Epiphone
Emperor Swingster
Hollow Body Electric Guitar
w Bigsby
Sunshine Orange finish
We might think of them as “jazz boxes” today, but archtop electric guitars gave birth to rockabilly, rock and roll, and classic honky tonk country, and they’re still the authentic voice of seminal twangin’ and swingin’ styles today. With a history that runs through the golden age of archtop guitars, Epiphone was right there in the middle of the rumble when jazz swung its way into rock and roll. Now Epiphone releases a new model with retro looks and period correct features to embody the best of the instruments from the most fertile period in popular American music: the Epiphone Emperor Swingster. With its arched select spruce top and maple back and sides, hand scalloped bracing and sound post, and three piece maple neck, the Emperor Swingster is constructed like a top flight archtop, but it’s upgraded appointments take it further.
A Bigsby licensed B30 vibrato tailpiece with “wire” vibrato arm as preferred by certified guitar legend Chet Atkins , pinned roller tune o matic bridge for smooth vibrato action and consistent return to pitch, and totally twangified new Epiphone SwingBuckers pickups ensure you’re getting the best of authentic ’50s style tones out of this instrument. To maximize the sonic potential of these new pickups, Epiphone has given the Emperor Swingster versatile new series parallel switching via two push pull pots on the tone controls, which allow you to change each pickup s output individually from parallel to series wiring creating a palette of useful sounds to tap into ranging from warm humbuckers to quacky single coil type sounds and everything in between.
Of course the Epiphone Swingster looks as hip as it sounds, with a choice of finishes in Sunrise Orange, Translucent Black, or Wine Red on a body and neck with multi ply top and fingerboard binding, block inlays, and classic Epiphone mother of pearl “vine” inlay on the headstock. Add to all this a set of premium Grover tuners to keep it all in tune.
Our Pro-SCM setup includes:
- Check that the action meets factory or your specifications
- Check and rectify any buzzing, intonation or playability issues
- Check and adjust the nut and bridge string heights
- Hand roll the fret ends to deburr the sharp edges and polish the frets
- Test electronics, pots and switches for correct function
- Inspect instrument construction and condition of the strings
- Tune to pitch
As a paid service this setup can easily cost $200 or more – it’s included in our price.
Now, that’s real value!
