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musical instrument details
EPIPHONE EMPEROR CUTAWAY, GOLD DeARMOND WIRED, 1955, ORIG.BROWN/MAGENTA CASE
Estimated price for orientation: 5 445 $
Category: Epiphone Emperor
Class:
Description Brand: Epiphone Series: Hand Carved Archtop Era: early 1950's, end of the golden era of Archtops Dexterity: Right-Handed Model: Emperor Cutaway String Configuration: 6 String MPN: 68908 Country/Region of Manufacture: United States Body Type: 18" Emperor Archtop Exact Year: 1955
(The Label inside the F-hole actually says Emperor Cutaway as the model name, rather than the famous Emperor Regent designation, making this a very Rare item in terms of Epiphone history. The Label also says New York, N.Y. but according to the Guitar Dater Project website, this guitar, serial #68908 was made in the Philadelphia factory in 1955 (after the close of the NYC factory (so they probably just didn't bother to print new labels).Set up for electric as well as acoustic play with floating gold DeArmond pickup professionaly installed to receive a standard cable via a standard plug-in jack on the side of the lower bout, just like your basic standard regular electric guitar. Very special, & perfectly done.Orig. pickguard is customized for the DeArmond pickup and the control knob, & the electrical wiring cleverly feeds into the F-hole to a standard cable jack in the side.Set up with an Ebony, mother-of-pearl-inlaid, milled-in perfect-fit arched Bridge "borrowed" from a "friendly" Super 400 which fits perfectly, (likewise the top quality L-5 gold tuning machines.The woods are as magnificent as on any "Old Epi", for which the company was famous: flamed maple "beefy" neck, bubble maple arched back, flamed sides, ... AWESOME ! The major attraction of the Old Epi's is the highest quality of their instrument grade woods.The back (& also the heel) has some typical areas of binding shrinkage which is easily repaired by a Luthier (or the small space can be filled with "plastic wood" which I have done as my own home repair in the past on other guitars, not on this one. And it actually looks quite good and not noticeable). Personally I like the vintage binding effect as it adds antique vintage character to the guitar, and is only on the back of the guitar. It doesn't affect the structure, or the playability, or appearance of the front of the guitar. The front of the guitar looks fantastic and the binding is intact (except for a very slight area between the upper & lower bout, not really significant or noticeable (as I said, as a vintage collector, I actually like these kinds of antique effects). The binding material by the way is multi/multi layered high grade antique Ivoroid. Fantastic looking binding material, a little shrinkage or not!Customized Bigsby Vibrato Tremolo Tailpiece with special "long-range" arm works perfectly for light tapping (recommended), which gives a an excellent effect, & stays in tune. Dive bombing okay if you must, but you'll have to retune a bit, better do that at the end of a song, if necessary.The guitar played acoustically is very unusual, but beautiful, in that it lacks the typical volume of an Epi Emperor, but the tone and harmonics are extremely excellent, (due to the excellent woods used to begin with) - just not loud. Therefor the addition of the excellent electric guitar customization. Again, acoustically it sounds very beautiful, only "quiet". Very unique. (I personally loved this guitar for playing acoustically late at night because of its unique quiet yet very beautiful (& "surprisingly satisfying") Sound).This Sunburst finish here front & back is an absolute masterpiece. (see photos). Beautiful grain in front & beautiful figuring on the back. And a real nice burst color. & Note the extreme tiger stripe curly flame on the awesome "BEEFY NECK" !(ONE OF THE BEST NECKS ON ANY GUITAR I'VE EVER ENCOUNTERED!) AND TO ME THE NECK IS "WHAT I FALL IN LOVE WITH" ON ANY GUITAR.The frets are finished with the "nibs" over the fret ends (like Gibson style) and are in excellent condition, as is the fingerboard and very exquisite amber/gold pearl block inlay position markers. There is no wear on the frets or fingerboard.The Neck playing action profile is beyond perfect here as you can set the action even as low as an electric guitar (like say for example a long neck ES335's extra low action, if so desired). Very unusual on a large archtop like this. I never saw such possibility of low playing action like this. THIS IS A MAJOR FEATURE OF THIS FANTASTIC ONE OF KIND GUITAR.The top-of-the-line vintage orig. Brown Lifton arched case has a nice slightly "rough" vintage character to it, & has an intense magenta plush interior. The case is totally structurally solid and even has the original metal-reinforced leather-covered case handle (quite rare). ... (for you case "fetishists," like myself. Lots of vintage character & quality to enjoy here.
The price is fairly low, for something this rare and excellent, only because of the minor condition issue related to the binding shrinkage (easily repaired, & which never bothered me)(the guitar is so magnificent, who cares about normal binding shrinkage in a few unnoticeable places on the back).(I personally like that kind of authentic aging on a vintage instrument. It gives it uniqueness & vintage character and doesn't effect the playability at all. In more perfect condition this baby would be costing a lot more than this. But it is a rare great gem anyway.Enjoy, (to whoever is lucky enough to own and play this "Awesome Unique Instrument".I loved this guitar very much and so will you! I guarantee it! It's an unusual kind of goodie.Ozzy
Description
| Brand: | Epiphone | Series: | Hand Carved Archtop |
| Era: | early 1950's, end of the golden era of Archtops | Dexterity: | Right-Handed |
| Model: | Emperor Cutaway | String Configuration: | 6 String |
| MPN: | 68908 | Country/Region of Manufacture: | United States |
| Body Type: | 18" Emperor Archtop | Exact Year: | 1955 |
(The Label inside the F-hole actually says Emperor Cutaway as the model name, rather than the famous Emperor Regent designation, making this a very Rare item in terms of Epiphone history. The Label also says New York, N.Y. but according to the Guitar Dater Project website, this guitar, serial #68908 was made in the Philadelphia factory in 1955 (after the close of the NYC factory (so they probably just didn't bother to print new labels).Set up for electric as well as acoustic play with floating gold DeArmond pickup professionaly installed to receive a standard cable via a standard plug-in jack on the side of the lower bout, just like your basic standard regular electric guitar. Very special, & perfectly done.Orig. pickguard is customized for the DeArmond pickup and the control knob, & the electrical wiring cleverly feeds into the F-hole to a standard cable jack in the side.Set up with an Ebony, mother-of-pearl-inlaid, milled-in perfect-fit arched Bridge "borrowed" from a "friendly" Super 400 which fits perfectly, (likewise the top quality L-5 gold tuning machines.The woods are as magnificent as on any "Old Epi", for which the company was famous: flamed maple "beefy" neck, bubble maple arched back, flamed sides, ... AWESOME ! The major attraction of the Old Epi's is the highest quality of their instrument grade woods.The back (& also the heel) has some typical areas of binding shrinkage which is easily repaired by a Luthier (or the small space can be filled with "plastic wood" which I have done as my own home repair in the past on other guitars, not on this one. And it actually looks quite good and not noticeable). Personally I like the vintage binding effect as it adds antique vintage character to the guitar, and is only on the back of the guitar. It doesn't affect the structure, or the playability, or appearance of the front of the guitar. The front of the guitar looks fantastic and the binding is intact (except for a very slight area between the upper & lower bout, not really significant or noticeable (as I said, as a vintage collector, I actually like these kinds of antique effects). The binding material by the way is multi/multi layered high grade antique Ivoroid. Fantastic looking binding material, a little shrinkage or not!Customized Bigsby Vibrato Tremolo Tailpiece with special "long-range" arm works perfectly for light tapping (recommended), which gives a an excellent effect, & stays in tune. Dive bombing okay if you must, but you'll have to retune a bit, better do that at the end of a song, if necessary.The guitar played acoustically is very unusual, but beautiful, in that it lacks the typical volume of an Epi Emperor, but the tone and harmonics are extremely excellent, (due to the excellent woods used to begin with) - just not loud. Therefor the addition of the excellent electric guitar customization. Again, acoustically it sounds very beautiful, only "quiet". Very unique. (I personally loved this guitar for playing acoustically late at night because of its unique quiet yet very beautiful (& "surprisingly satisfying") Sound).This Sunburst finish here front & back is an absolute masterpiece. (see photos). Beautiful grain in front & beautiful figuring on the back. And a real nice burst color. & Note the extreme tiger stripe curly flame on the awesome "BEEFY NECK" !(ONE OF THE BEST NECKS ON ANY GUITAR I'VE EVER ENCOUNTERED!) AND TO ME THE NECK IS "WHAT I FALL IN LOVE WITH" ON ANY GUITAR.The frets are finished with the "nibs" over the fret ends (like Gibson style) and are in excellent condition, as is the fingerboard and very exquisite amber/gold pearl block inlay position markers. There is no wear on the frets or fingerboard.The Neck playing action profile is beyond perfect here as you can set the action even as low as an electric guitar (like say for example a long neck ES335's extra low action, if so desired). Very unusual on a large archtop like this. I never saw such possibility of low playing action like this. THIS IS A MAJOR FEATURE OF THIS FANTASTIC ONE OF KIND GUITAR.The top-of-the-line vintage orig. Brown Lifton arched case has a nice slightly "rough" vintage character to it, & has an intense magenta plush interior. The case is totally structurally solid and even has the original metal-reinforced leather-covered case handle (quite rare). ... (for you case "fetishists," like myself. Lots of vintage character & quality to enjoy here.
The price is fairly low, for something this rare and excellent, only because of the minor condition issue related to the binding shrinkage (easily repaired, & which never bothered me)(the guitar is so magnificent, who cares about normal binding shrinkage in a few unnoticeable places on the back).(I personally like that kind of authentic aging on a vintage instrument. It gives it uniqueness & vintage character and doesn't effect the playability at all. In more perfect condition this baby would be costing a lot more than this. But it is a rare great gem anyway.Enjoy, (to whoever is lucky enough to own and play this "Awesome Unique Instrument".I loved this guitar very much and so will you! I guarantee it! It's an unusual kind of goodie.Ozzy
The price is fairly low, for something this rare and excellent, only because of the minor condition issue related to the binding shrinkage (easily repaired, & which never bothered me)(the guitar is so magnificent, who cares about normal binding shrinkage in a few unnoticeable places on the back).(I personally like that kind of authentic aging on a vintage instrument. It gives it uniqueness & vintage character and doesn't effect the playability at all. In more perfect condition this baby would be costing a lot more than this. But it is a rare great gem anyway.Enjoy, (to whoever is lucky enough to own and play this "Awesome Unique Instrument".I loved this guitar very much and so will you! I guarantee it! It's an unusual kind of goodie.Ozzy