Epiphone Zephyr Deluxe Regent Model Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1951), made in New York, NY, serial # 61619, natural lacquer finish, laminated maple body and neck, laminated maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, original brown hard shell case.
The large and fancy Zephyr Deluxe Regent-introduced in 1947-8- was originally the top of the line New York-made Epiphone electric. While in 1950 the company upped the ante with the even larger and grander 3-pickup Emperor Zephyr Regent, the Deluxe model remained a high-end and popular guitar. This is a full 17.5" two-pickup archtop with quite fancy trim, including 5-ply body binding, a multi-bound vine inlaid headstock and split abalone/pearl blocks on the fingerboard. The pickups are Epiphone's single coil "New York" units, gold plated with adjustable poles and mounted in unique amber catalin blocks. Controls are a master tone and volume, with a large 3-way lever selector switch mounted down near the lower body edge. The laminated maple body with a spruce top carries a lovely honey-natural finish, showing off the flamed back and side grain to good advantage. This lovely Deluxe is still housed in its brown hard shell case, looking like hardly any time has elapsed since its birth in 1951.
Overall length is 42 1/4 in. (107.3 cm.), 17 1/2 in. (44.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.). This is a spectacularly well-preserved guitar, showing only minimal signs of use or wear overall. All hardware, finish and fittings are original including the oft missing or broken celluloid pickguard. There are some small dings and dents to the finish, very minor binding shrinkage (but no deterioration) and no alterations. This is a very fine player and an exceptionally clean example of the Epiphone electric archtop tradition. Excellent + Condition.
