Man, I love these pre-war Epiphones and the Emperor of that era can hold its own against a Super 400 anyday. This one has exceptionally well balanced tone with more overtones than the typical Epiphone, most of which are very focused on the fundamental. It also plays beautifully with room to adjust the bridge either up or down as the player prefers. It is currently set up for what I would consider a just right balance of playability and acoustic tone. This guitar is a great choice for the player looking for an exceptional, large bodied acoustic archtop.
The neck has a comfortable C-shape. The fretboard is Brazilian rosewood with the early version of the Emperor mother of pearl inlays with separated parts creating the split block pattern. The woods are a remarkably resonant, carved spruce top with carved, flamed-maple back, and solid maple sides. The guitar's top is free of cracks, but there is a stable, repaired crack of the center of the back. The frets are in excellent condition with lots of life left in them.
The guitar was definitely professionally refinished at some point in its life and this was extremely well done. The iced tea burst looks stunning. Considering that the bridge is original to the guitar, as seen by the matching stamped serial number on the underside of the base, and considering that this base is blond (maple), rather than rosewood, this guitar was almost certainly originally had a blond finish. Since it the norm for the binding to break down and off-gas in this era of Epiphone guitars, I would bet that this happened with this guitar. When this happens, it usually causes the wood adjacent to the binding to discolor. I am quite certain that the outer binding was replaced on this guitar for that reason and the iced tea burst was chosen at that time in order to cover the discoloration of the outer rims of the top and back.
Weight - 6.1 pounds
Nut width - 1.74 inches
1st fret depth - 0.88 inches
10th fret depth - 1.00 inches
The guitar comes with the original hardshell case which was recovered at some point. The latches and hinges all work. A little of the interior lining is loose around the edges, but could easily be reglued.
Ships free in the US and for very reasonable rates worldwide.