I had late 40s Zephyr Deluxe Regent, probably the same structure minus the buttons and only two P/U.. Traded it for my Guild Mark V , I guess that qualifies as two degrees of separation, or maybe second cousins once removed!
I prefer the Zephyr ;] At a glance, but I've been ardent fan of pre Gibson Epis for a long time, and never even seen big Guild boxes like that around here. Not that the Guild isn't stunning but that Zephyr though, man, what a knockout!
Those are nice guitars for sure......great to look at and certainly "just the thing" for the right player.
The 18" Epiphone is my preference just for its classic archaic "dawn of a new era" looks.
But I'd bet the 17" Guild might be nicer to play as I'm already accustomed to the feel of my X-175...
and I know how much I love Franz pickups!
Nevertheless I've never felt a need for 3 pickups....one or two works for me.
All that hardware and the switch panels on the top just looks like cumbersome overkill to me.....but I like to keep things simple.