Glen Campbell's Epiphone Zephyr Deluxe Regent

[jay]

"I'll Be Me" has some old 8mm footage of Glen and the Epiphone. It is interesting to note that the tailpiece for that guitar seemed to transition with time.

In 1937, a radical new tailpiece called the Frequensator, was introduced by Epiphone. The idea behind the design was to provide compensation between the treble and bass strings, and the word “frequensator” was a contraction of the words “frequency” and “compensator”. The Frequensator consisted of two separate extensions of unequal lengths; a shorter one of 2,5 inch for the bass strings and a longer one of 5,75 inch for the treble strings. All higher-end acoustic and electric archtops were equipped with the Frequensator tailpiece – designed by Epiphone employee Herb Sunshine.

Although the Zephyr was built for about 9-10 years, the "Regent" model only ran for about 4 of those years (1950-1954). The Zephyr line transitioned through 3 models, probably lasting about 10 years from the late 40's to the late 50's. It appears that the tailpiece never changed, regardless of the model produced. Here is a beautiful example of what it looked like:

Epiphone Zephyr Deluxe Frequensator Tailpiece

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During the time Glen used his Epiphone Zephyr De Luxe, it appears to have a Bigsby for the tailpiece, which was invented by Paul Bigsby around 1952. We have no idea who transitioned the Epiphone to the Bigsby, or when this occured, but it had to be at a time that was close to when the tailpiece hit the market. Here is a picture of a '54 Bigsby:

1954 Bigsby

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And here are some early pictures of Glen with his Zephyr DeLuxe:

Glen with the Western Wranglers in Albuquerque

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Glen with the Epiphone Zephyr in 1959

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Glen Campbell with his Epiphone Zephyr

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Towards the end of Glen's career, the Campbell family brought the Epiphone out for several photo sessions with Glen. The tailpiece has been replaced with a 40's model Gibson raised diamond motif tailpiece used on the L7 and ES-300. ((Note how Glen slanted the pickup, most likely to get the sharpest treble response, from neck pickup))

Glen with his Epiphone Zephyr

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Gibson raised diamond motif tailpiece on Epiphone

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The Epiphone being "refreshed" with a clearer view of the diamond tailpiece

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Here is a Gibson 1940'41 ES300 with, what appears to be, the same tailpiece that we see on Glen's Epiphone in the most recent pictures.

Gibson 1940'41 ES300 w/ raised diamond motif tailpiece

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Blownup Gibson Diamond Tailpiece.jpg (61.22 KiB) Viewed 2842 times

[Bluebird]

8:21 pm?

Now, that is some detail there! You have done an awesome job with this guitar info section, Jay. Many thanks to you for your work and research.

This is undoubtedly the guitar Glen has owned the longest, at least 62 years which is pretty amazing when you think of it.

Wayne

[jay]

With regard to the date of this photograph, my best guess is sometime during the first half of 2013.

2017-06-08_ADIOS_Credit to Glen Campbell Official.jpg

Dee, the picture was taken April 11, 2013 at 8:21pm

[jay]

Here are some great pictures of Glen with the Epiphone Zephyr at the Riverside Park Ballroom in Phoenix, Arizona. The year...1959 or 1960...most likely. Thanks to Cowpoke and Dee for contributing these for this thread.

[jay]

Probably one of the last pictures of Glen with the Epiphone, before it went to the HOF.

Glen and Kim with Epiphone Zephyr Deluxe Regent

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[Mike Joyce]

Yes I see what you are saying. Good point. It's in the wrong time frame in relation to the period of the guitar.
It would be like displaying a model T ford with a sat nav stuck on the windscreen.
Having said that, when I see those picks it reminds me of the couple of times when I was given a few of the picks while I was talking to Jeff Dayton while he was still on the stage. I had mentioned I took up the guitar because of Glen and Jeff asked the drummer to give me some of the picks they had in a box. I will always remember that with great fondness. Jeff is a great guy.

[Dee]

Thanks for this info, Mike. I really appreciate it. Maybe this is the guitar that Glen adjusted the pickup on?
The pick? Well, it looks contemporary to me...especially with Glen's signature on it and the red color. Do you think he would have used a pick like this one in the 50s and early 60s?
Maybe I am just being "picky", but I would have liked to have seen an authentic pick of Glen's from the 50s with the Epi.
Dee

[Mike Joyce]

Not wishing to jump in ahead of Jay, but you are right Dee, those blocks are the pickups. As the strings vibrate they cause a change in the magnetic field in the pickup which is converted into an electric signal which is then fed to the ammp to make it louder. I am sure I recall reading that Glen did adjust a pickup on one of his early guitars to improve the high end sound quality. I think you said that Jay?.
Dee, what was your issue with the guitar pick?

[jay]

Yes...Jerry and Chet, Jerry and Glen...Jerry seemed to bring out the picker in both of them. Jerry is playing a Godin, I believe and Chet is playing a Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent. Chet had become dissatisfied with Gretsch due to poor workmanship, so he signed with Gibson and they made the Country Gent for him. Well...two. I believe that one is the original...and it was heavy and Chets back started giving him problems and he had them redesign it for a lighter model. I am honored to say that Chet had two pictures in his office that I took of him in the early 80's. When he passed, Paul Yandell posted one of them on his website. As with Glen, Chet was a true gentleman and very fan friendly. Those type guitars are hollow body electrics. All the big names have them in their lineup. Ovation made the Thunderhead , which Glen played...in fact Wayne Reid actually has Glens Thunderhead (and Jerry's, I think).

I have added some history about Glen's Ovation Thunderhead to the forum.

[Mike Joyce]

Hi Jay,
I saw this clip on YT of Chet Atkin's playing what looks like a very similar guitar. I thought it sounded great. Here he is with Jerry Reed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNvwxJsGN5Q" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;