franchesquito91 Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Hi! First of all Im from Argentina so sory for my grammar mistakes. Ive found a picture of some of the guitars oasis used, that were on the exhibition "chasing the sun" in london this year. The one on the left is an Epiphone Riviera Matsumoku (vintage sunburst) that probably belonged to Bonehead. The one in the right is a Gibson Les Paul that Noel used to have, you can tell from the mics if you look for pictures on the internet. The one that Im struggling with is the one in the middle. I own an Epiphone Riviera from Matsumoku too, I bought it in a trip in the USA. Its not like the one Bonehead or Noel used, since its colour is called "Antique Sunburst" (ASB in the label), and from what Ive read, its a model that was made for the american market. The only differences are that the colour is a really deep brown, and its scratchplate and truss rod cover are black (without the e) instead of white. The switch knob cap of my guitar is black as well (which makes sense since all the whites were changed to black), but Im not sure if its original since the guitar Ive bought has had many modifications (mics, bridge, tuners). Ive found just one more like mine on the internet: http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae267/epistudio/1982%20Epiphone%20Riviera%20AS%20Matsumoku%202070143/ The only difference with mine is the switch knob cap, which is white. And that guitar seems to be completely original! So I dont know. Here are the guitars from the Oasis exhibition: http://everyrecordtellsastory.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/oasis-guitars.jpg I REALLY want to make my guitar look like the one in the middle, soo Ive bought the b7 bigsby (luthier is doing the job this week). My concerns with this guitar are: it seems to be the same colour as mine (looks deeper than the one on the left), but the only matsumoku noel used with bigsby (shakarmaker video) was the same colour as Boneheads. Maybe it is a guitar someone owned but never used live? The truss rod cover is white, as you can see a tip in the picture. But the Switch knob is black, like mine, and the tone and volume knobs dont seem to be original (looks like stratocasters). Can someone tell me whats the deal with that guitar? Which parts are original and which not? I know its a very, VERY, specific model, but I know some of you are Matsumokus experts, and Oasis fans like me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyg Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I'm not enough of a fan of Oasis to pretend that I can be Oasis specific. The Riviera on the left in the pic you posted is (at least visually) stock as distributed in the UK from early 1983 until 'late 1985 - early 1986'. White TRC, scratchplate and switch tip. Black witch hat knobs with silver inserts are correct (one of the inserts on that guitar have fallen off, a not uncommon occurence) but I can't see the metal position pointers (thumbcatchers) underneath them. The British release guitar labels on all the models I've seen read, 'Riviera AS' not 'Riviera ASB'. Maybe the 'B' stood for Black parts. As to the one with the Bigsby, it's quite possible that the original switch tip unscrewed, fell off and was replaced with a black one. White replacements are easily available if you wanted to change it. Maybe the control knobs were changed because the owner didn't like witch hat knobs. Again, replacement witch hats can easily be found. I have an '83 myself, which I purchased new in August 1983, and the first thing I did was to dump the witch hats (I kept them in case I wanted to sell later) and got some better looking (IMO) gold ones. It's just a preference. I bought a re-issue '66 Wilshire which came with a black switch tip on a white pickguard, which looked 'wrong' to me, so I changed it for a white one. I like it better like that. The difference in colour between the two guitars is more likely to be down to the lighting when the picture was taken. Here's a picture of mine which is stock except for the previously mentioned gold control knobs. It doesn't look as dark as that in 'real life'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franchesquito91 Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 Thanks man! Yours look awesome. You are right, probably the ASB means Antique Sunburst Black. Ive just got the bigsby put. Heres a picture! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyg Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Thanks man! Yours look awesome. You are right, probably the ASB means Antique Sunburst Black. Ive just got the bigsby put. Heres a picture! She's looking good. All you need now is the Fender type control knobs and a white TRC. The Fender knobs are known as UFO knobs and you can get them from a company called Axesrus in the UK, but you can probably find them closer to where you are. If you need a white TRC, try sending a PM to frenchie1281734003. I know he's made TRC's for other members and he might be willing to make you one up. Good luck with it, the early 80's Riviera is a great guitar. (Don't forget to keep all the original parts) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franchesquito91 Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 She's looking good. All you need now is the Fender type control knobs and a white TRC. The Fender knobs are known as UFO knobs and you can get them from a company called Axesrus in the UK, but you can probably find them closer to where you are. If you need a white TRC, try sending a PM to frenchie1281734003. I know he's made TRC's for other members and he might be willing to make you one up. Good luck with it, the early 80's Riviera is a great guitar. (Don't forget to keep all the original parts) yesss Ive alredy ordered some strat type control knobs on ebay. And ive talked with frenchie1281734003, that guy is awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobbind Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 The Oasis Bigsby Riviera has puzzled me too. In the early days Noel played a sunburst Riviera with a Bigsby - it appeared on Live Forever on TOTP and in the Shakermaker video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY6tfjHWAbI I remember reading that a load of their stuff got nicked after a gig and presumed that that included this guitar as it was never seen again. Presumably Noel liked it so much he replaced it with the wine red one. I believe that the Riviera on display was from the Definitely Maybe cover and belonged to Bonehead as there's another photo of him holding it, though minus the scratch plate. As for the black parts, I think they would denote a 1984 model. Bonehead had loads of guitars which were never used live. I remember seeing some for sale in Johnny Roadhouse in Manchester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobbind Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 It's also visible in the background here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqxWC5pwsgI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbyrne24 Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Hi. I've got an antique sunburst 1983 model I am thinking about selling since I just bought a martin acoustic. sbyrne24@live.com.au for pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobbind Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Here are some better photos of the Bigsby Riviera which was seen hanging on the wall in the first photo... This is definitely the Riviera from the Shakermaker video and has lost its scratchplate along the way - note the Strat knobs and the back to front bridge humbucker... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FpNw3286y8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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