| Serial Number | 63490, built 1951 in New York City. The label reads Zephyr Emperor Vari-Tone. |
| Pricing | $2950.00 CND (approx.$3903.USD as of Feb.15/2012) SOLD |
| Neck | Maple neck with walnut center strips. Bound rosewood fingerboard with pearl/abalone markers. Some wear on fingerboard in low positions. There is an adjustable trussrod with the adjuster at the body end. Epiphone script logo and fern pearl inlay on headstock. |
| Frets | This guitar has been refretted and the frets are in good shape. |
| Body | This is a big-body guitar, about as large as they come. Over 18″ wide at the lower bout, and the sides are nearly 3.5″ tall. Curly maple back and sides, spruce top. |
| Finish | Original clear, aged lacquer finish in quite good shape. |
| Hardware/electronics | Three New York pickups, six pushbutton selector switches, volume and tone controls with white Bakelite knobs. Rosewood bridge, Frequensator tailpiece, bound tortoise pickguard. Gold Epiphone tuners. |
| Playability/Action | This guitar plays very well, and it’s big! |
| Case | Case included. |
| Comments | This is a great older piece. It’s in good shape and has a number of interesting features that show up in much later items. The pearl/abalone V block markers and extra binding inlay on the fingerboard appear on later and higher-end Guild guitars, such as the 1970’s Starfire VI. And the pusbhutton selector appears on many items, from Italian instruments to the 1950’s Dodge Torqueflite transmission. This is a big guitar from a time when volume was really needed, and the Emperor was the top of the heap. As a Zephyr, it’s an electric model, and the Vari-tone refers to the pushbutton selector. |
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