expensive on the market. Go to the Steward-MacDonald page to read about these amazing humbuckers.  The hand-tooled electronics—including CTS pots and braided wiring—are all of the highest quality. As I'm sure you've noticed, one of the coolest features is the vintage L-5 style Varitone tailpiece. This authentic-looking, heavy brass trapeze tailpiece must have originated on a Japanese L-5 lawsuit guitar, an Ibanez, Greco, Aria—one of those—from the '70s. As you can see, it really completes the look of the L-5. Try to find one of these tailpieces, and in this condition! (I'd add that the problem with those expensive lawsuit L-5s is that their necks are clubby, unlike this Epi Regent's slim neck.) In keeping with the L-5 stylings, the tuners are new gold Kluson Waffleback repro tuning machines with white plastic keystone knobs ($120). These are to my mind the most beautiful tuners on the market. I added a gold Gotoh adjustable tune-o-matic bridge. The wooden base, with the pearl inlay, came from a D'Angelico Excel. I shaped it to fit the guitar's soundboard. I also installed a hand-carved bone nut and matching hand-carved bone strap buttons with abalone dots.  Note the facsimile Gibson L-5 style All Parts repro tortoiseshell pickguard (Allparts price: $95). The cutout conforms to the humbucker perfectly—this is a tricky job to accomplish correctly. As some of the older L-5s don't have a cutout for the pickup adjustment screw, and I like that streamlined look, I decided to go without the cutout. You could easily carve it out yourself if you would like to. The one-eighth inch thick, multiply bound pickguard with adjustable bracket gives this archtop the look of an L5.  The adjustable pickguard bracket is the real deal, coming from either a Gibson L-5 or Super 400 (cost me $70). It has a long rod, which is necessary to fit under the pickguard far enough to do the job.  I’ve installed gold knob position indicators, what’s more, which, as you can see, give the guitar additional flair. Atop the position indicators I have mounted vintage-style gold bell knobs with the numerals around the dial, like those on the Gibson Wes Montgomery model.  Beyond the modifications, this is a full-sized jazz hollowbody Emperor Regent, with a multiply bound arched spruce top and arched maple back, bound maple neck, bound f-holes, and maple sides. Its dimensions, shape, and scale are very close to an L-5: a 17” lower bout and 3” depth at the sides (3 3/8” deep when measured inside the body, through the f-hole). The nut is a comfortable 1 11/16”, and the slim, tapered neck has especially choice abalone inlay with inverted pyramid shape set in the seven pearloid position markers. The frets are in good shape. The guitar is strung with new Thomastik-Infeld flatwound 13s, and has low, fast action—the right strings for that Wes tone.  The mid-1990s, early stage Korean Emperor Regent is a superior guitar to later models, particularly the current ones being cranked out. As it’s an older guitar there is the customary wear on the body, as well, though I can’t find much in the way of scratches. There are a couple of filled-in screw holes on the back of the headstock and where the tailpiece attaches, but they aren't visible. The only real nick is one on the upper treble bout, but it's also not very visible. The guitar looks fantastic on stage, and has that authentic Wes Montgomery sound!