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Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II
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«  unbeatable value for money »

Published on 11/13/13 at 10:02
Mine was made in Korea in 2011
I wanted a hollow body of good quality for a budget of less than 500 €
Attention all models are created equal, try several!

the table is made of spruce and rosewood floating bridge, nice finish and beautiful hardware for this price range, alnico pickups that sound really good.

In my opinion better than ibanez same category (175 a little cheaper and AK 95) that seem a little cheap ...
must depend on the periods and manufacturing plants since these two brands are very good products throughout

I put 9 out of 10

UTILIZATION

it looks like a real nice jazz guitar (like L4 or L5, or Italian), in terms of grip, balance, weight, etc ...
I mean by this that it is easy, pleasant, intuitive, what it all ...
So nothing very original and needless to extend

9 of 10

SOUNDS

It's really a jazz guitar
Epiphone sought roundness, vintage ... this is his big quality and big flaw

it sounds very sound, even with volume Jouage battery, which requires attack (especially with a big pulling flat net rigor to exploit its capabilities)
and it may have its limits ... it was not a monstrous momentum, but of course compared to the guitar between five and ten times more expensive.

is fine to play swing, bop, but just for a little more modern things sound palette (you attack it sounds, you attack is not lost in the mix)
it difficult to effect as a 135, 137 or 175, for example

I feel that it comes from spruce which is less rigid and dense than maple, or even plating a 175 for example.
and accentuated by the microphones in very serious tone, and rosewood that has not bounce a ebony fingerboard (I mean do not dream it's worth € 450 new ...)

So great guitar to keep a very acoustic sound. Many musicians use the swing, it may look like a gypsy guitar and stimer, especially in central position and two microphones

8 out of 10

OVERALL OPINION

I kept two years, then I bought an Ibanez 70's model 2355 has much more harmonic, which is ultimately more neutral sound, which allows the amp to work and lamps. This guitar is also very well made (japan 70)
the rosewood handle is super hard and dense, ditto for the floating bridge.
However it is plated but in the end it is much stamped.

I played with a lot of jazz guitars. (All current production bigger, L5, 175, George benson signature Aria vintage guitars luthiers to 3000 € or more)
to play jazz I preferred my Howard Roberts fusion at gibson for example.

As stated above less than 500 € is what I found best, even if there's other good things

but the fact is that ultimately an arch top less than 500 € it still limits a musician, especially for professional use where it seeks to assert a touch, a truly personal sound.
This guitar sounds great but lacks intrinsic qualities (violin and acoustic) to be really good in the sense that it does not meet all the requirements of sound effect, dynamic precision.
That said it is also the case for many current guitar brand I will not mention, including at prices up to five times higher.

morality to buy without a second thought, unless you have at least 1500 € budget and take the time to find a good secondhand!

Comprehensive Review 8 out of 10