From The Chinery Collection

Epiphone Emperor Electric
Epiphone, Inc.
New York, New York
1948

The Emperor model was Epiphone's top-of-the-line archtop guitar, introduced in late 1936 to compete with the popular Gibson Super 400. The electric version's pickups are mounted onto the pick guard and suspended above the guitar body, allowing the top to resonate freely.

Gibson bought out the Epiphone company in 1957, keeping the Emperor model as part of the guitar line but redesigning it as a thin-body guitar.