Despite being a strong believer in quality built guitars and therefore being a fan of the quality brands (Gretsch, Gibson, Fender, PRS, etc.), I recently picked up an Epiphone Emperor Swingster Royale.
I was just looking in the guitar shop nearby, looking at the guitar selection when I saw this Emperor Swingster (the Royale edition). It was really pleasing to the eye, so I decided to give it a go. And -unplugged- I liked the guitar already, I loved the general look and feel of it, so I decided to plug it in a Laney Cub 12R (the very same tube amp as the one I have at home). Its Gretsch look made me wonder: can a 630 Euro Epiphone guitar really blow my mind and conquer a place next to my Gibson Les Paul and Fender Strat?
The Epiphone Emperor Swingster Royale is one of Epiphone's limited edition runs of their classic Emperor Swingster model. It comes with a slightly more premium look and finish. But can this throwback at the Gretsch White Falcon prove worthy tonewise? I was incredibly impressed; for this price range you sure get a whole lot of features and tone variety as well as a fairly well built guitar.
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| With its beautiful inlays, you get that premium look for a fraction of the price |
Guitar Review
First, the headstock is very nicely finished (you get some premium inlays and some cheap, but from a distance very nicely looking binding around the edges) and the tuners are very solid as guitar very rarely goes out of tune.
When you go down to the neck, the rosewood fretboard has those typical Gibson Custom inlays. Around the edges, you get the same gold flake style binding. And again, it is not done perfectly, but it is definitely not a deal-breaker for the money. And then we go towards the body itself and my oh my, is it beautiful!
The F-holes look great, so do the bridge, the Bigsby vibrato arm, the 3-way pick-up switch and the tone and volume knobs. Speaking of which, the volume knobs offer you a great feature, that is more and more implemented in guitars nowadays, but only rarely come off as an actual asset to the guitar, but Epiphone managed to ace it. I am talking about Epiphone's Swingbuckers, and their very own take at the series/parallel switching of these Swingbuckers. For those of you who are not fully aware of what this does, it allows you to switch between humbucker and single coil modes (and therefore tones) in just a push/pull of the volume knob. This creates some of the most versatile tones I have ever gotten from a guitar (and certainly from this price range!). The pickups sound great no matter what tone or pickup you selected. You can go from anywhere between a mellow Santana-like sound, to a BB King tone, all the way to a twangy vibe.
When you go down to the neck, the rosewood fretboard has those typical Gibson Custom inlays. Around the edges, you get the same gold flake style binding. And again, it is not done perfectly, but it is definitely not a deal-breaker for the money. And then we go towards the body itself and my oh my, is it beautiful!
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| The Bigsby and Swingbuckers are pleasing to the eye and ear |
I am really impressed so far by this guitar and I will definitely edit this review even more as I get to spend more time with it, since I bought the guitar (yes, I liked it that much :) ).
Round-up
- Pros
Looks
Tone
Price
Feel
- Cons
Not perfectly finished everywhere
Did not come with a bag or case
If you feel that the pros outweigh the cons, I really suggest that you should pick one up and try it (before the last of them are sold).
For specs and to find your local dealer, go to Epiphone's official Emperor Swingster Royale page
Let me know if you have gotten your hands on one or if there is anything in particular you would like me to cover about this particular guitar.
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