indiekiduk

I'm sad about another Riviera release that isn't a wine red Matsumoku

Why are the strings (or frets) so dirty on brand new Chinese Epiphones?

https://www.andertons.co.uk/brands/epiphone-joe-bonamassa-black-beauty-les-paul-custom-ebony?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=epiphone-joe-bonamassa-les-paul-custom Ebony fretboard £749.00 Preorder Next Delivery Due: Wednesday, 6 January 2021

Looks like it's been cancelled

Seems delayed til winter, one shop thinks 30th Sept: https://www.giggear.co.uk/guitars/epiphone-1959-les-paul-standard-outfit-aged-dark-burst.htm

Would be good if they fixed the extremely dirty fret wire too

There are tons of Inspired by Gibson models and only some state CTS electronics. What model is it?

no, might try the ltd edition 59 Les Paul when it comes out, that gets QC checked in USA so might help catch the finish issues

I read it's the frets that are dirty but I have already returned the guitar. Great service from Dawsons Music and Paypal even covered the return shipping.

Received this amazing guitar today, it plays so great, love the new (old) headstock shape. Great action, no buzzing and intonation seems fine. I'm familiar with the slim taper neck from the 50th Anniversary 1962 Sheraton, which funnily enough has the same Kalamazoo headstock, which is why I went for the 60s over the 50s. Plus I already have a Korean Les Paul Custom which has a fatter neck which I find less enjoyable to play. Sadly there are a few finish issues so I'm pondering about returning it. Here they are, in the order I noticed them: Dirty marks embedded in the binding on left side of first and second frets. Nut is offset very slightly to the right and not smooth with the neck. Possible fracture deep in the finish at the nut. Tiny curve cut out of the neck pickup surround. Trust rod cover screws are in at angle, the same angle, quite far off straight. Not sure if it is dirty strings or the laurel wood but my fingers get extremely dirty which playing, most likely strings just need a good clean. Would anyone else return it because of these issues or am I being too picky? I used a coupon to get a great price which I may forfeit if I returned it, and if I exchange I always the chance of getting one in a worse state.

you could try the moisture absorbing crystal sacks that come with new guitars.

It's in this Anderton's video and they say it's rumoured to have rosewood which they have already put on their spec. I noticed it has a matte finish (they area calling "aged") or maybe just missing the lacquer coating. Comes with quite a price premium, £699 vs £499 for 50s and £529 for 60s.

Epiphone will hopefully be releasing a USA made Riviera to match their new USA made Casino

Some of these 2019 models have already been available in other parts of the world, like the 355 Pro with block inlay could have been got from Aliexpress for several years. The Les Paul Lite was in Korea in Feb 2019. Personally I'm not a fan of the lighter fingerboard but in the video they say it would be possible to oil the board to make it darker, if that's the case then why don't Epiphone just do that at the China factory?