I got the 1961 Epiphone Sorrento - a fully hollow body single cut twin minihumbucker - a week or two back and then thought to myself : damn it ... the US goes into psuedo recession while the aussie $$ is high only once in anyone's lifetime ... so I started looking for a 60s Epiphone Riviera.
For those who don't know what a Riviera is, or at least what a 60s Riviera is, it is essentially the Epiphone version of a 335 but with minihumbuckers.
That is it has a semi-hollow body, is a thinline guitar made at the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo.
A lot of great players have used them over the years... I particually enjoy Otis Rush playing one ... even our very own amp ninja loves the Riviera
I shanghai'd Brad into helping me again look for and discuss the pros and cons of various vintage Rivieras that were available on the web.
The majority of the available guitars had "narrow" necks. Even the 1965 (and 67) at Gary's had neck widths less than 1 9/16" ... almost 1 1/2".
I like (as i have determined) a neck width on an epiphone of something between 1 9/16 - 1 10/16 "
After lots of great discussions with Brad (thanks again mate ... much appreciated) concerning actual value verses what the dealers think a guitar is worth, the difference in cost of a 65 verses a 66 or 67 (Gibson era change of management), pros and cons of replaced tuners etc etc ... it eventually came down to two Rivieras at McKenzie River Music in Oregon.
Can't say enough great things about McKenzie River Music ... helpful, answered all the numerous questions I had, took photos of the nut with a micrometer in the photo indicating the exact neck widths. I highly recommend them to anyone. The two Rivieras McKenzie River Music had were a Cherry and a sunburst. The Cherry had a Frequensator Tailpiece but with changed tuners. The Sunburst had the epiphone vibrola (trem).
I made them an offer for the sunburst.... and 6 days later here it is.
The neck is about 1 19/32" at the nut... slightly narrower than my 65 casino, but still fantastic to pay. Plenty of meat still in the frets. As you can see the sunburst is truly magnificant...way way better condition than I expect (still some dust on the body from the shipping boxes
). Basically no dings or bad mojo anywhere.Now to the sound .... The mini humbuckers have a "jangle" about them... yes a jangle
. Far less muddy than regular sized HBs. While I do have a superb Gibson LP Std and ES 137 both with HBs, I have for whatever reason stayed clear of 335s ... just a bit bassy / muddy for me. Where as these minihumbuckers have all the thickness you want in a HB, with the jangle and brightness, and very little, if at all, mud. awesome !!I mentioned to Brad and he agreed that there is less variation in tonal sound between the neck and bridge pups than say in a Casino, LP or strat etc It is different shades of a great sound changing from neck to bridge (or both together) rather than a complete different sound you get on some guitars.
The bonus with this Riviera .... it arrived monday on my doorstep .... I sugned for it .... it is now MINE ....
But it seems it went through customs without having the need to pay any import duty
When I get a chance I shall take a photo of the three ladies together: the 61 Sorrento, 65 Casino and the 67 Riviera.
But for the moment here is my 1967 Epiphone Riviera.
