player opinions

Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II

Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II

  1. Name: Joe (not Pass)

  2. Band: -----

  3. Model Year: 1999

  4. Price Paid: $725

  5. Performance

  6. Lefty jazz boxes in this price range are unheard of. I loved the way it looked and played. The sound was o.k., but not as fat as I had hoped. After fooling around with adjustments, I decided to modify. I put in a Benedetto B6A pickup (made by Kent Armstrong) in the neck position. The tone was fatter, with a much clearer low end. I also made an ebony tailpiece which I attached with a Sacconi cello tailpiece loop (a la Benedetto) and now I really like the sound. It’s somewhere between an ES 175 and an acoustic archtop with a floating pickup. Oh. I also replaced the bridge and carved a new compensated top. It came with what looks like stained walnut, which was very lightweight and was simply slanted, rather than fully compensated. I also made a bone nut. If I were right handed, I would have been able to find something used and could have saved all the work, but as a lefty, I didn’t have much choice. Anyway, I highly recommend it to lefties. If you can pick one up used, and don’t mind tweaking it here and there, you can’t beat the price.

  7. Performance Rating: 8

  8. Sound Quality

  9. The pickups weren’t even close to my Gibson Vintage 57 reissue. A little muddy. That’s why I replaced the neck pickup with the Benedetto. The tone and volume pots are not very good, but can easily be upgraded.

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 7

  11. Construction

  12. Construction is o.k. I think because it is a lefty, the side bending is a little rough. there are a couple of “flat spots” in the curve of the lower bout. It is a very pretty guitar. The laminate back and sides are beautiful flamed maple. As I said, the guitar plays and feels very good, and looks great.

  13. Construction Rating: 7

  1. Name: Jim Reed

  2. Band: -----

  3. Model Year: -----

  4. Price Paid: $600

  5. Performance

  6. This seems to be a very will made guitar with some minor “made in Korea” features like the paint on the binding, rough paint on the top between the neck and pickup, and rough fret ends. The nut needs to be filed to get the string height at the first string down between .015 and .022 inches. This one has been played an awful lot so I’ll replace the frets and the cheap fingerboard inlays. I’ll also put an adjustable saddle on it to get the intonation close. This stuff will cost me about $5 for the fret wire, $40 for the pearl inlay material, and $30 for the saddle. I’ve paid about a grand for the equipment to do it though.

  7. Performance Rating: 8

  8. Sound Quality

  9. The pickups need to be raised a few turns. I play it through a Fender Cyber Twin setup for pretty clean sound but with some reverb and “presence” cranked in. It has that super-cool jazz sound that its famous for and can get pretty edgy if you turn up the gain. The tonal variations are very distinct from pickup to pickup. I really like the warm sound, the comfort of the thin body, 24.6" scale length and the neck shape.

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 10

  11. Construction

  12. The overall finish is superb but with some detail flaws like the smudges on the binding in a couple of places, the poor masking job around the neck/body joint, and the rough fret ends. Its been played many hours — enough to wear the frets down about half way — and the paint is still has no nicks or scratches. The tuners are still really tight and the metal has no corrosion, but the gold is starting to get thin on the tuner buttons. I planned on replacing the frets when I bought it so that’s ok. It is a very solidly constructed guitar and will be one of my favorite guitars for many years.

  13. Construction Rating: 9

  1. Name: Mike

  2. Band: -----

  3. Model Year: -----

  4. Price Paid: $600 used

  5. Performance

  6. I play in a Rock band and also have a Gibson SG, but I wanted a good Jazz box,with a Jazzy sound for certain songs — I’m really pleased both with the sound and play-ability of this guitar. No, it isn’t easy to bend strings, because I’m using mediums, but it plays like butter as far as fast scales and runs. I don’t think any one guitar is necessarily going to do it for someone if your goal is to be a diverse player. This guitar gets me where I’m going one I want to do the kind of playing it’s built for — Rock playing with a Jazz/Fusion accent.

  7. Performance Rating: 10

  8. Sound Quality

  9. I play through a Peavey amp. I’m very pleased with the sound this guitar delivers — with all three pick-up settings.

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 10

  11. Construction

  12. It seems well crafted to me. The pickgaurd slipped once, so I tightened the screw, and now it’s OK. The craftsmanship — body and neck — is beautiful. It stays in tune well, and as I said above, It plays like butter. Because it was used, there was some slight string buzzing because of some slight damage to the thing that holds the strings on the body of the guitar before the bridge (what do you call that thing?) This problem was easy to correct, but because the part may be easily damaged on a new guitar, I’ll give it a 4.

  13. Construction Rating: 10

  1. Name: Jonathan Tan

  2. Band: Stage Band

  3. Model Year: -----

  4. Price Paid: -----

  5. Performance

  6. The neck is pretty hard to play on, becuase of the really low action. I think that’s because I own a Fender with high action, but anyway it didn’t play easy for me. It’s very hard to do any bending but good on sliding to notes.

  7. Performance Rating: 4

  8. Sound Quality

  9. The tone of the pickups are crap. No style or character, sounds like a humbucking bridge pickup in a 50 dollar guitar. But there are some good sounds when distortion is used but be careful of feedback.

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 2

  11. Construction

  12. Looks very, very nice and promising. Not very well constructed because a few things have started dropping off the guitar. Nice finsh, bad construction and reliability.

  13. Construction Rating: 4

  1. Name: Jim Weller

  2. Band: -----

  3. Model Year: -----

  4. Price Paid: $600 used

  5. Performance

  6. Designed by jazz player Joe Pass, this single cutaway is smaller than the full-bodied “Broadway” model from Epiphone. The neck is easy for me to play on with small hands. With two Humbuckers, the guitar on the neck pickup has a jazz tone that would be hard to beat. Since that’s what I bought it for, the sound is great. The frets could be a bit lower, but the neck is thin enough for even my smallish hands. Using the other pickups, either single or in combination makes for some good rockabilly, but so far, the sustain isn’t great. Perhaps a good setup would help cure that.

  7. Performance Rating: 8

  8. Sound Quality

  9. Jazz tones are outstanding. Full treble is quite harsh. I play through an older Dean Markley amp and it’s perhaps not the best for this axe. Played it through a Peavey when I bought it and the sound was much better in all pickup combos.

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 8

  11. Construction

  12. No problems with it for the style of playing I use it for (chord melody, jazz). Once the initial stretch went out of the strings, it has not lost tune at all. Finish is quite good. It’s a made in Korea instrument, but overall a gorgeous guitar.

  13. Construction Rating: 8

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  1. Average Ratings
  2. Performance: 7.6
  3. Sound Quality: 7.4
  4. Construction: 7.2
  5. Ratings Key
  6. 10: Excellent
  7. 0: Useless
  8. Available At Guitar Center
  9. Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II Electric Guitar Natural
  10. Company
  11. Epiphone

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