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Epiphone Blues Zephyr Reviews  5 / 5 based on 1 reviewsBought from Musicians Friend online after seeing the guitar as part of case, book, guitar package in the mailer.
The patterned maple top, sides and back are beautiful and the finish quality exceeded my expectations for a guitar in this price range. The triple P-90 pickups and classic Epiphone headstock and trim combine the best of the favorite guitars I remember and lusted for in the late 40's and 50's: the Gibson ES-5 and the Epiphone archtops of the era. My guitar is in natural finish and has no faults I have found in 4 months of ownership. I like the unplugged sound so much I found a blemished Epiphone Emperor Regent online at Musicians Friend and bought that one a month later. Plugged in sound is very rich and full, ideal for jazz and blues.
For my limited hobby playing preferences this guitar serves the purpose of nostalgia in look and electric tone. The unplugged sound is very clean and crisp but not loud enough to use as an acoustic substitute. The lack of toggle switch or individual tone controls for the 3 pickups makes this model less flexible for performing where style and tone changes have to be made on the fly. It is heavy, as would be expected from the amount of electrics and wood used.
The neck feels just the way I like. Very much like guitars of the 50's. Setup was flawless out of the case and playability is good up and down the neck. Action is medium high. There is a little noise in the tone control and a tiny bit too much finish pooled just under the spot where the neck joins the body. There are no blemishes in the finish or wood or binding anywhere. This is amazing for a guitar which cost between 8 and 900 dollars and rivals $3000 to $4000 dollar archtops in finish.
I had not purchased a new guitar in more than 40 years and was amazed at the quality and design excellence now available in Korean made guitars. I bought a Gibson made Ephiphone FT 110 at the factory when I lived in Kalamazoo in 1960. It is still my favorite flat top I have ever played. The new crop of Epiphones (finally) is very close to that high benchmark. Jack Lee rated this unit on 2002-06-07.
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