Bradley Emperor Thinline 1980s - Matsumoku

This is a 1980s Matsumoku Emperor Thinline, the same as the Epiphone Thinline but branded Bradley for the Baltimore music store chain. It is one of the highest craft guitars Matsumoku ever made, exceeding Gibsons of that time. These are incredibly rare. Prince played one during the his Parade period. It's actually a superb jazz guitar.

This guitar is semi-hollow, like a 335, except with mahogany for the center block. The unplugged acoustic sound is louder and lovelier than my 335's. The lower bout is 17 inches, like an L-5. Scale length is 25 1/2 inches. The neck is maple, with an ebony board, and 5 piece, also like an L5. Frets are in great shape. The neck plays like an Gibson L5 or Super 400. I've owned both, so I know.

The pickups have been changed to recent Gibson Calibrated T Style Humbuckers. These pickups are a perfect match. In this guitar they sound warm and clear (not as bright as they sound in my 335 - must be the mahogany center block). Because I use this guitar like an L5 that won't feed back, I added an L5 tailpiece from an L5 solid body.

Someone, at some point, removed the original tune-o-matic and plugged the post holes with maple. Now the guitar has a rosewood floating bridge. It works great and contributes to the warm sound.

The guitar has some binding rot, especially on the pick guard. All of the rot has been painted and infused with ultra thin super glue to arrest the rot. There is also an added mini toggle, not connected at the moment, but available for future mods.

I added high quality pots and the tone pots are no load, so they drop out of the circuit when turned fully clockwise.

If you want a gorgeous sounding and beautifully playing jazz guitar of the highest standards, a guitar that won't feed back at any stage volume, yet has enough acoustic resonance to enjoy playing unplugged, you'll love this guitar.