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Vintage Riviera


Art Sims

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This is my first post here. I put a clip on Youtube with an Epi Riviera that I bought new back in 1963. Back then Epiphones were made at the Kalamazoo factory and those were some fine guitars. I liked the Riviera model and it's been a workhorse for a lot of years, still all original except for the Bigsby tailpiece and no "E" on the pickguard. I see there’s also been an "elite" line for some years, which I haven't played any of, but from looking at posts made, they must be really fine guitars.

 

Tried to link to the clip but something didn't work right. Not sure what

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Thanks everyone, for all the kind remarks about playing and about the Riviera. I’m enjoying reading posts and threads and seeing a lot of nice guitars on the board. Crust, I don't have a photo right now but will get out the old camera and see what comes out. Thanks again. Art

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art, that was a joy to behold. the mini'd sheraton is my favorite guitar and i've often dreamt of having an old one, to see what the fuss is about. the riviera would have been the (slightly more) attainable version of that dream, but the secret seems to be out on them, as well. prices are way higher than i seem to remember (or like).

 

what kind of amp and recording method did you use?

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Thanks guys for those comments.

 

eor,

 

The Sheraton is indeed a fabulous guitar. I think Neil Levang played one on the Lawrence Welk show. I’ve seen several old shows where he played a red Epipone which I think was a Sheraton. When I bought my Riviera back in 63’ the cost was $410 (including a vibrato tailpiece I ordered with it but I didn’t like that tailpiece very much). But the guitar turned out to be a pretty good investment, I think. I would imagine the “elite” line offers a very fine Sheraton model.

My recording setup is rather simple. I usually go direct into a mixer, an old Roland VS840, actually a recording device that used zip disks, but what I use of it is the mixer part and feed the line out into a DVD deck which is where my sound is recorded. Lot’s of experimenting behind my choice of doing things that way. Others seem to do real well with an amp and microphone but going direct seems to get the best sound for me

 

diverden,

 

That’s an amazing guitar collection you have. I see several vintage guitars there. Wow!

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