Item: 1953 Epiphone Zephyr Emperor Regent 18.5″ Triple-Pickup Jazz Archtop NR
Sold For: $4,539.99
Bids: 23
Date: Jun 17, 2012
Auction: Ebay
Seller: hgguitars
Description and Image By: hgguitars
All hail the king of Epiphone archtops…this 1953 Epiphone Zephyr Emperor Regent is one rare bird, especially in this condition. This New York-made model was the most expensive Epiphone offered and their competitor to Gibson’s Super 400. It is as huge as it looks with a massive 18.5″ body width. The top, back, and sides are beautiful figured and birdseyed maple. It is about as ornate as an achtop can possibly get with the fanciest inlays, gold hardware and 7-ply binding. Triple New York pickups give this an endless array of tones, everything from that perfect, fat L-5 jazz sound to ripping rockabilly treble tones. It features a very recent setup with size 11 strings and it plays perfect everywhere on the neck thanks to the original frets with tons of life left. You can bend with ease and it doesn’t fret out anywhere.
It weighs just 8.65 lbs. Unlike many Epiphones from this era, there are no binding issues to report. None missing and just a few normal joint separations from shrinkage. No overspray. Excellent condition overall. This one appears to have had a different tailpiece (perhaps Bigsby) at one time as there are two tiny extra holes under the original Frequensator, but nothing on the top. The current configuration is completely stock. All parts are completely original (even the Bakelite knobs and buttons) except the original pickguard which crumbled (they all do) so a perfect replica was created at great expense — by perfect, we mean identical in every way…dimensions, binding, marbling, materials, etc. — you’d never tell the difference between this and what it had when new. Pickguard bracket and screws are the originals as well. Neck shows minor play wear (very smooth, no dings — pictured) and it looks like the strap button was moved to the back of the neck heel at one time, since touched-up. All-in-all, this is easily the best example of this model we’ve ever seen and surely the best ever to come up for sale on eBay. The winning bidder will be extremely happy with this 59-year-old beauty!
Amazingly, this guitar has its rarely-seen original matching Epiphone brown/pink-lined Stone case in very good condition! It even has the Epiphone “E” logo on the inside. Incredible.