Nick Jennison reviews Epiphone's 150th anniversary Zephyr DeLuxe Regent. Originally produced from 1948 until 1957, the Zephyr DeLuxe Regent was one of the world's preeminent archtop guitar designs when Epiphone was Gibson's biggest competitor. Perfect for jazz, blues, and rockabilly, it features a deep cutaway for improved upper-fret access, a multi-layer pressed maple arched top, and a 25.5" scale 5-piece maple and mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard.
Long before they were the affordable subsidiary of Gibson guitars, Epiphone was one of the preeminent forces in the world of hollow body guitars. Their "Masterbuilt" guitars were a direct threat to the dominance of the Gibson L-5, and their Emperor, DeLuxe, Broadway and Triumph models cemented their reputation as some of the best guitars money could buy.
Harkening back to this golden era of jazzbox guitars, the Zephyr DeLuxe Regent is an ornate art-deco beauty with the timeless elegance of the New York "Jazz Age". It's a large-bodied, fully hollow arch-top model with a layered maple top back and sides. The aged gloss finish and 3-ply double binding all contribute to the sophisticated aesthetic, as does the 50s-style logo, tree of life inlay, and gently aged mid-century style plastic parts.
The Zephyr DeLuxe Regent certainly looks the part then, but it's not just a show pony. With a floating ebony bridge and a pair of Epiphone NY Mini Humbuckers, this is a very legit jazz guitar that can also hang in rockabilly, blues and even classic rock settings. Drawing both visual inspiration from the non-adjustable versions of the Spectrum pickups (better known as the "New Yorker pickup") found on the Zephyr models from the early 1950s, these pickups are fully humbucking designs in contrast to the sidewinder single coils of the originals.
The original New Yorkers were very much a mixed bag, so it's hard to really ascribe a "sound" to them, but the NY Mini Humbuckers found on the 150th Anniversary model have a beautiful silky voice with a soft transient response and plenty of string-to-string definition. These pickups are perhaps not the best choice for higher gain settings, where the softness that's so pleasing for jazz tones can manifest as mushy-ness, but for the bridge pickup does have plenty of bite for rockabilly, old-school country and biting blues.
Playability is exactly what you'd expect from a great jazz box. The neck is slim and comfortable for fast lines and complex chords, and the combination of low frets, very heavy strings and super low action all add up to a pretty effortless playing experience - provided you don't want to bend strings, that is! To be fair, that sort of action will get you the side-eye at your jazz gig anyway, so perhaps it's for the best…
A celebration of a century and a half of guitar-building heritage, the 150th Anniversary Zephyr DeLuxe Regent is a jazz thoroughbred with a storied history and all of the benefits of modern production methods. It's a guitar that sounds and plays as good as it looks, and comes in at a fraction of the price of a similarly appointed archtop from the USA.
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