Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II vs Emperor Regent
Greg E.J.
I'm in the middle of upgrading my Sheraton to either a Epiphone Joe Pass
Emperor II or an Epiphone Emperor Regent.
I've tried the Joe Pass model and it sounds and plays ok but I can't
test the Emperor Regent before I buy it, as it has to be preordered and
prepaid if I want it (seems Epiphone are promoting the Joe Pass II model
heavily these days).
The sound I'm looking for is the straight jazz sound (Pass, Montgomerey,
Raney etc).
Does anyone have any input on either or both of these boxes? The Emperor
Regent is somewhat more expensive but looks like it has a deeper body,
which might accomodate a more jazzy acoustic type of sound?
Thanks,
Greg
OASYSCO
>I'm in the middle of upgrading my Sheraton to either a Epiphone Joe Pass
>Emperor II or an Epiphone Emperor Regent.
What is wrong with that Sheraton?
>I've tried the Joe Pass model and it sounds and plays ok but I can't
>test the Emperor Regent before I buy it, as it has to be preordered and
>prepaid if I want it (seems Epiphone are promoting the Joe Pass II model
>heavily these days).
I have a JP and, for me, I had to swap out the pickups and tuners to be
completely happy. That was an extra $220.
I have also had a Regent - big, beautiful, and blone.
The JP has a spruce top, 16" body, 2.75" max depth, hollow maple body, 24.75"
scale maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. The JP has 2 embedded humbuckers.
The Regent has a spruce top, 17" body, 3" depth, hollow maple body, 25.5" scale
maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. The Regent has a single, suspended
mini-humbucker with controls attached to the pickguard. I would have still had
the Regent had it not developed an intonation problem after a fret level.
Though I did not keep the Regent long enough to swap out pickups, I was looking
for a replacement. The stock pickup was fine for the most part, though.
Being gun shy, I steered away from the Regent and tried most every cheap
archtop available a couple of years ago. To my surprise, I bought a JP which I
had never before even considered. And after the pickup upgrade, I haven't
looked back.
The new Dean archtops are JP knock offs, but are cheaper and have better
appointments. They did notplay as well as my JP, but are a good value.
Check out my JP Tribute site at:
http://www.geocities.com/oasysco
Greg
Victor Magnani
I got a Regent about 5 or 6 months ago. I found it from a store in Fla over
the Internet and paid 500 bucks (no case). Manny's here in NYC wanted about
900! Shop around!! (I think it was "new", but old stock - it had been in
the store for a year and they wanted to move it).
The big problem I discovered after I had the guitar at a gig was feedback.
The big body and floating pickup are a pretty sure fire recipe for shreiking
feedback. I wasn't playing at a particulary high volume, just in a really
REALLY bad room acoustically. The JP, smaller body and mounted pu's, is
probably better equipped to handle the real world. (I asked my old teacher
what I could do about the feedback and when he found out it was a floating
pickup he just shook his head).
The up side - my Regent sounds GREAT acoustically, and sounds wonderful in
the right circumstance (I've used it on a few duo gigs, gtr/sax and it's
been fine) electrically. The Broadway might be a good in-between solution -
bigger body but mounted pickups. I played one through and old Fender amp
and it was Wes all the way!!
I wound up going out and getting a Cort Joe Beck to use on gigs, keeping the
Regent for drummerless gigs and recordings, and playing Freddie Green rhythm
guitar! The Beck is NOTHING acoustically (only about 2 1/2") but sounds
great plugged in. Again, I paid 500 bucks for it. So I wound up with 2
good guitars for a grand, about what I was willing to spend when I started.
The other thing to check out - if you're not used to playing a big box like
the Regent, it can be uncomfortable. I notice that I have to modify the way
I sit when I play the Regent, keeping the guitar at more of an angle on my
leg, rather than flush against it. Depends on how long your arms are, I
guess.
The Regent is a great guitar for the $$$, but I would suggest looking at
what you're going to be doing with the guitar and consider one with mounted
pu's. Good luck.
Victor
PS - even the place I bought the guitar from on line gave me something like
a 2 day approval - meaning I could call them up and say "nah, I don't like
it, I'm sending it back" and I would have been refunded. You really
shouldn't have to pay for anything unconditionally before you decide to keep
it.
"Greg E.J." wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm in the middle of upgrading my Sheraton to either a Epiphone Joe Pass
> Emperor II or an Epiphone Emperor Regent.
>
> I've tried the Joe Pass model and it sounds and plays ok but I can't
> test the Emperor Regent before I buy it, as it has to be preordered and
> prepaid if I want it (seems Epiphone are promoting the Joe Pass II model
> heavily these days).
>
Nick Carver
than the Joe Pass; in particular, I think the pickups on the Cort are fine.
I wrote a review of the Joe Beck on harmony central.
I would also agree with Victor that the Regent is a big guitar. The thinner
Joe Pass/Beck models are more comfortable to me. I think you should also
look at the DeArmond 155. DeArmond is owned by Fender and the guitars are
made by Cort. I think the pickups are very nice and it seems somewhere
between the Regent and Joe Pass in size. Feedback might still be a problem.
If you are hung up on the name on the guitar (i.e. Epiphone is a better name
than Cort or DeArmond), forget it. All the guitars you are looking at or I'm
talking about are made in Korea and the name only has to do with who created
the specs. The differences are not that great. Each one has a different feel
with the main issue being the size of the guitar (Regent is bigger than the
rest) and the acoustic sound. The Regent will have the best acoustic sound,
but it will also feedback. The Joe Pass/Beck models will not have a good
acoustic sound, but won't feedback; the DeArmond seems somewhere in the
middle.
Just my two cents worth.
Nick
"Greg E.J." <gh...@mail.tele.dk> wrote in message
news:<ghew-458C9A.1...@news.cybercity.dk>...
David C. Stephens
Victor Magnani <vmagn...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:3935109B...@netscape.net...
> Hey Greg,
>
> I got a Regent about 5 or 6 months ago.
>
> The big body and floating pickup are a pretty sure fire recipe for
shreiking
> feedback. I wasn't playing at a particulary high volume, just in a really
> REALLY bad room acoustically. The JP, smaller body and mounted pu's, is
> probably better equipped to handle the real world. (I asked my old
teacher
> what I could do about the feedback and when he found out it was a floating
> pickup he just shook his head).
Believe it or not, a Raezer Edge cab will fix that feedback. It did for my
Heritage Golden Eagle, with floating pu.
Dave
John D
to play the Cort but have heard good reports. If you are looking for a new
jazz box, the Dearmond can be had for $599 including hardshell case and
shipping. Another advantage is that the hardware is chrome so you won't be
looking at tarnished gold after 12 months (I kinda like tarnished gold
though).
On the used side, a pre-1993 Epi Emperor (not Emperor II) in near-mint
condition can be found for around $350 if you hunt for it. Forget it if
you have your heart set on the signature pickguard. These are all VS
(vintage sunburst) with a plain torti pickguard and truss rod cover that
says "Gibson", not "Joe Pass". The sides and back are not flamed like (or
as much as) the JP model and the 3-way switch is on the cutaway upper bout.
I'm not sure but I think the top may be laminated maple versus the JP
which is lam spruce. I'd probably switch out the pickups.
The Regents I've played were nice but my personal preference is toward a
smaller bodied guitar.
Everyone has their favorites, but there's my opinion. Hope that helps. Try
them all out and decide what you like the best.
John DeWitt
Robert Smith
in. Acoustically its good for quiet practice. Overall a good guitar.
You should look at the Howard Roberts model Epi also. It has the
same style "floating" bridge as the Regent but it has a metal bridge
instead of rosewood and has a little brighter sound. You can adjust each
string individually for intonation where the rosewood bridge is fixed
and will require some experience to setup once you've got your string
choice selected. It has an oval sound hole and I think sounds better
unplugged. Either one is a good jazz based guitar.
Knot (Robert) Bob
OASYSCO
that in stock condition, the HR beat out the other 2 for jazz, IMO. Even though
the HR uses the same OBL pickup as the Regent, it sounded way better amplified.
Unamplified, the HR sounded best of the 3, though becuase of the thick finish,
it was not real loud acoustically.
And at a street price of $629, the HR is typically the cheapest of the 3. Even
so, I am very happy with my JP after replacing the pickups.
Greg
Robert Smith
mattDONT...@hotmail.mecom
On Thu, 01 Jun 2000 00:05:26 GMT, "John D" <bom...@sky.net> wrote:
>I like the pickups on the Dearmond X-155. I have not had the opportunity
>to play the Cort but have heard good reports. If you are looking for a new
>jazz box, the Dearmond can be had for $599 including hardshell case and
>shipping. Another advantage is that the hardware is chrome so you won't be
>looking at tarnished gold after 12 months (I kinda like tarnished gold
>though).
>
snip>
ddinc
David C. Stephens <dcs...@ibm.net> wrote in message
news:39358...@news1.prserv.net...
jimmyb
THere is a web site at www.raezersedge.com
"ddinc" <dob...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:8h9j3i$b7q$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
Tom C.
an epiphone and on the other 2 he plays a "Joe Pass" Ibenez. There's no comparison in the sounds
- the Ibenez is crisper, brighter, has a better sustain, fewer boxy overtones, and in general
seems to be a much tighter set-up. I even thought of selling my ES175 and looking for a Joe Pass
Ibenez. It has his name in the fretboard up near the body of the guitar. No offense to anyone -
just my opinion.
Best, Tom C.
Stephen G. Carl
he plays a Fender (Jaguar or Jazzmaster, I forget which), a Gibson
ES175, a D'Angelico and an Ibanez. The Ibanez sounds worse than
all the others, in my opinion. Even the Fender sounds better.