GtarJohn Posted April 3, 2014 Posted April 3, 2014 [attachme]nt=15123:Old Digs.jpg New guy here, The picture is me from High School...way back in the 1980s...anyhow, I traded that gem for a AmStd Telecaster around 1992 in Largo Florida...I heard it was later sold to a tourist and migrated on to Germany. I certainly wish I had never traded it away...my mother bought that guitar for me for $300...the body finish appeared to have been stripped from it's finish...but the rest seemed pretty stock,,,no neck repairs...had the blue kalamazoo label...thought it was from about 1967. It's one of those choices I made when I was younger that I've had dreams about...LOL. I found a sheraton II with a bigsby in the mid 1990s...the one with the 'By Gibson' on the headstock...it just didn't sparkle the same...even with Classic 57 pup replacements...I ended up selling it and recently bought a second hand Sheraton Elitist...so that's going to be as close as I'll be able to get once I get a bigsby installed. ..there's no way I will ever be able to justify the prices those old rivieras are fetching now...I'd be sleeping on the couch for like ever and ever. So...which one of ya's have my old axe? Don't be shy. John Sheraton Elitist 1989 AmStd Strat 1992 G&L ASAT (three bolt neck) 2003 MIM Jazz Bass 2000 Taylor 810 Liberty LO100 Resonator Little Martin SFTR DRRI Various stomp boxes and crybabies.
crust Posted April 4, 2014 Posted April 4, 2014 [attachme]nt=15123:Old Digs.jpg New guy here, The picture is me from High School...way back in the 1980s...anyhow, I traded that gem for a AmStd Telecaster around 1992 in Largo Florida...I heard it was later sold to a tourist and migrated on to Germany. I certainly wish I had never traded it away...my mother bought that guitar for me for $300...the body finish appeared to have been stripped from it's finish...but the rest seemed pretty stock,,,no neck repairs...had the blue kalamazoo label...thought it was from about 1967. It's one of those choices I made when I was younger that I've had dreams about...LOL. I found a sheraton II with a bigsby in the mid 1990s...the one with the 'By Gibson' on the headstock...it just didn't sparkle the same...even with Classic 57 pup replacements...I ended up selling it and recently bought a second hand Sheraton Elitist...so that's going to be as close as I'll be able to get once I get a bigsby installed. ..there's no way I will ever be able to justify the prices those old rivieras are fetching now...I'd be sleeping on the couch for like ever and ever. So...which one of ya's have my old axe? Don't be shy. John Sheraton Elitist 1989 AmStd Strat 1992 G&L ASAT (three bolt neck) 2003 MIM Jazz Bass 2000 Taylor 810 Liberty LO100 Resonator Little Martin SFTR DRRI Various stomp boxes and crybabies. Hey GtarJohn Cool guitar, certainly a "classic" Epiphone. Maybe I'll find one at a yard sale...some day until then... I enjoy playing the Epiphone Riviera P93 models. To me, that product "line" is just fine, for today. I need the white one to complete the set The 3 Chinese hand crafted Epiphone Riviera P93 semi-hollow electric guitars which I presently play, "sparkle" just fine indeed (even though they aren't "vintage 1967"). (try "vintage" 2013/2014) Modern day "classics" You could obtain several of "them", for the cost of a "true vintage" Riviera in "reasonable shape". To me, 2013/2014 Epiphone P93 Riviera's are reasonably priced, great sounding and "playing" electric guitars. No sleeping on the couch...not yet lol
GtarJohn Posted April 4, 2014 Author Posted April 4, 2014 Thanks...I've watched those P93 ones online and almost got one a couple of times. I think it's two things that drove me to get the Sheraton Elitist...the first being that I'm really particular about minihumbuckers. I had purchased a pre-wired pearloid strat pickguard about 8 years ago with 2 minis from someone on the Fender Forum...I adapted it with quick connectors so I could interchange it with the stock guard/pups on a whim. I really got into the sound of it...and it brought back so many tonal memories from my youth. I ended up building a frankenstrat with it for a friend (I had a maple US Strat neck sitting in the garage forever...so my bud and I built it custom as a project and I gave it to him...we've since moved away from one another. The second concerns the vintage issue...umm...well, I'm vintage and growing more vintage every year...lol. I imagine the elitist plays better than any of those older Rivieras that have been banged around for decades...the one I had was certainly well played and dinged up a bit. So, I guess it's a nostalgia thing with me. It would be really awesome if the current owner was on here...I'd like to share some history of the guitar from the decade I owned it. I would also be very interested in hearing stories of what life it lived after it moved from me. Even more fascinating would be the story of its life before it came into my hands. I'm not lying when I say this guitar has haunted (not in a bad way) my dreams often while I'm sleeping. Considering the price on Ebay and from vintage dealers being asked for these 1960s epiphones...the only ones that I see that are even remotely affordable (under say $2K) have either heavy mods or neck repairs. A good neck repair is certainly doable...but I'd want to play one before purchasing as it can be seriously botched...some of the photos online of the ones with repaired necks has me shaking my head. There was one on the bay a few weeks ago...from the pictures it looked like one could get a serious splinter spear in their hands if it were played...and that one had a 'buy it now' of about $1800...no thanks.
crust Posted April 4, 2014 Posted April 4, 2014 I sometimes wonder about the history of some of the instruments I presently have, and others I have owned... I wonder where some of my prior guitars are...ones sold, traded or given to me and by me to friends I have played a few nice Epiphone Sheraton guitars but never owned one. Some day maybe....
mgrasso Posted April 4, 2014 Posted April 4, 2014 Don't give up, hang out for an Elitist Riviera. They do come up for sale every now and then. That way you might have the best of both worlds.
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