$4k is too much for a Riviera made past '65, IMO. $3k for a nice one made '66-'69? Sure, fine. In fact, I sold mine (a 1967) for $3300 or so a year or two ago. It was not 100% (refret, repro guard, later case) but was a great player and beautiful.garyfanclub wrote: ↑Mon Nov 26, 2018 8:00 pmI’ve got to admit, I’d love an old Riviera, skinny neck and all. But there’s no way I’d ever pay the ridiciulous prices they’re being listed at these days — $4k for a late 60s Epiphone?!
I’m on the prowl for a cheap Silvertone 1446 or Starfire V; will scratch the mini-hum itch and still leave me some dough to pay rent.
Wish they still made the somewhat vintage accurate Elitist Rivieras, I had one about ten years ago and still regret selling it. Been waiting for one of those to pop up on Reverb for years now, but no dice.
Those Epiphone Elitist guitars were so good. Too good, in fact, for their own good... there was definitely a time where I'd rather have had one of those (and installed the pickups of my choice) than a new Gibson. I have a hunch they competed with Gibson USA a bit too much.
Starfire IV and V are great guitars as well, and they made good ones for a very long time. I love those Guild humbuckers, too... but they can often be quite microphonic. Not so much that it matters at sane volume levels and with only light overdrive, but could become an issue under certain circumstances