1983 Epiphone Emperor F

[jcole]

Hi all, this is my first post here -- found you all via Google. I am selling a 1983 Epiphone Emperor F in tabacco burst. It is in great condition and plays well, and includes a hardshell Gibson case. Ideally it would be a local pickup (I'm in the Boston area).

Happy to work with you to figure out what it is worth. Complete transparency: the seller (Mr. Music - Allston, MA) had it marked as a 1993 made in Korea, but someone on craigslist pointed out to me that it is in fact a 1983 made in Japan at the Matsumoku factory.

Any questions, please let me know!

thanks,
Jeff

[Mick-7]

Happy to work with you to figure out what it is worth. Complete transparency: the seller (Mr. Music - Allston, MA) had it marked as a 1993 made in Korea, but someone on craigslist pointed out to me that it is in fact a 1983 made in Japan at the Matsumoku factory.

I would not take an anonymous Craigslist poster's word over that of the seller....

Guitar Info: Your guitar was made in Korea on February, 1993. Production Number: 2954

From: The Guitar Dater Project - Epiphone Serial Number Decoder

[jcole]

Hi, thanks for the feedback. I also went to that decoder site first trying to research this. If you read their disclaimer, they don't support serial numbers from the 80's. The year code just says "3". There is no indication from the serial number whether that is 1993 or 1983.

Disclaimer: "serial numbers from 70' and 80's era Epiphone guitars made in Japan are not supported. The reason for this is that there is no reliable documentation from this time period. This Module has been updated to work with the newer serial number formats."

Also, I would be careful giving Mr. Music too much benefit of the doubt in accurately identifying every guitar that comes in to be sold used to them. They likely looked at the same site we mentioned here.

[Mick-7]

You may be right because the Guitar Dater Project website says this guitar is also Korean:

1980's Epiphone Emperor (F) Archtop (Pre-owned) – Mak's Guitars

However, all the Japanese made Emperors I've seen have a different pickguard than yours, with the trident shaped E Logo on it and on the truss rod cover (like the guitar pictured on the page above), and yours does not.

P.S. - I take that back, looks like the 1980-84 Japanese models have the plain black pickguard/truss rod cover like yours:

1982 Epiphone Emperor Full Body Promotional Card >> Vintage Guitar and Bass

https://www.creamcitymusic.com/rare-...itar-sunburst/