Epiphone Zephyr Emperor Regent

Mark Wein

Mark Wein

Grand Poobah
Staff member
Epiphone Zephyr Emperor Regent 1953 Sunburst

https://reverb.com/item/23261-epiphone-zephyr-emperor-regent-1953-sunburst
  • Listed 6 months ago by Vintage Epiphone
  • Condition: Excellent
  • 833 Views
  • 3 Watchers





  • vqfqyur0wvhezsinqiob.jpg



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Holiday Sale!!!
Up for sale a beautiful vintage 1953 Epiphone Zephyr Emperor Regent. She has aged beautifully with typical crackling and some shrinking in the binding, but all is intact and tight.
Very few of these were built with DiArmond pickups. The electronics work perfectly, as I had Knoll Guitars in Cranston, RI tune her up. The clear knobs are original, as is the Resonator tailpiece and all hardware, except the bridge, which Knoll replaced because the one that was on it was not original when I bought it.
The neck is straight, feels and plays great. This beauty also sounds as good as she looks!
Nothing beats the sound of a beautiful old jazz box like this beautiful old Epi.
I'm hoping she'll go to a good home because she's not getting played. She spends all her time in the original Lifton case, which is also in near perfect condition as well!
I will entertain reasonable offers.
 
Wow, that is beautiful. A nice example of a guitar from the golden age of epi. I have no use for something like that, but it is sure nice to look at.

It is also interesting that the headstock shape (and size) everyone complains about on modern epi guitars is actually a vintage detail.
 
Carl Perkins played a later (or possibly a custom) model when he toured with the Johnny Cash Show (late 60s-early 70s)

carl_perkins-1970-40.jpg
 
Tiltsta said:
Wow, that is beautiful. A nice example of a guitar from the golden age of epi. I have no use for something like that, but it is sure nice to look at.

It is also interesting that the headstock shape (and size) everyone complains about on modern epi guitars is actually a vintage detail.
Click to expand...

This.
 
Cool guitar.

What do the six knobs near the edge of the top do? Are they individual tone and volume controls for each pickup?
 
It looks kind of cool, but IIRC, the 6 buttons, are on & off push button selectors for each pickup. I'm not a big fan of those switches. Sooner or later they fail.
 
Terry Allan Hall said:
Carl Perkins played a later (or possibly a custom) model when he toured with the Johnny Cash Show (late 60s-early 70s)

carl_perkins-1970-40.jpg
Click to expand...

That would be the perfect version of that guitar. Mangable amount of switches and knobs :wink: Bass player looks like he's playing some sort of bass version of the Epiphone Wilshire?
 
Gross! Too many pickups, too many knobs, tacky gold hardware/burst combination, inlays and neck stripes don’t match the overall style of the guitar, the red guard clashes with the burst. It looks like Teisco tried to knock off John D'Angelico.

It’s like my great-grandmother used to say: “Just because it’s antique doesn’t mean it’s good. We had lots of crap back then, too.”
 
1953?
That's pre-Gibson ownership.

There is a local guy that plays an old Epiphone arch top and it is absolutely gorgeous.
 
dougk said:
That would be the perfect version of that guitar. Mangable amount of switches and knobs :wink: Bass player looks like he's playing some sort of bass version of the Epiphone Wilshire?
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Yeah, I agree, and you're right about the bass, too.

Marshall Grant (cash's bassist) used this Epiphone Embassy Deluxe Bass :
epiemb.jpg

Possibly Epiphone gave 'em an endorsement deal of some sort.
 
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Ernest Tubb's killer 60's band had an endorsement deal with Gibson. They could have played anything in the Gibson inventory. They all decided on Epiphones. Of course Epiphone wasn't the import line in those days.
 
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