Pre-Owned 1951 Epiphone Zephyr Emperor Regent Hollowbody Sunburst

Here's an opportunity that you won't come across often - the chance to enjoy the breezy tones of a vintage 1951 Epiphone Zephyr Emperor Regent.  We just took this in, and as soon as we saw it, we were intrigued.  The body shape, electronics and overall vibe stopped us in our tracks.  It's definitely not something you see every day.

The 1951 Epiphone Zephyr Emperor Regent (also known in this specific debut year as the Emperor Vari-Tone) is an absolute colossus of guitar history, representing the absolute pinnacle of pre-Gibson, New York-era craftsmanship. Built to out-scale and out-feature Gibson's Super 400, this electric flagship boasts a massive 18.5" lower bout and a 3.5" body depth, making it the largest production archtop ever made.  

The body features a laminated spruce top paired with highly figured laminated maple back and sides, a design specifically chosen to give the guitar a rich, acoustic-like resonance while helping suppress feedback at stage volumes. Draped in a dark, moody vintage Sunburst, the body is heavily decorated with 5-ply binding that radiates old-school opulence.  The playability is spectacularly grand, featuring a multi-laminate maple and walnut neck with a comfortable, soft "C" profile that balances the guitar's immense body width perfectly. The bound rosewood fingerboard is a visual masterpiece, adorned with Epiphone’s iconic split-block Mother-of-Pearl and Abalone "V-Block" inlays, leading up to a multi-bound headstock featuring the intricate "Vine of Life" pearloid inlay. With a traditional 25.5" scale length and smooth cutaway access all the way to the 20th fret, the neck offers an incredibly tactile, authoritative response that makes both complex jazz chord melodies and swinging single-note lines feel exceptionally fluid.  

The true soul of this 1951 behemoth lies in its legendary and highly elaborate electronics package. It is armed with three original gold-plated "New York" single-coil pickups, which are managed by a highly unique, proprietary control plate on the lower treble bout featuring six individual push-button selectors and master volume/tone "carousel" knobs. This innovative setup allows you to engage each pickup individually or trigger every possible dual-pickup combination, serving up a surprisingly bright, articulate, and almost "Strat-like" tonal palette that you simply won't find on any other hollow-body.

Rounding out this top-tier vintage machine is an adjustable rosewood bridge, high-ratio gold Epiphone Sealfast tuners, and the legendary gold Frequensator tailpiece, which automatically optimizes string tension across the bass and treble sides. 

This one is in great shapoe, especially considering it's 75 years old.  It's had a neck reset and binding repairs done, but nothing else major.  We found no evidence of cracks or damage.  The pickguard was removed long ago (we think it looks better without anyway) and all of the parts are original.  For the electronics, it's original but appears to have been tweaked at some point, to find the most usable combination of sounds.  We tested everything and found what each switch does, and made an outline.  This is position 1 being the furthest back towards the bottom of the body and position 6 being the the further up towards the neck.  Here it is:

1.  Middle only
2. Neck & Middle
3. Nick, Middle & Bridge
4. Bridge only
5. Neck & Bridge
6. Neck only

The guitar came to us without the case, and we do not have one to fit the unique body shape/size.  If being shipped, we would pack & protect it extremely well.  

This Epiphone Zephyr Emperor Regent is really something else.  It is a museum-grade "player's grail" that stands as a testament to the golden age of American archtop design.  The guitar has made it's way through 3/4 of a century and is still going strong.  Inspected, vetted and setup by the top vintage expert/luthier here in our shop, it's ready to go.  This is truly a special find.