Close-up #9: 1949 Zephyr DeLuxe Cutaway Tenor SN 85158
If you are looking for a rare – possibly one of a kind – vintage Epiphone guitar model, this could be an apt candidate. However if you also plan to use it, you better be a left handed tenor player ...
I saved the photos of the guitar featured here at the occasion when it was offered by various dealers in the past. It is a fancy electric guitar with a 4-string tenor neck and a "lefty" cutaway body. But what model is it?
This lefty tenor shares some of the typical features of the guitar pictured in the ad: DeLuxe style headstock, Emperor style fretboard inlays (reversed in the ad!), gold Frequensator tailpiece. It sports two Tone Spectrum pickups, with a selector switch next to the two control knobs – a "Duo Pickup" version as offered in the price list.
The serial number stamped on the back of the headstock reads "85158".
When Epiphone relaunched their electric model lines after WW2 in 1946, a new SN system was applied for most models: The first 2 digits of a 5-digit SN represented a code for the model, while the last 3 digits were a serial suffix for the respective model, starting at "000". In our case "85" stands for a "Zephyr DeLuxe Cutaway" model, with this example being number "158" of that model.
But when was this unique, obviously specially ordered, lefty tenor electric cutaway guitar produced? As with all vintage Epiphones serial number dating is only approximate. Based on the SN as well as other details such as type/color of the pickup model (which went through several changes at the time), the shape of the f-holes, the "E" logo decal on the pickguard etc., we are pretty certain that this instrument was manufactured in 1949.
(Oct 9, 2016)