1942 Epiphone Zephyr Natural

1942 Epiphone Zephyr

Wow! What a Guitar! It takes a bit to knock our socks off, but this is an unbelievable piece of electric guitar history. And she plays like a jazz era dream. If one were to pinpoint the golden era of Epiphone, this Zephyr would be in the bullseye. This is the mother of all the Regents and Deluxes you may find. It is hard to imagine all of the places she’s been and all of the joints she’s played in. And it's on these models that Les Paul got started way back then. Another one of our estate finds, she needed some TLC but was in amazing shape for her 80 years. She's now fully and completely restored! What makes this guitar so cool is when you realize this was literally among those first electrics to hit the stage. There are no cracks or breaks on the guitar. The electronics were aged and not functioning correctly, so we had the original pickup professionally rewound to original spec and we changed out the pots appropriate to the era. (For fun, check out the pic of the volume and tone knobs. The volume adjusts from “soft” to “loud.” And the tone, which they call the “Master Voicer,” adjusts from “Mellow” to “Brilliant.” Pure vintage!). As always, we saved the original components and they will be in the case. The tone and the overall sound delivery of this guitar makes you feel you have dropped into the middle of a 40's jazz jam. Amazing clean sound. We love the patent plate as well. It is indicative of the period with the Meissner Electronics patent information fixed to the headstock-only on these Epi’s for about 5 years. She has the original felt-covered back access panel as do the pre and war era Epi’s. Rare to find one still in this condition. The pickguard was beyond repair, so we have replaced it with a high-quality, completely-to-spec new one. The tuners we’ve upgraded. We felt that she deserved something more classic, classy and functional. So, now she's adorned with period correct vintage “E” Epiphones which are completely original to the period. We can include the actual originals if you like. The maple back and sides have just the right amount of crazing to the finish and a few darkened grain areas that simply remind us of the near 80 years this gal has been around. The grain overall is quite beautiful with areas of flaming and an overall gorgeous yellowing. The age of the wood just adds to the vintage tone. All the binding is safe and secure. There were a couple of spots that needed to be reglued. That's done and it’s all as good as new. The maple neck has a very comfortable shape and a Brazilian rosewood fretboard with beautiful MOP inserts. Frets are in excellent condition. Easy to get up and down the neck. Comes in a nice high-quality fitted TKL case. So.....We start as we began...Wow! This is one for the collection. You will just not find another. And if you do, it won’t have been this loved and so carefully restored. Don’t let someone else snag it first.