EMPEROR – (Family: Aquila Sky Guitar)
General Description:
The Emperor Sky was built in 1987. It featured several new changes with regard to its two predecessors, the Dolphin and the Purple Sky.
While the Dolphin featured semitone frets all the way to the top, and the Purple Sky was a fretless guitar in the very top-range – the Emperor provided the essential new blue-print for all the Sky Guitars that followed: the frets from the 27th position onward were actual whole-tone steps! While – admittedly a compromise of sorts, because it effectively meant certain notes were harder to obtain – at the same time this idea enabled easily playable and truly singing notes in the highest registers.
Furthermore – the entire neck was scalloped. At the same time, the access to the top-range was improved. In visual terms, the Emperor Sky also brought an important change to the look and feel of the Sky Guitar; the stylized spiral galaxy became multi-layered with soft edges as opposed to the harder edged look of the earliest two Sky Guitars.
Wood & Specs:
- Number of strings: 6
- Alder body
- Sycamore neck
- Position markers: black dots, spiral on 12th & 24th frets
- Long scale (Strat style – 25 inch – 65 cm)
- Neck width at saddle: 4.5 cm
- Neck width towards bridge: 5.9 cm
- Neck join: Emperor
- Medium scalloped all the way
- Number of frets: 37 – (the top 5 frets are whole-tone steps, counting as 2 frets each)
- Super-Jumbo fret wire – smaller in the higher regions
- Floating tremolo with 3 springsSound & Tone Engine:
- Mega-Wing III System with 18-volt power supply
- 3 pick-ups: (2 humbuckers & 1 single coil in the middle)
- 4 control knobs, incl 1 push-pull:
1) volume – 2) treble-range – 3) Mid-range – 4) bass-range – 5) master gain - 5-way toggle switch
- 2 humbucker-to-single coil switches
- Cyan Magic – 12 blue/turquoise lights with dimmerFinish & Colour:
- Overall appearance: silver theme
- Polyurethane
- Neck: golden amber varnish
- Body: black
- (also available in other colours)
Decoration &Symbols: - Silver-blue three-pronged spiral galaxy with soft multi-layered edges
- 2 Scratch plates in white plastic
- Small spiral headstock
- Unique USG identification back plate Extras:
- Tronical Powertune Self-Tuning System
- Black UJR Sky Guitar case with black velvet interior
Tone: - Bright, singing, three dimensionalSky Guitar Type:
- Aquila Sky
In Brussels, Belgium, 1990
The Emperor in 2018
Uli with Marty Friedmann at Sun Plaza Hall, Tokyo, 2008
House of Blues, Chicago, 2004
The first “Trinity”:
Dolphin, Mighty Wing, Emperor in Seaford, Sussex