1949 Epiphone Zephyr Regent Deluxe "Blonde Beauty"

An incredible first-year Epiphone Zephyr Regent Blonde Beauty! The Zephyr Regent is a quintessential American archtop renowned for its top-notch build quality with a solid Spruce Top, Maple back/sides, a 5 Piece Maple neck with a Rosewood Fingerboard, a Rosewood Bridge, and an eye-grabbing "Frequensator" Tailpiece. This fantastic-sounding guitar is fitted with its' two original pickups for a timeless vintage archtop tone and is in original condition with the exception of a professionally done refret and replaced knobs. In great overall shape with dings, checking, a heavier patina throughout, and a slight separation at the neck heel. The separation is purely cosmetic and still maintains its structural integrity with a clean bill of health from our technicians in-house. A historical piece from Epiphone! Includes a modern hardshell case.

Check out the feature from our luthier Tyler in the ECG Newsletter:

"It’s unfortunate that the long-term legacy of Epiphone will almost certainly be dominated by its use as Gibson’s budget brand. Prior to Gibson’s purchase of the New York-based brand in 1957, Epiphone was their primary competition in the wildly popular arena of archtop guitars. The Zephyr Regent was their top-of-the-line model at the time and was a direct competitor, in both price and prestige, to Gibson’s legendary flagship L-5C. While the Zephyr might not hold quite the gravitas of a 40s L-5 these days, it did have a number of interesting features exclusive to its brand.

One of my favorite vintage Epiphone components is the visually striking “Frequensator” tailpiece. Introduced in 1937, the new design was created by Epi employee (and possible birthday clown) Herb Sunshine. The idea was that varied string lengths would warm the bass strings while brightening the trebles and eliminating dead spots throughout the fretboard. Perhaps the star of the show is the pair of extremely unique “tone spectrum” pickups. Only available on higher-end Epiphones from 1949-1954, these Firebird-esque single coils are structurally unlike anything that had come before or since, and have a singular voice that is immediately recognizable. As far as high-end vintage New York archtops go, I’m quite sure this Zephyr Regent can’t be eclipsed for anywhere near this price".