A Mint - Under-the-Bed for Twenty-One Years Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II

2001 Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II

This 16 inch wide, just under 3 inches deep "Jazzbox" weighs just 6.90 lbs. Laminated spruce top, lightly flamed laminated maple body with two bound 'f' holes. Three-piece maple neck with a nice, fat nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches, a scale length of 25 inches and a medium profile. Ebony fretboard with 20 original jumbo frets and inlaid pearl block position markers. The body of the guitar has seven-ply binding on the top and back, the neck is single-bound and the headstock has five-ply binding. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Epiphone" script logo and pearl "Vine of Life" inlay. Bullet-shaped two-layer black over white plastic truss-rod cover with "Joe Pass" in white and secured by three screws. Individual Rotomatic style closed-back tuners with hexagonal-shaped metal buttons. Two humbucking pickups with outputs of 8.45k & 8.96k. Tortoiseshell pickguard with multi-layer black over white plastic binding. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way pickup selector switch on upper bass horn. Ebony bridge with pre-set compensating saddle on height-adjustable ebony base and Epiphone 'Gibson Byrdland' style tailpiece. All hardware gold-plated. Inside the bass 'f' hole is the oval orange Epiphone label with "Emperor" stamped in black.
The serial number "S01074585" is printed in white on the back of the headstock and there is a label which states "100% Inspected & Set-Up in the USA by Epiphone". This one owner, under-the-bed for twenty-one years guitar is as near mint (9.50++) condition as you could ever wish for. Housed in the original Epihone four-latch, shaped black hardshell case with light gray plush lining (9.50).

The Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II is an electric guitar model produced by Epiphone in Korea as Joe Pass's signature model. First released in 1994, just prior to Joe Pass's death, and was produced until 2015. Joe Pass was a very well known virtuoso Jazz guitarist becoming most well known for his solo work whilst also having recorded with a number of other leading artists such as Ella Fitzgerald. Joe Pass previously had a relationship with the Ibanez guitar company, but in the late 1990s Epiphone released the Emperor II, claiming Pass had a hand in the design of the guitar. Epiphone had previously issued the guitar as just the Emperor and with Pass's endorsement some subtle changes to the guitar were made (such as moving the pickup selector switch). While Joe Pass endorsed the Epiphone he was more commonly seen with a Gibson ES-175.

After 1996, Epiphones were built by the Peerless Guitars Co. Ltd., established in 1970 in Busan, South Korea. Many of these Peerless guitars, particularly the 1998 models commenting their 125th Anniversary, were very well made, represent excellent value, and have become quite collectable.