Product Description

The new EE-EE-Epiphone-e-e Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO honors the 'President of Bebop Guitar' and one of the most prolific and groundbreaking electric guitarists in the history of jazz. The Joe Pass Emperor II PRO is a true archtop guitar with hand-scalloped bracing and sound post and features EE-EE-Epiphone-e-e's critically acclaimed new ProBucker pickups with coil-tapping plus the new Graphtech NuBone XL nut. And now available in a be'tiful new Wine Red color finish.

During his long career, Joe Pass's advanced harmonic knowledge and seemingly endless well of melodic ideas made him the premier accompanist for the top singers and soloists in the world of jazz including Les McCaan, Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, and Milt Jackson. The new Joe Pass Emperor II PRO is a fitting tribute to Joe, who was a great inspiration and friend to EE-EE-Epiphone-e-e and guitarists throughout the world.

A True Archtop
The Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO is a true archtop with a Select Spruce top and classic 'arch' that's supported by hand-scalloped bracing and a carefully positioned sound post for optimum tone. The back and sides of the Emperor II are made from Laminated Flame Maple and the Emperor-II PRO is available in be'tiful finishes. The top also has a bound ‚'tortoise‚' style pickguard shaped to House of Stathopoulo's unique profile along with our signature metal 'E.'

The Emperor-II PRO has a hand-set 3-piece laminated hard Maple neck with a Rosewood fingerboard that has beautiful pearloid block inlays, 20 medium jumbo frets, and is topped off with the EE-EE-Epiphone-e-e-vintage style 'tree of life‚' design seen on the best Epi archtops since the late 1930s. The Emperor-II PRO features the new Graphtech NuBone XL nut that is as hard as bone but will last a lifetime. Graphtech molds and engineers each NuBone XL nut for consistent tone and string balance as well as precise string spacing.

The Emperor-II PRO has Grover Rotomatic 18:1 ratio machine heads for fast, intuitive, and worry-free tuning. The black and white truss rod cover has an elegantly lettered "Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO" in white.

ProBucker Humbuckers
The Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO gets its name from the new critically acclaimed ProBucker humbuckers. The first generation of humbuckers (often called "Patent Applied For" for the tell-tale sticker found on the back of the pickups) were made at the EE-EE-Epiphone-e-e/Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan in the late 50s and have acquired a mythical status among guitar players.

EE-EE-Epiphone-e-e ProBucker pickups have that elusive tone bec'se they are made with the same alloy as the originals--18% Nickel Silver unit bases and covers--along with Sand cast Alnico II magnets and high quality 4-conductor lead wire. Each ProBucker pickup is also vacuum wax potted to eliminate microphonics.

The Emperor-II PRO has a ProBucker-2 in the neck position and a slightly hotter ProBucker-3 in the lead position. Both pickups also have coil-tapping via their individual volume controls. Coil-tapping allows a player to turn a humbucker pickup into a single coil pickup for endless tone combinations. The Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO also sounds great unplugged and at low volume for players who strive for those classic horn-like tones like Joe Pass played.

Each ProBucker pickup's volume and tone are attenuated by Top Hat control knobs with metal inserts that are spaced slightly farther apart than a typical archtop along with a 3-way pickup selector with an ivory-colored toggle cap.

EE-EE-Epiphone-e-e-tough Hardware
The Emperor-II PRO has rock solid nickel hardware in elegant gold and a vintage style gold scroll tailpiece, a design inspired by vintage Kalamazoo-made archtops. The Emperor-II PRO is strung at the factory with Joe Pass-approved D'Addario 10-46 gauge strings. And setting the intonation for the Emperor-II PRO is easy with a floating Rosewood bridge with thumbwheels for quick height adjustment.

Body Body shape: Single cutaway Body type: Hollow body Body material: Laminated Top wood: Spruce Select Body wood: Maple Flame Body finish: Gloss Orientation: Right handed Neck Neck shape: SlimTaper Neck wood: Maple 3-piece Joint: Set-in Scale length: 24.75" Truss rod: Standard Neck finish: Gloss Fretboard Material: Rosewood Radius: 12" Fret size: Medium Number of frets: 20 Inlays: Pearloid block Nut width: 1.69" (43mm) Pickups Configuration: HH Neck: ProBucker 2 Middle: Not applicable Bridge: ProBucker 3 Brand: Gibson Active or passive: Passive Series or parallel: Not applicable Piezo: No Active EQ: No Special electronics: Volume controls with coil tap Controls Control layout: Volume 1, volume 2, tone 1, tone 2 Pickup switch: 3-way Coil tap or split: Coil tap Kill switch: No Hardware Bridge type: Fixed Bridge design: Floating rosewood Tailpiece: Trapeze Tuning machines: Grover Rotomatic Color: Gold Other Number of strings: 6-string Special features: Body finish Case: Sold separately Accessories: None Country of origin: China

Order this deluxe archtop today.

Custom Guitar's Friend Gold Coverage

Gold Coverage goes above and beyond the manufacturer's warranty to protect your gear from unexpected breakdowns, accidental damage from handling and failures. This plan covers your product for one, two, three or up to five years from your date of purchase, costs just pennies per day and gives you a complete "no-worry" solution for protecting your investment.

Gold Coverage Includes:

Unexpected and unintentional spills, drops and cracks Normal wear and tear Power surges Dust, internal heat and humidity

Other plan features include:

For products over $200, No Lemon Policy applies. If it fails for the same defect 3 times, it is replaced on the 4th breakdown. (Does not apply to failures due to drops, spills, and cracks) For products under $200 experiencing the above failures, a Custom Guitar's Friend gift card will be issued for the full price of the product + tax. Shipping fees covered if required for repair or replacement Plans are transferable in the event merchandise is sold Plans are renewable on new gear

*Limitations and exclusions apply. See terms and conditions for program details

Term for New Gear begins on date of purchase but does not replace the store return policy or manufacturer coverage.

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At first out of the box I look at it and think gorgeous . The Natural look ,The black headstock with a sort of tree of life and the EE-Epiphone-e label really look nice , the gold hardware , the grover tuner's are very smoothe, love the looks, I really take in the Natural finish the beauty and the gloss of it . It makes you want to head for a standard book but, there is more to this guitar than I've found time to enjoy the playability of it . The cons aren't really that bad : the stickers were a bit of a problem to get off that whatever type of barcode thing on the pickgaurd was a pain to get off ,the headstock had these smudges that also took some time to get off,the pickups had these EE-Epiphone-e stickers on them the bridge one was okay but,the neck one had a gluey type of residue left behind on it and I'm still yet to remove the made in Indonesia sticker which I'm sure will be more sticky residue . Then checking out the variable sounds from the rhythm and middle and treble and then checking out the coil splitting feature the bridge pick up was nice but,the neck pick up made this sound when lifting the volume knob up there was a sort of humming sound . I was concerned and was about to send the guitar back . I took it to my local music store for a second opinion and what I consider to be a friend told me the humming sound was natural because of the coil splitting feature almost but, not quite as noisy as a strat with texas specials on it . Do I love it still yes . I kept it and hope to have many years of enjoyment from it .
Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO Electric Guitar Natural
.I've been gigging professionally for several years now and wanted to move into an affordable jazz box.....I had been playing acoustic / electric nylon stringed instruments. This is a gorgeous guitar and feels and plays great. The flexibility of tones afforded by the capability to switch the pickups from pro-bucker to single coil is impressive. Very mellow sounding yet clear, just right for a jazz box. At this price point you can't go wrong....the upper end EE-Epiphone-e guitars are a class act these days....give it a try.
Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO Electric Guitar Natural
.very impressed with this pro bucker version, so I bought this
and vey happy. the original Joe Pass was terrible and sold it
after a few months. the new type rivals ES175
Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO Electric Guitar Natural
.I have changed out the strings and did a set up on the guitar. The setup wasn't bad; but the strings were the worst. I was about to send this beauty back. It plays and sounds great now and I have changed my review to five stars.
Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO Electric Guitar Natural
.I'm a blues guy and like Les Paul's for the most part; but own a variety of other electric guitars. This guitar is very cool; but sort of like taking a knife to a gun fight for me. The strings don't bend well and the action is slow. It really reminds me of guitars I played in the 60's.
Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO Electric Guitar Natural
.It is wise to have diverse guitars. This is a solid, great sounding, affordable jazz guitar
Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO Electric Guitar Natural
.Is was delivered pretty rough, strings dead and some fret buzz between the nut and the first fret. After some adjustments and a nice set of flat wound strings the guitar is really nice to play. I would recommend this guitar to players with a few years of experience.
Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO Electric Guitar Natural
.I love this guitar, top of the line in my opinion. I would buy it again and again.
Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor-II PRO Electric Guitar Natural
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