Music

Here we have a fine example of top-of-the line Japanese craftsmanship in the form of a Matsomuko-made Epiphone Emperor in a glowing natural finish. This one has a beautiful Spruce top with maple back and sides, Ebony fingerboard and lots of multi-layer binding and inlay bling. Top-tier materials, appointments and a fantastic build quality make this one true royalty. Speaking of binding, as you can see the top side binding is solid, where the back binding shows shrinking and discoloration. You can find a couple other examples of this guitar for sale with far worse or similar degradation of the binding, and it is a fact of life with many classics from this era. This one has been mostly spared. The plating on the pickups also suffered a bit from the pickguard outgassing (I keep the pickguard off the guitar and away from the case), but handling and play wear is extremely light. There are two small finish cracks on either side of the fingerboard from finish shrinkage and the binding issues mentioned, but the rest is super clean and tight. No breaks or repairs. Everything is original except the strap buttons. This guitar has a huge, sparkly tone and is as loud as many small acoustic guitars unplugged. Just a treat to play, and a rare one at that. Ships in the soft-sided Gator case shown. From the collection of G.E., may he rest in peace!Thanks for looking!