1943 Epiphone Emperor

In the 1930s, Gibson and Epiphone were in competition to make the largest, loudest archtop guitar. Every time Gibson brought out a new, larger instrument, Epiphone would respond with a model that was slightly bigger. The subject of today’s Catch, the Emperor, was Epiphone’s final salvo in that war. Introduced in late 1935, the Emperor measured 18 1/2″ inches across the lower bout, a tad bigger than Gibson’s Super 400 which measured a mere 18″. (The final winner of the big archtop war was the Boston builder Stromberg, whose Master 400 was a 19″ monster.) It’s hard to say if the slightly larger size contributed to the quality of the tone, but to my ear Emperors have a mellower, sweeter tone than Super 400s, which have a bit more projection and focus. The volume is about the same on both models and during the archtop’s heyday in the 1930s and 1940s guitars from both builders were very popular with professional musicians. This Emperor is a beautiful example of Epiphone’s craft. The maple back sports some astounding flame maple and the overall look is elegant without being flashy.

In 1957 Gibson bought Epiphone. For a little over a decade Gibson made some fine instruments using the Epiphone name but in 1970 they dropped the US production and began using the name for a line of budget instruments made in Japan. Consequently, a couple of generations of guitarists have grown up thinking of Epiphone as a cheaper import brand. That’s too bad because guitars like the Emperor are equal in quality to their Gibson counterparts, but many players just don’t know that. The good news is that means that if you are a musician looking for a world-class guitar, 30s and 40s Epiphones can be a very good value. This particular Emperor is priced at $7500, which is certainly not cheap, but it’s much cheaper than a blonde Super 400, which would most likely be offered at close to double the price. This guitar is currently being offered for sale by Gruhn Guitars.